blue tooth and lists

I have been sans cell phone since summer when I killed both my phone and my husband's. At times, annoying, other times, no big deal. However, with two kids and running errands and all that, it is nice to have one. We kept putting it off because my parents offered to add one on to their plan, thus saving money and giving me free talk time with a friend who uses the same company. Sounds good, right? Except that every attempt to get said phone failed for any number of reasons. And, it was attempted at least close to half a dozen times. It was always some oddball glitch, nothing more. Waiting for something to process, talking to someone who was incompetent, you name it.

On Monday my dad was in town (he's been doing work a few hours away and staying on site, so we've had to bide our time), and at last he walked into a store and got it all squared away. All I asked for was a flip phone (I despise locking and unlocking the keypad, and inadvertently call people if I don't).

What I got: a nicer flip phone than I'd even imagined, with blue tooth capability. I am just coming to know what this is myself--essentially, it can "go wireless". My father sweetened the package with one of those funky headpieces--yep, the wireless one. I'm still figuring it out, but he insisted it was safer since I have two kids and am driving and all that. Okay. If you insist, I won't complain.

One of my favorite features, however, is the voice recorder. I am a list-a-h0lic (my husband can now predict when I "need" to make a list while we're talking!). And, now I can create voice lists! I can just record the things I need and write them down later, all at once. This way I'm not searching for my list to add to it (I'm only mentally organized). It's just a little button on the side that works when the phone is open.

I love it. A virtual list maker!

rain on my parade

Something about Thanksgiving Day and parades. It's simply not the same without the sound of announcers and music 'floating' by in the background. I grew up on a steady diet of this (every year, we were at my grandparents and it was always on) and something is missing without it.

Back in June, we cancelled our cable. It was wasted on us since we barely have time to watch anything, and when we found time, there was nothing good on. Little B watched one or two kid's channels sometimes, and that was it. So, we got Netflix to appease the occasional need to watch stuff and never worry about late fees (we are notorious for accruing them!). We never even hooked up the antenna again because, well, we have not watched regular TV in that long.

So, on the morning of my parades, my husband went out in the nippy air to hook it up for me. And found it was cut. The cable guy who hooked us up to cable several years earlier had just cut it to make room for his wires. Thanks a bunch. Can we say personal property???

While I was in the shower, my husband found a random spanish channel that had it on (where that and a couple other channels came from, we will never, ever know). Little B watched the parade in spanish for all of five minutes (and I missed it entirely, of course), but the commercials were apparently not too family friendly, so off it went. The parade wouldn't have been the same anyhow, not knowing how heavy the floats were and such.

Rather than procrastinate again (as we'd obviously done with the antenna...ahem), we called the cable company and filed our complaint and last night they came out to fix the cable they'd cut. A few days too late, mister. But, it's ready for the next round of parades, at least!

four turkeys and a sleepy mom

Yes, we have officially had four Thanksgiving meals now. It is my favorite holiday, but even for me that's a bit much--besides, turkey is not my favorite food! Give me a ham any day.

The first weekend in November, we had an impromptu Thanksgiving with my mom and brother--he wasn't going to be here for the real thing, so even though my dad was out of town, we did it up right and had a lovely time. My mom asked us each to share something we were thankful for. Honestly, we got distracted (her fault as she allowed us time to think about it during the meal!) and she was the only one who shared her thoughts. However, I did give it thought over the next week or two and decided (among other things) I am thankful for my daughter's arm healing so well and that my children love each other.

A week ago Sunday, we had a big all-out feast with my husband's mother's family (his mother is deceased, but we really enjoy her family). Little B had to miss this because he'd been really sick. That was a bummer as he loves playing with his cousins and that happens pretty rarely.

Tuesday, in spite of still feeling sick, his fever was gone so we went to Little B's pre-school's Thanksgiving Feast. It's catered by his favorite place, but he was feeling so miserable still that he fell asleep in the midst of it all. The craziest thing was that the entire class was coughing up a lung. It was almost funny if they hadn't felt so awful! The teacher asked who threw up that weekend and (including herself), there were a total of 12 hands. Only 16 kids were there that day (out of 18)!

Which brings me to yesterday. The large meal was at my home (I had a lovely ham, by the way, and almost skipped the turkey, but I must say I did a fabulous job with it once I decided to cook one!) which I prepared with the help of my mother and a crying baby girl. I spent most of my weekend wondering if I needed to take her to urgent care--bear in mind, Miss C is a very content little girl and rarely fusses in the true sense of the word, so I immediately worry if she's crying much. I second guessed myself almost hourly about how sick she was--mornings she seems fine, evenings are not so good, nights are awful.

Back to the meal. I suppose this was our most official Thanksgiving of them all. My parents, father in law, sister in law and her husband were the main "guests". It was a concession to have them all at once, but I don't want to go there right now. It was survivable, the food was yummy, even if say so myself, and best of all a dear friend from Seattle, Tami, was in town for the evening (always too short of a visit, but better than none at all!).

Miss C had a thankful moment on this day--her first tooth finally broke through! Of course the next three look like they are not far behind. However, I decided this morning that enough was enough and her fussy--make that BAD--nights were certainly not improving (in spite of happy mornings with the snotty nose). I took her to our pediatrician and, as I was beginning to suspect, she has an ear infection. Poor baby. Maybe I'll get more sleep in the coming nights...I'm starting to feel like a zombie and even noticed it while driving home (that red light seemed like a lovely nap spot...for me, that's tired.

(For the record, yes, I was careful driving home--not in danger of falling asleep which would be alarming to me. I know my limits and was recognizing the end of it! However, I am refraining from going back out until I'm a bit more clear-headed, even for Miss C's antibiotic...now, I need to go read to my son and pray my daughter sleeps longer. We'll see...)

take two

So, my husband calls me last night on his way home from the office and quite excitedly says, “Well, I must have finally ‘arrived’—I got invited to the secret Engineer’s Christmas Party!” The what? He'd never heard of this party, but has seen invitations floating about before, not knowing what they were. It is held at the owner’s home (which we frequent anyway since he is family, but that’s beside the point), and apparently is the client party (his aunt filled him in when he called to RSVP). A few years back when the formal party became employee-only, this was the way they still invited clients to mingle. This year, he was 'finally' invited because he now deals directly with the clients more than he used to.

And, while it is a little more casual—good golly miss molly—I now have to figure out TWO party friendly outfits. Just go ahead and shoot me.

little black dress or something...

Every year my husband's company throws a nice Christmas party for their employees. And, I do mean nice. In the eight years we've been attending, the parties have evolved and become quite a classy event (except for the perpetual drinkers who tend to throw a bit of the atmosphere on occasion, but that's a small detail, really).

The first year the party was held in the office with buffet-style meals and included clients and had presents for a few children who were invited. The next two years, the party was adults only, then there was a children's Breakfast with Santa for all the kids of the employees and clients. And yes, there were pictures and gifts for each child. Pretty amazing production--we were even able to take a friend's little boy one year since we were sans-child at that point in time. A few clients began to abuse the priveledge of these invites, and eventually they stopped all of that. The next few years the parties, for employees only, were held at a nice hotel ballroom (there were even discounted rooms available for those unable or unwilling to drive home). Each year there was some type of white elephant gift exchange, door prizes, charicatures, awards, etc.

For the last two years they have been held at a local upscale members-only club. We're talking sit down dinners, food of impeccable taste, nicer awards, and professional pictures. And, thank goodness, they have finally delivered us from that awful white elephant game (it was fast becoming an alcohol exchange).

This year's party is less than two weeks away--Friday, December 2. And, once again, I have my annual dilemma: what to wear.

A few nights ago, I tried on everything remotely appropriate left in my closet. There is nothing that will work. Nothing. I even tried on a few things from past years, figuring no one would remember them anyway. My body has changed a LOT over the past eight years, is all I can say. Some of those outfits have long since been sent on their way, but I still have too many dressy things that do not fit anymore (I have hope for some of them).

So, I am once again on the hunt for that elusive outfit. I loathe hose. Really, truly. I didn't even wear them at my own wedding. I was thinking a long skirt/dress or pants would be a lovely way to avoid hose (again). I also want a reasonable budget since I only might wear the outfit for some other occasion--and I want to be thinner next year anyway!

Oh, did I mention that I grow tired of trying on clothes REALLY fast? Yeah. The next week and a half in crowded stores with two kids should be loads of fun.

week of progress

My sweet girl has come so very far. Her left arm gains strength on a daily basis. (For those who may not know what I’m talking about, you can read my daughter's story and baby miracles to fill in a few of the gaps.)

When Miss C began crawling, she usually balanced out a weak bicep by dragging her body around almost army crawl style, yet not. As she got the crawling concept down, her compensation came in the form of using her elbow only on the left side—kinda cute, really—she was in correct crawling posture otherwise. With each passing day, we knew she was getting stronger and got loads of enjoyment from seeing her use that left arm the way she should, then alternately drop down on her elbow, then back up and so forth (more so when she was tired). She definitely had a bit of style going on!

This week has been yet another milestone of progress for our daughter.

On Monday, Miss C began pulling herself up. Then…she stopped dropping to her elbow while crawling! It was a noticeable change over the course of three or four days. For us, this was huge. She also prefers to use her left hand for feeding herself (and accurately aimed a fork this morning, thank you very much)—as her therapist said, being a lefty would be the ultimate, since it would require fine-tuning her motor skills that are subtly lacking.

In the meantime, my son is working on teaching her to climb stairs. She’s proving to be quite a little learner--both knees have made it to the first step; time for those extra gates, I do believe.

road rage

I have this pet peeve that drives me insane--people blocking an intersection. Obviously, they don't get it that they are the reason there is a traffic jam! If you cannot get through the light, stay behind the line. It's a law, it's simple, it's basic, and good golly miss molly, just DO it, please? And when I am following this simple curtesy, DON'T HONK AT ME.

Little B's private school is a wisp of a mile away -- something I will miss when we move. They go from "mother's morning out" to 6th grade. All preschool ages arrive and leave at the same time via three different doors, depending on the child's classroom location. Last year, my "door" to go to used a turn lane and an extra entrance to the parking lot--it was short and often overly full. THIS year, however, I SHARE an entrance with the littlest kids...the younger they are, the longer and slower the line. We line up next to them in the circular drive, and I must say OUR line is always incredibly short and fast--IF you can get to it.

This morning, I sat through the light twice since the moms in the long line do not know how to pull forward, which is all it would take to make room for more cars at the end. I'm not sure why the moms in these carpool lines are so incredibly dense--they leave a ton of space in front of their cars, not paying the least bit of attention. The wierd thing to me is that they are the ones stuck at the back at some point, right? You'd think they could remember it for a mere 10 minutes. But, no, apparently not.

When the turn arrow turned green the third time, the mom behind me honked! Sorry lady, I'm not doing it to annoy you (if I'd have turned into my lane, my car would have blocked the entire intersection and yes, I've seen some of these ladies get tickets for that very thing!).

I finally did a u-turn and went into the empty line, parked and walked my son up--there was only one car in his lane, as well. But getting there was the issue.

I was seething by the time I walked him up. The teachers getting them out cannot do a thing, but they could see how mad I was. The afternoons are just as bad and the teacher taking down carpool numbers doesn't say a word--in fact she stands in my way most of the time.

Oh, I cannot wait for next year--the elementary school lets out at a different time and there are so few cars in those lines. I've seen them while driving by...

full caff today, please

My intent today was to drop off Little B, then nap when Miss C napped. She is napping now. I am not. Am I tired? Very...teething, red bottoms and little boy nightmares do not make for good nights (yes, plural).

I am stupid. I wanted that nap BAD. But, I was a little afraid she and I would oversleep...we have to leave in about 15 minutes, and an alarm sounded like such a lousy way to wake up. Oh well. Guess I'll be making coffee after all (which I only skipped in hopes of grabbing that nap).

help wanted

I have some cloth diapers my daughter has outgrown and I want to sell them. I am nervous about selling on ebay (never done it, and don't know anyone well enough to consult with about doing it). Someone suggested craigslist, but I suppose I don't know how I feel about that, either (I don't really dig meeting up with strangers, you know?). Does anyone know anything about selling stuff online or could someone suggest another means of selling? Please???

shopping

Last week I bought my daughter her first pair of shoes--for summer, bare feet and occasional booties or socks are sufficient in my book. I'd been debating back and forth on what to get: Stride Rite Crawlers, last year's style at the Stride Rite Outlet, Robeez, or Target's Circo brand of Robeez. I finally settled on Robeez, and went to Nordstrom to buy them--a store I usually only frequent for their elevator. I'd heard they were actually a buck or two cheaper (though I did not double check), and most important, they had a better selection. Wow, did they! I was actually wishing I could buy some boy's ones, too. =p I finally settled on the pink pair with kittens. Miss C is something of a kitten to us in a lot of ways, so that only seemed appropriate.

I was asked to fill out a card of information while paying; there was a place to list my purchases, current and future, so I figured why not? (And, I did enjoy looking around a tidy, posh department store...oh, I'd love to be a regular shopper in such a place.)

Today I got a thank you note from the sales lady. Talk about regal shopping. . .