Life milestone

Today, for the first time, I am employing the classic pencil-eraser-as-earring-back technique.

I think I'm a real woman now.

Easy Breezy Recipe Thursday

I have had a really hard time finding Banquet Fried Chicken in my local Publix. Boooo for that. But once I find it, I am totally making this easy breezy recipe. It was one of my Grandmother's staples. It reminds me of her house in Dallas.

Spicy Fried Chicken

1 box frozeen fried chicken, skinless if you prefer (7-8 pieces)
1/3 c. melted butter, or squeeze margarine
garlic powder
cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Arrange frozen chicken on a baking sheet covered with foil (do not thaw). Drizzle butter over the top. Sprinkle with generous amounts of both garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Bake 30-35 minutes (follow box directions). Smells so good as it cooks! Serves 3-4.

With mashed potatoes and a salad? Heaven on earth. Got any easy recipes you'd like to share today?

The weather's still nice...

It's still cool and autumn-like here. In the mornings, AJ's wearing a jacket to school, and we've transitioned to pants instead of shorts. Must really be fall.

Weather's about the only thing I feel like talking about right now. I'm in kind-of a funk, despite my favorite season. One thing that helped? Going to the dentist yesterday. Surprising, I know! But my dentist is rather cool. He was playing really loud music yesterday, and the hygenist and I had a hard time figuring out who it was. We could tell by the instruments it was something '70s... it was pretty "hard" rock, not the folky stuff I like from the '70s... finally I put my guess out there: Kansas? And I was right.

I'm much too young to know who Kansas is, by the way. ;) But we did have fun playing guessing games and talking music. My dentist is cool.

While he was tinkering around in my mouth ("up to his elbows," Grandmother used to love to say) I was thinking about the history of dentistry, and how barbaric it was, back in its earliest times. I mean, the idea of banging a fat rock against the problem tooth? Even the idea of "bite down on this stick to ease the pain..." ...just unfathomable to us modern, numb-loving dental patients. But that's how it started, after all. So, like I always do when I get intrigued about something, I wikipedia'd it. Get this:

The barbers of former times were also surgeons and dentists. Most early physicians disdained surgery, and therefore, as well as haircutting, hairdressing and shaving, barbers performed surgery of wounds, blood-letting, cupping and leeching, enemas, and the extraction of teeth. Thus they were called barber surgeons...

Nice! "I'd like a shampoo and cut, please, and while you're at it, why don't ya stick your hands in my mouth and knock out this molar? THANKS."

Barber-ic. I can't seem to find exact etymology of "barber" as relates to "barbarian," but there has to be a connection there. Speaking of barbaric dentists, do you know about Tim Burton's upcoming Sweeney Todd? Starring who else? Johnny Depp! I love a good Burton/Depp collaboration, and this one's a Broadway musical, to boot. My hometown community theater produced it when I was doing theater, way back when, so I'm anxious to revisit the story. Even though it's pretty gruesome.

I also recently read Myla Goldberg book called Wickett's Remedy, about a woman and her husband who develop this pseudo medicinal tonic-water that becomes a soda. It's set during the time of the flu epidemic of 1918, which I also meant to lookup right after I finished it. Crazy history! I'd never even known of this. Millions died! Why were we not taught about it? Strange. I was amazed, though, by some of the medical practices described in the fictional novel. Or, "practices." I'm not sure you could call them "medical" so much as "experimental."

I don't know why this crazy sub-modern medicine stuff is fascinating me at the moment. I'm kinda creeped out by my own mind. Perhaps I'd better go sit in the sunshine today. Play with some kittens or something. Eat an ice cream cone. :)

hello, OLD self

I am falling apart. My left elbow and my right knee are both on the fritz. Not to the point of limping or garishly joinking my arm out to the side, in and out, in and out -- although, imagine that walking down the street for a minute. You know you're laughing at my pitiful state! But it IS to the point of Huuuuuuuuurrting. And you know how I like to whiiiiiiiiiine.

I can't hold my left hand palm-up when it is fully extended without pain.

(No, it doesn't hurt any other time but that, unless I am trying to stretch and therefore rotating my hand back and forth. But isn't that how YOU beg the Universe for money? Hand out, palm up? That's how *I* do it. Up shut. I was a cheerleader, after all: arms fully extended in Classic "T" position is something I do, sometimes. UP shut, again! So I like to revisit my cheerleading days sometimes, big deal! The husband digs it, what can I say?)

Also? My knee -- and excuse me while I shiver just a little, because knee injuries of any sort give me the absolute WILLIES, the *eyes roll back in head,* the bwwwweeeehcch! SQUICKS -- my right kneecap is now generating this adorable CRUNCHING sound when, for example, I'm trying to casually tone the glutes by taking stairs 2 at a time. There are particles of something in there, and they're grinding. NAILS ON A CHALKBOARD, HELLO!! It hurts mostly going down the stairs, but it is unpleasant (to my ears) going up.

What do you think, should I see a doctor about these things? Or maybe just take an Advil, cut out the "We-Got-Spirit-How-'Bout-YOU!"s, and suck it up, acknowledging my ripe old age of thirty-two?

Remembering September

One of the writing prompts I've seen recently (because I'm so fresh out of ideas that I need to be prompted) suggests that you revisit your teenage journals and share a poem or an entry from this day, however-many years ago.

Hahahahahahahahaha.

You can forget that. I mean, I could share an entry here... I just went upstairs to dig some journals out of the back of my nightstand, so there are some entries in the front of my mind (a poem called "Love Song," another called "First Love," and a third called "Beacons," having something to do with somebody's eyes, GAAAAH! *hides face in extreme pity for my teenage self*).... but, No sharing. I did find the journal from my first few months in college, and it was so neat to remember when everything was NEW. It was a new schoolyear with all that entails (uncracked books, pencil-smell, fresh paper), a different way of taking classes, and most critical, new people from all over. How neat that freshman year of college, everywhere you go, you meet new people? Every new class or group meeting, there's the potential to introduce yourself to a new friend. I wish that social excitement carried through the rest of life. I remember scheduling lunch with a different new person every day for a while. Or, hey! Dinner! Or even, let's go to the DUC at 10:30 pm and have a yogurt. "To study." Man, that was fun. I was always an early-class person (nerd), so I even liked having wet-haired, no makeup breakfast with someone who shared the morning class schedule.

Maybe I'm nostalgic for just the meals, actually! B'fast now? Is coffee in a spill-proof mug, in my car. Lunch? Either bring from home (bor-ing. leftovers.) or pick something up during errands. Gawd. Dinner? Awww, crap, what are we having for dinner TONIGHT - I've gotta think of something. That's no fun! No social! (Except on weekends, of course -- I do eat pretty stress-free on weekends.) Interesting, I hadn't thought of it before. See how the world does turn.

Anyway, the temperature on my back deck is 53 degrees this morning. In Florida, we used to call 50s "sweater-weather." Of course, it's going to warm up into the seventies today, but the cool morning air? Makes it really, truly September. I think it's my favorite.

What do you remember best about starting college?

Caffeinate me.

You take it for granted that you're going to get a full night's sleep, after the baby's turned a year old, or two. But I'm here to tell you: Not Always The Case. He woke me up at 2:50. Must have been a bad dream but I'm a little extra-jumpy since the night before, he was spitting up. So I hear one cough and I'm THERE. Thankfully last night, he seemed fine -- but then, my over-active brain wouldn't turn back off.

Aside: I blame my husband! He's gotten me into this, and I think now I have an over-functioning pre-frontal cortex! My brain age is currently 20, by the way. The BEST brain age you can have. So I rock! But, I also don't sleep.

Anyway, I lay there with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song -- or one of the seventeen showstoppers permanently embedded -- on continuous loop. 'Til four a.m. I know I should have turned on the light and read a book or something, but I was determined that in just another minute, I'd get comfortable.

Oh well. This is what coffee is for.

We had some significant cooking victories last night -- DH made me dinner, for one (Yay! Who has the best husband? I do I do!), and I made AJ some soup out of NOTHING! Well, not nothing -- egg noodles and chicken broth and a few spices. But it was tasty! I totally would have eaten it! Too bad I didn't have any canned carrots to throw in there, but he slurped it all down. Finally? Peach Jello. You forget how good Jello really is, you know?

(Now you're thinking: Brain? Noodles? Jello? Coincidence?.... Oh yes, it's gonna be a great day.)

Baby's (ahem.) First Meme

Technically I no longer have what you'd call "a baby." He is a Big Boy. A Toddler. A KID.

But it's not going to stop me from doing a "baby" meme. Linda posted this cute one. Thanks, Linda! Wanna be my friend? No seriously. I heart you and your uber-funny.

3 Things That Scare AJ:

-- The Blender. I'm not sure if it's the sound it emits when crunching up ice, or the idea that his parents are actually going to be drinking margaritas, possibly dancing wildly, that scares him. (Okay, that last part is made up. Pleeease. We hardly ever get drunk for kicks anymore. We go straight to "passed out.")

-- Umbrellas. I actually love this. He is scared of my little, precious, girly-turquoise umbrella. It's gotten better as he gets older -- he doesn't cry anymore when he sees it folded up -- but if I hold him with me, when it's raining, under the umbrella? He clings like a little suction-fish. Then he tells me "It way-nee outhide, Mama." I'm sorry you're scared, Baby, but That. Is. Adorable.

-- Sometimes, Napoleon will come rushing around the corner if, for example, we find his Squeaker and give it a single audible squeeze. Four furry limbs and tail akimbo, everybody watch out! AJ jumps to me eyes wide going, "Mama! Mama!" Can't say I blame him. 65 pounds of dog CAN be a little scary.


3 People Who Make Him Laugh:

-- Me! I am the family's supreme goofball and can prod a giggle out of him with faces and noises. "Squeeeeeeeeeeze!" seems to be the favorite, lately.

-- Uncle Teddy. Even when Uncle Teddy is not around, AJ laughs about him and his "Bah-bah-bah." (In a nice way.)

-- Napoleon wins again in this category. AJ loves to hear him bark, to hug him and watch him try to wriggle away, to pat him and watch him writhe around on the floor... Nap is the last coming standing at our house.


3 Things He Loves:

-- "The Three Little Kittens." (you know, who lost their mittens)

-- Erase! We got a dry-erase-slash-chalkboard easel for his birthday, and the best part to him is the eraser. He goes real fast, like he's in such a big hurry.

-- Blue's Clues.


3 Things He Hates:

-- When I DARE to push the DVD-player's buttons. "I wan'do id MY-LEL!!"

-- When I even dream of drying his freshly-washed hands FOR him. "I wan'do it MY-LEL!!"

-- (are you seeing the theme?)


3 Things He Doesn't Understand:

-- That when Mama or Daddy says "no," NO MEANS NO. But when AJ says it, it means, "Oh you just THINK you're going to talk to Mama that way."

-- That holding hands in parking lots or on the street is REQUIRED BY LAW.

-- That pens are not for babies. Toddlers. Whatever.


3 Things On His Changing Table:

-- Well first, should he even HAVE a changing table anymore at age 2? I'm waffling about this. I think it's time to move it out -- as we inch ever closer to full-time potty training -- especially since he seems to hate it. On the other hand, Mama doesn't want to push him to grow up too fast (my heart!), and the table is also better for my aching back, rather than crouching on the floor... And if we move it out, we might as well graduate from the crib, too... but back to the question. One: Boudreaux's Butt Paste. Which is rarely used anymore but in which I delight when he says, "Boo-doh!" My little Cajun.

-- Baby finger-nail clippers.

-- Johnson&Johnson Lavender Baby Bedtime Lotion. Nectar of the gods.


3 Things He's Doing Right Now:

-- Probably fending off Meghan, Official Biter of the Early 2s Classroom. (We had a biting incident last week where AJ got a Boo-Boo Report!)

-- Actually, I think he's in Circle Time right now, impressing his teacher by knowing colors like "gray" and "light purple." I can't check on him because we don't have Day-Care Cam, which is a bummer. I would be GLUED to Day-Care Cam.

-- Actually, I don't know WHAT he's doing since I'm not with him. Don't make me go there, I might cry. :(


3 Things He Can Do:

-- Ask NICELY to get down from his high chair. ("Peees I get out?")

-- Wield a bubble-gun. He is The Duke in a bubble-gun Mexican stand-off.

-- Climb into his car seat unassisted. I know! He's amazing!


3 Ways to Describe His Personality:

-- Independent.

-- Sensitive.

-- Two.


3 Things He Can't Do (yet):

-- Mow the lawn.

-- Rent a car or buy beer. Thank God.

-- Use his imagination. I can't wait 'til he can make up characters and play games like "Battle of the Forts" or "Store," or maybe "Star Wars."


3 Absolute Favorite Foods:

-- Red beans and rice

-- Froot Loops

-- Free cookies from the Publix bakery lady


3 Things He'd Like to Learn:

-- How to get his way!

-- How to count all the way to infinity! He is up to 12, and LOVES to count!

-- How to be perfect and charming like his Mama. (wink)


3 Beverages He Drinks Regularly:

-- V8 Fusion. (Red Juice!) It's pretty tasty, but with sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, and bananas, that stuff will fill you up so watch out.

-- Chokky milk.

-- Anything that is NOT plain water. I can't get this kid to drink water to save his life.


Strange to end on the beverage question, no? But I didn't write it. If you want to play, too, let me know in comments! :)

There and back again

Wow, it was nice to "work" in the same town I live in, Monday and Tuesday. I came home for lunch! And had time to spare before going back. It's a world I've almost never known.

On the other hand, it also feels good to be back in my normal routine today; I got to actually come to my office. And commute, in the rain. And get a latte. Sometimes it's the little things. Not that I LIKE my commute, it's just familiar. I feel anchored. The last 2 days I've felt very loose -- untethered to anything. I've wondered how my coworkers and bosses feel about my having to serve jury duty, right after a few days' vacation, right after being away most of August (or so it seems) for funerals. Of course if I hadn't gone to jury duty I guess they -- and I -- would feel worse when I was arrested. But it's just strange, being so disconnected.

Of course leave it to me to try and make it MEEEEEAN something. (Like, maybe it's a hint from the Universe that working closer to home would be nice? And I should REALLLLY think hard about that?) I said as much to my sister and she better have rolled her eyes. I NEED to have eyes rolled at me. I'm always trying to find meaning in the little things, and sometimes there just. isn't. any. It's life. It's just the daily stuff. Jury duty? Well everyone gets snagged one time or another, big deal. I just need to put one foot in front of the other today, and not Think about it all so damn much.

- - - - - -

Working world tidbit

I heard a great workplace story on the way in this morning, and it made me laugh.

Civics 101

What's a job where they pay you to sit on your azz all day, read a (whole) novel, take a sanctioned break at 9:15 am to visit the vending machines, come back and sit some more, check your email (but not for longer than an hour), maybe meet some new people (or maybe not, if you don't care to chat), take a lunch break, flip through Us Weekly and Time magazine for interesting stories, stretch, wear a special badge, sit a little more... and then they invite you to come back again and do it the next day?

If you guessed Jury Duty, you get a prize. Here, I'll give you MY special badge.

Day in the Life

Sheryl's fun little ditty about the nitty-gritty.

(HA!!!) I do love this exercise, though, because I can't fault myself for being mundane - that's the whole point. So you've been warned. :)

6:00am - alarm. Hit snooze. "Working from home" today means I will steal a few extra minutes of sleep. Hubby rolls over and hugs on me and I promise him (who's still on vacation today, jerk) that I'm getting up at 6:10. He promises to pinch me.

6:30am - showered, dressed, lotioned. Hubby offers to get AJ up (not jerk)! Whew. Lately AJ's been a PITA in the mornings so I am happy to oblige. I go dry my hair and feed the dog.

6:45am - From the upstairs balcony, I hear strains of our First Tantrum Of the Day. Tra-la! AJ doesn't want to wear shoes. I don't know AT ALL how to handle this kind because we have to leave the house AT A CERTAIN TIME, which precludes the Baby-Whisperer's "When you're ready, we'll get dressed" theory. Sorry, we can't Wait or we'll miss Breakfast at the daycare, and then you'll really be sorry. We end up wrestling with him but the shoes go on. :( Very sad face.

7:00am - Drop him off at school. He goes into see Miss Jean just as happy as you please, and tells her he saw penguins at the aquarium. She probably wonders what in the heck kind of job I have, that I'm allowed to dress in shorts and a fraying t-shirt, with no makeup and half-wet hair. Ha. I love that gag.

7:10am - Return home. Establish Coffee. Fire up laptop. Begin checking emails and blogs. Write first post of the day.

8:40am - Finish the first sweep of emails, etc, as well as my first cup of coffee. I get a refill. I am not going to have much to do this morning work-wise, just a lot of waiting for other people. I make a phone call to confirm that we'll be hanging out with another couple on Saturday night, and their little girl. Fun! I'm told I don't need to bring anything. Funner! Looking forward to that. If we never get out again for a date (and it seems we never will), at least we can get together with other parents and compare kids. I mean, um, socialize.

10:00 am - Cut a piece of moist, delicious banana bread. I am not going to brag here, but I have just about perfected the art of saving rotten bananas.

10:30 am - Still sitting at the kitchen table. I check email every 10 minutes or so. (To check my work email I have to login each time, for "security" purposes -- really because our corporate email SUCKS -- so it's a pain. I don't just get to hear a happy little "ding!" when a new one arrives. PITA.) Also, I read some good blogs. Sunday School Rebel feels like poetry and makes me remember First United Methodist Church of Hereford, TX; of course amalah makes me laugh; and these and others regularly make me feel very unworthy.

10:40 am - Husband appears. He went back to bed after I took AJ to school. He deserves it. I'm glad he slept well. Asks me if I want to go to lunch at 11:30 and surprise! I do. Shortly thereafter, since I'm getting no emails, I decide to make more salsa, because if there's one thing I hate, it's wasted cilantro! Yummmm, salsa. That takes about 15 minutes, and then, guess what? I check email again. (Dude!! Is this RIVETING, or what?)

11:30 - We head over to the Atlanta Bread Company and I get a Caesar salad. It's SO not a healthy meal, due to the bucket of dressing in which they soak their romaine. Oh well, it tastes pretty good. We sit outside, eat pretty quickly, and come back home, where I prepay for 10-cent Snapfish prints. 250 of 'em! I figure it's worth it, as many pictures as we take, and since there's no time limit on when you have to use the credit.

12:30 pm - return from lunch. Here's where husband, bless his soul, was kinda gettin' on my nerves. He had no plans so he was just pacing around the kitchen/den, turning on the TV, turning it off. Saying he was about to go wash my car, saying it was "spitting" rain so he'd postponed... it was funny. I feel for him -- I hate when I get cabin fever like that. Actually I don't remember what I did from 12:30 to about 3:30 -- "worked," I guess, which means checking email and some websites (I did read MetroDad's rant about MySpace, with which I completely agree and which is also work-related)... anyway, at 3:30 it was time to pick up AJ.

3:30 pm - best part of the day! Picked up AJ and hugged and kissed him. His pants were wet. I think it was just water he'd sat in. He told me he watched Barney, Winnie a Pooh, and Dragon Tales at school. Hrm.

3:45 - home again home again. We had a snack, played with LeapPad -- can I tell you how excited I am that he finally gives a whit about that thing? He got it when he was 5 months old and I thought it was a lost cause. But now? Buttons! Music! We're in heaven. He also: "helps" wash dishes (read: runs water in the sink and pours it onto the floor basically), asks to have juice, asks to have chocolate milk, wants to play trains, asks to watch Blue's Clues.

somewhere in here I get a call from a client. Boooo. I try to be DONE by 3:00 on WFH days, but.... since I've been gone a lot and on vacation, I decide I'd better answer it. Bad idea. Problem that needs fixing RIGHT NOW. And I just put away the computer. Sigh. I get AJ outside and ask his Daddy to help a sister out.

5:00 - time to join them playing outside. I am LOVING this cool front. It's only about 70-something degrees. I know! I can't believe it either. AJ wants to kick the soccer ball and RUN. So we do. Then, finally, it's time to make dinner, and AJ wants to help Mama. This was fun -- I let him help stir the ground beef, and he Finally understood that he can't TOUCH the stove parts because it's too hot. He found one little place where he could balance himself with the hand that wasn't stirring. Very cute. He poured the sauce, and helped me measure out the pasta. Then he kept asking about when he could EAT the dinner.

6:00 - garlic toast dings! Dinner's ready! AJ ate like a champ! He didn't throw food (not that he ever does). He was quiet and calm! Hubby and I hoped that if we sat very still, he'd keep doing that stuff. He did, and earned himself 2 pieces of banana bread for dessert. :) Hooray!

7:00 - dishes done, so we played outside some MORE! You'd think we were the Cleaver family, with all our happy galavanting and efficient home management tonight. I got bitten by every mosquito in Marietta. I LOATHE mosquitos. We drew an enormous alphabet down the length of our driveway. Cooool!

7:38 - AJ and I get his jammies on (no fighting! Now I'm concerned - who IS this kid??) and settle onto my bed to read Make Way for Ducklings. Do you know this book? I did not, in my youth, but it's a keeper. I love the end: "...And at night the little ducks go back to their island, and go to sleep." The end. PERFECT segue! (And kinda Goodnight Moon-y.) Sweet dreams, little man.

8:00-10:00 - since then, I've been working on the stinking client problem. But there's nothing else to do, really, except watch football (first game of the NFL season) or finish this post. (I always love doing these at the beginning, and by this part, the 10:00 pm part, I'm totally summarizing and over it.) I think I HAVE figured out the problem my client has, or at least a temporary fix for it, and will definitely have work to do in the morning. So that's something to look forward to. Maybe tomorrow we'll have another day like today, with very few toddler-tantrums! That'd be good. And, it's Friday. Thanks for reading all the way to the end!

Life in a fishbowl

The Aquarium is magnificent. It is amazing. It allowed us to hear our little boy say things like, "Oh my dood-ness, wat dat, Mama?" and "Looook, Mama! Ting-wayyyyy!" The soundtrack playing in the 3-story whale-shark viewing room -- the largest aquarium in the world, of course, comes complete with an ethereal John-Williams-esque soundtrack -- brought me to tears. (Hello, I am your Perfect Aquarium Customer. Why, YES, I will come back and spend another gajillion dollars to let this experience move me Again! And Thank You, sly foxes.) I am weepy to a fault, yes, but this was unbelievably inspiring. You should go. If you take AJ with you, I promise your heartstrings will be tugged HARD.

Somehow, the waves of zen that they probably pipe in and the muted, low-lights feeling of the Magnificent Aquarium didn't seep into AJ's mind as much as I would have liked. He did love the fish (he still calls them "wee-oolt," and that's the best phoenetic spelling I can think of for it) and especially the penguins -- but only until he got too tired and hungry to deal. I was a stupid mommy and heeded the "no food or drinks in the galleries" rule, leaving my standard fruit snacks and sippy cup at home. STOOPID. I've decided that hunger is his worst enemy. Tired? Yes, he might wail a bit. Frustrated? I'll get a "NO, MAMA, do it mylelf!" But let him go without food for 121 minutes and WHAMMO, you'll get the all-out, screaming, kicking, punching, raging at his own skin kind of fit. Especially if you're also off-the-normal-routine. Of course, we tried to offer him food before the eye of the storm hit, but he was already in the early stages, so nothing doing. "No Fries! No Juice Box!" Sigh. We were totally being stared at, as he was the ONLY kid screaming in the whole aquarium. Fish bowl syndrome! How fitting! We left, and he finished up in the car on I-75. For forty minutes. ("No car seat! I want Ouuuuut!") And slept a good long while after that.

I always feel as if I handle tantrums the wrong way, although I try, I really try to go by the book. Ignore ignore ignore, don't give in, be direct but not cajoling. "We have to leave until you calm down." "I don't hear you when you're screaming; ask me nicely." "No, AJ, we do not hit." I do time out. I acknowledge his feelings. I try to be consistent. His Dad does, too. But the kid is a SOLID TWO YEARS OLD, so I guess this is just part of it. A very exhausting part.

I promised I'd tell you what else is on my mind, and here it is: I'm feeling fat and I can't stop eating. It's not pregnancy (I don't think!), it is ridiculous. It is ri-donc-ulous, my friend Bimal says. Ridiculous-plus. For example: Last night during Project Runway? 10:00pm Eastern? Chips and Guacamole. I think it's all because I stopped with the lovely Yasmin, because of wanting another kid who'll throw tantrums baby. Yasmin was my FRIEND, y'all. Yasmin and I? We went out to lunch all the time, and had full-fat Buttermilk Ranch dressing with no effects on the waistline. I stayed at a healthy 132 lbs. with Yasmin and I loved her. Since leaving her I have gained weight and I know you're not supposed to go near the scale when you're near your time of the month, but I do, and it's making me sad. (And THAT's how we write another fulfilling entry for my brother-in-law to read! Hey, HB! How's it goin'?!) ANYWAY. Yasmin and I are getting back together, actually. The reason DH has been seeing his doc is that he was taking 6MP and it can possibly cause some birth defects, so he had to ask about the baby-making. And she said don't, for 6 months while he goes off the drug. So now you know. Yasmin, I've missed you.

I don't feel like I want to end on that note. So... here's a recipe! For something non-fattening! It's Easy, Breezy Recipe Thursday.

Corn Salad
2 (11-oz) cans Mexicorn, drained
6 radishes, sliced
1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced
6 green onions, sliced
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 cup light-done-right Catalina dressing

Marinate all ingredients overnight and serve cold.

Now, you share your recipe, and we'll be all set... To eat. And get fatter. But at least we won't scream and kick from hunger!

Let's all kiss whoever invented "personal days"

I will be away from my desk September 5 and 6, returning on Thursday, the 7th. If you need immediate attention, please dial zero and ask the operator for someone else.

Hubby and I had planned to take the whole week off after Labor Day, but with my guilt issues I can only allow myself these 2 days. Just too many hot projects going on at work. Still, it's Two Free Days! Yippie! Today I had a pedicure (for free! leftover Xmas gift card!) while hubby went to the doctor, and tomorrow we are taking AJ to the Georgia Aquarium to see the too-dooos and whales and pennies. (Turtles, whales, penguins. Good! You've been paying attention.)

Tomorrow evening, after I blink several times and begin to see something other than the blue glow of aquatic wonder that will fix itself to my eyeballs, I will sit down and tell you everything that's on my mind. Or... my usual blather. :) 'Night-night.

Now, everybody dance

You guys have got to try this. I read it yesterday while hopping around the 'net -- a comment on a discussion about positive thinking techniques. Which, I don't want to go all Stuart Smiley on ya, but sometimes a little gratitude journaling, a little blessings-counting? Isn't such a bad thing.

I should think this technique blows the others away for efficacy and immediacy:

"...The techniques are suspicious, dubious, and embarrassing, like the "Crab Dance," in which you make scissor motions with your fingers while side-stepping right and left and repeating, 'Everything is going wonderfully.' It makes 5 gratitudes a day seem downright clinical."

Hahaha! Are you picturing yourself in this Crab Dance scenario? It makes me laugh out loud. If you didn't at least chuckle, you must be the oft-concluded "dead inside."

DH and I are doing this tonight. (We're not depressed, nosiree! But we do actually have a few new stress-inducing things going on. Which I may or may not blog about here shortly.) We like to dance in the kitchen. --Ooh, hey! Another idea: what if I got all my coworkers to line up and crab dance together??

Les beaux arts

This is so getting framed. ^


"Mama, you have to visualize both the positive and negative space."

I do have a question, though. Goes something like this: How much art could a mommy chuck if a good mommy [feels guilt about] could chuck art? You may have heard it before.

Seriously, folks. We fingerpainted on Saturday in the shady driveway, and it was mind-blowingly fun for AJ... to squirt the paint, more than to actually create Art, but still... I ended up with 12 or 13 suitable-for-framing originals. Not to mention, the daycare had sent several days' worth of art projects home with us on Friday. He's been in daycare since he was 12 weeks old, you understand. And sometimes I think the infant teachers got bored, so... 'let's put the kids' feet in paint! Yeah!' We are swimming in it. And it's all so precious! But it's also cluttering up the place.

I hate to say it, but I've got to stash some of this. Possibly in the garbage can. I had once thought I'd buy one of those big scrapbooks and save everything there, acid-free, to be enjoyed by one and all for millennia to come. Then I thought, "Scrapbooks are twenty dollars," and I walked on to Target's next aisle. But I'm reconsidering.

Because when AJ becomes a famous architect, this stuff might come in handy for A&E Biography. All I'm sayin'.

I do have something to say

a whole bunch of somethings, really

I have found a new little avatar image that I love. Isn't she precious, over there in the sidebar? So twinkly!

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I *nearly* forgot the Emmys last night, which I missed last year. Sooo glad the husband turned on TV and spotted the 6-hour Red Carpet nonsense, which reminded me! I was originally going to post that Scrubs got robbed. But now that I think about it, this was not Scrubs' funniest season. Actually The Office's comedy had me ROFLMAO much more often than Zach Braff and the gang, although I do still harbor deep love for Zach, especially since Garden State. (There, I've said it!) Steve Carrell is just FUNNY. That show. *Shakes head.* It's just out of hand. :) I thought the Emmys show was hay-larious, especially the Bob Newhart bit. And how 'bout the fact that BARRY MANILOW not only performed, but WON AN EMMY! I missed his speech because of a phone call! How sad for me! Somehow, we didn't rewind to see it. ?@! But anyway, those moments alone (and sweet Dick Clark's appearance) earn it an A+ in my book. The fashion? Impressive. Blythe Danner? One of my favorite actresses, but is it me, or was she extra-flighty? Calista Flockhart's coming back to TV! High-five, Jeremy Piven won!! Alan Alda!! Amazing Race! Grey's Anatomy did NOT win (secret yay). Lots of favorites from "Gosford Park" won, evoking memories of that great flick (Kelly MacDonald and gorgeous Helen Mirren.) I could've done without Farrah Fawcett and her blank stare, but in all, Hooray, awards shows. They make me happy.

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My son -- just 2 years and one month old -- can SING THE ABCs song! My word, I am so excited by this! We heard it the first time as he talked himself to sleep -- so this was over the monitor. I was actually half-asleep, myself, on the sofa (pathetic), but finally my mind registered as he was singing, "...neh, 'ime, 'on't, oooh, ling ah meeeeeeeee..." He does it that way, with commas between each word. He can sing practically the whole thing. Misses a few between L and P (who doesn't?) and he always forgets "T-U-V." But he's singing! The ABCs! Guess we really DO have to scrape together money for college, wow. This is big. Call me, I'll make him perform for you. He's also discovered the personal pronoun, "me." So with that and the ABCs, I guess soon he'll be blogging. HA!

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I have found that one of the tough little things about deaths is having to revise my Palm Pilot and my cell phone. One of the first things my dad did, at Grandmother's house, was to cancel her phone line -- smart thinking, since BellSouth has perfected the phone bill hike with all its invented "fees" and "services." But Grandmother was at the top of my speed dial list until Friday. Fact is, there's no phone there, but the finality of it ached a little. And I've always had DH's grandparents listed under Grandad's first name. It's little things that get to you.

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Our weekend was so nice. We just stayed home and did practically nothing. (I cleaned the oven and hellO??? Easy Off? My New Best Friend. Though 20 years old and down one stovetop burner, my JennAir is sparkling!) Sunday afternoon we took AJ and got "moo-ees." (Smoothies.) He was in heaven because his was red.

Better than a turquoise box with white ribbon

AJ's asleep. DH is at his fantasy draft, as I'm sure many husbands are this weekend. (At least I hope I'm not the only one abandoned for buffalo wings and Peyton Manning.) I have set the oven to clean, and now... what do I do for 2 hours?

Tick.

Tock....

Tick.

Tock....

What is this strange quiet? The stillness of TIME? Nothing's moving. No one's head is spinning. No large appliance is whirring. Everyone's fed and watered. Church? Obligations? Appointments? Nope, not 'til tomorrow. Not even one to-do list item jangles in my mind. I'm totally available to just... sit here and, I don't know, stare out the window for a while.

This. Is. Awesome.

Recycling a meme

Today,

i can’t: see straight for all the bits of paper I've taken notes or scribbled phone numbers on!

i can: tell that I am sitting far too much. My back huuuuuurts. And I even get up the prescribed "several times" a day and stretch.

i will: do some yoga and pilates and such, to try to ease the hurt out.

i won’t: eat ice cream. I won't i won't i won't.

i miss: my mom and dad. Being with them for 4 days was good.

i hear: songs in my head. (At the moment, something from West Side Story.)

i smell: the cover girl lipslick I just applied.

i crave: cool air

i wonder: why I felt the need to post about "Workout" last night?

i love: my leopard-n-brown strappy sandals.

i long: for a certain client to settle down already

i care: about taking good care of my clients, but JEEZ, do they hafta call all on the same day, 4 times a day?? Rrrar. Also, are other people this stressed out EVERY day? Because I couldn't handle that. Thank God for downtime.

i always: sneeze. every day. multiple times a day.

i am not: allergic to everything, however.

i believe: that this is by far the lamest thing I've ever published!

Season finales can be good...

Right this very minute, I'm watching Bravo TV's latest -- I call it their 2nd Lesbian Experiment. The first one was Queer Eye for the Straight Girl. Remember that? It wasn't their biggest hit. The Lesbian makeup artist just wasn't as charming as any of the original Fab Five guys. And this show... worse than not-charming. It's totally squicking me out. NOT because it's got lesbian kissing or anything Else -- I'm just as curious as anyone to see lesbian kissing, so bring it on... and the camera-person did not follow main character Jackie and her date into the Ladies' room just now to capture the Else -- but just because Jackie has got such a chip on her shoulder and she's so fake as a person! She adds a "Honey" at the end of her "Nice to meet yous," but she pauses just long enough to make you think she barely remembered, "Oh, I have to say Honey." Ew. Squick. Hello, I'm Camera-Aware and Trying Too Hard.

And yet. I'm sitting here watching it. I might just get teary about Tess, of the weight-loss-success storyline. (I can't wait to see the break-up/cat-fight!) Wonder if Bravo's renewing for next summer?

Reminders

Man, it's hard to concentrate today.

I'm sending emails to clients because picking up the phone just requires too much energy. It's not that I'm even that tired; we got home from Florida early, and I actually slept better last night, in my own bed, than in about 3 weeks' time. Slept like the dead, is the phrase that comes to mind if you'll pardon the very inappropriate pun -- I'm appalled by it, myself, but you can't control these things. The mind plays tricks. It's just that I don' wanna feeling. I'm trying to make lists and focus. But it's hard to snap right back into position and have the desire to take up like normal.

I feel like I ought to post something touching and reflective about my Grandmother. What comes to mind is only this:

I must change my attitude about unloading dishes.

My standard answer to the question, "What is your least favorite household chore?" has always been "...unloading dishes." I've always hated opening the dishwasher after dinner only to realize... they're all clean. Damn, it makes me say. But my first and best memories of Grandmother are undoubtedly dishes-related. Our guest room was very near the kitchen, and when she got up early -- 6:00 am? -- to begin her cooking-intensive day (what with 10 additional mouths to feed, it being a holiday or summer and all of there to visit) she'd first unload the dishes. That sound -- the "clinking," inevitable even though I know she was doing it ever-so-gently to keep quiet -- was my alarm clock on many a childhood morning. I'd pad in by myself, and sit on her lap. We'd have a little love and say good morning for a while. I'm sure some of the other kids joined us on many occasions, but in my memory, it's just us. Just us.

Of course I had put in dishes to wash before we left last Wednesday, so when we got home last night, they were all clean. That's what reminded me.

DH and I are so, so lucky to have had our grandparents in our lives into our thirties. We do realize that. 95 is an amazing life. Heck, 80 is an amazing life. This is another thought that has been in my mind -- it's a little bit irreverent, but again, I can't help what my brain concocts: If you live so that you've got 6 people to carry your box when you die, you've lived pretty well. I don't know why I keep thinking that. Maybe it's just the simplicity of it. DH's Grandad got me thinking that way. He lived such a simple life. Worked hard, saved his money. But there was nothing flashy about him. He was charming, kind. Honored God. Loved his family. And God saw that it was good. and evening came and morning followed... easy, gentle, simple.

Forgive me and this melancholy. I really feel fine. Relieved, actually, in a lot of ways. We smiled and laughed a lot this week. I want to write something, but I'm not sure what.

Three times sad

A third funeral in 2006 -- my dear Grandmother Virgie. I will miss her so much.

Peace. Be still. Treasure your loved ones.