Black Friday takes on a New Meaning

So Thanksgiving was so great we decided to spend the entire next day together. Thursday was great, so wouldn't another day together be even better?!?!

We met assorted siblings and cousins at a Chuck E Cheese type place for the kids to run through the tunnels and the ball pits. The Monkey slept the entire time, the kids were really pleasant, no problem. Mind you, none of them had naps, but they were doing OK. Til we pushed the envelope. And decided to go to dinner.

It didn't really occur to anyone that there would be 11 adults, 4 preschoolers, and 3 in high chairs, and that we hadn't called ahead.

It didn't really occur to anyone that when one of the preschoolers vomitted on her mother (at the table) that the entire family was exposed to some sort of sickness.

It didn't really occur to anyone the reason why the pizza was $15 per person...even though only a few people partook of the beer that we all apparently paid for evenly.

People only started putting together the pieces as we all fled the restaurant, hoping that other patrons wouldn't pelt us with breadsticks as we left.

Our first clue was when the Monkey starting vomitting in the car,and spiked a fever the next day, landing us in a med-check facility on Saturday. Our second clue came when L laid down at 2pm and didn't get back up until 9pm...and went to bed for the night at 11pm.

Other families had similiar issues....atleast one person in each household got "something".

We're thinking about skipping Christmas and possibly reconvening for the Fourth of July.

T-Day 2005

McDonald's Breakfast at 7:30am: $6.85
Tank of Gas to head North 7:45am: $25.00
Dessert purchased along the way 8:00am: $ 6.00
Extra baby supplies: $30.00

Being together with all six of L's siblings, all seven neices & nephews:PRICELESS

We had a great turkey day!!! As always, I appreciate the insight I gain when the entire clan is together, including the long-lost sister from Miami. So much insight as to why they are....

ER ultimatum

If any staff member at County is maimed or killed by the impending plane crash, I will, once and for all, stop watching ER. I'm serious.

Can you read this?

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd
waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan
mnid. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it deosn 't mttaer in waht oredr the
ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is
taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it
wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos
not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a
wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed
Typoglycemia -

Amzanig huh? Yaeh and yuo awlyas thought slpeling was
ipmorantt.

Is there a bigger compliment?

You're Special Agent Dale Cooper. You're often too
brilliant for people to really follow, but your
infectious enthusiasm makes up for the fact
that you're frequently incomprehensible. You
are smart, intuitive, clear-headed,
compassionate, and cute as hell -- about your
only flaw is your insane coffee consumption.


Which Twin Peaks character are you?
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Desperate Housewife?

Actual words out of my mouth when L came in 90 minutes later than expected last night:

"Don't worry about her onesie--the stains are medicine and blood--not her blood. She'll just get more medicine on it with her next dose, so leave it on her and I'll change her after I give her the next round. Oh, and I started dinner...well, I started the potatoes. That's how the blood got on her onesie. You can mash them if you want. And there's, uh,....pasta in the fridge to go with that."

Thus the reason I HAD to go out last night for a (rather boring)meeting, just to get away. And more importantly, why I HAD to stop for a Mocha Latte on the way home...

Does That Stuff Keep? and FF Into the 21st Century

Two observations in my 2.5 hours of work last night:


observation #1:
Does That Stuff Keep?

I work with a gal who is breastfeeding her 8month old. Now she's to be commended for sticking with it for 8months, especially since she's working 2 jobs. So there are several 12 hour days in her schedule, where she must pump in assored restrooms for her own comfort and her son's nutrition.

Here's my question--does that stuff keep at ROOM temp?

Twice now I have come into work and in the back staff area there's her discreet black bag with all sorts of pumping paraphenalia--even moms who don't breastfeed know it on sight. And NEXT TO IT is a little container (quite full) with the yellow cap--tell tale sign that the off-white liquid inside is breastmilk. At room temperature. For 4 or more hours.

What I don't get is why she chooses to leave it there on the counter. We have a staff fridge. Each one of us has a locker. Heck, she even has that special black bag, which I'm pretty sure is insulated for that very purpose.

observation#2

Back in the day, I used to keep my senior year school papers on a 5-in floppy disk. My English teacher was very hip, and we had to type everything on the computer (with the spell check turned off). After getting a dot-matrix print out, we'd save it to a disk as well.

Fast Forward to 2005. The kids at the learning center now email their comps to themselves....so if they need a copy somewhere (like at the center) they can just go into their email and print a copy. No two-pocket folder needed. So last night one of the girls needed to print a copy of something. So she went to sign into her email, but was having trouble.

After several frustrating minutes, she said she needed to make a phone call. So she whipped out her cell phone and called HER BOYFRIEND to verify HER password. The password to her email account--the one with all her personal messages and her school work. He talked her through it, but it still wasn't working. Turned out she was mispelling her screen name--it was HottyDevil with a Y, not an IE! Silly girl.

I guess it just demonstrated the short-sighted/innoncence/stupidity of youth. A boy she's probably know for less than a year has access to basically her whole life.

My question is this: will she know how to change her password when the time comes?

Take your daughter to work day

Ok, don't know when exactly that day is on the calendar, but baby kahuna will be well-versed in individualized tutoring through a franchised system by the time she's six months old. It's working out well that I can bring the babe with me one or two days a week. It's a little nerve wracking, thank God she's not very fussy at all.

I set up in an office, with assorted gear in tow, and I get to work while she bats at toys and babbles. Then she nods off for awhile. It is truly a beautiful thing! I know it won't last forever, but while I am making money and not paying a sitter, I will cherish every moment.

I suppose the universe is smiling on me again.

When Writer's Block Hits...

Wax on about Pop Culture. Only in my case, pop culure circa 1990. I was turning 17, a junior/senior in High School. In the drama club. Just getting my driver's license. Going to Prom, working a PT job, thinking about college, attending my FIRST concert at the brand-spanking-new World Music Theater in Chicago. Depeche Mode: violator. I was so cool, in that tortured, I hate my life sort of way, with a pollyanna kind of twist.

So this TV show comes on---it's called Twin Peaks. And it invades my life like nothing ever had before. It was SO cool. And creepy. And kinda dirty. And I could watch it on TV, in my own house, in prime time, in front of my parents. I could also watch it on video tape, in my friend's basement all night long on the weekends if we wished.

Fast Forward 15 years. I'm still watching ER, waiting for it to get so ridiculous that I quit. I'm loving Desperate Housewives, but other than that, not too much TV to get excited about. Not too many shows to quote. Not too many characters to fall in love with/want to be like/get creeped out by or hate. Oh, I'm liking Grey's Anatomy as well. But like I was saying, not too much TV to get squealy over.

So I bust out the Twin Peaks boxed set--sent to Indiana by a friend on the west coast, sent to another friend, then to me..... I hook up the VCR, and start watching while feeding the monkey. And I am back in 1990. I had forgotten how INCREDIBLE that show is. I had forgotten all of the great lines, the characters, the creepiness, the invasiveness of the music. I had forgotten about the Log Lady, all the coffee, all the pie and so forth.

I watched 5 episodes yesterday. I am firing up the VCR right now to get going on the next tape. If I don't watch out, I'll get my hair cut in that cool asymmetrical 'do I once had and start looking for my 1986 Dodge Lancer in the parking lot....

I love trips down memory lane.

Another New Month?!?

Where, exactly, is the time going?? Oh for a moment or two to blog. Right now I am basking in the wonder that is the AFTERNOON NAP. What a glorious thing.

The most interesting thing of note is that I've gotten a sweet deal at my PT job at the learning center-they've offered me a flexible schedule (read:when Daddy is home) and on occassion, I can bring the monkey with me. How fabulous! Truly an answer to our prayers.

I've been thinking lately "oh, I wish I had a minute to blog..." and now that I do---writer's block!

Hate it when that happens.