Maturity

For his birthday, Kevin received a hooded bear-design towel that Alyssa picked out. He asked to use it after his bath last night and then we had the following snippet of conversation:

Kevin: Why did Alyssa pick out this towel for me?
Dianne: Because she loves teddy bears and wanted you to have one like hers.
Kevin: Why does she love teddy bears?
Dianne: I don't know.
Kevin: I don't want her to like teddy bears. I don't like teddy bears.
Except for cute baby teddy bears. And Mama teddies and Papa teddies.
I don't like sister teddies.
Dianne: Ok.
Kevin: I'm not going to like teddy bears. I like....hmm.... (pause) What
is Alyssa scared of?

Perhaps we've moved on from the cutesy-type love to the more mature "I'll show her I like her by putting worms down her shirt" type.

A Neighborly Day

This morning I went to Rite Aid and in the parking lot I saw an acquaintance from church (one of few I know up in this area.) On my way out of the store, I saw the neighbor who lives across the street and I stopped to talk with her for a few minutes. This afternoon Kevin and I put flyers on mailboxes on our street for our upcoming "community" yard sale. I went the lazy route and didn't knock on doors this time, but I did meet 2 neighbors I'd never met before because they were outside working in their yards when I came by.

Freedom Writers

After a long day of gardening and such (we planted radish, beet, carrot, lettuce, spinach and squash seeds) we watched a movie, Freedom Writers. It's based on a true story of teacher Erin Gruwell and her high school English classes which have turned into The Freedom Writers Foundation. Amazing stuff.

What I learned about myself through this movie is that while I know that poverty around the world is my problem because I'm human and a child of God and I am moved to live such that I intentionally make a smaller footprint on this planet, my heart is tugged most strongly by issues of the inner city.

That makes no sense because I have no ties to the inner city and my life and experiences are pretty far on the opposite end of the spectrum closest to the Anglo-Rural arrow. But that's how it is.

I'm not sure where to go with this newfound realization, but right now I choose to sleep on it.

Happy Birthday, Little K

 

No more coddling now that you're 5 - make your own birthday cupcakes and make mine with extra icing, please.

Preaching to the choir

Not including Kevin's sleep insecurities, he has gotten much less clingy but still always wants to have another person with him - at all times. He's ok staying in a room when I leave if he has a friend or really anyone else in the room with him. He's an only child so it usually means he tags along with Andy or me like a puppy. That can be a bit annoying, especially to a couple of introverts like ourselves.

On Tuesday night, Kevin went out on a date with Elesa to dinner and the toy store. When he got home I asked him, "Was it nice to go out and have fun without Papa and me with you?"

He replied: "Yes, it was nice to have a break from listening to you."

His first word

In the car the other day, Kevin wanted to read his kids Bible. Usually that means just looking at the pictures but he said, "Look, Mama - I can read!" Then he focused his eyes on the first word of the page and started sounding it out.

"Buh - uh - t."

"Buh - uh - t."

"Buh - uht."

Then his eyes got wide, he clasped his hand over his mouth and he started giggling.

"MAMA! Do you know what this says??"

I started laughing because his reaction was funny but also because he had proven that he was really reading the word on his own. I tried to explain that he was reading the word "but" and not "butt" but he just couldn't stop laughing.

Andy chimed in, "That's the Bible for you."

Ocean's 13 - booyah!

There aren't too many movies made these days that I want to see. On the rare chance we have time and space to go to the movies, we have a hard time figuring out what to see because there isn't always something available that we're interested in.

Exceptions to this are anything by M. Night Shyamalan (I don't love everything he does (see: Lady in the Water) but I love enough to want to see 'em all) and Ocean's 11, Ocean's 12 and - coming June 8th - Ocean's 13. Oh yeah!

The Twilight Zone

Andy has a collection of DVDs containing original episodes of The Twilight Zone and last night he watched "The Odyssey of Flight 33" in which a commercial jet flies into a jet stream causing them to break the sound barrier and be transported back in time.

Andy: They broke the sound barrier. That's not fast enough for time travel.
Dianne: *blink*
Andy: Theoretically.

Evolution of Laundry

Early marriage:
"Honey, where are you?"
"I'm getting dressed."
"Where??"
"By the clothes dryer, where my clothes are."

Later marriage:
"Could you fold the laundry, please?"
"Yes, if it's a load of towels instead of socks."

Preparing for baby:
"Aww, these clothes are so small they don't even fill the washer. How uncontrollably cute!"

After baby:
"Could you fold the laundry, please?"
"Yes, if it's a load of socks instead of baby clothes."

Growing child:
"Child, put your clothes in the hamper. You don't need my help with that."

Older child:
"Child, let me put those in the hamper for you so I can pre-treat the stains and empty the playground mulch and matchbox cars out of your pockets before they go through the washer."

Vindication

Gmail is off the hook (as in not guilty of anything rather than being the bomb - although that is also true) for putting a message we needed into my spam folder. I am off the hook for deleting that message.

We received a forwarded message of it on Monday morning and when I looked at the original part, it was sent when they said, but our email address was typed wrong so we never got it. I guess the person who sent it found the returned message on Monday morning and re-sent it after we'd already gotten it from other people on Friday afternoon.

Phew!

And the interview went well. Andy doubts he'll accept the job but they haven't officially offered it yet, so we'll see.

Can we push the date of that interview back a few days?

Andy has a job interview on Monday. He wasn't looking for a job but a friend forwarded Andy's resume when he saw a job opening at the company where he works.

The recruiting specialist that Andy spoke with said that Andy needs to fill in an online application this weekend before his interview. She said who would be emailing it and to let her know if he didn't get it.

Here's where I step into the story as a key player. I rarely look at my spam messages before deleting them (Gmail's spam filter is amazing) but yesterday as I hit the delete button, my eyes scanned to a message that mentioned a job. That isn't strange as plenty of spam messages mention job opportunities but this one fired more than the usual number of neurons in my brain but it was too late to get the message back when I realized that may have been the message Andy was waiting for.

When Andy got home I told him so he emailed the recruiter to get another copy of the message. He opened the crazy long application page and read through it, filling in the easy stuff before dinner - addresses, etc. - and reading through what else he'd have to do (a couple of extra conflict of interest forms on top of the crazy long application.)

After dinner I was checking email and surfing around when I accidentally hit "Back" while on Andy's application page. I thought I should be concerned about that until I saw the message that came up - "This page is no longer available for security reasons. If you need access to this page, please contact the person who provided you with the address." Then I KNEW I should be concerned. My heart raced, my eyes widened and my skin got prickly. I searched my fairly internet-programming-savvy brain for a solution to cover my tracks. No results were found.

It turned out that we could still access the link from the email message and he didn't have to contact anyone for yet another correction for his space-case wife's mistake (that's what they would've thought I was at that point, I'm sure.) Unfortunately, all of the data Andy already entered was gone.

When Kevin and I returned from running errands this morning, Andy was at the computer. He said he was going to let me type in the information I deleted yesterday but he was filling in some new stuff. Later when he got up from the computer, I asked how far he'd gotten. He said he'd moved on to writing his answers down on paper after accidentally closing the window that he'd typed his answers into.

If you're ever going to comment, do it now for my sanity

Please, can someone (or someones) please remind me what the federal government is doing for me besides annoying my socks off?

Between umpteen tax forms that were so confusing I lost sleep over them (not because I'm afraid of owing taxes or being audited, I just couldn't figure out what to do on some of the forms that kept telling me to go fill out more worksheets that asked for data from the ones that sent me which just put me in a circle of not having any information and can you tell how aggravating that must've been??) and being denied a simple change at the social security office with the appropriate paperwork except for something that we were not given in the format that they say they need it in even though I have plenty of other proof that was issued by their same federal government who writes their laws and signs their paychecks and to which they owe their existence.... I'm really ticked off.

If you're not a programmer, this will not be any fun

The website Worse Than Failure (used to be known as "The Daily WTF") provides sneer-inducing material for programmers. Although it's easy to look down one's nose at the code examples, I know that we've all written code that could be featured on that site.

I enjoyed this quote from the introduction of a recent article:

Now there are different levels of evil. Ruby is normally elegant but resource intensive. PHP was designed as an example of how not to name functions. Perl has its own special circle, ancient and full of strange characters. If you want real evil, though, you have to find a web application written in C.

Good stuff.

First Date?

Andy: Who invited you to their house?
Kevin: Reem
Andy: What did she invite you over for?
Kevin: To watch a Princess movie
Andy: Who was hugging you when I came to pick you up today?
Kevin: Reem
Andy: Were you hugging her back?
Kevin: Yes
Dianne: Who was knocking on the front window when we got there this morning to wave to you?
Kevin: Reem
Dianne: Who was waving at you from the door of the room when we walked in?
Kevin: Reem
Andy: Reem was also waving from the door as we walked down the hall to leave, looking doe-eyed.
Dianne: (looking in Kevin's lunchbag) Oh, good, Grave Digger came home today
Andy: Who wanted to play with that this afternoon?
Kevin: Reem

Fortunately nobody has introduced the term "girlfriend" into Kevin's vocabulary yet and the boys often want to hug him goodbye also.

Movie Reviews

I've seen these three movies in the past three days - that might be a record for me. Nobody pays me for, or even asks for, my opinion of movies. Here they are anyway.

1) Music & Lyrics (theater, Hugh Grant & Drew Barrymore)- We planned to see Breach but it was sold out, even 2 showtimes in advance, so we got tickets for the later showing of Music & Lyrics and went to a restaurant. At 4:30 pm on Saturday afternoon, we were told there was a 50-60 minute wait for a table. ?@#$!@#$?! We didn't necessarily mind as we planned to walk around shopping a little anyway, but the idea of there not being an available time to beat the crowd ticked me off. We arrived at the theater 30 minutes before the show and had to sit in the 5th row, below the main walkway. I got a headache from straining my head up to see the whole screen and from being hot in there. The movie itself was ok. I don't think I'd recommend it, but some people have said they liked it. Hugh Grant's character's one-liners were the best part of the movie.

2) The Pacifier (DVD, Vin Diesel) - I found this pretty funny. Although I didn't like Music & Lyrics because it was too contrived, too predictable, cliche and I didn't think the characters should've been together romantically, I liked The Pacifier even though it was contrived, predictable, cliche and the romance part should've been left out. I would recommend this movie.

3) Flightplan (DVD, Jodie Foster) - Great movie. Good plot with twists and turns, good acting, suspenseful... I definitely recommend it.

Big Girls Don't Cry

Andy: Waaaahhh! Waaaaahhhhhhh!
Kevin: Papa! Stop crying like a baby.
Andy: I'm not crying like a baby. Waaahhhh!
Kevin: Yes you are.
Andy: I'm crying like a grownup.
Kevin: Grownups don't cry.
Andy: Sure they do.
Kevin: Not like that.
Andy: How do grownups cry?
Kevin: Umm... tears come out of their eyes and run down their cheeks. They don't make any noise.

I apologize in advance

Andy's coworker just bought a new house and the guy who lived there before him installed a "theater room." He described it to Andy.

Andy's coworker: Picture this - dark walls, recliners, surround sound system, the screen drops down from the ceiling...

Andy: Picture this - me, in a pink thong, two sizes too small.

They say having a kid changes you

I got new glasses yesterday. My prescription was about 6 years old so I had to have an eye exam, too. Those who know me realize the drama hiding in that simple phrase - EYE EXAM. Did you hear the rumbling thunder as you read the words EYE EXAM? I did.

Obviously I've had EYE EXAMS in the past, in order to have glasses, but I've always signed a waiver stating that I wouldn't allow the doctor to perform all of the portions of the EYE EXAM needed to determine the health of my eyes. No worries about whether I had glaucoma, retinal detachments or that my eye was about to fall out - just give me the glasses so I won't run into anybody and I'll be on my way, thank you.

Yesterday I had Kevin at the eye doctor's office with me. He's extremely well-behaved in such circumstances so I didn't think twice about it until I stepped into the room with the PUFF OF AIR contraption and realized I had a very impressionable audience attending with me.

Hmm...

Over the past few years, I've found myself eating vegetables, considering every word that comes out of my mouth, being brave when I had to talk to someone new and scooping up critters with more legs than seem necessary. Pre-Kevin, I'd have turned around and left all of those situations alone. But now, I have to face them all for the sake of being a good example and strong mother to Kevin.

So what did I do during my EYE EXAM yesterday? I faced up to the bright lights, big machines, puffs of air and retinal scans just to show Kevin WHAT A GOOD MOTHER I AM.

Do you think I can eke out 10 years from this pair of glasses?

Taking care of business

About 5 years ago, my glasses broke so I got a new pair. Thankfully my prescription was only about a year old then, so I didn't have to get another eye exam. I'm still wearing those same glasses. Needless to say, I should get an eye exam. And new glasses, as these have loose screws that I have to tighten a couple of times every day and the lenses still fall out on a regular basis. And I got hit in the face with a volleyball on Sunday and they got majorly tweaked.

So I made an appointment for this afternoon. Yesterday morning, I woke up with only one eye functioning. The other was stuck shut. Ah, my old buddy, pink eye, has returned. "It's been awhile since I've seen you," I remarked. Then I added, "And really, I haven't missed you." Now I will wait until probably next week to take care of my glasses problem.

On the subject of buying a new car, we test drove some more over the weekend and had one of those "God!" moments. After the first test drive at a major-brand dealership, the sales guy was all like, "Is it the car you've been looking for?" "Aw, I was sure you'd come back and say it was perfect for you." "Do you want to step inside and talk some more?" When we left, I complained to Andy about how a salesperson who would act like a human would be much more likely to make money off of me. I probably complained for a good 10 minutes on our way to the next place.

When we arrived at the next place, it was as if we were on Candid Camera. The people we talked to there were exactly like I described wanting salespeople to be! They treated us like we were family. When Andy turned on a car to test drive it, the fuel light came on. The guy genuinely felt bad (someone else had just had it on a test drive, so we didn't think anything of it) but said, "Well, I'll have to drive it up to the corner to get gas in it or you can" and he handed us their American Express Business credit card.

We didn't find the car we want there, but we now have them looking for a car for us while we sit on the couch watching Ocean's Eleven and eating Bon Bons.

If we find out the service we received wasn't a fluke and they continue to treat us the way we hope, I'll be sure to mention their name and give 'em props - that way they get some free advertising to all 3 of you who read my blog.

A reason to buy the Subaru

We're shopping for a car to replace my ailing truck. Yesterday we visited CarMax just to sit in a few different models that may be of interest to see whether they're even comfortable, before dealing with a full-blown test drive. This was particularly the case yesterday as we went out while the temperature was about 25 degrees and it was snowing, so there was no test-driving going on.

To get to Laurel from Ellicott City took much longer than it should have, with people driving 20 mph on I-95, which was merely wet with very light snow falling and lots of cars to melt it off the roadway. Talk about annoying!

We skipped the highway on our way home and took back roads. The back roads were covered in a dusting of snow (covered, but by less than an inch of snow) but they were hilly and curvy. We started down a hill only to see a large gathering of vehicles with their flashers on at the bottom.

"Abort! Abort!" we decided. There was one driveway along the hill so we turned around in it and tried to get back up the hill to go a different way. Unfortunately, we couldn't get back up the hill. Our newly-tired front-wheel drive with traction control van couldn't go anywhere but sideways. Andy and I know how to drive in the snow (really, we do) so we were a bit surprised to find that we were unable to negotiate getting started up the hill. There was a van identical to ours that turned around just after us and got stuck just ahead of us on the hill.

We tried various maneuvers for about 10 minutes before a diesel-engine, dual-rear-wheel Chevrolet truck came by and asked if we needed assistance. You bet! Andy helped him get his tire chains on and hook up the chain to the front of the van. While they were doing this I was wishing we were in his position, being able to help people so practically. I tried to imagine who he was - what kind of job does he do that he has such a truck, is he just out for something else and found all these people in need, etc. I thought through the outward-focused service mindset that our church is really working on and wondered where this man's desire (or at least willingness) to serve came from.

I saw he had some of those "awareness ribbon" magnets on his tailgate and I assumed they were war/military-related. I squinted to read them and could make out only the first and third ones which said, "Support Farting" and "Support Lap Dancing."

I'm going out on a limb to assume that he probably doesn't get his willingness to serve from feeling full of the Holy Spirit. But I could be wrong.

A dandelion in a field of poppies

I visited a Roman Catholic Church last Saturday for a mass in Spanish. I don't speak or understand Spanish. I know a few words, but that doesn't help in a real-life conversation - or a church service. I also was the only blonde in the crowd. I told Andy my hair said, "Look at me!" Then I realized that lots of people live their lives feeling like that everyday and it's good for me to be in that situation. Granted, my situation was insulated in that I was there with Andy's family including relatives visiting from Mexico, so I had a sense of belonging because they looked and sounded like everyone else there and I belong to that family. (And, surprisingly, they do take ownership of me.)

Were I Catholic, I'd know what was going on in the service despite not understanding the language, but I had the double-whammy of not understanding AND not being exposed to Catholic mass in the past except for a few isolated incidents. Yet, I could still tell that I shared something deep with these people - a genuine belief that God is bigger than all of us and that Jesus came to teach us to love.

Andy's dad and aunts asked me whether I liked the service. I thought it a strange question because, obviously, I didn't understand any of the service! But I did say that although I didn't understand any of it, I enjoyed being in that type of situation where I was wildly outnumbered based on my race and cultural experience because it helped me learn about other peoples' perspectives while showing me that deep inside our hearts, we all share so much in common.

So sorry, Mom - but not for when I was sick at night

It's generally not until people become parents that they truly realize the sacrifices that their parents made for them. This has specifically crossed my mind during the many hours I have spent awake when I should've been sleeping but couldn't because Kevin wasn't sleeping.

I've planned to write poignant thank-you letters to my parents but have not done so. I rationalize my laziness with figuring that I can write a letter at each of Kevin's big life changes, including starting elementary school, middle school and then high school, etc.

Last week, I came close to sitting at the computer to compose a letter of apology to my parents. I stopped myself when I realized that after all of the difficulties we've had in the past two years, it was THIS that made me apologize for my behavior as a kid rather than the "important" stuff of needing to be hugged while throwing up overnight, forcing my mother outside on cold nights when I had croup, needing to be run here, there and everywhere for gymnastics practices, meets and ballet classes, etc.

I am not ready to apologize for any of that yet, but I am ready to apologize for all of the "Grody to the max!" and "Yeah, that's the ticket!"'s that I ever said.

Because, really, I've had more "Yeah, Baby!" responses to my questions in the past 3 weeks than I can count and I've had it.

Certificate of Citizenship

Kevin and I were interrupted while mixing up Andy's birthday cake (you can see the bowl in the background) by our letter carrier at the door. He had a certified letter for Kevin Aguilera. It was his Certificate of Citizenship! He doesn't have a clue what that means but he knew I was elated to have it and he humored me by holding up the certificate and saying, "Cheese!"

He became a U.S. citizen a year ago, but it's taken this long for me to get the paperwork in and have it processed.

Kevin can use this paper and his Maryland birth certificate to accomplish any official task such as getting into school, proving his age for sports and getting a U.S. passport. Woohoo! 

Ten more years, less freaking out

Ten years ago, Andy turned 30 and I thought, "Oh my heavens, I'm dating a guy who's thirty. This isn't going to work - he's too old." Yesterday, Andy turned 40 and I'm just glad that he's still able to walk without a cane.

I'm becoming all sorts of things since becoming a mother

I'm not known for my perseverance/determination/sticktuitiveness/etc. I find it much easier to stop trying than to try hard.

When I became a mom and started scheduling playdates, I thought, "Wow, this will be my chance to let Kevin play with someone else and for me to talk with another mother about how much I hate parenting!" What actually happened was that Kevin and the other kids needed some help learning how to play together. They didn't just need a referee (although they really needed that, too) but with some of his friends, they needed to know what to do besides sit and look at each other.

Playdates were supposed to be about the kids playing, and me on a date with a friend. Didn't happen. But as time went on and the other mothers and I spent a lot of energy working directly with the kids, playdates became easier and more productive regarding the kids playing and me being able to enjoy time with a friend.

This afternoon we had a babysitter come over to play with Kevin while we were here. It was to be a trial-run for having him babysit sometime so that we can go out - on a real date - and see each other without Kevin in between us or trying to talk over us so that we can't have a conversation without him (how dare we?)

I thought that G and Kevin would laugh and play and run around together while I floated about getting all sorts of cleaning done. Alas, what actually happened was that Kevin and G needed some help learning how to play together. This was weird because G babysits other kids, so I really thought he'd be a bit more proactive. Or even reactive. Just some sort of active.

To make a very long story about the first hour he was here much shorter, I spent a lot of time worrying about what to do. HOWEVER, I didn't think to myself that this will never work. I made sure that I instead looked for ways to help it work. And as I was doing so, I was proud of myself for helping the second hour of our trial run be more about G and Kevin playing and me floating about getting all sorts of cleaning done.

This could definitely work out.

Of all the (*&*%$ing @%#*&$s

Does posting an entry saying that I want to throw a chair at one of my coworkers constitute a blatant break of the dooce rule that thou shalt not blog about work unless thou is willing to part with thine job, which I ist not?

I jinxed it!

I did it! I said my truck was dead and, lo, it is sitting, ever ugly but functional, in our driveway, waiting to cart me off to work tomorrow.

P.S. Andy is pretty handy to have around.

The end is near - I can really feel it this time

This REALLY might be it for the truck. I know I've said it before, but this is different. Up 'til now, everything wrong was either a convenience issue or an easily fixed issue. This time, a headlight is out. The problem is that when I replaced it with a new headlight, wackiness ensued.

The new light didn't come on at first. Then it came on dimly. Then it worked but the other headlight went out. Then they both worked in low mode but one was dim. The new one never worked in high beam mode but then it started to and the other one went out. This went on for awhile last night and Andy cleaned up the connections and we got them both to work in low beam mode but neither to work in high beam mode. That's not a problem, just a convenience factor. Andy never uses high beams, I almost never do because there are always too many cars around where I usually drive.

Andy called from work to say that both low beams worked but only dimly today. And, the high-beam indicator on the dash always stays on. The indicator light is no big deal. Again, a convenience factor. But driving with dim headlights? Definitely a huge safety issue.

I have other wiring problems in the truck but they aren't safety hazards on the level that this is. And we know how expensive it can be to pay someone to track down a wiring problem - and then, who knows how long the fix will last because the whole system is probably corroded to the point of being dust held together by some road grime.

Andy left work early and just got home so that he'd be able to drive in as much daylight as possible. He told me he stopped at the surplus store and bought a couple of grenades.

Her sticks are made for walking

Andy and Kevin saw a woman wearing high heels and Kevin asked, "Papa - why is she walking on sticks?"

I became "one of them" last night

I was out shopping by myself last night and at Staples, I found something I needed to ask my mom about (because we sometimes help each other out with picking up gifts the other can't find near them.) So I realized I had my cell phone with me and I stood there, inside the fairly quiet store and called my mom. As we were talking, we decided against me getting what I was looking at but we kept talking so I walked out the store and down the sidewalk WHILE STILL ON THE PHONE. I knew I was breaking one of Dianne's Cardinal Rules of Etiquette but it was so... thrilling. And convenient.

Even though I did stop outside of Target to finish my conversation before going inside, I still would have given myself a sneering look had I been watching from outside myself.

Kevin, at the toy store

He winds his way through the toy store, looking for something on which to spend his money. He stops, his eyes widen and he says, "Oooh... is this Polly Pocket?" He picks up the box, viewing the Polly Pocket mermaid playset on sale for $9.99. He puts the box down and says, "Nah, I have enough Polly Pockets at home already."

I'm so glad we laugh about most things

This morning we got up late for church on the day we were scheduled to subsitute for the kids' classes. Bummer.

We were asked for one of us to report to the 2nd & 3rd grade class. Bummer.

After a few minutes, the teacher determined that there were enough teachers for the few kids and she let me go into the service. Woohoo!

This afternoon, Andy set up the van to change the oil. Woohoo!

Andy found some really light oil on the grille slats and a hole in the AC compressor in front of the radiator. Bummer.

I decided to take Kevin out for the afternoon to do some birthday and Christmas shopping for Andy so that Andy could have some time alone. Woohoo!

Andy pointed out the screw stuck in the front tire of the truck. Bummer.

I decided to put on the spare and let Andy plug the busted tire when he was done changing the van's oil. Woohoo!

The spare tire only had 20 lbs of pressure in it. Bummer.

We remembered that our neighbor has an air compressor. Woohoo!

Andy removed the screw and plugged the tire while it was still on and filled both tires with the compressor. Woohoo!

I unplugged the compressor from the outlet in the truck and the cover wouldn't close. I fiddled with the door (which also covers the other outlet) for 5 minutes trying to convince myself that I could fix it but had Andy confirm that it wasn't possible. Bummer.

Andy discovered that we didn't have enough oil for the van. Bummer.

I went to the auto parts store first and got some oil for the van. Woohoo!

I asked for those rubber replacement covers for the outlets in the truck. They don't have them and suggested I try Radio Shack. Bummer.

I tried Radio Shack and they suggested I try Home Depot. What?? The outlets are still exposed on the dash. Bummer.

I returned home and started making dinner by putting water in a pot. Water shot out of the wrong end of the faucet. Bummer.

I put Andy to work on the faucet and went out to put the rest of the oil in the van. I cleaned up and Andy turned on the van to take it off the ramps. The fan on "high" made a crazy noise. We turned it up and down trying to diagnose the problem and had no clue what was going on. Bummer.

After a minute, the noise stopped. Woohoo!

I realized that Andy will be driving the van tomorrow since I'll take the truck to work. Woohoo!

We realized that we can't take the van in for service of either the possible AC problem or the new tires it desperately needs because we can't all fit in the truck to get back home. Bummer.

From my outbox

Dear Paul & Sally,

Congratulations! You were the first inadvertent call that I made from
my cell phone because I didn't have the keyguard on. Oops! :-) It
happened this morning so if you have a message or caller-id that
confused you, it might have been my purse calling.

Dianne

Roundup

Phones
We got our phones on Thursday and when Andy was playing around with his on Friday, he unknowingly downloaded a ringtone - "The Ride of the Valkyries." Fortunately, I found out what he did before he downloaded a bunch more because he didn't realize he had to pay for it. Now he has to keep it as his ringtone because he doesn't want to waste the $2.50. I think it fits.

Tour de France
In a controversial but well-calculated move by both parties, the U.S.'s Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team signed superstar Ivan Basso for the next two years. He was the leader of Team CSC last year and he won the Giro d'Italia (a stage race like the Tour de France but in Italy) and then was sidelined days before the Tour de France because of allegations that he was involved in Operacion Puerto, the Spanish doping scandal. He was one of the favorites to win the Tour last year but never had the chance to try. Again this year, he will attempt the rare Giro d'Italia/Tour de France double-win. He's got the goods and I will be cheering him on as I was hoping to do last year.

Cars
Kevin and I watched "Cars" last night at a friend's house. It wasn't as good as I'd expected and hoped. I thought it was pretty slow and most of it I wouldn't expect a young child to understand. It was rated "G" and either I'm a prude, or that wasn't valid. My guess is that I'm a prude but, whatever. I already ordered the DVD for Kevin for Christmas but I wonder whether I would have had I waited until I'd watched it.

One of the best pictures ever

We went camping in October with Amy and her kids. The kids got along very well over the weekend and had a lot of fun. One day they were running and racing and then decided to tackle each other. They wrestled for awhile and surprisingly, nobody got hurt. We even have proof of how much fun they had. The timing of this shot is perfect.

  

Tonight's after-dinner dinner table conversation

Kevin: Knock-knock.
Andy: Who's there?
Kevin: Boo.
Andy: Boo who?
Kevin: Aww, why are you crying? Hahahahaha. Knock-knock.
Andy: Who's there?
Kevin: Boo.
Andy: Boo who?
Kevin: Aww, why are you crying? Hahahahaha. Knock-knock.
Andy: Who's there?
Kevin: Boo.
Andy: Boo who?
Kevin: Aww, why are you crying? Hahahahaha.
Andy: [ahem] So there was a priest, a rabbi and a duck on an airplane...
Kevin: And a beast and a rabbit and a turkey.
Dianne: And the pilot said, "What is this, some kind of joke?"
Andy: No, that's not it and there was no turkey. But there was a skunk.
Kevin: Ewwww! He said skunk! There was a, uh, beast, a rabbit, an elephant, a turkey...
Dianne: Continue your joke, Andy.
Andy: I was trying to but now I can't keep track of all of the animals involved.
Kevin: There was definitely a turkey!
Andy: So, there was a priest, a rabbi, a duck and a skunk on a plane. And the duck said to the skunk, "P-U, somebody stinks."
Kevin: Ewwwww!
Andy: And the skunk said, "Yeah, but it's not me - check out the priest over there."
Kevin: [gibberish]
Dianne: Go ahead, Andy, finish your joke.
Andy: That was it.
Dianne: Ugh.
Kevin: Knock-knock!

One small step for most people, one giant leap for us

So what made us finally get cell phones? It wasn't just that we couldn't tell my parents on our way to Cape May that we'd be there late because of traffic, it wasn't just because I made a Dr. appointment over the phone with a doctor who changed practices and offices and I didn't find out until I showed up to my appointment at an empty office, it wasn't just because I needed to contact a volleyball teammate at the emergency room after a dislocated shoulder injury or that I've searched all over Laurel and part of Elkridge in the past couple of weeks for a working pay phone....

No, it was because I found out that my parents, my brother and my sister all have "pay as you go" plans with Virgin Mobile where they pay about $7 per month to use their cell phones. And they are all able to use them just a little, which is what I'd want to do with a cell phone (THIS, I will need to point out to Amy, "[Cell] Phone Queen.")

We placed our order on Friday evening and I have no idea when the phones will arrive, but I am excited to get them.

Don't tell Amy

I just ordered mobile phones for Andy and me. I'm going to surprise Amy by calling her from mine after it gets here. She has no idea we have even been thinking about getting them. Shhhh...

Chat Transcript

me: Did you see the picture I posted on my blog? Warning: severe cuteness
Elesa: ...
oh brother!
you have sunk too low in this mommy thing
this is not the real dianne!
come back, dianne, come back!
me: I know - I couldn't believe how INSANELY CUTE he was when he put that costume on. I took a bunch of pictures of him at the zoo yesterday even though I have a million of him there already. I didn't take any of the animals, just him wearing his costume.
and I'm showing off his costume picture to people I work with!!!!
Save me, Elesa
Elesa: I think it's time for an intervention!
me: Tell Jeff you need to fly over here to help me
Elesa: That's true! I fear you're too far gone, though. I wish I could introduce you to old dianne. She would help me make fun of you.

Can you tell which one is the costume?

(Yes, I know the real one is very small and far away but elephants at the zoo don't respond to, "Here, Dolly... come here, Girl... come on, Anna, you too...")

The only dogs barking in my house are my feet - and they're loud

God designed me as a beautiful creation but he got my feet a bit mixed up. They have a lot of problems from extra bones (which don't seem to cause problems but make for interesting facial expressions by doctors the first time they see an x-ray of my feet) to weak arches to nerves running right where the most pain is felt to shorter than average tendons which don't like to stretch and are therefore inflamed most of the time.

My point isn't to get you to feel pity for me (although if you do, feel free to send a note of sympathy.) My point is to say that I wear orthotics to treat some of my problems and they cost hundreds of dollars and health insurance doesn't cover them because they are not orthotic shoes and I can transfer them from shoe to shoe (excuse me for needing them in athletic shoes, cleats AND hiking shoes - darn my active interests.) Moreover, Flexible Spending Accounts don't cover them either. Keep in mind that Tylenol and Band-Aids are now eligible for FSA coverage so that we can buy them with pre-tax money, but orthotics, which cost hundreds of dollars plus copayments for doctor visits for casting and such....

*BEEP* I interrupt this rant to bring you (and myself, more importantly) the news that orthotics appear now to BE ELIGIBLE for payment through a Flexible Spending Account. Wahoo!

*BEEP (again)* This issue is not as clear as it should be. I can't find on the IRS website any specific mention of orthotics although some employee benefit administration providers say that they are eligible.

So, um, nevermind - maybe.

A proclivity for laziness starts early in some boys

Kevin: I want to wear my sleeper to bed without underwear.
Me: You may not wear your sleeper without underwear.
Kevin: But if I want to go to the bathroom, then I'll be all ready.

We now own 2 new fire extinguishers

After all the hype, this isn't all that exciting but it is still funny (since nobody was hurt.)

We really love our new woodstove insert in our fireplace. We're still learning how well it works.

Thursday night we had a fire and on Friday after work, Andy shoveled out some of the ashes into a bucket. He put some kitchen trash on top of the ashes and left the bucket for about an hour and then dumped the contents into the compost bin. He and Kevin walked up the backyard into the shed and then as Kevin was milling around he noticed a problem and yelled, "Papa! There's fire in the compost!" Andy walked out to see 3-ft high flames above the bin. He ran inside for a fire extinguisher and put out the fire. He walked away but turned around one last time to see flames coming out the vent holes on the side of the bin so he used the extinguisher again. Then he doused the whole thing with the garden hose. The hard plastic bin was melted and is deformed with holes in it.

That was all on Friday. On Saturday, Andy and Kevin went to the local firehouse's Open House where Kevin learned all about fire safety and fortunately didn't tell the firefighters about the fire the previous day.

I finished reading Life of Pi

My last post was so mysterious that I thought the comments you all would leave would fill up my gmail inbox (get it? gmail inbox? which is so large it's theoretically limitless? haha?) Anyway, no comments. Perhaps nobody wants to hear what happened.

Anyway... if you have read Life of Pi and would be willing to discuss it with me, please let me know. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet but I'd LOVE to talk to (or email) someone about it. Thanks.

Email from home

I was away this weekend, scrapbooking with friends. This morning, I borrowed Kirsten's laptop and read this email message:

Hi mama!

I hope you are having a good time. Papa is taking good care of me.
Papa says that he hopes you are having a good time also.
kevin313-808593179317. You guys have to get a new compost bin but
don't worry Papa has already bought a new fire extinguisher. I miss
you and papa says he misses you too. See you tomorrow.

Love,
Us

Happy Two-Year Anniversary

Dear Kevin,

Tomorrow marks the two-year anniversary of you joining our family and of us joining yours. Usually when I note some sort of appropriately significant amount of time since we met you, I spend more time thinking about what it was like at the beginning. This year, I’m ready to tell you more about who you are now.

1. You are charming to those people that you allow to see some of the real you.
2. You dance like there may be no music left tomorrow.
3. You love to look at books and have them read to you. Lately you have a strong interest in learning to read.
4. You love role-playing, whether with toys or other people.
5. Your feet are more coordinated with a ball than your hands are.
6. You love swimming lessons.
7. You can turn off the TV and the video player by yourself.
8. You enjoy watching Leapfrog videos, Thomas the Tank Engine, Blue’s Clues, Kipper and Berenstain Bears.
9. Your favorite books are Berenstain Bears stories and you like to pick out stacks of dinosaur books from the non-fiction section of the library.
10. You are testing the waters of telling lies, particularly when we ask if you did something wrong.
11. You are learning to play independently and that is usually with little people or other toy figures.
12. You have a grand time playing energetic and rough-house type games with your cousin, Julia.
13. You don’t like most people touching you, especially younger kids.
14. Your favorite part of preschool is Show ‘n Tell on Fridays.
15. Your imagination is off the charts.
16. You take good care of Alyssa, watching out for her.
17. You use words like "actually" and "similar."
18. You’ve learned to ask Papa, "Are you joking?" instead of immediately crying when he tells you something you don’t want to hear.
19. You know that you like the taste of orange medicine but not always the red kind.
20. You like to help in the kitchen, particularly with measuring and mixing ingredients.
21. Your tastebuds have become more refined and pizza is still your favorite food.
22. You eat all of your vegetables when your teachers at preschool tell you to.
23. You would like to drink “Sprite soda” all day but you are happy enough with milk when I say no to soda (which is 99% of the time.)
24. You have figured out how to solve the cases of Freddi Fish and Putt Putt on your computer.
25. You have a tendency to tell us you can’t do something because you’re too lazy to try or because you tried once and it didn’t immediately work.
26. Your manners are impeccable for a 4-yr old.
27. You rarely have to go to timeout.
28. You delight in making us proud of you.
29. You work hard to make me laugh.
30. You are afraid of dogs, although you sometimes try taking steps to get past that.

Know that no matter what I’ve left off the list, you are an incredible person and I can now see past myself to want the best for you and to enjoy seeing you as my child.

Love,
Mama

Uncharted territories

This afternoon, Kevin watched TV while Andy and I took a nap. We're great parents, aren't we? After the video was over, Kevin asked me to read some books to him. When I leaned over to sit next to him on the couch, I noticed his brand new pants were ripped. Some thoughts ran through my head:

1. I wonder what happened?
2. This is the first time he's worn those pants!
3. Maybe he got pinched and is hurt?

I asked him how it happened and if his leg was ok. He looked up at me strangely - I couldn't read the look on his face. He didn't say he was hurt but he didn't really answer my question. Then I noticed that his shirt was ripped, also. His pants had a small, neat "V" cut in the thigh area and his shirt had a 4-inch long jagged tear.

I couldn't help but crack up laughing when I realized that he'd done this to himself with his scissors. He was pretty upset at my laughter but I couldn't hold it in. He was really afraid of getting into trouble so I told him that he wouldn't this time but that we had to go show Papa. He was vehemently opposed to that because he didn't want to get into trouble. This is also new territory for him - wanting to hide what he's done so we don't get mad at him.

We guess that the cut in his pants was an accident and then he thought, "Hmm... I wonder what happens if I try to cut my shirt?" This part was definitely not an accident.

Sweet product

I just used some Loctite Gel Super Glue and I am in love. The gel is thick to stay where you put it and you have to (easily, but suredly) squeeze the sides of the bottle to get it to come out. The bottle has a wide base and stands stably upright.

I have a history of super glue accidents (THANK GOD never with my eyes) and this stuff makes it really hard to have an accident. Should you have an accident, there are instructions on the package for how to get your fingers unstuck. It doesn't, however, describe how to get your wedding and engagement rings unstuck from each other and the dining room table.

You might think he's just a polite sweetie...

...but there's more to him than that.

Burn, baby, burn

The first fire in our new wood insert. Bring on the cold weather!

Still Growing

Compare to the collage of photos from the same location previously.

First black eye

Andy left after work on Friday for his "No Talking Allowed" camping trip. It was supposed to be 2 other guys plus him but one was sick so it was just Andy and Chris.

Kevin and I went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and to play on their playground. Not less than 2 hours after Andy left, Kevin has his first black eye. He bumped his face on the playset, I don't know how. He had a large red lump under the outside corner of his eye. After a few minutes he wanted to keep playing so we stayed for another half hour or so.

The next morning, the red spot was still there but some blood had seeped away from it to directly underneath his eye. At breakfast I said, "Kevin, you have a black eye!" He jumped up from the table and ran to look in the mirror and then he walked slowly back to me and said with a surprising amount of condescension, "Mama, I'm SUPPOSED to have black eyes, that's how God made me."

I told him that's the phrase we use when there is a bruise around someone's eye. He still has the black eye but it's getting better. Where the bruising had spread along the entire width of his eye, it's now a little smaller and the coloring is fading.

When Andy got home on Sunday afternoon and the black eye was at its worst, he said, "Kevin, how'd you get a black eye?" Kevin looked at me and rolled his eyes and slumped his shoulders in exhaustion at having to teach us everything, then repeated to Andy that he's supposed to have black eyes.

Parents - sheesh.

First ever family portrait

And second ever professional kid portrait.

Day Out With Thomas

On Wednesday night, we informed Kevin that we would all be visiting a railroad museum on Thursday and riding on Thomas the Tank Engine.

At first, he was stunned.


Then he did a happy dance.


Then he fell over from happy dancing so hard.


Shortly after we arrived, we saw The Holy Grail.


Then we rode on The Holy Grail.


Right before this picture was taken, Kevin and Alyssa were shoving each other out of the way from in front of James (the red engine.)

What local community building will do for you

As I've mentioned, we had our neighborhood picnic last Saturday to help our little community get to know each other. The next day, I took Kevin to a barbecue at a coworker's house and left Andy at home to relax by himself. While trying to do that, one of the neighbors came over to talk about a zoning issue that she was trying to fight. She stayed for 30 minutes moving the conversation to the "appalling" state of some of the houses on the other end of the street. We have no idea what she is talking about but we had heard previously from another neighbor about her saying such things in the past as well.

Last night when we came home, 2 families of neighbors were talking in one of their front lawns. We've never seen these 2 families talk together before the party. They may have, but we didn't see it. Last night, we saw it. When I went to get the mail, I met one of those families who said that Bill up the street was finding people to take their food because their freezer had gone belly-up that day. I also had a phone message from Bill's wife saying that she had a bit of an emergency and asking if I could call her. I called back and left a message but I assume the problem was their freezer. Either way, I would have never gotten that call in the past because nobody knew our names or phone number.

While this is all a bit tiring (trying to rest away from people and they find you, having to wave and be neighborly when you're exhausted from a day trip, etc.) this is also pretty cool - and it is what we asked for.

R.I.P. Northern Lights

I realize that there are small groups in the area that still consider themselves Northern Lights, but to me, my group was Northern Lights. And it is no longer.

Ten years ago, 7 people met together in an apartment in west Catonsville - a married couple, an almost-married couple, a married woman whose husband couldn't come, and two single ladies (I was one of them.) We met every Wednesday night to study the Bible and other books together. What we didn't know was that many of us would become very important friends to one another - nor that we'd still be at it 10 years later.

Since 1996, we've twice split into 3 groups because we grew so big. It's hard to have a meaningful discussion with 20 people in the room, especially when over half of them are introverts. We've changed meeting locations from house to house and we've changed leaders over the years.

The past couple of years, our group has been slowly but steadily declining in the level of satisfaction it has provided its members. The members' commitment to the group waned and the conversations became stale.

Tonight, 6 people met together in a house in Catonsville - four were members of the original seven. We met to discuss the fate of our group and came to a near consensus that it's time to fold.

I agreed with the decision and have been feeling that way for awhile so I was surprised on my drive home to feel very sad and then scared, in a way. I know that some of my friendships from the group will fade. I think that's ok and normal but it's still sad when I think back on how strong they used to be. Times change and relationships change and although I feel it's time to move on from meeting as a group every Wednesday night, it's sad to know that the "We'll still stay friends!" sentiment we tried to keep close to our hearts will not be upheld. It's hard to be separated by time and space and remain close. I found myself feeling scared because without such strong relationships forged by many hours spent together in prayer, mourning, joy, silliness and personal growth to support me, I may slip and fall. Honestly, that doesn't rationally concern me because I know they're still there and I know I will have room for new relationships, but the feeling came over me anyway.

I can't begin to express my gratitude and thanks to the people who have touched my life through Northern Lights. You've been my best friends, my companions, my supporters, my pray-ers and my entertainment. You've provided me windows into myself that I would not have otherwise had the opportunity to peer through. Thank you for also opening the windows into yourselves so that I could peer through to see the real you sometimes.

It was worth it

Today was our neighborhood cookout at our house. We worked pretty hard this week to prepare for it but we didn't prepare for rain and what did we get? Rain. Oh well, at the last minute we moved the party from the front lawn to the back porch and inside and made do.

Today was exhausting, but so worth it. The introductions, conversations, smiles and laughs flying about the crowd were fantastic. There wasn't a person who came that didn't say, "We are SO glad you did this. Thank you." And we were just as thankful that they came because that was the point of it - to get people together to meet, converse and become something other than anonymous to one another.

It's easy to list the ways that community is hard but what you gain from it is immeasurable.

Don't Drink the Water

The other day, my parents received a certified letter that stated the gas station which they are 2 houses away from, was leaking and MTBE, the additive that helps gasoline burn cleaner, was found in nearby wells. This has been a problem for some time around their county but this was the first that their local station was reported to have a problem.

The Baltimore Sun ran an article with some further information including:

the levels have been rising since spring

The letters, sent Friday, come nearly two months after the state received the results of groundwater testing at Meller's Food Mart, a convenience store and former Sunoco station. The state's delay in notifying the county Health Department could be a violation of Maryland law.

the county Health Department did not receive word of detection until Aug. 31 - nearly seven weeks after the findings

One of the wells also showed benzene, another gas additive, at 171 parts per billion.

It's Done

I just finished handing out the rest of the neighborhood picnic invitations. I knocked on some doors but I mostly just put them at the front doors or porches of the other houses. You know, even if only the people who I invited in person and who said they'd come come, it'll still be a good time and I'll consider it a success.

This is a moment for a huge PHEWWWWWWWWWWWWW! But then hopefully no migraine.

I did it! Well, I started to do it

Kevin and I just returned from over an hour of inviting some people on our street to our neighborhood picnic next Saturday. Last night Andy and I realized that we have to do it next Saturday or wait until next year and we didn't want to wait again, especially because we already have a bunch of hamburger meat and hot dogs in the freezer for the cookout. So... I took Kevin with me as an ice-breaker and hopefully a way for people to realize I wasn't trying to sell them something when I approached their door.

Anyway, people responded better than I expected! Which means that we were out there meeting and talking to people for longer than I had planned. And we're only 1/3 of the way done! We talked to people from our house to the north end of our street. Now we have that many people still on our street and then 6 houses to visit on the street between ours and the main road.

It's probably best to have a short time to get fully prepared because I've done some preparations already (bought meat for grilling, paper plates and napkins, thought about logistics of chairs and tables, etc.) and this way I won't have time to get burned out before the big event. And, this forces me to get out there and knock on some doors - which is one of the most unpleasant things I can imagine doing.

Kevin didn't really talk to people except to say "Bye!" but he did a good job of handing out flyers.

It just keeps getting better

Kevin picked out some purple bedsheets at Target last week so I put them in the wash yesterday. He helped me switch them from the washer to the dryer and as he put them in the dryer I said, "Do you know what this is?" He answered, "Your bathing suit?"

I gave him a quizzical look and he said, "Your underwear?"

He learns a lot from his father.

What I bring to our family

There's a Baby Einstein video about farms that includes a song to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell" that goes:

The cows give us milk! The cows give us milk!
Hi-ho the derry-o, the cows give us milk!

The chickens give us eggs! The chickens give us eggs!
Hi-ho the derry-o, the chickens give us eggs!

Ever the musician and songwriter/stealer, Kevin made up some other words to the song such as

Our plates give us food! Our plates give us food! Hi-ho the derry-o, our plates give us food!

Then we came up with

Papa gives us silliness! Papa gives us silliness! Hi-ho the derry-o, Papa gives us silliness!

After hearing our rendition of the song, Andy prompted Kevin to come up with words about me and Kevin came up with the following gem on his own:

Mama gives us hair in the shower! Mama gives us hair in the shower!
Hi-ho the derry-o, Mama gives us hair in the shower!

And he sang it with the gusto of a Broadway performer.

Weekly Roundup

This week has been weird. I'm a creature of habit, by any definition. This week's schedule change to 5-day preschool for Kevin, the start of swimming lessons for Kevin and my holiday on Monday which is a day I'd usually get 8 hours of work in has thrown me for a bit of a loop, albeit not as big of one as I might've expected. That's probably because I expected it to be bad, so anything would've been better than that.

Swimming lessons went great. Kevin started out the class crying as soon as he got in the water. He sobbed for about 10 minutes but I held my ground (I'm such a good parent) and stayed on the bleachers instead of going over to him. He eventually learned to trust the floatie strapped on his back and to trust the teacher and by the end of the 1/2 hour class, he was jumping off the side of the pool and then "swimming" without the teacher pulling him. Good stuff.

Now that preschool has officially started (and summer time fun is over) Kevin is learning school-type things each day. He even has a project due next week (technically, *I* have a project due next week) and he gets to take something in today for show and tell. I am still glad that he was there for the summer to get to know the other kids and teachers but I was ready for something a bit more structured and I'm happy he's getting it now.

I like putting jigsaw puzzles together and I recently realized that while working on them, I spend a lot of time in contemplative thought. I think through things rather than just thinking about them and I think about other people and their needs. Even when I specifically set aside time to do that, I don't keep my brain on the task for as long as I can while I'm putting a puzzle together.

This afternoon we'll meet with our social worker for the last time in reference to Kevin's adoption. This will be our last post-placement visit and report. In one month, we'll celebrate the 2-year anniversary of Kevin being part of our family.

Buns

Last night when I was finished eating dinner, I left my place at the table to work on the puzzle set up at the other end.

Kevin: Mama, did you wash your hands?
Dianne: No, I don't need to. I didn't touch my food; I used my fork and knife.
Andy: (whispering to Kevin) Ask her how she ate her hamburger.
Kevin: Mama, how did you eat your hamburger?
Dianne: I did eat it with my hands, but my bun wasn't dirty because it wasn't inside out like Kevin's.
Kevin: (squeezing his bottom with both hands) I can't turn it inside out, silly!

Photo comparison

We finally laid out all 3 sets of photos and made our decision about where we'll order prints from. The big winner? Shutterfly!

Here are the 5 photos we had printed by Snapfish, Shutterfly and Kodak EasyShare Gallery.







Surprisingly (at least to me) the Kodak photos were the worst. They looked washed out because the colors were lighter. The picture of Nicholas in half sun and half shadow didn't look nearly as nice because the contrast between the light and dark wasn't natural. The Kodak photos also lacked detail, which I don't understand. In the picture of the mountain through the logs on the bridge, the logs in the foreground were smooth while in the Shutterfly and Snapfish prints, you could see the wood details. In terms of convenience, Kodak took the longest to get our prints to us in the mail.

Snapfish and Shutterfly were close enough in print quality for us to be able to make our decision based on convenience factors. While we already use Snapfish for all of our film developing so we have a lot of pictures stored there, I really like that Shutterfly prints my file name on the back of each picture and sends an index print. Snapfish was the only one that didn't send an index print and I really think they should.

I've spent a lot of time this weekend transferring photos to Shutterfly's website. I can drag and drop them into their photo upload application and then let my computer and dsl connection do the rest.

The paperwork never ends

I suspect that I'll be filling out paperwork for Kevin (or at least double-checking his efforts) for another 20 years, but most of that will be paperwork that we can call someone to ask about should a question arise or that won't affect his life drastically if we get something wrong. "Oh, you wanted his birthdate, not mine? Sorry, let me correct that and hand it right back to you so he can join the t-ball squad."

I'm down to my last nerve (or is it fed up to my last nerve?) with federal government paperwork for Kevin's adoption. This is almost as bad as trying to make a call to the phone company except that I don't expect this to be easy. However, it is still frustrating.

It appears that the number of different forms the government creates is less so that the question of whether a person is filling out the correct form or not is not as difficult of an issue. But, on each form, there are so many options for how to fill it out, that it's just as confusing as trying to figure out whether I'm on the right form at all.

I'm currently filling out the N-600, "Application for Certificate of Citizenship." I honestly think this is the last thing, other than tax forms, that we'll have to file for Kevin. We will probably get him a passport soon, since I have extra passport photos due to a misunderstanding with the helpful lady at FedEx/Kinko's yesterday and they will technically expire in 29 days, and that will somehow be affected by his adoption because we'll have to prove that he's a U.S. citizen and I'm sure the CoC application won't be even looked at by then, let alone finalized. So I guess that's one more thing.

I'm not saying that all of this isn't worth it because, honestly, he is.

And to think that although I've spent the last 3 months loving the idea of not having anymore kids and even telling a bunch of people that all the way up through last week, I now think I want another. What the heck is wrong with me?

Pictures I've taken lately

In preparation for the remnants of tropical event Ernesto to slide through here, we saved some of our roses before the wind hit. I don't usually cut them and bring them inside but as pretty as they are on the table, I should do it more often!




In the mood to eat cookie batter the other day, I had Kevin help me make chocolate chip cookies. We baked some right after dinner so they were extra yummy.


I went on a spending spree yesterday. Although it was somewhat planned, I'm still slightly uncomfortable with it. When I graduated from college, I bought a shower curtain for my new apartment. I've been using it ever since because although my tastes may have changed, there was nothing wrong with it. Yesterday, I bought a new one. And not only the shower curtain but matching curtain hooks, hand towels (to use only when guests come), soap dispenser, and bath towels for Andy and me.

Now with Blogger Comments

When I created my blog, Blogger didn't include a commenting feature so I enlisted the help of HaloScan, which I really liked. Now that I've switched to Blogger's new (beta) version, I can't get my comment code to work with their new template format. I could revert to my old template and blogger version or I could just suck it up and use blogger's comments, which is what I'm deciding to do. So, go ahead and comment, you legions of commenters who I'm sure have so missed my commenting feature over the past week or so.

Swimming Lessons are ON

It's official, Kevin likes to swim. This was the scene last Friday at Kevin's playdate.



The scene this morning was me getting out of bed at 5:30 am to go to the YMCA to sign Kevin up for swimming lessons. I've never been to the Y so I didn't know if there'd be a horde of crazy parents camping out to register so I took what I was hoping was the middle road and I aimed to be there at the time registration started - 6:00 am. Turns out because only first-time participants have to register in-person, I was there with a group of older ladies signing up for the arthritis swimming class. And don't think I'm being facetious, that's what they all said when they got to the desk: "I'm registering for the arthritis class." And they were all dressed up with their faces made up and their hair nicely coiffed.

Now that we're in their system and they have my signed waiver, I'll be able to register online for any other classes anyone in our family wants to take. So, you can bet I won't be rolling out of the driveway at 5:50 am anymore to sign up; I'll be rolling out of bed and over to the computer still in my PJs at 5:59 am next time.

Out with the old, in with the new - unless I take them back to the store

I used to not let people see my feet. There's nothing wrong with my feet, at least nothing anybody would notice, really, I just felt vulnerable when my feet were exposed. I know, you didn't need to know about another neurosis of mine but seriously, I'm over this one. I decided to let my toes out to see the sun my junior year of college and I even painted my toenails - which led my friends to remark that my short, round appendages with red nails looked like pimento-stuffed olives. Ok, then.

I bought a pair of Teva sandals. They were cutting edge because they were one of the first models to have more than just the thin, flat, flexible sole - I think they were called some sort of "shark" something with the extra tough layer of gray material as well.

Fast-forward 13 years (holy cow, could I be that old?) to 3 weeks ago when - oh my! - the 2 pieces of sole on my left shoe separated. Granted, the velco was already wearing out and the straps had split apart long ago, but they hadn't been noticeably worn out until the left one starting flapping.

I immediately shouted for joy as I LOVE to buy shoes and this was a bonus because earlier in the week my purse started sporting holes and if there's anything that I love more than buying a new pair of shoes, it's a new purse. "Woohoo!" I said out loud.

While dreaming of the new styles by Keen and Teva that all the cool outdoorsy types are wearing this year, I wondered whether I'd really find anything this time of year in my size. Or maybe I should wait until next spring when the new styles come out and then I'd be the first one with the coolest shoes on the block.

I asked Andy if he could glue my old pair back together and after making sure I was serious, he gave it a go. My poor sandal sat in the garage with some sort of epoxy or glue on it and any number of clamps to hold the pieces together for good adhesion. (Don't ever say Andy does anything part-way.)

A couple of days later, I had my old shoes back and I continued to wear them. In the meantime, I bought a new purse so I didn't feel so bad about the shoes. Then we got a sale catalog in the mail from REI and guess what was marked down but advertised so they MUST have lots of sizes in stock? The Keen Newport H2 that I so wanted waiting under my bed every morning for me to slip on!

We went to REI last night and guess who came home with a brand spankin' new pair of Keen Newport H2s? NOT ME. Ask Andy what's wrong with his what, 5- measly years old Teva sandals and what is his answer? "Nothing, really." Yet he brought home the Keens. Unfortunately, they didn't fit me. But I did come home with a new pair of sandals that are nice enough. I think.

Here are my old ones, not looking too bad except for all of the mud right now, thanks to a highly productive day in the garden.




Here are my new ones, not looking different enough from my old ones (they didn't have the red in my size) to warrant much excitement although they do feel nicer.

Firewall

My parents lent us the DVD Firewall and we watched it tonight. I was expecting not to like it because of the crazy way computer technology is shown in films and on TV but that wasn't why I didn't like it. I had such a visceral reaction to what happened to the main character's family that I almost stopped watching the movie and then a few minutes later, I was stuck watching it with my stomach tied in serious knots because I couldn't wait for it to be over so that I could see the main character kick the crap out of the bad guy for messing with his family.

People say that when you have kids, you see the world differently. I've said that I see things differently now that I have a kid. But this was more than I ever expected - I can't describe how it felt to watch this man's kids go through that.

One of the bonus features on the disc is a dialogue between Harrison Ford (he played the main character) and the director and Harrison Ford said at one point that you have to be careful not to make the mistake of putting kids in such peril that the audience blames the good guys in the story for putting their kids in a position to have to go through that. I didn't blame the good guys, so I guess they didn't cross the line that way, but I had a hard time paying any attention to the story. All I wanted was for the movie to end. I wonder whether I would've cared if it had ended after just a half hour and not made any sense vs. having to wait 2 hours for it to just tie up nice and tidy and make sense (which is usually all I want in a movie.)

I don't mean to say it was a bad movie. It was just a bad movie for me to watch and not for the reasons I expected!

Sleeping better

On Wednesday night I took Benadryl hoping to "reset" my sleep cycle. I slept a little better. Thursday night I took Benadryl again and slept terribly, even during the first four hours, when I thought I was guaranteed some good rest. I didn't take any Benadryl last night and I finally slept better. I do feel better overall but still not quite right. I'm ok with not being back to normal as long as I'm moving in the right direction.

The other night, Andy had a dream that our friend, Will, found a Chevy 2500 pickup truck with 4 doors and 4-wheel drive for sale for $6000. Andy tried to figure out how to present the idea of buying it to me and then he saw a "ULEV" sticker in the window (Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle) and he thought that and the price tag might win me over, at least enough to look at it with him. Even in his sleep, he knows me well.

Last night, I had a dream that I went on a road trip with Matthew McConaughey and all sorts of weirdness ensued - not because he was weird as he has seemed in some news stories in real life, but because it was a dream and it was my dream and so my neuroses came across as they often do in my dreams. One of those weirdnesses involved him driving away from McDonalds without me because I was taking too long in the crowded and really dirty restroom but it turned out that he hadn't left me there, he was just in a navy blue pickup truck instead of the car that we'd arrived in and I couldn't find him in the parking lot. Then we were taken in by a very wealthy family for a night (I don't remember why) and Matthew wasn't as gracious of a guest as I would've preferred so I kept going behind him to fix things that he didn't leave the way he found them and writing thank you notes and signing his name on them.

Sorry, feed readers

Blogger posted the beta version of its new blogging interface/tools and I went ahead and said, "Sure, upgrade my template to your test version so that I have to re-enter all of my customizations AGAIN" and then I found myself re-entering my customizations and using their test version to easily select page elements and such. I enjoyed that so much that I kept making changes and more changes and more changes before realizing I hadn't turned off my site feed. Whoops, sorry about that.

You'll note a bit of a new look around here but nothing amazing except that you can't comment right now but I'm sure the legions of readers who leave me comments daily will understand that it's just for a short time until Blogger allows full customization of the HTML surrounding posts themselves and then, THEN you all will be able to comment on my witty and insightful drivel.

Yes, I know that's an oxymoron.

I don't feel well

For the past few days, I've realized that something is wrong. The problem with diagnosing it is that I can't say, "I have a migraine" or "I think I have a sinus infection" because I don't have a list of symptoms that I can describe. I have had a headache part of the time, but it's not the main problem. I have been sleepless, which is incredibly odd for me. Maybe one night every few months something (other than Kevin) will wake me up overnight but this has been many days in a row now. I am consistently waking up multiple times overnight either sitting up in bed or out in the hallway thinking that there is something I was supposed to do. I usually call these "stress dreams" but they're usually based on a particular stressor that I've always been able to pinpoint.

There is nothing in particular stressing me out this week. And I am not only sleepless, I feel.... icky. That doesn't clarify anything, does it? Physically, I don't feel well but, like I said, there's no list of symptoms that I can use to describe how I don't feel well. I just don't feel well, all over.

My brain doesn't feel right, either. It feels muddled and clouded yet it seems to be working just fine. I've gotten Kevin to preschool when he needs to be there, done a huge grocery shopping trip, worked at my job, prepared for tonight's small group gathering at our house, etc. I guess my brain doesn't feel well all over either.

I'm confused and frustrated that I can't figure this out. I'd like to feel better not just to feel better (this really isn't as bad as, say, being nauseous all the time) but to be better to my family and friends. I'm more impatient and short-tempered than I usually am but I can't figure out how to cut it off.

Sleep would probably help but there is no precedent in my life to know what to do to fix that.

Comparing the big guys

I uploaded the same 5 digital photos to Kodak Easy Share Gallery, Snapfish and Shutterfly and ordered prints so that I can compare apples to apples when deciding which company to order prints from in the future.

I sent photos from our trip to New Hampshire because they include a variety of different exposure/printing needs, such as a long-distance landscape shot with some items close up in the foreground, my cousin in half bright sun and half shadow, a cloud with the sun shining out from behind it, an indoor shot of 4 people with widely varying skin tones and 2 people swimming in the water.

I'll let you know my opinions of the prints when they arrive in a few days.

We've got two more to pick very soon

Remember the accidental melon? Apparently it tasted really good. I say "tasted" and not "tastes" because it was gone less than 24 hours after I cut it open.

And to think that I almost threw it in the trash without cutting it because it smelled so bad I was certain that it was rotten.

Coming to a blog near you

At the dinner table tonight, Andy and Kevin put on their show of trying to make me laugh. This usually takes a few trial and error steps before finding something that sets me off. Elesa has never seen this before. After about 5 silly faces and 2 silly voices, Elesa said to Andy, "You know that everytime you do this, she blogs about it, right?"

Takin' out the trash

Andy: I guess I could put this bag in a trash can and take that to the road.

Dianne: Well, that's how one usually takes out the trash, no?

Andy: But I mean, this will be the only thing in the trash can.

Dianne: So just take that bag out to the road.

Andy: But then the crows and other animals will be able to get it.

Dianne: But there's no food trash in there.

Andy: Crows be lookin', you know.

Next time, it's Andy's turn

I called the phone company today to renew our annual DSL contract at a lower price. They had no problem lowering my price, but they had a hard time letting me talk to someone who could help. I was more frustrated than I can describe. Why is it that calling the phone company is the most aggravating call I've ever made?

Confessions of a Truck Driver

My truck, God and I love it, is the first vehicle I owned. Now I also co-own a Honda Odyssey van. Neither are cars. Andy owned a car once but he has since owned pickup trucks and now the van. We like trucks and truck-like vehicles.

Our van has been in the shop for a week now. It needs a new power steering pump and pulley. It's at the dealer so I expected that they'd get the parts rather quickly but that isn't the case. They were supposed to call us when the parts came in and today is day 7 since they placed the order with no word. Perhaps they have the parts and are waiting to contact us until the van is ready to be picked up? I can hope.

In the meantime, we can't all fit in the truck so we rented a car last week - a 2005 Honda Civic. Andy and I cringed at the thought. I tried not to like it but I couldn't help myself... the tight turning radius, the peppy engine, the air conditioning... there was too much not to love!

I returned the rental car on Friday because we're fortunate to be able to borrow our friends' car while they are on vacation. It's a 1997 Honda Accord and while there is a little more leg room in the back seat, there's not as much else to love as I expected. It turns out that new vehicles just feel better than old vehicles and they really can't be compared on most levels - who knew?

The Accidental Melon

People visiting our vegetable garden earlier this season were heard to remark, "Is this yellow squash over here?" and "I thought you weren't growing squash this year." We responded that we planted no squash this year and we weren't sure what that viny thing in Kevin's section of the garden was.

We decided to let it grow to see what it was as it wasn't twirling itself around any other plants and we were curious. It grew longer but still didn't interfere with the enlarging sunflowers next to it so we kept watching it. It grew lovely yellow blossoms that turned into small green, furry fruits that we didn't recognize. They remained smaller than golf balls so we thought that was the end of our experiment.

The sunflowers harbored a pesty caterpillar species that killed them so when Andy cleared most of the sunflowers out of the area, we had a better view of the mystery vine. When we returned from vacation, I found 2 softball sized, still green and still slightly furry fruits! I showed them to Andy and after a few minutes he proclaimed, "These are cantaloupes!" I wondered how he knew and then he picked up another part of the vine to reveal an almost-ripe melon that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than a cantaloupe.

I suspect that it'll be ripe in the next few days and Andy will give it a try. I hope it's not disgusting but even if it is, it's still fun to know that we inadvertently grew cantaloupes.

Ahhh....

Kevin and I are enjoying thermostatically-controlled air conditioning right now. Andy will be highly impressed - mostly by the fact that I used a level when installing the new thermostat.

Yesterday was an interesting day

This is an email message I sent my parents last night.

So Andy called me this afternoon to say that something is wrong with
the van. It started acting up while he was in DC for a work test.
It's now at the shop with a possible busted power steering unit (no
leak, fluid is full, belt is fine). We have a rental car as the
dealer probably can't get to the van until Wednesday.



Tonight's thunderstorms gave our yard a bolt of lightning and we're
fortunate that most everything is working normally but our thermostat
is kaput. The display won't come on but the correct number of volts
are coming to the base plate. At least the air conditioning is stuck
"on" and we'll wait to decide when we're ready to turn it off some
other way before doing anything that we might not be able to reverse!



During the lightning storm, I got a migraine.

Last night we kept the air conditioning on all night and this morning we couldn't see out of any windows because they were all covered in water. We tested turning off the AC at the breaker panel and when we turned the breakers back on, both the outside and inside units came back on. So, right now they're off and I'll turn them back on when it gets a little warmer later. Either that or when I get the new thermostat installed (!), which I'm in the middle of now (but waiting for Andy's opinion on something before I finish.)

This is what happens....

...when you forget to tell the people taking care of your garden that they may harvest anything they find of value while you're gone.

This is a cucumber the length of my forearm from fingertips to elbow that is sun-bleached white.

Trip Photos

We took over 200 photos of our week in New Hampshire. Here are a few for you to enjoy.

The Swift River runs along the Kancamagus Highway through the White Mountains National Forest. There is no bad view of the river - it is cold and clear with mountains on either side and rocks creating waterfalls.

Quite a bit of our entertainment was water play in rivers and lakes and even this municipal fountain in North Conway.

We stayed at my cousins' in-laws' summer house in Madison, NH (with my cousin, her 2 sons and her in-laws.) This is the town hall and police headquarters of Madison.

We're Home

Left Madison, NH, this morning at 10:00 am. Rolled into our driveway at 1:00 am. Time for bed.

Oh, and the grass is brown. Will need to ask the neighbor (who mowed while we were gone) about that.

Good night.