::POOF!:: ::bienvenue chez moi::

one year old.

2009-11-29T01:50:00.003-06:00

Assessment
Number of teeth: 6
Favorite food: grapes, cheese, and chocolate.
Walking: not even close. Orion is thrilled with his smack-smack-smack the floor crawling.
Life goal: to obtain an opened, non-empty can of Coca-Cola.
Birthday party: one was held at home, on the Sunday prior to his birthday; another impromptu celebration popped up at work, where Baby O is a dedicated employee.

soooo long, farewell...no, not farewell...

2009-10-06T03:42:00.002-05:00

It's been so long since I logged onto blogger...
--I couldn't remember what the site was called
--I couldn't remember what my username was
--I couldn't remember my password
--Couldn't remember what my last post was.
Pretty sad!

What has changed since the last time I posted?
--My father has finally gotten himself and my siblings moved into their own place.
--Torrin's good start to the school year has taken a downhill turn
--Mira is finally learning her letters, in preschool, since I don't teach her such things.
--Orion crawls all over the place and has 4 teeth. I don't mind that he is 10 months old and not walking. He is my baby and there is no rush. He waves bye-bye and is a great little guy. Baby O is a rather long and lean little dude, not so much a chubby boy at all. He still goes to work with me and I haven't started looking for a daycare for him either.

Basically, stay in school, blah blah blah...

2009-09-08T23:44:00.003-05:00

This evening after dinner, while Torrin was washing dishes, he mentioned something about President Obama's speech.

This after I'd spent a collection of various moments the past few days infuriated by the partisan venom spewing about. I'd expressed subdued versions of my opinion on the matter on various websites, and yet I'd gone through nearly the whole day without having actually heard the speech, seen it in print, or talked to someone who had.

And there before me, was my own progeny, and intended audience of The Speech. So, I asked him what he thought about it. Torrin said something like "basically, stay in school, blah blah blah, just like what other normal people say when they talk to kids at school."

Wow...so earth-shattering. What's the uproar? Oh, right, the lesson plan. How to Help the President. You mean it wasn't "why Americans should be Socialists?" No? We should...stay in school? Who's paying for that? Oh...um...taxpayer funded public schools... Oh, wait. Other normal people talk to kids in schools too? Isn't that taking up instructional time? What? Well then what about, say, a pep rally? Another instructional time drainer all in favor of promoting unity...um...hmmm. I don't want my kid learning the school song, or even knowing what the school mascot is! No way! What we really need to do is force teachers to register their party affiliations and let us choose our children's instructors based on political ideologies.

Upon further probing, Torrin reported that Obama said "all across America, like, 50 times." "Stay in school." "Don't do drugs." Boy, if that's the message my 8-year-old kid heard, it couldn't have been that bad.

Right?

the whole MONTH of August gone?

2009-09-04T01:41:00.006-05:00

So, um, yeah. I haven't been posting. If I could do it from my phone I might! I have a very basic phone, and in general do not approve of the practice of cell-phone-photographing, but it is quite a handy trick. I will offer a glimpse of our past month with phone pictures, with the exception of this first one: That is Mira at the Indian Club powwow on August 1. My friend and I were up all night working on very simple dresses. I don't know how to sew. Never even took Home Ec (Family Consumer Science, whatever you call it these days) either. My mother is the opposite of hand-made, home-made, etc., so I didn't learn anything from her. My friend was a textiles art person...a few years ago, and my great-grandmother's sewing machine, borrowed from my auntie, had not been her particular design whittler so things were very slow-going. Of course that could have been avoided with some simple advance planning, but that would be way too obvious. Also of note, Mira's hair was comprised of only the third- and fourth-attempt I have ever made at French-braiding. Possibly fourth and fifth, but no more, no exaggeration at all. She "danced" in the powwow. Note quotation marks. Main point, she had fun.

Here is Torrin on his first day of school, August 19, 2009, beginning 3rd grade. He looks grim, but honestly he was thankful to return to school. He's just totally over the whole "look-happy-for-mom-taking-pictures" thing.

Here is Orion on the same day, smiling as we waited for.EV.er at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) with a client. I go in to get my renewal license in two weeks, yay...

Torrin on August 15 in the dressing room at Kohl's, trying on clothes for school. We couldn't afford to buy this shirt that Torrin liked, so I told him I'd take a picture of him in it...

Mira on the 13th of August at PetCo...she was filling up the container of kitty litter.

And here is Orion in the same Kohl's dressing room as Torrin, on the 15th.

Why I don't post more often.

2009-08-09T10:37:00.003-05:00

This on Thursday morning just before leaving for work/daycare/summer program...they said they were King Kongs...

Brownville, a bit late.

2009-08-04T00:35:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, July 11, my dad's band Full Measure played a riverboat gig on the Spirit of Brownville to 81 ticketholders. Tickets sold for $10. They are a classic rock cover band, and that band is one of the reasons that we have the kids here at our house so much. But anyway. Once we got to Brownville, we didn't know where to go next. We wound our way up a crazy hill, past a super-redneck-looking shanty of a house...and found ourselves at an intersection facing not one, but two red Festivas.

We asked this guy for directions. You can't see the little yippy dog that was occupying the passenger seat. It was at that point that we knew that everything would be all right.

There's Ben and Orion looking peaceful on the boat, watching the Missouri River waves.

My dad's band. He is goofy. And barefoot.

Little sister Claire and brother Anthony, reverting to their natural state... :)

Orion tried his first ice-popsicle.

Our banana masterpieces. Stolen from the floating hotel's kitchen, and returned, in better fashion.

We stopped for a bit of R&R the next day at the Antiquarium before heading back to L-Town. Ben and I purchased, among other things, a National Geographic magazine from the year 1913.

This picture was taken on the way home...at an intersection, I looked to my right and saw this hanging in a shop window. What do you read at first glance? Support our troops...a bit of irony there.

finally did it...

2009-07-17T11:54:00.003-05:00

After much debate (mostly internal, on my part), it has been done. Mira has bangs. In general, I am not a fan of bangs on little girls. I, for one, had them, and had far too much of them. So often you see little girls with as much bangs as the rest of their hair. Too much bangs begins to infringe on that dreaded mullet look. The other thing I hate about bangs is that once you have them, it's so hard to get rid of them.

Mira had a ton of chin-length wispies. She has often eaten them. She has asked to get her hair cut a few times, and upon further questioning it came out that those short hairs in front were the ones that bugged her. I cut only the chin length hairs, none of the rest of her long hair (which goes just past her little bum).

At first Mira wasn't really cooperating and wouldn't give me a nnice happy picture. I don't mind pictures where kids aren't smiling, but as my little sister Claire pointed out, it looks like a mug shot! Mira says it's her "plain face." But we handed her the scissors and she cheesed away.

Postcard from Ohio

2009-07-15T14:01:00.005-05:00

Two pictures forwarded from Ohio this past week. One is Torrin at West Branch Lake near Ravenna, OH, half an hour from Akron and the other is from just last night. The large white expanse behind him is a movie screen--they went to a drive-in theatre in Cleveland to see Harry Potter! I am jealous, as I have yet to fill my HP quota this year. And also because they seem to have several drive-ins in Ohio. There are none in Nebraska.

My babies are gone!

2009-07-07T09:07:00.005-05:00

It's been so long since I posted that I couldn't remember which screenname I use to sign in here! In between, I've had the most relaxing weekend of my entire life since having kids and other trinkets of here-and-there. My son T-boy is staying with his dad until the 26th of July, perhaps another week after that. My-little-girl is in Colorado for a week with her daddy and grandma.

Here is Mira in Ottawa, IL...she was sitting on the edge of a fountain, dangling and swinging her feet. Then...she fell in. She was devastated. Mom took pictures (28 June).
Here are Mira and Orion at Jazz in June (free jazz concert series). Orion grabbed sister's hair:

Iowa City has an awesome city park with a carousel, mini-train, huge green spaces, playgrounds, etc. We stopped there on our way to drop Torrin off with his dad. Orion had his first carousel ride:

Here is Mira playing around in a shawl we got from her great-grandma, at the rained-out Pawnee exhibition powwow in Kearney on June 20:

Orion loved talking to one of Mira's babies one night:

They just looked cute. I think this was Thursday morning (02 July).

obsession

2009-06-21T23:29:00.004-05:00

Dipping baby's toes into the pond...also fun: playing with photo editing software.

The living, and the dead.

Shadow of mommy holding baby

on the first day, there was light.

we found berries!

Why, why, why, do I find it so irresistible to take pictures of flowers? All in all, they're all the same darn thing. I can find hundreds of shots online just like mine (or better) by doing a quick search. Ben says, "why not? At least it's not crack."

Baby O is a big boy now. He has been taking sips of water today, from a water bottle and a regular drinking glass. Just showing off, really! Good thing, too, as it was pretty hot and muggy. Personally, I like warm weather--I just dislike the overabundant indoor air conditioning that accompanies it, making it nearly impossible to choose suitable clothing in the morning.

Ha. That reminds me, what will my workplace be like without Viktor Krum? And more frightening...who will they plunk into that position next?

Oh, and check out my big baby! Last year's camping trip with our uncle made the paper, thanks to said uncle's rock-star status. :)

who steals CDs these days?

2009-06-15T13:36:00.002-05:00

The thief was not smart. They rummaged through the glove compartment and took a Britney Spears disc, along with a dozen or so mostly burned discs that had been in a visor holder. I'm a little annoyed, because there were a couple of actual CDs in there that were of the legal, purchased variety. I can burn a new Veggie Tales Silly Songs suite (although a compilation entitled "Loud" came from TCO and can't be replaced). But these?

Namely the pink one? That thing alone is worth over $200. They didn't take that. Thank you, Idiot.

perfect Saturday

2009-06-07T01:39:00.003-05:00

Torrin and Mira climbing the Torn Notebook

Mira and Sophia's pink-polished dirt-digging fingers
We planted pansies.

Lying on the grass, sleeping Orion on chest, reading a book in the sun.

Happy kitty on a window sill in the sun

banana slime spots

2009-05-28T15:23:00.004-05:00

It started with a banana.

Orion was thrilled.
He growled and sucked on fresh banana through the ingenious mesh feeder device.

At first, he was just shiny and slimy.
Then little boy's face began to get red everywhere that the banana slime had touched.
Mama took the banana away!
Baby O objected.
He was so enchanted by this first encounter with something besides breastmilk.

Who has an allergic reaction to a banana? I've never known such a thing. Poor kid has never had any other solid foods, not even rice cereal. Makes me wary of trying more new things...things that little man is very interested in getting to know.

and just what are you so happy about?

2009-05-19T00:46:00.003-05:00

In the fog of my too-busy, unfocused, haphazard existence, I find myself gazing in awe at my baby as mothers so often do, amazed by his unfazed joy.

And I say, so often, "why are you so happy, little boy?" or, "what are you smiling at?" because nothing so grand seems to be unfolding at the moment.

Well, why not? What's wrong with smiling for no apparent reason? I've said before...the most genuine smiles are probably the ones that noone sees. If nobody's watching, it's not a fragment of a forced bit of show for someone else's benefit.

So...what are you so happy about? What makes you smile, like this:

The unbelievably-happy-at-work baby.

I'm happy that Orion is nearly six months old and still going to work with me, so I don't miss out on all of those little daily babbles and smiles, and heck, even the diaper blowouts. Because, if anything, for whatever reason it sucks a whole lot more to clean up poopy clothes in the evening at home when you didn't see the intial damage done in the diaper.

Even though I am paid so little, at least it is all done within the "typical" workweek, so that I can take kids to events on the weekends without missing out on sleep like 2nd shift workers or people who have to work Saturdays and Sundays.

Even though it is sad that Grandma Norma is no longer with us, it means that we have Claire, Anthony and Sophia in town now. No more missing birthdays for lack of gas money. No more three months without visiting. Way more familial interaction for my little ones, and way more opportunities for the hiliarity of childhood to shine through.

do your thang

2009-05-13T10:19:00.002-05:00

Little Taller Sister, who just turned 14 earlier this month, had a jazz band concert last night. First, we drove out to Dawes Middle School, where we thought she was to be playing...got there 5 minutes late...all of the doors on all sides of the school, locked...turns out we were supposed to be at Irving after all--6.7 miles and many stoplights away. As we walked to the audtorium, Mira wondered aloud, "where's Rock Band?" Poor little girl thought we were going to go somewhere to play Rock Band, like they have at her uncles' house! Of course, in true 3-year-old form, she suddenly had a life-or-death need to pee during one of the songs...at least it was before her aunt's group. Once Little Taller Sister's band was playing, Mira was somewhat enchanted and wanted to know, "when I'm a teenager, can I?"

I sure hope she does! It would be nice to have at least one musical offspring.

bon bebé

2009-05-11T13:07:00.004-05:00

I still can't believe what a good baby Orion is. I'm sitting here at work, and Orion is in his exersaucer, just looking at me, smiling, and chewing on his tongue sideways. The exersaucer was given to him by a co-worker who found it at a garage sale. He has a swing in here, too, a donation brought up by another co-worker. I never imagined I'd keep him here at work with me for so long, but so far, so good. I just wish Mira's daycare/pre-school admitted babies under 18 months, because as good as he is it's doubtful we can make it all the way to 18 months without losing productivity. He's due to begin getting mobile sometime very soon here. He's been doing that thing where he goes from lying on his tummy to an upside-down V shape by extending his legs out and sticking his bottom in the air, and he likes to lurch towards things from a sitting position. People ask now if he's starting to crawl yet and I feel almost insulted--he's too little! He's too young for that! Don't prematurely age my baby--but then, wait. He's 5.5 months old now. He is growing up, too fast.

plantanitos fritos

2009-05-08T01:32:00.002-05:00

Looks like a banana.
Smells like a cucumber.
Tastes like a potato!
Okay, so Ben already stole my tagline in a twittered message, but golly, it's mine! lol. Fried plantains. I was not prepared for that one. We'll see what we do with them next time we use them. They may look like big bananas, but they certainly do not peel as easily!

bon week-end

2009-05-05T01:32:00.004-05:00

Saturday was an eventful day. We did a lot of walking, starting the day with a stroll over to the Capitol for the Mayor's Run, which is a mile run for elementary school kids and is apparently one of the top ten in the nation in terms of size. Torrin was in the fifth heat, for boys second grade and younger. His hair was in a ponytail, but he's wearing terrible shoes because, well, we only have one pair of shoes for him. Shoes are expensive. Anyway, there I stood on the curb, waiting dutifully like a good Mommy, camera ready, scanning the little faces in search of my little boy running down the road. Well, I missed him. I heard, "Mom!" and there he was, nearly gone already. Not quite the shot I was going for:

. It got sunnier on our walk back--we were leisurely with our exit, departing well after the sixth and last heat finished but were still home by 10:30. Orion tried on his flashy sunglasses:

Sophia took time to stop and smell the roses...er...tulips:

After lunch we bundled everyone up again to head to the powwow on campus.

The weather was perfect.

Mira really wants to learn to dance.

And her little friend from school was there! She was overjoyed.

She really had a great time playing with him. She is excited to go to his house to play sometime.

et cetera, et cetera, blah-blah-blah.

2009-05-01T15:00:00.003-05:00

Neither Torrin nor Mira have been doing well today. Mira's first meltdown came this morning. She didn't want Cheerios in her squares (Mini-wheats). She refused to eat them, so Mommy refused to put the sparkly sequin purple bow in her hair that she so badly wanted. Then, after visiting Torrin's classroom at school for a reading event, she vanished. We walked around the whole school (fairly big), didn't find her...we were in the office describing her when a woman brought her in. She'd gone out to the playground, alone. "But Mama, I didn't go in the street!" she protested...and wailed profusely as her pancake got thrown away. She also missed out on May Day basket's after the stories in Torrin's classroom because of her earlier unruliness.

Torrin was at school goofing off, refusing to follow directions. So I had to go pick him up from the Principal's office, all 7.92 years of sobbing mess Torrin. He filed a stack of folders for me. The task initially seemed insurmountable, but by the end he was doing all right, not asking for help alphabetizing anymore.

The Festiva Project plods along. I don't often see undocumented Festivas these days, and I only have about 35 total. But there's not many things that ruin my day in the way that missing a new Festiva does. Worse, when I miss more than one in one day. I've only captured one Festiva outside our city, although I missed one driving on the Interstate. Chalk that up to a phone call while driving (I know, naughty).

I'm watching you, Wazowski, always watching...

2009-04-29T11:25:00.006-05:00

The shadow on the left, formed by two robots and a wireless router, tripped Ben out last last night.

Oh, and there's swine flu in Nebraska. Some dude from San Diego brought it to Omaha. Thanks.

Diagnosis:

2009-04-29T11:08:00.003-05:00

My temperature yesterday at 3:00pm yesterday: 99.8F
Blood pressure: 110/52
Orion: 15lb, 10oz. He seems to be concentrating his growth in advances in height, not weight.
No signs of infection: I'm not contagious.
Post-bronchial inflammation: I am to use an inhaler for 10 days. Woo-hoo. Except I've never used one before, and I couldn't tell if I did it right last night.

doo-wah, ditty, ditty, dum, ditty doo-rag

2009-04-27T13:31:00.002-05:00

That's my boy!

Tired, today. The sort of thing where your eyes burn from the labor of just staying open, and when you blink, you let it linger. A wistful moment of rest, gone, just like that.

I called this morning for an appointment with the doctor, but I waited until after 9 to call and all of the slots for today were filled. For the most part, sickness doesn't bother me too much. We've escaped flu, and I can only remember once in my adult days when I ever felt too ill to function and carry out the day's duties. For the most part, if I am ill, it is only a minor inconvenience; an afterthought. I dread ingesting chemicals and concoctions called "medicine," I would much rather prefer the sort of natural medicine of a lying on the earth in the sunshine or embracing my babies. But this ickiness, cyclical coughing--voice loss--faucet nose thing hasn't ever really gone completely away over the past few months. It has subsided, but not vanished. This weekend it was worse again. Yesterday I could barely speak. I feel cheated, though--through it all I have never approached the kind of sickness where you lose your appetite (illness as weight loss mechanism). No, instead, I plug away at the YMCA with nowhere-near-peak lung capacity, not losing any weight. Where is the justice?

Ph, right--it's lying there in the corner with those Reese's Peanut Butter Cups wrappers.

the way things are meant to be

2009-04-24T19:08:00.003-05:00

Today was Arbor Day; did you know it? Tree Day, essentially. But most importantly to me, it was a day off from work. Paid holiday, no less. Best part yet? The kids still had school.
Orion and I got to hang out at home, and relax. I read the whole newspaper before noon, which happens pretty much never.

It felt so natural. Orion, who amazes me daily with his even-keeled temper at work, was even more pleasant at home all day with just Mommy. I didn't know it was possible.

He just turned 5 months old today. With Torrin I stayed home with him until he was 6.5 months old and I began college. Mira was 5.5 months old when I started my AmeriCorps term. There's 4.5 months and a bachelor's degree between the two of them; between Mira and Orion there's two AmeriCorps terms of service and 2 years of working at the Indian Center. But Orion didn't get to stay home with mom at all. It seems so unnatural. I'm thankful that he is with me all day and not compartmentalized in various toy stations at daycare, but it's not even close to having my full attention.

We had a good day even though I didn't get anything accomplished at home except sewing a button on a pair of pants that had gone half-unbuttoned for the past couple of wearings. I attempted to vacuum but couldn't figure out how to empty the cat fur out of the cannister. Bless him, Ben does most of the vacuuming but it also means that he is the one who better knows how to operate the darn thing. I have the instructions--buried in a pile of papers six months high that needs filing. The carpet was so encrusted with fur that I didn't even want to lie the baby down so I could start sorting. Alas, if only I had every Friday off, maybe I'd get somewhere...

Now, it's bedtime. We're playing Dance Dance Revolution. It's never been at our house before; this game system belongs to the library. Orion put himself to sleep in Ben's arms, gnawing on his green bandana. It's been bringing him great joy all evening.

Under the Table and Dreaming

2009-04-23T15:50:00.004-05:00

This title works if you're Orion and sleep under Mommy's desk at work all week!

Speaking of sleeping beauties, here's my little girl looking rather gargantuant:

It's BEAUTIFUL outside. About 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This is how I love it. Now if only I were sitting on a blanket in a green grassy field, with a gossip magazine, a churro, and horchata to drink, that'd be just about perfect. Beverage and snack negotiable. The tulips shown below are from our backyard, sitting happily in my office window.

It's only driving if it's a manual transmission.

2009-04-21T00:10:00.005-05:00

This?
Is not driving. It's maneuvering a vehicle. But it sure was nice to be able to transport all of the kids safely and legally at one time. (That and, you wouldn't catch me driving an American vehicle if I had anything to do with the choosing).

Visual Treats

2009-04-17T14:25:00.006-05:00

Return of the toe:

No, Torrin doesn't need glasses...yet.
Here, on Easter Sunday, with his Aunt Joyce's specs.
I think they look pretty good.
Little Miss Easter herself. She has an armchair cover on her head. Fits perfectly, like a veil.
And Mr. Spring Breeze himself, our little Orion, who loves to be outside, on Tuesday evening, down the block from our house.

A Moment Stolen

2009-04-14T10:27:00.003-05:00

Or, "Why I haven't checked in lately"

I left work at 3:57pm yesterday for a committee meeting starting at 4:00pm at my son's school. Luckily it is only about 2.5 miles away; 7-8 minutes by car. Upon leaving, I had:
--attended 1 staff meeting
--no intern showed up, because his truck wouldn't start
--4 tax returns completed
--4 unresolved income tax returns waiting for their owners
--3 packages of diapers that had not been picked up from the church
--3 diaper orders to call in
--1 unresolved rental assistance inquiry
--15 unanswered voicemails
--not completed redesign of food programs application form
--not completed new volunteer ID badges
--14 client files awaiting database entry and confirmation letters needing to be written, printed, and mailed to those clients
--not a single bathroom break (I needed to go potty!)
--no time to check e-mail
--no chance to drink my daily afternoon Coke (a necessity!)

Thank goodness Orion is such an easygoing, friendly baby! He did a lot of sitting around and hanging out yesterday.

Smile, toes, smile! ओं यौर फीट

2009-03-28T01:07:00.002-05:00

Don't ask.

Chillin' at work

Mira changing Orion's diaper in his under-desk in-office cave

Happy baby. At, of course, work. Wow, we need to get a life.

Oh, wait, Torrin did that for me. He arranged himself a babysitter tonight. Here I was, looking forward to going to bed, and Torrin insisted on our leaving. We went to the Coffee House and saw I Love You, Man. The babysitter? A college student whom we had not previously met. Torrin Facebooked him. He's a volunteer at the place where Torrin, Anthony, and Sophia go to after- and out-of-school programming, so it's not quite as weird as it sounds.

6!

2009-03-20T23:34:00.004-05:00

I now have so many more babies to report on and so much less time in which to do it!
Littlest sister Sophia turned 6 today. Her ChuckECheese-a-thon arrives on Sunday. Today she got six candles mushed into a bowl of strawberry banana ice cream.

Two Warnings for the Fair-Minded

2009-03-19T22:22:00.002-05:00

1. Singing along to your fave 80s synth-pop jams will make a coughing-congested-croaking-frog-in-your-throat squawk in pain.
2. When your hair sprawls past your waist a ponytail is not sufficient to prevent the seat of the rowing machine from attempting to devour said ponytail.

2 weeks, no post.

2009-03-14T01:41:00.004-05:00

what's up, what's down, what's all around?

I don't know. This baby of mine, though, is 3.5 months old and he has gotten altogether too big already. Growing like a weed, a tall, skinny weed. With fab baby chubba-cheeks.

It's still tax season, so a sliver of my scarceness can be attributed to that, along with the chiseled-off-portion that has managed to get to the YMCA a handful of times for some much needed, much wanted decompress-destress chill 'n workout time. We still have a housefull much of the time also, although the 13-year-old sister has been preferring to stay elsewhere. Somehow PGG, Poppyseed, my mother and I weaseled our way out of the house leaving 4 bigger kids (Mira, 3; Sophia, 5; Torrin, 7; and Anthony, 9 under the charge of a friend of mine while we went to an art showing deal and other assorted festivities.

Speaking of things Festive-ish, I've missed two good Festiva opportunities this past week. One was white with a gray swoosh and a big delivery-dude-type-sign attached to the car with a sizable metal pole; the other was white and just waiting for me to snap its picture in traffic but I had forgotten my memory card at work. *sigh* And I'm still kicking myself over missing Santa Claus (or rather, a large white-bearded guy) traveling in the opposite direction in a Blue Festiva. So far, we have 32 individual photographed Festivas. More to come on those later.

le jour de mardi gras (avec un enfant)

2009-02-28T16:42:00.001-06:00

A fistful of grandma's hair for the ride.

2009-02-23T00:26:00.000-06:00

pobrecito

2009-02-19T10:18:00.004-06:00

On Monday, Mira was sick. It's not often that she willingly puts herself down for a nap, but that day, she did. Horrid cough, tired and hot little girl.

On Tuesday, she felt better. The cough lingered. And happy Orion looked like this at work:

On Wednesday, Mira was feeling even better. But Orion had inherited the congestion and fever.
Today is Thursday. He isn't warm, but he's still feeling cruddy. His voice is still a squeak, and he snuffles as he breathes. He's eating better, though, and hopefully his sickness arc will continue to approximately follow Mira's so that tomorrow he will feel mostly well again (and return to his joyful babbling that he can't cobble together today through his sore throat).

This morning Torrin was holding a CD and the light reflected on Mira's face, creating a nice rainbow effect:

Here's to hoping that Orion is just as sunny tomorrow as Mira is today.

bananagrams (like scrabble, no board)

2009-02-15T22:13:00.002-06:00

Claro, que Claire.

2009-02-09T00:47:00.004-06:00

She has only been here since December 31st. She started school here on January 21. She came from a town smaller in number than the middle school she's now attending--and there are 12 others of similar size in this district.

No matter. Hastily she ascended to the top of the heap. Number one on the girls A team, in bands, choruses, and AP classes.

She's gorgeous, too--looking semi-scandalous in her skinny jeans without trying. Already amidst the he-wants-to-ask-me-out drama of eighth grade even in this new territory. The type of drama I mostly avoided merely by existing on a smaller social scale, even though I grew up here, accustomed to the crowds. She's not used to homely homeboys whistling and uttering utter nonsense as she strolls past. I'm trying to figure out if the trials and tribulations of the Popular Kids will serve her better than the hyjinks of the not-quite-outcasts. I'm both proud of her and bewildered. How did she grow up so fast?

My little 13 year old sister, taller than me, full of potential...such a loaded word, potential. Potentially amazing, potentially disastrous. Potent. Potency.

Whatever it is, she's got it.

More Mutilation

2009-02-08T10:40:00.003-06:00

So, the refried beans can was very scary.

Indeed, this situation is similarly grave.

What kind of product origin message is this to put on a package? What company is so cavalier in its flippancy?

Why not just print, MADE SOMEWHERE? MAYBE ON THIS PLANET, MAYBE NOT? I'll tell you. It's the same kind of company that mutilates poor, innocent bears.

A strange bag of gummy bears, that one was.

bikin' bear baby

2009-02-01T00:53:00.001-06:00

Orion loved his first bicycle ride.
For those observant folks out there...there's a Festiva in the background. That one is #9 in the Official Festiva Project; 27 total Festivas have been documented to date.

Whodunnit?

2009-01-20T22:44:00.004-06:00

Your guess is as good as mine.

It must have been painful.

Way too fast.

2009-01-18T21:09:00.003-06:00

Somehow my little Poppyseed had grown into a big, smiling, cooing, rolling over baby. What happened?

Terror Stricken, and 76 cents

2009-01-17T12:18:00.005-06:00

Mira (3) and Sophia (5) wanted to paint their finger- and toenails. I agreed to help with this endeavor, and was surprised a few minutes later to find Torrin (7) polishing Mira's toes. He intended only to do Mira's toes, but 76 cents was enough to convince him to paint fingernails and Sophia's also--freeing me from duty.

Speaking of duty, I have not fulfilled mine. I bought my Kia over six months ago. We hit 10,000 miles on Wednesday at 5:30pm on the way home from work. But?

I still haven't registered and licensed the thing. It's the sales tax that I can't afford. Monday, I will file my taxes, so I'll be able to pay it soon (thank you earned income credit!).

Tuesday morning, I finally got pulled over while driving. It has dealer placards in its license frames, and is supposed to have in-transit papers attached in the front and rear windows. I have one in the front (it says 08/02/08, which is 30 days after I bought it, i.e., when I was supposed to have licensed it by). The officer just told me I needed to put my in-transit sign back in the rear windshield, failing to notice the five-months'-past-expiration date on the front.

!!!

Photographic evidence of my wit's ending

2009-01-13T08:53:00.003-06:00

A rare quiet moment. Sophia, Mira, and Torrin's friend Aaron playing Go Fish.

My father and Claire wearing some awesome fur coats (rotten pic of my dad though!)

Anthony looking handsome on funeral day

Mira sporting half-Leia buns

Torrin and his long-lost buddy Aaron

Ben playing airplane with Orion

Who knows WHAT this is. Sophia, Aaron, and Torrin

Torrin's friend from school, Izzet, as Torrin tries to tackle him

27 degrees

2009-01-11T23:29:00.004-06:00

Sometimes you have to stop running inside the house. Even though it's below zero by celsius temperature calculation, mom may still send you out to run off some steam.

Sorry it's a link...I tried to upload directly to Blogger no less than five times at various times today, each attempt of which ended with my wireless signal crapping out.

//c//h//a//o//*s

2009-01-07T16:14:00.005-06:00

Our house has been chaos lately. Long story short, there was a death in the family and two little sisters and a brother have been staying at our house. Well, one is not so little--she's 13 and taller than me. The other two are 9 and 5 and make great playmates/partners in crime for Torrin and Mira. We finally have replacement downstairs neighbors, too, and I'm sure they hate me for all of the running, thumping, screaming and other such pandemonium that has been going on. When I can manage to stay awake long enough, I'll upload some pics and video to post here.

itchy?

2008-12-30T15:37:00.004-06:00

2 great quotes from Mira on Christmas Eve...

1) "I got a box! Just like Torrin and Ben!" upon unwrapping a gift, partially.
2) SGM (StepGrandmaMagee) takes a pill. Mira asks why. SGM responds "because sometimes my back hurts." Mira replies, "Sometimes my butt itches."

Happy Cows?

2008-12-23T02:16:00.002-06:00

Fine print on a coupon attached to the carton of eggs we bought yesterday.

3 letters

2008-12-20T18:56:00.003-06:00

Following my much-debated text, composed so that it did not necessitate a response, came these three letters, last night at 1:35am: bye.

Today, I threw away a stack of banana pancakes. They have fabulous maple syrup in the Northeast, you know.

'tis the season

2008-12-17T22:53:00.008-06:00

(Mira, third from the right)

...for losing my mind at work! Things do NOT slow down come holiday time. Operation Santa Claus gifts were delivered yesterday...that's roughly one hundred families' gifts, two or three carbon copies of each form to find, sort, alphabetize, and their corresponding telephone numbers to call. Nevermind disconnected or out-of-service numbers. And it's tax training time...IRS VITA site coordinator meeting this morning. Drama there, too. Paid preparers are trying to dismantle the volunteer-run program. And then there's my other, top-secret work Christmas project...not to mention Christmas cards and keeping the cats out of the tree at home.

Back on subject (was there a subject?)--Mira's daycare had their Christmas program last Thursday, on our Auntie Joyce's birthday. Since I had forgotten that morning that the program was that evening, Mira was one of only two girls in the class not wearing a dress. And she noticed. The picture above shows only about a third of her whole class.
And, for fun, here's a pic of PGG, about 3 or 4 years old. And looking at this picture, I'm wondering if maybe the baby's nose, which has been causing me some confusion, is PGG's after all. Noses, of course, look much different as they get older along with the human hosts, but Torrin's was instantly recognizable as his dad's. Mira's is actually still somewhat of a mystery but it looks more familiar, if that makes any sense (probably not). Orion's was puzzling. But maybe not. Maybe. We'll see. So also we'll see, if Orion gets the crazy eyebrows (notice too the awesome late 80s background, semi-mullet, and rockin' ninja shirt).

Earlier this evening I walked out to the living room from the kitchen, where I was cooking dinner, and found Torrin reading to Orion on the couch. Cute, huh? And what was he reading to him? Maybe a nice board book, something for babies, maybe even something for older kids? No. Ghosts Among Us, which I doubt the author intended for reading to infants, or small children of any kind, for that matter. Torrin has dubbed it "creepy." I wouldn't know, since I never got around to cracking the cover, let alone actually reading it.

Before I forget

2008-12-09T13:37:00.002-06:00

Wanted to share two Mira exchanges from before the baby was born. In the first conversation, I had enticed Mira to come to the car by telling her that we were going to the store to get a carseat for the baby, as she is ever-interested in all things baby-related. This was a 8 days before the baby was born.

Mira: "Is the baby coming out soon?"
Me: "Yes, sometime soon."
Mira: "Are you going to make a hole for it?"
Me, aghast: "The baby already has a hole to come out of."
Mira: "Is that going to hurt?"
Me: "Maybe."

And then later on:
Mira: "Can I see the hole?"
Me: "No!"

almost two weeks

2008-12-07T14:09:00.006-06:00

So quickly it goes.

We're around, up 'n at 'em. It's Christmastime, which is my second-busiest season at work following tax season (next up!). Little Mr. Orion has been, and will be for the next several weeks, at work with me. All day, every day. We breastfeed, and I don't intend to introduce a bottle until he's 6 - 8 weeks old (it will be pumped milk), so he's my third limb for now. I try to keep him hidden as much as possible and aside from huge breasts (for me anyhow) people can't particularly tell I've just had a baby. My uterus seems to be done with its contractingness and the belly is gone (though the extra padding on my hips and the local vicinity is there for now).

Mira is still enchanted by the baby. She's always wanting to hold him. Torrin is older and doesn't view him as a potential playmate or plaything as Mira does, but he still asks to hold him and seems to genuinely like him. We will see how long it takes for the novelty to wear off. So far, I've managed to get home from work and cook dinner each night, but after that I'm pretty beat and it takes an effort to read bedtime stories.

Don't blink, or you'll miss everything...

Orion Tadé

2008-11-28T16:55:00.003-06:00

No baby yet.

2008-11-23T03:00:00.004-06:00

I've gotten to a point in the pregnancy where I am totally and completely done. My feet are doing that awesome swelling thing they started doing about a week before I had Mira. I've been contracting irregularly since about 630am Sat. It's now 325am Sun, and no, I haven't been to sleep yet. They come about every 8 min...but not on time. Sometime's it's 6 min, sometimes 10. This could get old verrrrry quickly. Actually, it has already gotten old. *yawn*

For fun, here's a picture of someone never-before-seen-on-my-blog, the one and only PGG. Here, asleep with Mira a couple nights ago. Nice dark picture because I didn't want to wake them with a light or a flash, of course. And speaking of sleep, I'm going to go attempt a catnap.

See? I can't make it through an entire pregnancy looking un-pregnant...or, "How to Smuggle a Basketball."

2008-11-18T10:53:00.002-06:00

Every Baby a Blessing.

2008-11-12T19:17:00.002-06:00

Not going to go into the drama-mess-details, but for crying out loud...every baby should be cause for celebration and joy. Why waste time and energy decrying whatever shitty situation may be sweltering? Surround the innocent one, borne not of its own accord, with sweetness and concern only for its well-being. Sacrifice for human nature (not one of us perfect). The past cannot be undone.

All of my siblings...I would take any one (or several) of them into my home if it were needed. From age 6 days to 20 years, each may share only one parent with me but they are all my kin.

My children will, and to some extent already do, have a similar sibling patchwork. I can only hope that they will feel the same and leave bickering and drama to those who care to pursue and promote such nonsense.

This should be easy.

2008-11-06T16:22:00.004-06:00

I was tagged by Julie to do a blog of 7 Weird Things About Myself.

Okay, easy enough. I think. I've been considered generally "weird" for most of my life.

1. I'm afraid of nail clippers. I hack 'em off with nail scissors or even regular scissors. This goes for my kids too.

2. I love chocolate and I love ice cream but I do not care for chocolate ice cream.

3. My parents are both adopted. I'm not.

4. I don't use salt. I don't even have normal salt in my house, although I do have some sea salt which was purchased for tie-dying purposes.

5. I don't own a mop. I have never mopped my kitchen floor since we moved to our house in May 2006. The flooring is laminate and I love it. I spray it with Windex.

6. I am currently in love with the smell of Windex. I look for excuses to clean things so that I can smell the wonderful lemon Windex smell.

7. Just recently I started a photo adventure titled "The Festiva Project." This is my first public mention of it; the only persons who knew about it before now were my kids and PGG. I'm taking pictures of Ford Festivas, which are little egg-shaped vehicles produced between 1988 - 1993. I've been caught in the act three times now (and I only have 16 total). I'll probably end up making a website for it, or its own blog. Below is the most recently captured picture. A red one, modified hood, back end covered with stickers, dents abound.

Now, I'm supposed to tag 7 people, but I honestly don't know that I know of any bloggers who haven't been tagged that read my blog...will think on that one and edit the post later perhaps.

Fly on the wall

2008-11-02T17:17:00.002-06:00

Torrin liked this comic today. He only asked what "sociopathy" was. Actually, he read most of today's comics aloud to me. You know how parents will sometimes spell words out so that the kid doesn't know what you're talking about? Can't do that with this kid anymore. He likes to carry out conversations in spelling sometimes. O-K-A-Y, T-O-R-R-I-N (he read this post too).

Kitty Love

2008-10-29T01:16:00.002-05:00

How could I not immediately share? Snapped at 12:56am...technically, it's Wednesday now...

Manicotti Thursday

2008-10-25T22:11:00.005-05:00

So I've shared banana pancakes (they were quite yummy BTW) and quiche...here's another favorite. Manicotti! Shown pre-baking, in the assembly stage.

And fresh out of the oven, one ricotta/broccoli/spinach-stuffed tube missing to the land of cooling-off-for-little-mouths-ville:

bye!

2008-10-25T21:53:00.002-05:00

Scrawled on the window by my big 7-year-old kid upon exiting the car last Thurday morning...that's him waving from beyond the foggy glass.

Your Cuteness Quotient for the Day...

2008-10-20T01:04:00.002-05:00

Exhibit A.
Subjects are watching the third Presidential debate.
Child T, age 7, asks how old McCain is.
Mom replies, "I think he's 72."
Child M, celebrating her 3rd birthday, exclaims, "He's not two!!!"
T: "No, seven-ty two. Seven and two."
M: "How old is he?" as she motions toward Obama.
Mom: "I think he's 47."
M, indignantly: "Well I think he's 41."

Exhibit B.
Aforementioned subjects T and Mom are lying in bed. T's hand is on Mom's abdomen to feel Unborn Sibling moving.
Subject M climbs onto the bed and puts her arm around T, her brother.
T: "There's no baby in my tummy, Mira."
M: "I'm just tryin' to hug you!"

blink

2008-10-18T02:37:00.006-05:00

Mira's 3 now. I'm not sure how it happened, but my memory of her babyhood is quickly slipping away.

She hasn't had her birthday party yet...that's coming on Sunday afternoon.

Tuesday night as she slept I hung the decorations for her birthday party, to get more use out of them. Besides, I love an excuse to hang streamers in the doorway. We didn't ever do goofy stuff like that when I was a kid, and Mira's just old enough this year to really excited about her birthday. Wednesday morning I woke up and proceeded to make pancakes. Banana pancakes. It was my first time doing it on my own. Both TCO and Voldemort were excellent banana pancake artists and I have been craving them for awhile now.

I let her eat breakfast without even getting dressed first, too...oh, the controversy! "Mommy am I three now?" She asked, wide-eyed and incredulous. Yes, honey, you're three now. Only one more autumn lies between her and kindergarten. :(

Art for Art's Sake

2008-10-11T20:08:00.004-05:00

In the past week I've completed two pieces of artwork. As in, art for work's sake. Which is certainly better than no art at all, but how about art for me, for my loved ones, for whomever or whatever? I despise how artistic creation goes in spurts for me...I'll make a few things in a relatively short period of time, then nothing worth mentioning for a year, or longer. I don't share because I think I possess any true talent, but because it brings me such happiness to create.

Above left, detail of tracks on a work-intended piece. I'd share the whole image but I don't know exactly what will become of the entirety, if anything. Below, my very first owl. Mira and I spent some time this afternoon with watercolor and crayons. She made three lovely pictures, one for her daddy, one for her grandma, and one for her great-grandma. My owl is for PGG.

Quiche. It's what's for dinner.

2008-10-11T19:36:00.004-05:00

Okay, very un-original title. Crazy thing is we actually did eat some beef a day prior or post-quiche. Mama got a cheeseburger craving that wasn't going to be fulfilled by McDonald's. I only buy hamburger about once or twice a year, so it's kind of a big deal. But anyhow, quiche...how I love my quiche. It's terribly "unhealthy," prepared in its traditional manner. I usually don't add meat, let alone actual real bacon. Whatever else is random depending on what's in the refrigerator. Last weekend's quiche contained broccoli, salmon, and fresh dill. I make the whole-wheat crust from scratch with 7tbsp of real butter.

Here it is before going into the oven...
And fresh out, with the egg-and-cream (I use half-n-half) mixture hot, steamy, and risen...

Cooled off, sliced, and still hot. Yum.

Good-Enough Weekend

2008-09-29T14:48:00.003-05:00

Torrin and Mira roasting hot dogs (mmmmm pig parts!)

I finished another bead project--yay!

And my kitties love each other.

Good enough weekend, minus the whole football parking thing on Saturday, where once again our intelligent Husker-fan-parkers were overheard referring to the Indian Center as the Indian Reservation. Yes, this is the Rez where all the drunken white folks are. :/

We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

2008-09-29T14:04:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday, after we finally left my workplace, we got ready and headed south to Kansas. First to Lawrence, where we Haskell Avenue'd it up meeting another Mommy from Mira's birth club. Such encounters are always fun--it's like meeting a celebrity, because it may be your first time actually meeting the person, but you've seen them in pictures and already know so much about them. We stayed several hours, the kids played, and all was dandy. Then we headed over to Old Chicago to visit an old friend of PGG's who's attending Haskell Indian Nations University.

We capped the night by jaunting over to Topeka, where I have a long-lost auntie. She's my mom's eldest sister, but we just met her for the first time last summer (my mom is adopted--actually my dad is too but we don't know who his biological family is). We stayed the night with her and her rumpled Schnauzer. I was sufficiently creeped out by a picture on her dresser whose subject looked like a male version of my mother, complete with semi-glaring half-scowl. His name is Larry, and he's a brother of theirs, now deceased. I am envious of her knowledge of the Omaha language but not her cigarette habit...I'm slightly concerned that she will inadvertently burn her house down one of these nights as she chain-smokes half asleep.

Worst Friday Ever.

2008-09-20T05:46:00.001-05:00

Okay, so yeah it's technically Saturday now. 5:45am. I'm still at work. That about sums it up.

Mira on the subway

2008-09-17T00:30:00.004-05:00

Long time no post.

In the mean time, I've reached the quarter-century mark...driven to Chicago and back...and caused a major fiasco at work with the too-sensitive and community-sore-spot issue of football parking. Since I couldn't be there, it was left to warring families and bull-headed staff members. Next week, I'll be back. Ugh. My birthday in Chicago was less than fabulous...beginning with my inagural (and hopefully last) birthday tow. Hey, at least it was a cheap tow for Chicago, only $170, and our friend there covered it--for which I am grateful.

For lunch on Saturday before taking Flamenco to the airport with her loyal doggie friend, we went to Ginos East for some authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. I'm still a sushi-craving fiend, and yes I know you're not "supposed" to eat sushi while you're pregnant, but that's what we had for dinner. Note that there are several sushi options which include cooked items. Had it not rained the entire time we were there, it would have been much more fun.

Better luck next year!

Like Wildfire

2008-09-03T23:51:00.005-05:00

Another Sunken Gardens shot here.

So they've finally caught on to the baby bit at work. The Friday before last Nosy Coworker #1 finally asked. Then yesterday, Nosy Coworker #2 asked. This is noteworthy because both are guilty of regularly inquiring whether I was expecting when there was no reason (that I know of) to suspect so, yet for the past 6 months when I actually have been didn't pose the question. #2's asking yesterday was followed shortly by his son learning of the news. And his son? Is currently staying with Viktor Krum and TCO. Yay. Today, two more Poppy inquiries. Eh. Whatever. I'm 26.5 weeks along now, which translates to roughly "six months pregnant." A typical pregnancy is based on a "due date" figured to occur after 40 weeks, or 10 lunar months.

Some stupid news of the day: Harry Potter lost his virginity at 16 to an "older woman," and scientists have linked a gene to males' likelihood to cheat. Meow and growl!

Politico

2008-09-03T00:21:00.003-05:00

Generally, I avoid politics since it's so...polarizing. But I think that now that we know both VP picks, the Presidential race has gotten more interesting. I do think it's a shame that there's so little choice in voting...I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole caucus/primary/electoral college process in general.

It does seem that McCain and Obama both made VP choices that emphasized what the other had that he himself was lacking. And I think you gotta give McCain credit for making an unexpected selection (whereas Obama's seemed like the safest move).

While at the YMCA this evening, they had Glenn Beck on the TV screen and I glimpsed this book title: If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans. Okay, whatever, Ann Coulter's book is probably pretty funny. But I always wonder, why is it then, that with more education, people are more likely to have democratic political views? We've all heard that college campuses tend towards liberalism...do we need affirmative action for conservatives to enter the education field or what? ;) Would the more education thing hold true if professors were more evenly split between conservative and liberal views? Is educating young minds more attractive to the liberal mindset, and if so, why? Cuz dem Republicans are too busy makin' an honest dollar while the Democrat tries to convince him it's really his? 'Cause da Dems are so good at spewing hot air while the Republican finds a way to market the exhilation?

Where Am I?

2008-08-27T08:10:00.002-05:00

I have a second-grader...

2008-08-24T02:34:00.003-05:00

The procession of time presses onward. I can't believe that my first baby is beginning his third year of formal schooling. But then again, I can't really remember him as a baby either--seems like snapshots out of someone else's life--so I suppose it makes some sense. His hair is starting to get pretty long.

Because she's so freaking cute...

2008-08-19T23:27:00.002-05:00

Cheesin' this morning, wearing a dress we received from one of my online buddies!

Either go away or just say hello...

2008-08-18T01:02:00.004-05:00

Because OMGoodness this is driving me nuts!

Isn't one Viktor Krum at my workplace enough? TCO, I am so disappointed with your social (sk)ills that seem to be more and more mimicking those of Viktor Krum...it's not a good thing...as you yourself have stated on so many occasions...Viktor is an a$s. And who Else has a lil white Kia? LOL...

Snow cones & Dirt

2008-08-17T23:42:00.019-05:00

A good summation of what makes the modern powwow fun for small children: Playing in the dirt and fair-type food. The congregation of children is possibly my favorite part of going to the powwow.

Naked Mira on someone's bike (we had gone to the car to change her dirty dress)

Junior girl jingle dress dancer

The Omaha (Umoⁿhoⁿ, which means "against the current") powwow is a celebration to honor the creator for the harvest (hedewachi).

I loved this little boy's expression

Me, goofy Torrin, and passed out Mira.

That's just WRONG!

2008-08-15T13:08:00.003-05:00

I've been having kind of a crappy week that I won't go into, but this is ridiculous. Warner Brothers has decided to delay the release of the Half Blood Prince until next summer. Production delays? Script or set discrepancies? Key actors getting DUIs? No, none of that. They just wanted to move it to an "open" weekend in the SUMMER. As if HP needs any help attracting viewers! The only good part is that supposedly the 1st half of Deathly Hallows will still come out in November next year.

A Life Full of Color

2008-08-11T11:07:00.004-05:00

I am happiest when I can create things.

I've never been a painter, but I adore mixing paint. I love combining this color and that, and maybe that one or that one, and seeing what happens. Sometimes the results are as expected, but other times, the new hue takes you by surprise.

I have an ongoing love affair with the sky. The various shades that mingle and tangle with the clouds can be oh-so-breathtaking.

The textures and colors of scrapbooking paper is what marks the appeal of those stores, even though, aside from a few stolen savory moments, I haven't really scrapped since before Mira was born. The difference between one child and two isn't one...it's about 1,000.

My favorite of all?

I think it's beads. I've accumulated a fair collection of beads, and there is a definite sense of euphoria present as I rifle through the boxes, filled with varied sizes, shapes, textures and shades of beads. The satisfaction that arises as a result of completing a piece is rather indescribable. It's not merely pride for being able to make something; it's easy enough to do. It's the interaction of the colors, the light reflecting on the shiny spheres. Last night for the first time in a a long while I made a necklace, for Mira. She has said more than once now that she would like to have a yellow dress made for her; whether or not she also wears this necklace is secondary. I made it for her, and that adds to its uniqueness.

15

2008-08-10T21:46:00.012-05:00

In 1993, Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for literature
Bill Clinton was President of the United States
River Phoenix, Frank Zappa, André the Giant, and Dizzy Gillespie died
Czechoslavakia became the two separate nations of Slovakia and Czech Republic
Rodney King testified in federal court
Unforgiven won 4 Academy Awards

and my brother Ian was born.

Ian at 3 months...and 5 years old, kindergartner at Elliott...

And now, sporting a Beatles/Harry Potter Goblet of Fire-esque shag, 15 years old, entering his sophomore year in high school this fall...

Awww...wasn't it just yesterday that I was changing your diapers and riding around with you in the bikeseat of our mother's bike?

Dude, Where's My Post?

2008-08-10T20:41:00.003-05:00

I had posted a few days ago about my ExpectNet online baby pool...Somehow it turned into 2 posts, so I deleted one, one was left, and now both are gone...hmm...well, click on the banner below to enter a guess as to when Poppy will arrive, birth weight, gender, etc. Naming rights (or perhaps opinions on the final choices) to winner may be negotiated ;)

Baby is due 05 Dec 2008 based on a 40 week pregnancy calculated as 10 lunar months. Torrin was born at 41w3d, weighing 9lb., 0.8oz and 22 inches long. Mira was born at 38w5d, weighing 7lb, 12.6oz, 20.5 inches long.

>

Cleaning Off the Memory Card

2008-07-29T23:52:00.014-05:00

Maybe I should do that more than once every nine months. Sure, I take stuff off right away if I remember...but other shots just sit and collect figurative dust. And since I'm usually "in a hurry" for this-or-that reason, I don't want to wade through all of the old stuff, I just want whatever pic was most recently shuttered. Apparently, it takes an accidental wipe of the card (clicked the wrong button) for me to accomplish any more than necessary.

The picture above was taken this March in Iowa City. What toddler doesn't love bubbles...or "do it myself" -ing?

At right, an art piece from the Amsterdam airport. There were 4 (one for each season) about 5 feet in diameter, possibly somewhat larger.

Right, behold wojapi (a traditional Native dish). I love this stuff. Probably because modern preparation tends to use cans of preserves or berries for pie filling, which is sugar-laden. I'd be very interested to try some made with wild berries found in the Plains region, but I for one sure don't gather many berries. Mulberries as a kid, of course, but since then, eh, not so much. This particular incarnation was served at the 4th Annual Buffalo Dinner in November.

And finally, melting ice's leaf cutouts exposing green grass hiding below. This was taken at the same park in Iowa City, two weeks prior to Mira's bubble-blowing.

Ten Years

2008-07-24T07:06:00.001-05:00

At the right, you can sort of see our new car, in a picture taken by Torrin on Tuesday morning. It's a Kia. Not my first choice, but after all of the major car issues going around lately a new car with a warranty sounded nice. So, it's not as nice as a Honda or Toyota, which is what I'd prefer, but hey, I'd never had a car built in this century before. And Kias come with a 10 year (or rather, more accurately, a 100,000 mile) warranty.

Why is that so scary?

In 10 years, Torrin will be old enough to drive. He'll be 17. That is positively surreal.

Luckily, I came to this conclusion Wednesday evening, as we drove home from the YMCA (and we did see TCO and Viktor Krum by the way). Torrin? At that moment had a banana peel on his head, so I can breathe soundly for a bit longer--at least as far as his aging is concerned.

It's fun to stay at the...

2008-07-22T15:29:00.005-05:00

Okay, so we don't use the YMCA in that sense...but in any case, we went last night and re-started our membership. It was nice to go again. You'd be surprised how 10 - 13 miles of daily bikeriding did NO favors for my body. But I must say, I was impressed with how non-pregnant I looked in my now skin-tight workout clothes. I would've felt reasonably comfortable running into TCO there (which of course is always a distinct possibility). And as far as I know, he doesn't know. He did volunteer with the youth program a bit last week, and another guy who interns with the youth program knows. But I doubt that's something he'd just up and talk about. It's just a matter of time, though. TCO's brother Viktor Krum is technically my supervisor, and I'm due to sign a contract at the end of the month to continue working there. Except that whole baby being born at the end of November or early December detail...which is something he should probably know about.

Bliss

2008-07-20T03:54:00.004-05:00

This?
It is. My friend's baby, 7 months old, snoozing in Mira's stroller at Hazel Abel park while Mira splashed her feet in the fountain.

Bliss?
Is a "belly full of embryos," such as that of a fellow October 2005 mommy, hopeful mommy of more.

Bliss?
Runza french fries, not too much salt, with ketchup, and a leisurely walk home afterwards.

Introducing...Poppy!

2008-07-17T13:04:00.001-05:00

This is old news to most of you...but, meet Poppy! Pictures from July 10. I was 18w5d.

Work peeps for the most part don't know yet. But they will soon enough. I figure, heck, I'll be 20 weeks on Friday. My clothing options are severely limited. They're gonna find out, one way or the other, sooner than I would prefer. Before November is too soon, as far as I'm concerned.

34 kids, tornado & flood watches, heavy rain = camping trip?

2008-06-30T01:45:00.003-05:00

The weekend of June 20-22, Torrin, Mira, and I all got sunburned. Torrin, being the fairest-skinned, was the worst hit. Especially in combination with his 7-year-old lack of know-how in regards to sun safety. He swears he put sunblock on that day, but his cherry-lipstick-red shoulders begged to differ. I wasn't with him; he'd gone with a group fishing that morning, which I didn't think would be a terribly fun activity for Mira. I didn't see him again until it was dark.

The first night, Thursday the 19th, we drove out to the campgrounds as planned. Then, a storm rolled up with ominous green-tinted clouds that soon spewed their soggy glory. We took the three vans full of kids back to my workplace for an impromptu sleepover at the Center.

Although the campsites were muddy, the rest of the trip fared much better. Unfortunately the set-up wasn't as well-accustomed to the kind of luminous photos that last year's camping trip yielded, but the park offered more activities and the food was better. There was a better mix of kids in attendance (i.e., not predominantly one family represented). Torrin opted not to go horseback riding, and since Mira is too little, I didn't get pictures of that particular foray. On the last day, upon our departure, I had a scare that I'd lost my camera. My loyal camera which has traveled with me to Spain, Washington DC, Phoenix, Minneapolis, and Wisconsin, not to mention tons of local stuff and my kiddos. Fortunately I found it under some damp towels smushed in the van when we got back into town, in the same condition I'd last seen it.

Some prettiness

2008-06-16T20:36:00.000-05:00

Far from pettiness, but only one letter off...

At a public garden a few blocks from our house.

Bike Trail Critters

2008-06-12T11:27:00.000-05:00

Do you know what kind of creature this is?

I don't. But he sure looked terrified running along the unfinished portion of the bike trail that runs part-way between where I work and where I live. The size of a smushed cat or thereabouts.

We've had lots of rain lately, so I'm guessing that's what's confusing these poor lil guys. The bike path runs adjacent to a typically barely-flowing creek. A few days later Torrin and I spied a couple of turtles a bit further north on the same trail. He was highly entertained and wanted to email a picture to his science teacher. I'm sure she'll be impressed (when I finally get around to it).

This is what happens when you take your kids to the store at 9pm.

2008-06-09T11:21:00.000-05:00

Yeah. They sleep in the cart. But when you don't have a working vehicle, it's a treat to be able to charter a motorized trip to the grocery store without worrying about the eggs breaking on the walk or bikeride home.

Lost, Found, and Stolen

2008-06-08T16:45:00.003-05:00

Torrin and Mira yesterday at Oak Lake

Lost

-the keys to the Festiva. Hmmm... We'll work on that one.

Found
-TCO's satchel of tobacco. He's not a smoker but for traditional and ceremonial purposes. Is the stuff still any good six months later? I'm debating sending it to him. I found it while cleaning around my bed. After 5 years on a futon with two eggshell things to make it permissible for sleeping, I've upgraded to a real bed. Somehow a full size mattress seems a lot smaller higher off of the ground.

Stolen
-3 packs of Bonbel cheeses. On Friday we walked to our neighborhood ghetto-grocery store, with the stroller, to get groceries. After we'd gotten home and I'd put away what I thought was all of the groceries, I went to collapse the stroller down to put it away I found the cheese stuck inside the pull-out canopy thing. Um. Hmmm. I wasn't about to walk back then, hungry, after a mile walk, grocery trip, day at work and 12 miles of bikeriding. I considered calling the store but chickened out. Well, we'll be back there again soon enough.

Piecing together

2008-06-01T22:37:00.003-05:00

My little Torrin! Off away from me in another state again. He's becoming quite a well-seasoned independent dude (but still a crybaby, whiner, and a very poor loser, albeit a good big brother). This time he's up in Minnesota with my uncle. They're going to go camping, although I think they're actually doing that somewhere in Iowa.

Speaking of "little" Torrin, Friday was his last day of school. He was sent home with a massive stack of papers, including this charming little narrative: "Today I was so mad because I forgot my belt. Cuz when I sit down I haft to pull up my pants! En when I run i pull up my pants. And when theyre pulled up they fall down" Poor kid! It's not dated but I would guess it to have been written in April or May.

We had a few good storms plow through the area lately. No tornadoes here, but nearby. We did get 70mph wind, which is almost as good as a tornado. In my neighborhood there were several uprooted mature trees which fell, onto houses and blocking streets. This picture is me yesterday at a park with one of those felled beauties.

We're going on three weeks now of No-Car-Ness. I think May 16 was the last day I drove it. I am fairly certain I still could drive it, but less certain whether I'd actually get anywhere. I'd rather ride 12 miles a day on bikes than get stranded somewhere with two kids when I'm supposed to be at work or whatever. At least if my bike were to blow a tire or something I could just walk to whereever I was going next and not have to worry about getting a tow or any nonsense like that.

In case you're wondering what's wrong with it, it's the engine. Or if you happen to know of a good used motor for a 4 cyclinder 2.2 liter Honda Civic let me know. It costs in the neighborhood of $2000 to fix at a mechanic's shop. I just can't believe a Honda engine crapped out at only 176,600 miles. My Accord was laid to raid at 188K only because someone else crashed into it and it was considered a total loss by their insurance. The thing was still running fine. My grandma's Accord, also in good running condition, was sold at about 190K. I've personally seen healthy Hondas with odometer readings over 200,000 miles and the Festiva out back is plugging away at 225K. In any case, the last time I drove it, it was dying any time I let it idle for more than a hot second. The alternator and whatnot are fine. The check engine light had been on, it's been going through more oil than usual for awhile now and I had taken it in for an engine diagnostic (they said two of the cylinders were pretty much done for).

And last of not least, a word about my slightly insane daughter. She decided to put herself to bed on the kitchen floor tonight. For her comfort, she brought a couch pillow, a blankie, and her dolly. I'm leaving her there. Heck, it's close to the bathroom, and if she wakes up in the middle of the night she always comes to me anyway.

Tagged? Who, me?

2008-06-01T21:45:00.002-05:00

So here's the rules as to what I had to do and if you are one of my lucky 7 below then you need to also do the following:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Okay, here goes...Thanks, Angela...and I can't think of anyone to tag either, I think they've all been tagged. Julie? Heather?
Seven facts about me:
1) I have an eye phobia. Don't talk about touching, licking, or otherwise possibly harming eyeballs. Not even putting in contacts. Ew.
2) I am afraid of nail clippers. I will not use them on myself or my children (we use nail scissors and files if you're curious).
3) My ankles look permanently bruised just in front of the ankle joint. It's because they bend more than normal and the skin is rougher where it bends, similar to your knee or elbow.
4) I let my daughter eat a french fry off of the floor today because I didn't feel like listening to her scream about it if I didn't.
5) I get to work when I get there and I leave when I can.
6) My children are 4.5 yrs apart in age and of opposite gender, but they sleep and bathe together. I have no problem with this as long as they don't. Simplifies things for me.
7) I have missed the application deadline for the graduate program I want to do three years in a row. I do taxes during tax season. Bite me. I'll do it by the time I turn thirty.

Tids and Bits

2008-05-17T19:09:00.004-05:00

Yeah, so, long time, no update. In the interim I've been to Arizona and back, but so quickly, I'm not quite sure that it really happened. It was "hot," as in, it was 80 in Nebraska when I left and 95 there when I arrived but the difference in humidity made it so that it felt about the same. Anyway, I like it warm, so I was just peachy with that. I attended the Women Are Sacred conference, which is about domestic violence and Native American women.

Oddly enough, I actually tend to sleep at night these days, so that's translated into no blog updates. I'm alive and well, though, as are the kiddos.

I had not realized how many different kinds of cactus there are. I mean, everyone pictures those big saguaros. Those are the ones you always see in desert pics, next to Roadrunner and a dustcloud. But these things were all over the place, all different shapes and sizes.
Maybe that really just means I need to get out more often, lol.

Purdy flowers. The flower obsession continues. There's also a million kinds of palm tree.
Prettiness.
Mountains! We don't have any of those in Nebraska.

Again, maybe this just means I need to get out more often...

Takin' On The Jellies...you got some serious thrill issues, dude...

2008-05-02T02:36:00.004-05:00

On Saturday while Mira was away with her PITA father, we went shopping. Torrin is in the market for a new bike and has a birthday coming at the end of the month. We've checked out bikes at a couple stores so far, no determinations have been made. But while we were at Target, I spied these:Pink jellie shoes. How could I resist? I hadn't really seen any since my own 7-or-so-year-old-jellie-wearing days. I know they've been around, but hadn't paid them any mind. My mother was less impressed, but hey, they were cheap and they sparkle in the light.

Mira LOVED them. The first night, she even slept with them on. And wore them to school the next three days in a row despite their being banned from the playground at daycare. I tried to put her in other, more regular shoes, but Miss Mira protested, jumping up and down, throwing off the rejected regular shoes dramatically, and running, wailing, to retrieve the jellies.

Thankfully, they let her play on the playground anyway.

Today? She wore her pink flower boots. Thank goodness.

What happened to my brain?

2008-04-24T19:06:00.003-05:00

I got all excited last week, thinking that I wouldn't see TCO at the YMCA anymore. Monday, finding the Y TCO-less, I got a bit excited, thinking that maybe he rearranged his schedule or something. About 20 minutes into my elliptical session reality first went driving by in Viktor Krum's car, then walking by my window, then onto a treadmill in front of me. Yeah so my routine lately? Is 25 minutes on the elliptical followed by 10 on the treadmill. Of course, when I was done on the elliptical machine, there were three treadmills open. Three out of oh, twelve or so? All three open machines adjacent to TCO. My bravery faltered, and I went upstairs to do my weight circuit before looking again for available treadmills.

Maybe my relationship with TCO was doomed by my refusal to accept it is a real possibility. I kept waiting for something to go wrong instead of trying to make things right.

I'm beginning to wonder also what I'm doing with a boyfriend. I am way too busy for a boyfriend. I don't have time for myself, let alone all of this that I've gotten myself into. Sometimes my perpetual hopefulness really gets the best of me. I've always wanted a nice L-H I. M., yet this year I've lost one and blew my chance off with another. What do I get instead? A very, very, very sweet PGG. Sounds simple enough, no big deal, if it doesn't work out, better luck next time, right? No. I already have two children originating from two separate dads. If I were to have a third child, it'd be with a third different person? How rotten is that? There's no going back from that. So where it should seem simple, it's not at all. It's like...if this doesn't work out, I just give up. I'm done. No more.

May this relationship not be doomed as well, by my fear of everything being over.

Portrait by PGG

2008-04-17T11:22:00.001-05:00

13 April 2008

Passing the Torch

2008-04-17T10:41:00.003-05:00

Or, good news for Flamenco Dancer.
PGG saw TCO on Tuesday afternoon, riding his bike down 11th Street. PGG reports that they made eye contact and TCO gave him a smile-nod acknowledgment.

About a month ago, seemingly out of nowhere, TCO had dropped off my friend Flamenco's car at my house. I didn't know it had been done until late that night (whatever night it was). My friend Flamenco, the one in Spain, has had this little Ford Festiva that she tools around in when she's back in the States. And during the academic school year, while she's been in Spain, has lent it to friends who needed a vehicle. Last summer when she left, she had gotten to know TCO and since he didn't have a car she offered it to him. Signed the title over and whatnot. Well, anyhow, it was brought back to my house just before I left for Spain myself. PGG tried to start it after I'd returned with no luck. The jumper cables left in the car were damaged somehow. I've been so ungodly busy with everything else that I haven't really worried about it. I don't own jumper cables of my own.

So, Tuesday evening, PGG's mother and brothers came to Lincoln. While waiting for me to get my act together and get my kids fed so that we could all go bowling, they got the Festiva going. And go it did--the four of them took it for a ride. Where they went I do not know, but it was driven out to Champions Fun Center, where we went bowling, a good enough drive away, also. It did start all by itself to go to and return from Champions.

Now, to address the painfully balding back tires and titling/insurance/plates issue...they expire this month. TCO doesn't want me to speak to him, apparently, so I hope I do not need him to sign any additional paperwork. But it is only fitting that TCO was the last person to drive the Festiva, saw PGG Tuesday afternoon, and then PGG to be the next person to make it go later the same day.

more cryptic quotes

2008-04-11T22:04:00.002-05:00

Today PGG and I went out for lunch. I've had a super busy week at work and the break was much welcomed. After a lovely meal of samosa, mulligatawny soup, and lamb biryani at The Oven we went to Ivanna Cone, where one of the day's flavors was lemon poppyseed.

How could we possibly resist?

mucho frio

2008-04-07T21:07:00.006-05:00

mucho frio uno:
We haven't had hot water since Thursday. I called for someone to come check it out on Friday--nothing. Called again Saturday, a bit more pissed off, and was rewarded 12 hours later by being informed that our downstairs neighbors haven't ever paid their gas bill, were shut off, and oops, your hot water heater is the same as theirs.

Two years, nearly, we've been living here, and we never knew. We have our own natural gas bill for heat. I wondered why it didn't go up when my dad was staying here, with his added showers and laundering, but didn't question it too much.

I want my hot water back!!! They said maybe today...well...I finally conceded defeat and washed a load of "warm" laundry. The water was definitely not warm. Sigh! Tomorrow please! Charge me $100 of the neighbor's bill if it'll expedite the process!

mucho frio dos:
I received a text message from TCO Saturday night. I had initiated the conversation, because I was bored in a bar. He asked, "why [I] may have been seen parked outside my house or am i mistaken?" Greeeeat. "Been seen" would seemingly imply that he personally did not witness the accused infraction. So who thinks I've been staking out his house? Viktor Krum, his bro/roomie, AKA, one of my supervisors at work? Simply superb! I wrote back something to the effect of "F*(k no!" and asked if that was why he acts weird when I chance upon him. "That may be part of it" was the less-than-succinct reply.

So...fast forward to today. I was unsatisfied with how things left off. I will admit to having driven by their house a few too many times in the beginning...their house is on a main street, not out of the way from many places. But there's a difference, I think, between driving by a house on an artierial road in my own neighborhood and parking by it on spy watch. Come on. I don't want him thinking I'm pulling that kinda crap. So, I attempted to extend an olive branch, if you will, via Facebook messaging:

Me
Today at 12:08pm
I think it's retarded if we can't even be civil and say hello to each other. I'm not watching your house or anything weird like that. I do "miss" you, but I'm not trying to get you back or whatever. I am very happy where I am, and would just like to be able to talk to you sometimes. That is all. Nothing more.

TCO
Today at 2:20pm
I just don't understand why if you're so happy then why would you want to talk to me?

Me
Today at 3:06pm
i don't have anything in particular i want to talk to you about. i just mean in general. you know, "hello, how are you." nothing deep. it seems childish to never speak to someone again. i don't need you for anything, but you were important to me for awhile there, and it's nice to keep in touch.

TCO
Today at 5:51pm
I'm trying to do this in a nice way so you don't get upset but it seems you haven't been respectful to me. I just would like to be left alone. I would like it if you could respect me enough to do that. I'm tired of this so this is that last time I'm going to tell you.

Thus, I conclude, that is that. I'm curious as to what he thinks I've been disrespectful. I'd like to ask, but clearly, he is not interested in continuing conversation. Congratulations, Voldemort, you were right, he didn't really care that much. But dammit, he got me unhooked from you, and for that I am eternally grateful. PGG has sealed that fate. I am now completely done with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I'm guessing that the disrespect loops back to a perceived Sirius Black link while we were still together. That's exactly what was so crazy about the stuff Sirius Black said then--it was based solely in the land of text messaging. We hadn't seen each other. Nada. I'd had no idea that that old acquaintance/friendship would turn that direction. Voldemort, too, recently brought Sirius up, spouting off at me that just a couple months ago I was "fooling around with one guy while dating another," based on his assumption of my life gathered from this blog. That's not true, not at all. I loved The Boy Who Lived, and wouldn't do that to him. I didn't want to hurt him. He's a beautiful person, with a wonderful family and great potential for a vibrant future, and it seems a shame to lose everything, even superficial contact. I didn't mean to do it, but I did, I loved him, and I do. It doesn't just go away. But it just got squelched a bit more this evening.

Just a lil FYI

2008-04-06T22:59:00.001-05:00

The PGG poppyseed is not up for discussion here, at this point. That will come at a later date.

It WAS the last straw.

2008-04-03T13:10:00.003-05:00

Voldemort was supposed to take Mira overnight Saturday. He declined, asked for her in the morning Sunday instead. Probably to prevent me from having "fun." Whatever. So, I open the door, hand Mira immediately to him, and he proceeds to let himself inside. He doesn't come inside except to start trouble. "We need to talk," he says. He wanted to know why I'd left Mira (together with Torrin) with "a piece of trash" like Torrin's dad. "Do you have any extra money for me?" he asked. "Because you sure seem to have a lot of money." He walked further into my house with a scrutinizing eye. I said as little as possible, asked him if he was taking Mira and if so, to please leave. Or, rather, "Get out of my house!" when he had me backed into a corner of the living room. He wasn't leaving. I grabbed my phone, was dialing the police department (what else was I supposed to do?). He grabbed it, threatened to break it. He didn't, but the screen is cracked. He slapped me, just a light, quick thing, honestly, I smack Mira's hand away from stuff harder than that...but...no... I called my grandma, crying, when PGG didn't answer his phone.

I was ready file for a protection order, increase child support, and a formal custody order. I was set to go, Monday, 8am.

Well, it's Wednesday, and I haven't done a damn thing. Why is that?

This is a series of texts received from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on Sunday afternoon, following his visit with Mira.

3:02pm
I know i need to let you live without saying you do bad things. But you know me and how much i care about doing things"best" and "right."

3:04pm
But its like a sickness. Nothing is good enough.Im never happy. With you. With me. With anything.

3:15pm
:( if i could control it, we would all be happier. but i cant. There is no hope.

3:18pm
Im so jealous of you because you are so happy and are really living your life.

3:39pm
Do whatever you want. You always do. I dont have any hope Or answers. Ill let you lead. I hate to admit it but i love and trust and envy you. YOU know best.

These were followed by a telephone call in which Mason talked about how he wished he could just commit suicide, that he doesn't think there is any hope for him, that he is not able to be happy, etc. This is nothing new, but I still don't know what to do with him. I told him that I can't help him. Because I can't. I hate to admit it too, but I still love him too. It's different, now, though. I have no hope for us, I've let go of that. I don't think there is any single person who knows the entire, full story of us. But there are many who know an awful lot. I can't entirely explain why I haven't done anything concrete about him, but I'm ready. Now I just need that kick to get me into action.

The Secret's Out

2008-03-29T16:22:00.004-05:00

Well, since Voldemort found out, it's time to let the cat entirely out of the bag. I just got back from Spain.

I had disastrous luck with flights on the way there. It started at the Akron/Canton airport in Ohio, where PGG and I were set to fly to Detroit at 11:40am. He would fly from Detroit to Lincoln and I to Amsterdam, to Madrid. I would arrive in Madrid at about 12:25 the next afternoon, Thursday, following an 8-hour wait in Detroit and 8-hour trans-Atlantic flight. PGG and I would sit together in the exit row for the short shared part of the journey. We checked in, got to our gate, waited a bit, and then...flight cancelled. Mechanical issues. Okay...

We were sent by shuttle to Cleveland (50 miles in a van with other disappointed people). Still happy, the 8-hour layover meant little changed for me except that I wouldn't get to fly with PGG anymore. He flew from Cleveland to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Lincoln, without any additional problems. I waited eagerly for my 5:05pm flight. Boarded, and sat on the plane. And sat. And sat some more. The gray skies had grown burlier over the course of the afternoon, finally erupting into some snow or freezing rain. Something requiring the plane to be de-iced. A comical procedure where the plane sits and a crane thing sprays a giant stream, like that from a hose fighting a fire. First an orange-tinted stream, followed by green. Or possibly the other way around. After that was completed, we sat some more. By this time an hour had gone by. At last, the pilot spoke. "Errrr...we're going to have to de-plane, folks." Some bit about it being illegal to fly with the sort of problem the plane had in these conditions, something that would be okay if the weather were perfect. Great. Another flight canceled due to mechanical problems.

This time I was more anxious. I had less time to work with to get to Madrid at the same time. I got on the phone with an agent (as opposed to waiting in the hideously-long line of my former flight-mates). First, the woman directed me to a 7:35 flight to connect at Dulles...then realized that I'd have to get a ticket printed at a ticketing counter prior to boarding and oh, it was already 7pm. Okay, no problem, she found me an 8:45 on a different carrier. I'd connect in Washington, DC, and fly through Paris to Madrid on AirFrance. I was immediately placated, plus, I'd actually get to Spain 5 minutes earlier than planned.

That, is, except for the fact that this plane, too, was not without issue. We left nearly two hours late. I asked the attendant at the gate what I should do, and he was unsure but insisted that I'd be better off stuck in DC than in Cleveland. Fair enough.

By the time we got into the Dulles airport, all of the agents were gone. For all of the airlines. No hotel voucher for me. Worse, there were no more flights to anywhere connecting to Madrid until 5pm the next evening. I texted a friend who lives in the DC metropolitan area...no reply, at least, not until 2pm or so the next day. We had lunch. I had a nice interlude there, on the whole, although it certainly wasn't Spain.

I flew through Amsterdam as originally planned and arrived a full day and a half later because my oblivious self went to the wrong gate at the (humongous) Amsterdam airport.

THEN, when I talked to Ginny Weasely upon finally arriving in Madrid, she informed that she'd been pickpocketed on the Metro on her way to meet me at the airport earlier. 250 Euros...gone. She's been living in Spain for awhile now, this is her second year there, plus she's traveled around Europe a fair amount...and never gotten pickpocketed up until then. So we were being all extra cautious once she got to the airport and we were on the Metro together.

And then? I got pickpocketed too. 440 Euros and a considerable amount of Euros in change, about 50 American dollars, a Mastercard, Discovercard, and Visa debit card, and my driver's license.

Ouch.

Luckily the rest of the trip went well--and I am very lucky that Ginny is such a great friend to have covered the expenses.