This year most of MacTroll's family came to our house for Christmas. Since we plan on putting the house up for sale in March and hope to move to California this summer (barring any ugly, national financial issues) it's likely to be the last Christmas in a house that can hold nine extra people.
It was super fun to see the family and for X-man to have kids around. He was so excited about it that he couldn't spend the night in the tent with his cousins. He said it was too hard to shut his brain down, so he spent the night on my yoga mat in his Buzz Lightyear sleeping bag on the floor of our room. We've been getting him to bed by 9:30 every night, with his usual 30-45 minutes of reading stories time, so we're not doing too bad.
Lily, on the other hand, was flabbergasted by all the people. I have nieces and nephews that are quiet steppers. Unlike my family, who are all loud steppers. So, children would arise and come upstairs for breakfast and Lily would freak out. "Where did you come from? Have I met you?" Bark, bark, bark. Then she'd sniff them and they'd pet her and she'd remember and calm down. But five unknown kids and four unknown adults makes things interesting for her. Plus, none of them have dogs, so they totally took her for a lot of walks, which she appreciated.
My father-in-law wrote a book about his many years working for Caterpillar. He asked me to proofread it so I started on the preface this morning after the family all left. It's a memoir, so it reads very easily.
X-man had only one real setback this Christmas, when miracle upon miracle, I was able to find a white Wii U. I ordered it online from Toys R Us. It came, X-man opened a Wii U game first and said, "Wait! We don't have a Wii U." Then he looked at me, ran back to pick up the heavy box, unwrapped it and started to hug it and repeated "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Great! Awesome! Except when MacTroll took it downstairs, it didn't work. We tried a few things and then he went upstairs to look online. Blinking blue light = Wii U D.O.A.
Lots of disappointment. But my Dad did get X-man a copy of Lego Star Wars Clone Wars III for the Wii. And we just popped that in. And any disappointment seemed to lessen.
I think Nintendo was happy MacTroll waited two days before calling their customer support line, too. We have to send the console back in and they're sending us a new one. But I think the guy on the other end was glad there wasn't a verbally abusive parent with a sobbing kid in the background (or lots of kids.)
Overall, it was a very enjoyable Christmas. I have lots of good books to read and a new fuzzy robe. And I also get to start on doing the paint touch ups on the house and finish up getting ready to sell. It's coming so quickly now.
I'm really kind of excited -- and nervous!
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
"Caroling is Overwhelming"
Last night, the first graders at Carrie Busey Elementary School had a holiday concert, where they sang carols. They asked us to be there by 5:30 p.m. So we were on time, but I had a feeling getting there 30 minutes before the concert began was going to be a problem. X-man was amped and ready to go the minute he went in the doors. But there was nothing for the kids do until the concert started at 6 p.m., and since we were in the gym, they felt like running. So a slew of kids started a game of tag. He stopped twice to hug both of his first grade teachers.
About 5:50 p.m. some kids started getting lined up on the riser. X-man figured no adult had told him to stop playing, so he kept running.
The next thing we knew, he was sitting on the ground between the two audience areas crying. This is not unusual for events like this. They're really not built to be successful for children with social anxiety issues. I guess one of his friends said something about how it was time for him to stop running and to sit down. X-man inferred that what he was doing was bad. So he cried. He doesn't want to be bad. He was having fun. How can having fun with his friends make him bad?
He crawled up in my lap, but it wasn't making him feel better. I noticed Awesome's Mom had moved from her folding chair seat to the wall on the far side of the gym. Awesome wasn't sure if he wanted to sing or not. So, I headed over there with X-man. The music teacher starting singing songs with some musical friends, and X-man got upset that they'd have to wait even longer to go up there. He started crying again. "Why are they singing at our concert? Why do we have to wait more? I'm so tired."
X-man told me he was suddenly scared to go up there. He was afraid of all the cameras. What if he got nervous and started to cry again and all the cameras took pictures of him crying? Then he noticed that the smartboard with the lyrics didn't have the lyrics on them like it was supposed to, and he cried about that. The principal went to see if he could fix that for him (because like most people, if there's something that can be done, he's the kind of guy that will totally "make it so.")
He missed two songs. "I practiced so hard, Mommy. I want to sing those songs." He started to cry again. I told him that we could go home or he could show me what he practiced and sing in my lap or he could give standing up there a try for at least one song. He wasn't sure. He tried to take me with him. But then changed his mind. That's when one of his teachers, Mrs. Cabutti, came over and backed me up. He hugged me and I walked him to the edge of the audience. Then he ran up there and waved me back to the wall.
Like a trooper, he sang the whole concert staring at the lyric board reading along. If it got off track, he'd try to look up to the words on the screen projected on the wall for the audience to sing along. He put up his hand a time or two to block out some of the people with their cameras out to help him not be so afraid. You could tell he was nervous, but he was rallying.
And then something unexpected happened. A first grader's little brother climbed up on the risers next to X-man. X-man thought this was pretty adorable. He likes the unexpected. He kept his eye on him and tried to help him out. He figured he just wanted to sing, too. He even picked him up once, wondering if he could return him to his mother or if it was okay for him to stay. :-)
Besides crying, the other way I know X-man is working on emotions in his brain is that he chews on everything. His sleeves were in his mouth most of the night. He seeks sensory feedback when he's anxious, it's also when he has most of his sensory sensitivities (shoes or socks are uncomfortable, itchy underwear, etc.)
But at the end of singing, "All I Want for Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth," He turned and smiled right at me (MacTroll took the photos). It was awesome. I applauded very loudly at the end of each song. I was so proud of him for overcoming his fears and getting up there, and Mrs. Cabutti was, too.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Candy Cane Hunt FAIL
I work with small kids, so I get that with every new idea you have that there are some bumps that you have to iron out before it really works great (or you toss it in failure). Unfortunately, X-man and I were at an event on Friday night that sounded much cooler in its description than it turned out being.
The Champaign Park District advertised that they were having a flashlight candy cane hunt for free at Prairie Farm. I thought this sounded awesome. We assumed it would be a kind of scavenger hunt, where the candy canes would be hidden during the daylight and then kids would run around with their flashlights and bags hunting for them that night. Or at least that's what I thought this sounded like...
"Kids, we just found out that Santa hid candy canes all over his reindeer’s favorite Park District place – Prairie Farm! So bundle up, grab your flashlights, and come on out to the farm to help us find them! We even hear that some rare and special candy canes have been sighted on the farm – and you’ll get prizes if you find them! Plus you’ll get to meet Santa himself and you’ll stay warm with as much hot chocolate as you can drink!"
MacTroll even found his uber cool headlight so that we could find each other easily with our red blinky lights, in case we lost each other in the dark.
We arrived at 5:35 p.m., 25 minutes early to get a parking space. We were one of the first to arrive. X-man had bad feelings when he saw their Santa, so he just waved and got some free hot cocoa. Then we went out to wait for the fun to begin. X-man ran around with a neighbor by the duck pond shining his flashlight in the water to find the fish, and I began to wonder how exactly all this was going to work. I mean, what if they started finding candy canes laying about?
Then X-man noticed a bunch of people gathering at by the animal pens, so we wandered over to check out what was going on. They had put signs up on the farm animal pens (that are empty for the winter) having different age levels in different pens.
"Really?" I said. The idea that they were picking up food (even though it was individually wrapped) where pigs poop and pee gave me the willies. There was a streetlight that lit up the area, so flashlights were completely unnecessary (and really using the flashlight to hunt had been the big allure to us). X-man handed his flashlight to me and took his bag into the pen. He followed directions like a champ and, as usual, acted as a verbal enforcer for the park district person in their pen reminding kids to come in, line up around the fence, hold onto the fence and wait for instructions. I ran into two CARE friends and we agreed this was -- not what we'd pictured from the description.
X-man (in the blue coat) was standing behind this sign, which I found humorous...
Then 15 minutes passed by. The organizers noticed they had a lot more 3-5 year olds, so they ran a first "heat" for them, but they made the mistake of not letting the other two (6-7 and 8-10) year olds go at the same time. So the kids had to wait... another 15 minutes. At around 6:27, X-man looked at me alarmed. He knew they were about to start, but he suddenly had to pee really bad (Yes, he did go before we got in the car to head there). I managed to get him to the bathroom (warning the announcer we were going -- but he was waiting for some late comers who were still visiting Santa, so we were safe), and we returned just in time for the start.
Now here's the next problem. 45 kids in a concrete pen charging toward candy on the ground. I warned X-man to watch his hands and his feet so he didn't get hurt or hurt anyone else. He was really pretty considerate as he moved through the kids. But the problem was that all the candy canes got crushed by the stampede. Seriously, ours were in 6-10 pieces in the plastic wrap -- and they were the mini ones.
But X-man came out with six crushed mini candy canes and four Twizzlers for an hour's worth of waiting around. He had been very patient waiting the whole time we were there. He hadn't melted down over the need to pee. He had used his words and communicated wonderfully. Then on the way out of the pen, he noticed a boy crying because he hadn't gotten any candy. X-man reached into his bag, grabbed a piece and walked over and offered it to him. The boy refused it. X-man looked confused. "Why didn't he want my candy?" he asked me. I pointed out that he was probably really disappointed and just didn't process what was going on. Or maybe he was hoping for chocolate or something.
On the way out there was a mother with a smaller child who was crying. X-man did the same thing. This time, the Mom took it from him and said thank you, but the child was beside herself.
On the way to the car, X-man said, "Mom, I don't like to go to events where everyone doesn't find at least one candy cane. Kids hate when they don't get something. It makes them feel sad and like they lost at it." I told him I thought he was right, and that we wouldn't return next year. But at the very least, Santa or an elf could have been at the gate handing out normal-sized candy canes to each kid that came, so that everyone got something for being so patient. We also felt bad for the people who were just arriving at 6:35 p.m. when the whole thing was pretty much over.
For the last several years, a group of friends of mine have been helping me put on an egg hunt during spring in my backyard. We do it, usually, the week after Easter. We divide up the yard into little kid/allergy friendly and "pure sugar." So everyone can have a safe holiday. We get all the stuff during the after-holiday discounts, so things are really, really cheap. And the kids go home with their baskets FULL of goodies. Each family brings 12 eggs filled with whatever side their kid will be on and then we put them out the morning before everyone arrives. We open the gates at 10 a.m. and in 10 minutes everything is found and being sorted out in the yard.
Everyone gets something. It's relatively inexpensive, and it's easy to organize. What the candy cane hunt experience made me want to do was invite two or three families to our house next holiday season (maybe when we're in California) and do an actual scavenger hunt with flashlights with about six kids. Because it was a good idea. But scrapping crappy candy off of a cement pad with legions of pig poop germs really doesn't seem like a very festive occasion. I hope things change for the event next year.
The Champaign Park District advertised that they were having a flashlight candy cane hunt for free at Prairie Farm. I thought this sounded awesome. We assumed it would be a kind of scavenger hunt, where the candy canes would be hidden during the daylight and then kids would run around with their flashlights and bags hunting for them that night. Or at least that's what I thought this sounded like...
"Kids, we just found out that Santa hid candy canes all over his reindeer’s favorite Park District place – Prairie Farm! So bundle up, grab your flashlights, and come on out to the farm to help us find them! We even hear that some rare and special candy canes have been sighted on the farm – and you’ll get prizes if you find them! Plus you’ll get to meet Santa himself and you’ll stay warm with as much hot chocolate as you can drink!"
MacTroll even found his uber cool headlight so that we could find each other easily with our red blinky lights, in case we lost each other in the dark.
We arrived at 5:35 p.m., 25 minutes early to get a parking space. We were one of the first to arrive. X-man had bad feelings when he saw their Santa, so he just waved and got some free hot cocoa. Then we went out to wait for the fun to begin. X-man ran around with a neighbor by the duck pond shining his flashlight in the water to find the fish, and I began to wonder how exactly all this was going to work. I mean, what if they started finding candy canes laying about?
Then X-man noticed a bunch of people gathering at by the animal pens, so we wandered over to check out what was going on. They had put signs up on the farm animal pens (that are empty for the winter) having different age levels in different pens.
"Really?" I said. The idea that they were picking up food (even though it was individually wrapped) where pigs poop and pee gave me the willies. There was a streetlight that lit up the area, so flashlights were completely unnecessary (and really using the flashlight to hunt had been the big allure to us). X-man handed his flashlight to me and took his bag into the pen. He followed directions like a champ and, as usual, acted as a verbal enforcer for the park district person in their pen reminding kids to come in, line up around the fence, hold onto the fence and wait for instructions. I ran into two CARE friends and we agreed this was -- not what we'd pictured from the description.
X-man (in the blue coat) was standing behind this sign, which I found humorous...
Then 15 minutes passed by. The organizers noticed they had a lot more 3-5 year olds, so they ran a first "heat" for them, but they made the mistake of not letting the other two (6-7 and 8-10) year olds go at the same time. So the kids had to wait... another 15 minutes. At around 6:27, X-man looked at me alarmed. He knew they were about to start, but he suddenly had to pee really bad (Yes, he did go before we got in the car to head there). I managed to get him to the bathroom (warning the announcer we were going -- but he was waiting for some late comers who were still visiting Santa, so we were safe), and we returned just in time for the start.
Now here's the next problem. 45 kids in a concrete pen charging toward candy on the ground. I warned X-man to watch his hands and his feet so he didn't get hurt or hurt anyone else. He was really pretty considerate as he moved through the kids. But the problem was that all the candy canes got crushed by the stampede. Seriously, ours were in 6-10 pieces in the plastic wrap -- and they were the mini ones.
But X-man came out with six crushed mini candy canes and four Twizzlers for an hour's worth of waiting around. He had been very patient waiting the whole time we were there. He hadn't melted down over the need to pee. He had used his words and communicated wonderfully. Then on the way out of the pen, he noticed a boy crying because he hadn't gotten any candy. X-man reached into his bag, grabbed a piece and walked over and offered it to him. The boy refused it. X-man looked confused. "Why didn't he want my candy?" he asked me. I pointed out that he was probably really disappointed and just didn't process what was going on. Or maybe he was hoping for chocolate or something.
On the way out there was a mother with a smaller child who was crying. X-man did the same thing. This time, the Mom took it from him and said thank you, but the child was beside herself.
On the way to the car, X-man said, "Mom, I don't like to go to events where everyone doesn't find at least one candy cane. Kids hate when they don't get something. It makes them feel sad and like they lost at it." I told him I thought he was right, and that we wouldn't return next year. But at the very least, Santa or an elf could have been at the gate handing out normal-sized candy canes to each kid that came, so that everyone got something for being so patient. We also felt bad for the people who were just arriving at 6:35 p.m. when the whole thing was pretty much over.
For the last several years, a group of friends of mine have been helping me put on an egg hunt during spring in my backyard. We do it, usually, the week after Easter. We divide up the yard into little kid/allergy friendly and "pure sugar." So everyone can have a safe holiday. We get all the stuff during the after-holiday discounts, so things are really, really cheap. And the kids go home with their baskets FULL of goodies. Each family brings 12 eggs filled with whatever side their kid will be on and then we put them out the morning before everyone arrives. We open the gates at 10 a.m. and in 10 minutes everything is found and being sorted out in the yard.
Everyone gets something. It's relatively inexpensive, and it's easy to organize. What the candy cane hunt experience made me want to do was invite two or three families to our house next holiday season (maybe when we're in California) and do an actual scavenger hunt with flashlights with about six kids. Because it was a good idea. But scrapping crappy candy off of a cement pad with legions of pig poop germs really doesn't seem like a very festive occasion. I hope things change for the event next year.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
12-12-12
The medical craziness continues. I was supposed to have my re-evaluation on Tuesday at Physical Therapy, but it didn't happen, because on Sunday, I did something stupid and did too much and got hurt.
So it took yesterday and today to get me back to where I was last Friday. So they're doing the re-eval on Friday. My surgery will have been 3 months ago tomorrow. That's a long time!
The other bit of news is that we noticed a growth on Lily's back this weekend just over her shoulder. I took her into Dr. Mary on Monday and she diagnosed her with a Histiocytoma for now. Cells from the tumor showed that it's made up of round cells and that there are no granules. This means that if it is truly a Histiocytoma, it's likely that the body just identified it and started fighting it causing the growth (it's a little pink and angry). It should go away in 2-4 weeks on its own.
If it doesn't, then Mary's going to have to go in and remove it and biopsy it, kind of like she did with Luke's growth last spring.
I dropped off the two backpacks that X-man and I put together at the New Covenant Church on White Street in Downtown Champaign. They had a room for all the donations, but it looks like they could use a few more backpacks. We made a backpack filled with personal care items and new clothing for an adult woman and for a 5-7 year old boy. Go figure. But I learned that they help a LOT of grown homeless men. They pass out hundreds of backpacks at the holidays. They're also the home to the Daily Soup Kitchen.
They're collecting backpacks from now through Dec. 19th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., if you'd like to take one in. I picked up my backpack from the post school sales at Target and bought everything to go into it there, too. It was a nice hour with X-man thinking about others at the holiday.
So it took yesterday and today to get me back to where I was last Friday. So they're doing the re-eval on Friday. My surgery will have been 3 months ago tomorrow. That's a long time!
The other bit of news is that we noticed a growth on Lily's back this weekend just over her shoulder. I took her into Dr. Mary on Monday and she diagnosed her with a Histiocytoma for now. Cells from the tumor showed that it's made up of round cells and that there are no granules. This means that if it is truly a Histiocytoma, it's likely that the body just identified it and started fighting it causing the growth (it's a little pink and angry). It should go away in 2-4 weeks on its own.
If it doesn't, then Mary's going to have to go in and remove it and biopsy it, kind of like she did with Luke's growth last spring.
I dropped off the two backpacks that X-man and I put together at the New Covenant Church on White Street in Downtown Champaign. They had a room for all the donations, but it looks like they could use a few more backpacks. We made a backpack filled with personal care items and new clothing for an adult woman and for a 5-7 year old boy. Go figure. But I learned that they help a LOT of grown homeless men. They pass out hundreds of backpacks at the holidays. They're also the home to the Daily Soup Kitchen.
They're collecting backpacks from now through Dec. 19th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., if you'd like to take one in. I picked up my backpack from the post school sales at Target and bought everything to go into it there, too. It was a nice hour with X-man thinking about others at the holiday.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Santa's Helper
Tonight, I volunteered for the Crisis Nursery Holiday Shop fundraiser from 4-7 p.m. I have to admit that it made me miss teaching two year olds. The kids were so very sweet.
If you've never done the shop before, it's pretty cool. Area businesses donate various items that cost between $2-$8. Families make a donation to the Crisis Nursery and then children make a list of all the family members they need to buy gifts for and then they go in and pick out what they want for each family member.
I sent X-man with MacTroll last week while I was volunteering at the library fundraiser. I wrote a check for $50 and told them that whatever he didn't spend they could keep as a donation. I made out the list of the 10 people he needed to buy for and a volunteer took him into the store and let him pick out his gifts. Some of the gifts are toys or coffee mugs with fun characters like Wonder Woman on them. Others really funny gifts like bacon-flavored lip balm. Ours our all wrapped up tight and under our tree. I can't wait to see what I got. :-)
After the child is done shopping, they have a million red decorated bags (decorated by people in the community) and you "wrap" the items and stape a tag on them to indicate whom they're for. Then the child gets to pick out a free book or pencil on his way out the door.
It was a lot of fun. While I was there, I had to use the restroom during a slow period at the Holiday store. So I went around the corner and then stopped in to Wind, Water and Light. I was there to volunteer, so I explained that I had to get back down the hall, but I promised them I'd go back tomorrow. I still have one or two gifts I need to pick up. And I love that store. I could spend hours in it just looking. The owners are also ever so nice!
I miss when they were downtown Champaign, but they have so much more room in Lincoln Square!
I think I'm finally starting to feel the Christmas Spirit.
If you've never done the shop before, it's pretty cool. Area businesses donate various items that cost between $2-$8. Families make a donation to the Crisis Nursery and then children make a list of all the family members they need to buy gifts for and then they go in and pick out what they want for each family member.
I sent X-man with MacTroll last week while I was volunteering at the library fundraiser. I wrote a check for $50 and told them that whatever he didn't spend they could keep as a donation. I made out the list of the 10 people he needed to buy for and a volunteer took him into the store and let him pick out his gifts. Some of the gifts are toys or coffee mugs with fun characters like Wonder Woman on them. Others really funny gifts like bacon-flavored lip balm. Ours our all wrapped up tight and under our tree. I can't wait to see what I got. :-)
After the child is done shopping, they have a million red decorated bags (decorated by people in the community) and you "wrap" the items and stape a tag on them to indicate whom they're for. Then the child gets to pick out a free book or pencil on his way out the door.
It was a lot of fun. While I was there, I had to use the restroom during a slow period at the Holiday store. So I went around the corner and then stopped in to Wind, Water and Light. I was there to volunteer, so I explained that I had to get back down the hall, but I promised them I'd go back tomorrow. I still have one or two gifts I need to pick up. And I love that store. I could spend hours in it just looking. The owners are also ever so nice!
I miss when they were downtown Champaign, but they have so much more room in Lincoln Square!
I think I'm finally starting to feel the Christmas Spirit.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Ho, Ho, Ho!
'Tis the season! And to prove it I spent all day out of my house. This morning the Rotary Club of Savoy had it's first Breakfast with Santa at United Methodist Church. We had over 100 people, and it was a giant success. We were raising money to pay for a solar-powered water tank (i.e. a very fancy latrine) for a village in Swaziland that a bunch of local churches had also adopted. I got to sit at the ticket desk while others served breakfasts, oversaw various games and assisted Santa when he came.
Afterwards, I ran up north to buy Christmas gifts at Barnes and Noble. If you lived in town, you could have shopped from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tolono Public Library would have received a percentage of the sales from corporate BnN. You can also shop online anytime between today and Dec. 6 from anywhere and the library will benefit. More details are at www.tolonolibrary.org.
Then I went to Mas Amigos and had lunch with Freak. It had been so long since we'd hung out. We figured out that we met around 5 years ago. And it freaked us out when we realized that in another 5 years, her oldest would be driving a car. Yikes!
Then I returned to Barnes and Noble to sit at the table for the library and hand out more coupons to people who pass by. If there are any Star Wars fans out there, it looks like members of the 501st Midwest Garrison (i.e. Stormtroopers) will be there next week doing gift wrapping for charity! At least it's on their schedule online!
I headed home at 5 p.m. and had a sandwich for dinner and then got back into the car, but this time (FINALLY) with the boys. We all met up with some other children from X-man's school to see "Santa's Secret Star" at the Parkland Planetarium. X-man liked it. He said he wished it was longer.
We got home and read for 45 minutes. Most of it from me to him because it was after 9 p.m., and he was really sleepy. We're in the middle of a biography about Jackie Robinson. He's been enjoying it a lot. But he also knows that after we finish it tomorrow night, that we get to move on to the Darth Paper Strikes Back Origami Book. :-)
Afterwards, I ran up north to buy Christmas gifts at Barnes and Noble. If you lived in town, you could have shopped from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tolono Public Library would have received a percentage of the sales from corporate BnN. You can also shop online anytime between today and Dec. 6 from anywhere and the library will benefit. More details are at www.tolonolibrary.org.
Then I went to Mas Amigos and had lunch with Freak. It had been so long since we'd hung out. We figured out that we met around 5 years ago. And it freaked us out when we realized that in another 5 years, her oldest would be driving a car. Yikes!
Then I returned to Barnes and Noble to sit at the table for the library and hand out more coupons to people who pass by. If there are any Star Wars fans out there, it looks like members of the 501st Midwest Garrison (i.e. Stormtroopers) will be there next week doing gift wrapping for charity! At least it's on their schedule online!
I headed home at 5 p.m. and had a sandwich for dinner and then got back into the car, but this time (FINALLY) with the boys. We all met up with some other children from X-man's school to see "Santa's Secret Star" at the Parkland Planetarium. X-man liked it. He said he wished it was longer.
We got home and read for 45 minutes. Most of it from me to him because it was after 9 p.m., and he was really sleepy. We're in the middle of a biography about Jackie Robinson. He's been enjoying it a lot. But he also knows that after we finish it tomorrow night, that we get to move on to the Darth Paper Strikes Back Origami Book. :-)
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Tis The Season
After a day of nothing much of anything (I cleaned out the store room and X-man and MacTroll played Lego Batman 2), we went downtown to the Parade Of Lights.
We ran into Quigs and her family, and some other folks we we hadn't seen in a while. It was lovely. MacTroll waited in line in Aroma for their "special" of hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies.
The parade was smaller this year. I remember when it used to go out and run by West Side Park. This year it was just a big circle from the Orpheum parking lot around downtown and back. It was also renamed the "Bag" parade. A woman was walking around giving kids plastic bags to put things in. Now at the Candy Parade in September, I understand this. Even at Tolono Fun Day a small bag for all the candy being tossed out is needed. But pretty much the only candy that is tossed at the Parade of Lights are Candy Canes, which hit the ground and break into a million pieces...
Or, if you're unlucky, and not looking, you get beaned in the side of the head by people tossing them from inside their cars pulling their floats. Thank goodness for winter hats.
We saw some odd behaviors this parade season, too. Like the guy driving the car for 92.5 the Chief had had an infant and a toddler in the car with him... in the front seat and not in car seats. I get that the car is going 2 mph, but really?
Then we had a Grinch on a Segway who made the mistake of baking up and almost ran over a 2-3 year old who had scampered away from his parents to try and pick up candy in the road.
The Garcia's Pizza Guys came by. They were in their hot air balloon basket and every once in a while they'd let the flame run. We all kept peering closely wondering if they'd pull the cord and burn down one of the street trees.
Then the Vermillion Airport Authority came by. MacTroll loves their slogan, "Gateway to Danville." They really need to call Disney about paying them to use Phineas and Ferb...
What I found most interesting was how many of the floats were put together by cities from outside of Champaign Urbana. It was Fisher this and Rantoul that. Hoopeston high school band played. It was curious. Lots of beauty queens having a chance to wear their crowns.
But I guess it's really the Christmas season now... I'm even hanging up stockings.
We ran into Quigs and her family, and some other folks we we hadn't seen in a while. It was lovely. MacTroll waited in line in Aroma for their "special" of hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies.
Or, if you're unlucky, and not looking, you get beaned in the side of the head by people tossing them from inside their cars pulling their floats. Thank goodness for winter hats.
We saw some odd behaviors this parade season, too. Like the guy driving the car for 92.5 the Chief had had an infant and a toddler in the car with him... in the front seat and not in car seats. I get that the car is going 2 mph, but really?
Then we had a Grinch on a Segway who made the mistake of baking up and almost ran over a 2-3 year old who had scampered away from his parents to try and pick up candy in the road.
The Garcia's Pizza Guys came by. They were in their hot air balloon basket and every once in a while they'd let the flame run. We all kept peering closely wondering if they'd pull the cord and burn down one of the street trees.
Then the Vermillion Airport Authority came by. MacTroll loves their slogan, "Gateway to Danville." They really need to call Disney about paying them to use Phineas and Ferb...
What I found most interesting was how many of the floats were put together by cities from outside of Champaign Urbana. It was Fisher this and Rantoul that. Hoopeston high school band played. It was curious. Lots of beauty queens having a chance to wear their crowns.
But I guess it's really the Christmas season now... I'm even hanging up stockings.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Merry, Happy
Our three day excursion to Loves Park, Rockford and Peoria is over.
We laughed. My Mom cried. And Lily was an absolute dreamboat in the car and at her first overnights in two different houses and a stop by another one for an afternoon.
X-man opening up his gifts from Santa at Nana's house.
MacTroll checking out snow in a can.
MacTroll and Lily
Nana reacting to the fact that we gave her an iPad 2. :-) Those are tears of joy, by the way. Just in case any of you are anti-Fruit.
Nana, later, hanging out with Coconut on her new iPad.
My sister.
X-man playing with his new Green Lantern play set from my sister.
MacTroll and X-man putting together some pirate Legos from Papa.
Some of the family took a walk after Christmas dinner in Anna Page Park. There Lily ran into her first pile of really old snow. She was perplexed.
After everyone left, Papa and X-man got out the cards and played War.
It was a lovely holiday. Next year we're hosting all of MacTroll's family at our house. I'm not sure who is going to come yet besides his parents. So we'll see what happens.
We laughed. My Mom cried. And Lily was an absolute dreamboat in the car and at her first overnights in two different houses and a stop by another one for an afternoon.
X-man opening up his gifts from Santa at Nana's house.
MacTroll checking out snow in a can.
MacTroll and Lily
Nana reacting to the fact that we gave her an iPad 2. :-) Those are tears of joy, by the way. Just in case any of you are anti-Fruit.
Looseyfur and her new oven mitt. And yes, that is the Swedish Chef in the background.
Nana, later, hanging out with Coconut on her new iPad.
My sister.
X-man at my Dad's house on my Aunt Donna's lap reading the Magic School Bus.
X-man playing with his new Green Lantern play set from my sister.
MacTroll and X-man putting together some pirate Legos from Papa.
Some of the family took a walk after Christmas dinner in Anna Page Park. There Lily ran into her first pile of really old snow. She was perplexed.
Papa and X-man working on more pirate Legos.
Meanwhile, my cousins, the doctor married to the doctor and the lawyer married to the lawyer were losing terribly to my husband and my other cousin at Ticket to Ride. Don't they all look very adorable when they're concentrating.
After everyone left, Papa and X-man got out the cards and played War.
This is my Dad's dog Zippy. She's being very good at staying out of the kitchen while the giant leftover ham and giant leftover turkey got put away.
My sister and I got my dad a bottle of Champagne to celebrate his retirement. He's been an attorney in Rockford at the same firm for over 40 years. And as Dec. 31, he's officially moving on.
It was a lovely holiday. Next year we're hosting all of MacTroll's family at our house. I'm not sure who is going to come yet besides his parents. So we'll see what happens.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
X-man's First Karaoke
X-man received a karaoke machine from his aunt and uncle in California. I have never seen him quite as serious as when I got out the camera and started filming. So I promised him I'd keep that footage to myself.
What he learned is that song selection is key... and that he gets a little nervous when he is watched or filmed. Not a surprise. I sung the best when I turned around and faced the bookcase Jim Morrison style -- even in our living room.
On another note, the karaoke machine is nice because it has a button you can push where it smooths out the lyrics from your iPod, so if you know the song, or you've printed out the lyrics, you're singing just to the music. But if you need a little help, you can sing along to the words just on a microphone. MacTroll is already thinking of getting a headphone splitter, so you can listen to the words in headphones, but they wouldn't play as you sang to the "crowd," for those of us who freak out and have minds that go blank even if we've sung the song a million times in the car.
Either way, we spent several hours yesterday playing American Idol. X-man has never seen American Idol, so I'm not sure how he knew to go and make up number cards to evaluate the singers as judges. But that's what we did. My first song I got a 10 from MacTroll and a 0 from X-man. Now I know which one is my Paula...
When we were done, the boys had Chinese food for dinner and then played with the castle that X-man's grandparents gave him.
Then I went off to see the Descendants by myself. Where I feel I got duped by a trailer and supposed "Oscar buzz" again. Sigh. It wasn't hilarious. It wasn't funny at all. I was anticipating quirky like Juno. The whole thing was sad, sad, sad, sad.
I much preferred seeing the Muppets.
What he learned is that song selection is key... and that he gets a little nervous when he is watched or filmed. Not a surprise. I sung the best when I turned around and faced the bookcase Jim Morrison style -- even in our living room.
On another note, the karaoke machine is nice because it has a button you can push where it smooths out the lyrics from your iPod, so if you know the song, or you've printed out the lyrics, you're singing just to the music. But if you need a little help, you can sing along to the words just on a microphone. MacTroll is already thinking of getting a headphone splitter, so you can listen to the words in headphones, but they wouldn't play as you sang to the "crowd," for those of us who freak out and have minds that go blank even if we've sung the song a million times in the car.
Either way, we spent several hours yesterday playing American Idol. X-man has never seen American Idol, so I'm not sure how he knew to go and make up number cards to evaluate the singers as judges. But that's what we did. My first song I got a 10 from MacTroll and a 0 from X-man. Now I know which one is my Paula...
When we were done, the boys had Chinese food for dinner and then played with the castle that X-man's grandparents gave him.
Then I went off to see the Descendants by myself. Where I feel I got duped by a trailer and supposed "Oscar buzz" again. Sigh. It wasn't hilarious. It wasn't funny at all. I was anticipating quirky like Juno. The whole thing was sad, sad, sad, sad.
I much preferred seeing the Muppets.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Bowler or Scientist? Mmmm....
So this morning when I dropped of X-man for Little Gym, I expected us to just chill out and play with his new castle. But we didn't. Instead, we stopped by Old Orchard and he had a pepperoni pizza and we bowled two games. The first game he scored a respectable 71 (His highest ever is 78). I bowled a turkey and a spare the first game, so he was starting to wonder when he'd ever have a "special score."
It came in the second game, where the 4 college guys next to us were trying not to concentrate on the fact that two of them had significantly lower scores in the 7th frame than my five year old. Sure he had bumpers, but they were 20. He finished with a 101. He beat his mother by 1. It was awesome... plus he had two strikes and a spare in that game. MacTroll had run in (he was supposed to meet us for lunch but caught up with his gossiping -- I swear, who needs a water cooler when you have a cellphone?) and he missed my turkey, but he got to see X-man beat me, which was awesome.
After bowling we came home and opened another present. This one came from my aunt and uncle who live in town. X-man could hardly contain himself while I got it out of the box and put batteries in it. Was it a Nintendo DS? Was it slot cars? No.
As you can tell, Lily was trying to figure out what in the hell he was doing. But my kid is apparently a scientist who bowls. And he's mighty adorable, too.
Oh wait... the karaoke party at our house might just be about to begin.
It came in the second game, where the 4 college guys next to us were trying not to concentrate on the fact that two of them had significantly lower scores in the 7th frame than my five year old. Sure he had bumpers, but they were 20. He finished with a 101. He beat his mother by 1. It was awesome... plus he had two strikes and a spare in that game. MacTroll had run in (he was supposed to meet us for lunch but caught up with his gossiping -- I swear, who needs a water cooler when you have a cellphone?) and he missed my turkey, but he got to see X-man beat me, which was awesome.
After bowling we came home and opened another present. This one came from my aunt and uncle who live in town. X-man could hardly contain himself while I got it out of the box and put batteries in it. Was it a Nintendo DS? Was it slot cars? No.
A microscope. Where he spent almost two hours making slides of stuff around the house. Specimens off of light switches, water from the cat bowl (which was made up of a LOT of hair, go figure), stuff from his shoes, the counter MacTroll made his lunch on, etc.
As you can tell, Lily was trying to figure out what in the hell he was doing. But my kid is apparently a scientist who bowls. And he's mighty adorable, too.
Oh wait... the karaoke party at our house might just be about to begin.
Monday, December 5, 2011
How Do I Know It's Christmas
Not because of the pile of boxes in the dining room.
Not because we've hung our stockings by the chimney with care.
Not because the tree is up, or the sad outdoor lights.
But because when I get head butted by Maya, our large, fuzzy torti cat --
Her head sticks to me -- just for a few seconds.
She's covered in sap from drinking the water out of the tree.
X-man also hung all the bells low on the tree so she could ring them as she played.
Oh, and here's a funny. I went to Petsmart to pick up cat food. Our cats are on light food because Luke and Maya are pushing the limits. But we used to be on Science Diet "Active Longevity" (This is what they renamed senior). When I was in the store yesterday, I looked for the pink bag, and noticed they'd redesigned and now there's a new senior food called, "Age Defying" for cats ages 11+.
Seriously, Science Diet?
Not because we've hung our stockings by the chimney with care.
Not because the tree is up, or the sad outdoor lights.
But because when I get head butted by Maya, our large, fuzzy torti cat --
Her head sticks to me -- just for a few seconds.
She's covered in sap from drinking the water out of the tree.
X-man also hung all the bells low on the tree so she could ring them as she played.
Oh, and here's a funny. I went to Petsmart to pick up cat food. Our cats are on light food because Luke and Maya are pushing the limits. But we used to be on Science Diet "Active Longevity" (This is what they renamed senior). When I was in the store yesterday, I looked for the pink bag, and noticed they'd redesigned and now there's a new senior food called, "Age Defying" for cats ages 11+.
Seriously, Science Diet?
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Indulgent
Thank goodness tomorrow is Monday. I've done nothing but binge and sleep this long weekend.
Wait, isn't that what vacation is about?
For those of you who think I'm some weird militant exercise and food maniac... I went off the wagon this week -- and loved it. Now I've got to concentrate and climb back on.
The 7.5-mile run I put off today until tomorrow should be a rude awakening tomorrow morning.
Wait, isn't that what vacation is about?
For those of you who think I'm some weird militant exercise and food maniac... I went off the wagon this week -- and loved it. Now I've got to concentrate and climb back on.
The 7.5-mile run I put off today until tomorrow should be a rude awakening tomorrow morning.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Lego my Christmas
Can you tell my child has a parent that travels, an obsession with Legos and a father and a grandfather who are happy to indulge by not only supplying said Lego vehicles, but by spending all day on Christmas helping to put them together? The old Thomas train table has now become "Lego Airport" now if only Lego made hangars for both the regional jet and the big plane. :-)
Friday, December 24, 2010
Bowling on Christmas Eve Day
In the summer, my friends who are also parents are always on the move to the pool, to the park, to baseball games, etc. In the winter, everyone is always trying to come up with new and different ways to keep kids physically busy when outside conditions get ugly.
Every day that X-man isn't in pre-school, and sometimes on the days he is in pre-school but they don't get to go outside, I'm scheduling gross motor time.
Yesterday, I decided today's gross motor time should be bowling at Old Orchard Lanes. Today, we took my mom and met up with Special K and and Rudy's families. The boys all bowled, so did some of the parents and my mom. It was a fun time. And when we got home, X-man was able to spend two hours of quiet time with his Legos and helping me make chocolate chip cookie dough truffles (holy cow, are they good).
Every day that X-man isn't in pre-school, and sometimes on the days he is in pre-school but they don't get to go outside, I'm scheduling gross motor time.
Yesterday, I decided today's gross motor time should be bowling at Old Orchard Lanes. Today, we took my mom and met up with Special K and and Rudy's families. The boys all bowled, so did some of the parents and my mom. It was a fun time. And when we got home, X-man was able to spend two hours of quiet time with his Legos and helping me make chocolate chip cookie dough truffles (holy cow, are they good).
Monday, December 13, 2010
Christmas Makes Me Do Stupid Things
We're staying home for the holidays this year. My mom and her dog Coconut are headed down our way the Thursday before Christmas and are staying until that Monday. But we weren't going to see my father or stepmother or my sister, so we decided we'd meet up in Rockford on Sunday.
Sunday -- during the blizzard like conditions that existed between our home and theirs. And like crazy people, we piled in the car with our child and our dog and we drove to Rockford. We'd driven through crappy weather before. We remember one trip back from Chicago on our way to pick up the dog where we watched six semis, two RVs and four large pick ups fall off of Rt. 57 in the snow, while our plucky VW Golf got us home on the highway, and with some creative navigating got us out to pick up Riley at Doggies on the Farm and back home. That was a 4-hour drive from Chicago which was usually two and a half.
Yesterday was the 4.5 hour drive to Rockford, which is usually 3. The worst of the trip was from Bloomington to Mendota. It's a long hour and 15 minute strip. Every time we went under an overpass, we'd lose any visibility. A couple times, we found ourselves a group of folks and just hung behind them using them to light our way like Rudolph. Then the wind would clear (because let's face it accumulation wasn't a problem the 50 mph wind was) and we'd pass them and then end up on our own again. If we pulled over, it was going to have to be at a hotel because we had the dog -- so we just kept going -- slow and steady.
MacTroll's response when we arrived in Rockford, "You're right -- we should have stayed home."
The one bright part of the trip, besides the fact that we still really love how our RAV-4 performs in winter weather was that I found the App called Glympse, which let me e-mail and facebook a live map of where I was so that family and friends could see it. I knew my mother would totally dig thing -- and she did. I can also apparently use it when I'm on my run routes, which could come in handy for things like running the half marathon in Florida next October with my friends Sara and Christa.
My sister gave Joel a book about sustainable meat for Christmas that he really likes. She also gave us some rabbit to go with it. I've never cooked rabbit, so I'm reading the book and looking in some of my other cookbooks for some ideas. Anyone know how rabbit tastes? It might help me decide how to prepare it.
Tomorrow is Errand Tuesday. You name it, I'm doing it. Recycling batteries at Anita Purves, donating towels to my vet, dropping off my petitions to be on the Tolono library board, finishing stocking shopping, donating some household things to Goodwill, buying a space heater... fixing the Christmas lights that the 50mph wind tore down from the front porch... and finishing MacTroll's Christmas gift, which requires a trip to the art store for a certain utensil.
Our possible trip to Calfornia in January just got canceled. The two-week gig MacTroll thought he might have to do got canceled. So, we're going to try to reschedule our 3-day Chicago trip (with trip to Ikea). I also bought a beginning climbing pass for the climbing place in Bloomington that I need to use. So we're looking at weekends to head that way. :-)
A special happy birthday to three of my favorite friends who are having birthdays this week. You're all younger than me, so you know, I'll save a place in hell for ya. :-P
Sunday -- during the blizzard like conditions that existed between our home and theirs. And like crazy people, we piled in the car with our child and our dog and we drove to Rockford. We'd driven through crappy weather before. We remember one trip back from Chicago on our way to pick up the dog where we watched six semis, two RVs and four large pick ups fall off of Rt. 57 in the snow, while our plucky VW Golf got us home on the highway, and with some creative navigating got us out to pick up Riley at Doggies on the Farm and back home. That was a 4-hour drive from Chicago which was usually two and a half.
Yesterday was the 4.5 hour drive to Rockford, which is usually 3. The worst of the trip was from Bloomington to Mendota. It's a long hour and 15 minute strip. Every time we went under an overpass, we'd lose any visibility. A couple times, we found ourselves a group of folks and just hung behind them using them to light our way like Rudolph. Then the wind would clear (because let's face it accumulation wasn't a problem the 50 mph wind was) and we'd pass them and then end up on our own again. If we pulled over, it was going to have to be at a hotel because we had the dog -- so we just kept going -- slow and steady.
MacTroll's response when we arrived in Rockford, "You're right -- we should have stayed home."
The one bright part of the trip, besides the fact that we still really love how our RAV-4 performs in winter weather was that I found the App called Glympse, which let me e-mail and facebook a live map of where I was so that family and friends could see it. I knew my mother would totally dig thing -- and she did. I can also apparently use it when I'm on my run routes, which could come in handy for things like running the half marathon in Florida next October with my friends Sara and Christa.
My sister gave Joel a book about sustainable meat for Christmas that he really likes. She also gave us some rabbit to go with it. I've never cooked rabbit, so I'm reading the book and looking in some of my other cookbooks for some ideas. Anyone know how rabbit tastes? It might help me decide how to prepare it.
Tomorrow is Errand Tuesday. You name it, I'm doing it. Recycling batteries at Anita Purves, donating towels to my vet, dropping off my petitions to be on the Tolono library board, finishing stocking shopping, donating some household things to Goodwill, buying a space heater... fixing the Christmas lights that the 50mph wind tore down from the front porch... and finishing MacTroll's Christmas gift, which requires a trip to the art store for a certain utensil.
Our possible trip to Calfornia in January just got canceled. The two-week gig MacTroll thought he might have to do got canceled. So, we're going to try to reschedule our 3-day Chicago trip (with trip to Ikea). I also bought a beginning climbing pass for the climbing place in Bloomington that I need to use. So we're looking at weekends to head that way. :-)
A special happy birthday to three of my favorite friends who are having birthdays this week. You're all younger than me, so you know, I'll save a place in hell for ya. :-P
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Christmas Date
MacTroll and I went out on a date tonight. It was pretty fantastic. I had to get a quick run in at the Rec Center beforehand. So while I showered and got ready, he ran X-man over to their Parent Date Night from 5:30-9:30 p.m. It was his first one and he loved it because he had several friends from the neighborhood and apparently from school who were also there. I liked that it was $15 for the whole 4 hours.
Meanwhile, MacTroll and I headed to Boltini for dinner. We have two $25 gift certificates that we purchased some time ago through cusavings.com. They don't expire, but they're also for food and non-alcoholic beverages only. We had some stuffed dates that weren't as fabulous as the ones over at V.Picasso (so sad they're closing on Dec. 12), but were still pretty yummy. Then I had the Ahi Tuna salad and MacTroll had a Butcher Block sandwich. I did indulge in one raspberry truffle martini after dinner. It's my favorite drink around town so far. But there's a strawberry blonde there I need to give a go one of these nights. We used one of the certificates and got out of there for $15, minus tip.
We spent a lot of time deciding where to go. We were too dressed up to go do something like -- bowling. But we were hours too early for anything that might be exciting that was happening around town. And the truth is, when you have kids, everything has to be planned. You can't just call people up and say, "Hey, meet us downtown for drinks" like you could in your twenties. Yes, I know that I just referred to a decade of time period -- which makes me officially old at 34.
Instead of wandering around in the sub-arctic wind (Boy, am I glad I wore leggings and a sweater dress), we went back to the car and went to the grocery store where we did something we hadn't done in a long time. We bought a box of brownie mix. The leaded Ghiradelli goodness... We baked brownies when we officially became a couple. We baked brownies after prom night at his parents. We baked brownies after I got pregnant. Truth be told, there hadn't been any brownie baking in a while. I suggested it. MacTroll got excited. So we added some Ben and Jerry's to the top.
After our brownies were in the oven, we kept baking. We tossed out a bad bunch of dough to make Gingerbread Dinosaurs from Cooking Light. (I have NEVER gotten a decent dough out of them and I'm a pretty proficient baker.) And then, we made the sugar cookie dough forms. We decorated one batch and left the other for X-man to do after we picked him up.
Tomorrow, we're supposed to head to Rockford to see my Dad. Except between here and there is an effing blizzard warning. Great. Fabulous. We were supposed to go out with neighbors tonight who we'd invited out two months ago, but their sitter canceled. So it was just us and X-man was already excited about the Rec Center, or I suppose we could have just packed up this afternoon and driven up there. Except, in a trend that is continuing, I get completely worn out around 2 p.m. and only make it through the day by taking a 1-2 hour nap.
So, we'll see if tomorrow's family Christmas with my dad and my sister happens.
Meanwhile, MacTroll and I headed to Boltini for dinner. We have two $25 gift certificates that we purchased some time ago through cusavings.com. They don't expire, but they're also for food and non-alcoholic beverages only. We had some stuffed dates that weren't as fabulous as the ones over at V.Picasso (so sad they're closing on Dec. 12), but were still pretty yummy. Then I had the Ahi Tuna salad and MacTroll had a Butcher Block sandwich. I did indulge in one raspberry truffle martini after dinner. It's my favorite drink around town so far. But there's a strawberry blonde there I need to give a go one of these nights. We used one of the certificates and got out of there for $15, minus tip.
We spent a lot of time deciding where to go. We were too dressed up to go do something like -- bowling. But we were hours too early for anything that might be exciting that was happening around town. And the truth is, when you have kids, everything has to be planned. You can't just call people up and say, "Hey, meet us downtown for drinks" like you could in your twenties. Yes, I know that I just referred to a decade of time period -- which makes me officially old at 34.
Instead of wandering around in the sub-arctic wind (Boy, am I glad I wore leggings and a sweater dress), we went back to the car and went to the grocery store where we did something we hadn't done in a long time. We bought a box of brownie mix. The leaded Ghiradelli goodness... We baked brownies when we officially became a couple. We baked brownies after prom night at his parents. We baked brownies after I got pregnant. Truth be told, there hadn't been any brownie baking in a while. I suggested it. MacTroll got excited. So we added some Ben and Jerry's to the top.
After our brownies were in the oven, we kept baking. We tossed out a bad bunch of dough to make Gingerbread Dinosaurs from Cooking Light. (I have NEVER gotten a decent dough out of them and I'm a pretty proficient baker.) And then, we made the sugar cookie dough forms. We decorated one batch and left the other for X-man to do after we picked him up.
Tomorrow, we're supposed to head to Rockford to see my Dad. Except between here and there is an effing blizzard warning. Great. Fabulous. We were supposed to go out with neighbors tonight who we'd invited out two months ago, but their sitter canceled. So it was just us and X-man was already excited about the Rec Center, or I suppose we could have just packed up this afternoon and driven up there. Except, in a trend that is continuing, I get completely worn out around 2 p.m. and only make it through the day by taking a 1-2 hour nap.
So, we'll see if tomorrow's family Christmas with my dad and my sister happens.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Dear Santa:
I've worked hard at trying to be a good woman this year. I hope I blew whatever minimums you have about who is nice out of the water for the most part, but in other avenues, I know I still need a lot of work. I promise, I'm working on it.
For next year, I'd like to figure out a way to balance my relationships. I seem to put a lot of energy into motherhood -- in fact -- most of my energy goes toward my son. I need to be a better spouse and an even better pet owner. Most of all, I need to work on being a better friend. I'm not around when people really need me. Not that they ask me to be around, but I used to be more involved. I've been disappearing too much into myself lately.
I also need to work on making my home feel more put together. I've been focusing on updating and painting lately. Now I need to work on the cozy. It doesn't have to be the cleanest or most organized house on the block. But when we walk in the house, and others walk in the house, I want them to feel the comfort of the kindness of home. Home should be safe. Home should be welcoming. Home should be somewhere you want to spend the rest of your time.
At the same time, I don't want to lose my curiosity of the world. I want to travel and see new things with my family. Those are the plans for 2011. If you think I'm deserving of a gift, than I'd really like to get some energy back. I know that's not materialistic, but lately, I've been feeling very run down. Doc says it's a dietary deficiency, but the supplements and meal plan changing don't seem to be helping. I'm not sad or depressed at all. I just feel fatigued a lot. I could start drinking coffee, I guess. :-)
If something materialistic is easier, I understand. There's a black halo nude minidress at Needless Markups for an insane amount of money. If the elves can make a knock off, I'd be thrilled. I'm hoping to have the kind of legs that can wear that dress proudly.
Have a happy holiday. X-man, MacTroll and I will miss seeing you when you stop at the house, but X-man's working hard on the cookie selection and reindeer treats.
Sincerely,
Looseyfur
Saturday, December 4, 2010
The Way We Roll
I love how life is like going to the grocery store. Nothing much is going on and then all of a sudden there's a zillion people in line at the same time clogging up the works and making me inefficient and, therefore, crabby.
First: We're headed back out to Cupertino again. MacTroll has a project he has to work on for two weeks. We'll be getting some kind of corporate apartment and X-man and I will be out for a week, and then will head home so we don't miss our first week of my volleyball league and X-man's first week of sports class at Little Gym. Neighborhoods that I've been told to check out include areas of the East Bay, which I think is too far, Mountainview, Willow Glen area of San José and Sunnyvale.
Second: The Loosey-Room of One's Own finally got the right floor. Flooring America next to Meijer ordered the wrong one, and then I didn't see that it was the wrong floor until it was almost done. So, the poor installers had to remove it and then the sales people had to reorder the right one. My painters come back next week to finish the trim and do another coat on the walls, so I'll post a photo about that then.
Third: In September, we put in the application to see if X-man could get into Next Generation for Primary School. He didn't get accepted. He got waitlisted. So, we'll be doing the Unit 4 School of Choice and I'm rooting hard for Carrie Busey. The trick to this is that since he's on the wait list, if they contact us with a spot and we say no -- they keep our application fee of $500. If there isn't a spot then they refund it to us. At some point, people will start asking X-man where he's going. And doing a "change-a-roo" on him would be weird, he's kind of sensitive. I'm also not sure which he'll be more twisted up about -- not going to a school where 1/2 of his neighborhood will likely go OR not continuing at the school he's known forever. Me -- I love the idea of both schools. And how many parents say that about choosing their child's school?
Fourth: The Christmas Tree. Since Jarling's is open longer this year (until December 11), we couldn't go there to get our Christmas tree this year. Preston's, the tree guy from Michigan that used to sell there, sold the business down here to someone new and moved it to the parking lot of Danville Gardens, Too. On the way home from Meijer the other day, I saw a sign for Moore's Tree Farm. This morning after we cleared the 5 inches of snow from our drive and walk, we drove over there. It's about 15 minutes from our house at 30 mph with all the snow on country roads, so it's not too far. I'd ridden my bike by it in the summer. Head East on Church Street in Savoy. Go past Philo Rd, and you'll see Christmas tree signs to make your next right. Then 1/2 mile down the road is the farm on your left.
We pulled up, got the shpeel and headed down to the far end of the farm to cut a tree. X-man picked a 6' tree. I cut it down and put it on a cool wagon and then MacTroll hauled it back. It is about 2' shorter than we normally get, but it was 50 percent less. The college kid who welcomed us was awesome. He and X-man were little chatterboxes. We hiked out into the "medium" sized trees (5-7') and X-man chose our tree.
Afterward, there was free coffee and hot chocolate in their barn, which X-man really liked. The weird part, should you choose to go and one of the owners invites your child to take a tree from the corner -- just skip it. I thought it was a potted tree that they didn't get int the ground or something before the ground fell. I took it out to the car in it's pot, where the guy stopped me and said, "Oh, I just meant the tree." And I'm thinking, "What?" And he plucked the tree from the pot (there were no roots, it was just a trimming from some other tree) and handed it too me and then took his pot back to the barn. --- MacTroll and I raised our eyebrows and spoke our amusement and horror through telepathy while X-man jabbered away, sugar cookie in hand.
When we got home, we put up the tree and decorated it while listening to Christmas music. X-man requires that all Christmas music have words he can understand. :-)
Fifth: The clean up. I took a carload of toys and household items we no longer needed to Goodwill on Thursday. Freak also came and took our basement cat tree. One of X-man's Turtle teachers came and took home MacTroll's elliptical. He spent six months on it the first year he bought it and then it's just been carried around with us ever since. We have a Savoy Recreation Center membership, so there's really no need for things in the house. After shoveling, getting a tree, putting up a tree and hauling the elliptical upstairs, my husband has hidden away. Apparently, he was hoping for a Saturday where we sat around on our asses on the couch.
Sixth: Last night KTDID and I took X-man to the Tolono Public Library. I collected nearly 40 signatures for my petition to run for the library board. I'll be stopping by some friends houses tomorrow night to see about the last handful that I need. X-man met Santa for the first time since he was 1. He freaked out a little like the boy in the Christmas Story when Santa asked him what he wanted, but he didn't lose it or cry. :-)
Sixth: Tonight we're headed downtown to do dinner at Farren's and then go to the Parade of Lights. If X-man holds it together long enough, we'll stop by the Orpheum Children's Museum afterwards.
Seventh: Tomorrow we've got to get up early and head out to Monticello for Santa on the Train. It's Christmas all weekend around here. It also looks like we won't get to putting up Christmas lights until tomorrow.
Tis the season to be crazy busy, I guess.
First: We're headed back out to Cupertino again. MacTroll has a project he has to work on for two weeks. We'll be getting some kind of corporate apartment and X-man and I will be out for a week, and then will head home so we don't miss our first week of my volleyball league and X-man's first week of sports class at Little Gym. Neighborhoods that I've been told to check out include areas of the East Bay, which I think is too far, Mountainview, Willow Glen area of San José and Sunnyvale.
Second: The Loosey-Room of One's Own finally got the right floor. Flooring America next to Meijer ordered the wrong one, and then I didn't see that it was the wrong floor until it was almost done. So, the poor installers had to remove it and then the sales people had to reorder the right one. My painters come back next week to finish the trim and do another coat on the walls, so I'll post a photo about that then.
Third: In September, we put in the application to see if X-man could get into Next Generation for Primary School. He didn't get accepted. He got waitlisted. So, we'll be doing the Unit 4 School of Choice and I'm rooting hard for Carrie Busey. The trick to this is that since he's on the wait list, if they contact us with a spot and we say no -- they keep our application fee of $500. If there isn't a spot then they refund it to us. At some point, people will start asking X-man where he's going. And doing a "change-a-roo" on him would be weird, he's kind of sensitive. I'm also not sure which he'll be more twisted up about -- not going to a school where 1/2 of his neighborhood will likely go OR not continuing at the school he's known forever. Me -- I love the idea of both schools. And how many parents say that about choosing their child's school?
Fourth: The Christmas Tree. Since Jarling's is open longer this year (until December 11), we couldn't go there to get our Christmas tree this year. Preston's, the tree guy from Michigan that used to sell there, sold the business down here to someone new and moved it to the parking lot of Danville Gardens, Too. On the way home from Meijer the other day, I saw a sign for Moore's Tree Farm. This morning after we cleared the 5 inches of snow from our drive and walk, we drove over there. It's about 15 minutes from our house at 30 mph with all the snow on country roads, so it's not too far. I'd ridden my bike by it in the summer. Head East on Church Street in Savoy. Go past Philo Rd, and you'll see Christmas tree signs to make your next right. Then 1/2 mile down the road is the farm on your left.
We pulled up, got the shpeel and headed down to the far end of the farm to cut a tree. X-man picked a 6' tree. I cut it down and put it on a cool wagon and then MacTroll hauled it back. It is about 2' shorter than we normally get, but it was 50 percent less. The college kid who welcomed us was awesome. He and X-man were little chatterboxes. We hiked out into the "medium" sized trees (5-7') and X-man chose our tree.
Afterward, there was free coffee and hot chocolate in their barn, which X-man really liked. The weird part, should you choose to go and one of the owners invites your child to take a tree from the corner -- just skip it. I thought it was a potted tree that they didn't get int the ground or something before the ground fell. I took it out to the car in it's pot, where the guy stopped me and said, "Oh, I just meant the tree." And I'm thinking, "What?" And he plucked the tree from the pot (there were no roots, it was just a trimming from some other tree) and handed it too me and then took his pot back to the barn. --- MacTroll and I raised our eyebrows and spoke our amusement and horror through telepathy while X-man jabbered away, sugar cookie in hand.
When we got home, we put up the tree and decorated it while listening to Christmas music. X-man requires that all Christmas music have words he can understand. :-)
Fifth: The clean up. I took a carload of toys and household items we no longer needed to Goodwill on Thursday. Freak also came and took our basement cat tree. One of X-man's Turtle teachers came and took home MacTroll's elliptical. He spent six months on it the first year he bought it and then it's just been carried around with us ever since. We have a Savoy Recreation Center membership, so there's really no need for things in the house. After shoveling, getting a tree, putting up a tree and hauling the elliptical upstairs, my husband has hidden away. Apparently, he was hoping for a Saturday where we sat around on our asses on the couch.
Sixth: Last night KTDID and I took X-man to the Tolono Public Library. I collected nearly 40 signatures for my petition to run for the library board. I'll be stopping by some friends houses tomorrow night to see about the last handful that I need. X-man met Santa for the first time since he was 1. He freaked out a little like the boy in the Christmas Story when Santa asked him what he wanted, but he didn't lose it or cry. :-)
Sixth: Tonight we're headed downtown to do dinner at Farren's and then go to the Parade of Lights. If X-man holds it together long enough, we'll stop by the Orpheum Children's Museum afterwards.
Seventh: Tomorrow we've got to get up early and head out to Monticello for Santa on the Train. It's Christmas all weekend around here. It also looks like we won't get to putting up Christmas lights until tomorrow.
Tis the season to be crazy busy, I guess.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Unexpected extra time
I had a pretty full day scheduled for today. But when I reported to work at MMO, it turns out that I wasn't needed to sub today. It occurred to me that I suddenly had 4 hours of uninterrupted Loosey time. I could do whatever I wanted.
So I went Christmas and furniture shopping, but fueled up the car first. Then I stopped at Prairie Gardens first for their Christmas sale. I was surprised to find a kitchen table that I liked for a decent price, but I wanted two side benches, and they only carried the 60" table with 4 chairs. It's too big of a table for only 4 -- and two benches would be perfect. Therefore, the kitchen table search continues. Then I headed up to Slumberland Furniture to look at their inventory. Brown, brown, brown for as far as the eye can see. I'm not a brown person. Then I did a swing through Macy's furniture just to check. No surprise, there was a large white couch and a purple couch, but that doesn't work either.
I picked up laser paper from Office Depot and then headed over to Wind, Water and Light in Urbana. I'm ashamed to say, I hadn't been in their new Lincoln Square location. I think I was partial to the old one because it was so much more crowded, but Larry and Mary the owners were just as friendly as usual. I didn't find anything for anyone left on my list, but I'll keep looking. I also swung through Art Mart (both toys and housewares while I was there) and then I drove over to Bella and did a swoop through their store, leaving with a pair of Calvin Klein peep toe pumps that were 65 percent off -- for me.
I got home at 12:10 and ate lunch and made a critical decision -- about hair. I was using one of the coupons I picked up from the Chambanamom's Night Out to get my hair cut and colored by Deanna at Spa Envy.
In the end, I decided to go with what would require less upkeep (because we all know I'm hair lazy). The sun had done a doozy turning my hair golden blond this summer. So I got a partial high lift (somehow different from a high light) to blend the top which was becoming mousy brown with bits of gray. So now my hair is more blended. Then she gave it some body with some layers, and boom, I don't quite feel like putting it up in a ponytail all the time now.
Afterwards, I packed up my Mom's birthday present and dropped it off at the post office before returning library books and picking up X-man from school. He proclaimed today the worst day ever. I won't repeat what the issues were, but he's doing things that other kids know to be unsanitary -- and he's doing it enough that they notice and his teachers are worried that X-man will be shunned socially for it. So, we're all trying to work on stopping the bad habit before he starts to feel like an outcast. It's a seasonal problem, he had it last year, too.
It's hard being 4.
So I went Christmas and furniture shopping, but fueled up the car first. Then I stopped at Prairie Gardens first for their Christmas sale. I was surprised to find a kitchen table that I liked for a decent price, but I wanted two side benches, and they only carried the 60" table with 4 chairs. It's too big of a table for only 4 -- and two benches would be perfect. Therefore, the kitchen table search continues. Then I headed up to Slumberland Furniture to look at their inventory. Brown, brown, brown for as far as the eye can see. I'm not a brown person. Then I did a swing through Macy's furniture just to check. No surprise, there was a large white couch and a purple couch, but that doesn't work either.
I picked up laser paper from Office Depot and then headed over to Wind, Water and Light in Urbana. I'm ashamed to say, I hadn't been in their new Lincoln Square location. I think I was partial to the old one because it was so much more crowded, but Larry and Mary the owners were just as friendly as usual. I didn't find anything for anyone left on my list, but I'll keep looking. I also swung through Art Mart (both toys and housewares while I was there) and then I drove over to Bella and did a swoop through their store, leaving with a pair of Calvin Klein peep toe pumps that were 65 percent off -- for me.
I got home at 12:10 and ate lunch and made a critical decision -- about hair. I was using one of the coupons I picked up from the Chambanamom's Night Out to get my hair cut and colored by Deanna at Spa Envy.
In the end, I decided to go with what would require less upkeep (because we all know I'm hair lazy). The sun had done a doozy turning my hair golden blond this summer. So I got a partial high lift (somehow different from a high light) to blend the top which was becoming mousy brown with bits of gray. So now my hair is more blended. Then she gave it some body with some layers, and boom, I don't quite feel like putting it up in a ponytail all the time now.
Afterwards, I packed up my Mom's birthday present and dropped it off at the post office before returning library books and picking up X-man from school. He proclaimed today the worst day ever. I won't repeat what the issues were, but he's doing things that other kids know to be unsanitary -- and he's doing it enough that they notice and his teachers are worried that X-man will be shunned socially for it. So, we're all trying to work on stopping the bad habit before he starts to feel like an outcast. It's a seasonal problem, he had it last year, too.
It's hard being 4.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Cute Cousins
MacTroll's oldest brother came to visit the other day with his three children. X-man adores his cousins and hates that he only sees them twice a year. Usually we go out in the spring and they come in August... but this year they came for Christmas. We only got to host them for a few short hours. But it was a good time and left both families yearning for more time together, so we'll be heading out to Baltimore over Memorial Day weekend.
But here are some photos of X-man with his (newly) six-year-old cousin SuperSam at our house. Can you tell they bonded, even though they're polar opposites? (SuperSam is a completely sweet neat freak... and X-man loves chaotic messes and convincing people that the sky is, indeed, green, not blue. But clearly they've worked out some kind of Odd Couple routine because that arm around the shoulder thing in the second photo -- completely SuperSam's natural instinct.)
But here are some photos of X-man with his (newly) six-year-old cousin SuperSam at our house. Can you tell they bonded, even though they're polar opposites? (SuperSam is a completely sweet neat freak... and X-man loves chaotic messes and convincing people that the sky is, indeed, green, not blue. But clearly they've worked out some kind of Odd Couple routine because that arm around the shoulder thing in the second photo -- completely SuperSam's natural instinct.)
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