November 27, 2006 at 10:03 pm · Filed under family
All is well, actually. We made our traditional dinner at home, which the kids have come to expect and revere: green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, whole grain bread, sweet potatoes, and Tofurky. And what do they love most? The tofurky, of course. We also made pecan and pumpkin pies, which turned out marvelously, if I do say so myself.
On Friday, we headed to Sister #2’s house, which is about a 3-hour drive for us. We rolled birthday celebrations into the holiday, so we came bearing gifts. The highlight was when the littlest nephew unwrapped his present from us. We gave him a singing, dancing Pablo of “Backyardigans” fame. Moon picked it out — she obviously made a good choice, judging from how many times we got to hear the theme song issuing from Pablo’s mechanical innards.
He gave hugs and kisses when we left, and even Moon had to admit he was cute.
I keep thinking “Backhooligans” for some reason.
November 16, 2006 at 10:54 pm · Filed under blather
Yep, so my posting every day kind of fizzled. But that doesn’t mean it’s been boring or anything. I’ll try to catch up at some point. You know, school conferences, knitting, feeling fat, going back to my old fitness class as a student and not an instructor, all that stuff.
And whoa, it’s almost Thanksgiving.
November 8, 2006 at 10:02 pm · Filed under spiritual
Of course, the good news is that Rummy is down and so is the chokehold the Republican party has had on our guv’ment. I was able to safely vote Green without it risking the wrong people getting elected.
But the people of Wisconsin have spoken, and apparently they’d like to have the death penalty back in our state, and they want to write discrimination into our constitution. Ugh. It’s especially sad because there’s already a law defining marriage. The new amendment would go further, and rule any marriage-equivalents (i.e. civil unions) invalid.
My opinion? The state should only be doing civil unions in the first place, whether for hetero or same-sex couples. They shouldn’t call the piece of paper a marriage license — it would be a writ of civil union. Marriage would have no legal status, and be considered as a ceremony similar to baptism or a Bar Mitzvah. That way, churches could marry whomever they want and stick to their religious principles without getting in the way of anyone’s rights.
But besides all that, “gay marriage” is inevitable. There is simply too much attention given to the concept (even though it’s fear-based and negative) for it not to be manifested someday. So there.
And that’s all I’ll say about the election. Now, back to our regularly scheduled knitting and parenting content.
November 7, 2006 at 9:40 pm · Filed under blather
The polls were busy today … not as busy as a presidential election, but much busier than the usual school board and sheriff races. I feel pretty emotional about the stuff that’s on the ballot, and I hope that I’ll be able to be proud of my home state in the morning.
November 6, 2006 at 10:16 pm · Filed under blather
And the highlights were: picking up my glasses (old frames, new lenses) and watching Heroes. I’ve become so addicted to that show so quickly. I love all the theories and speculation — so much fun.
Tomorrow is Election Day, folks. There are some important decisions being made, and getting to the polls is my top priority. Go to it, people.
Today I only had eight phone calls from pre-recorded voices begging for my vote. Gee, I’ll sure miss hearing from those people after tomorrow.
November 5, 2006 at 10:31 pm · Filed under moon (rachel)
Moon and I went to church this morning with visions of Caribou Coffee campfire lattes dancing in our heads. Yes, Moon is drinking coffee these days — she just prefers the kind that has lots of milk and/or sweetener in it.
I think this is going to be a routine of ours. Very motivating.
Since we had a perfect sunny fall day, we took Foxxi out for parkies (walkies in the park). Moon rode the swings for a while, and Foxxi rolled in the rocks, the grass, on the sidewalk, etc. It was a very happy time for a cooped-up pup. After we came home, I sat outside and worked on my crocheted hand towel. (I finished it after dinner.) I’ve been knitting and crocheting so much today, my knuckles are tired.
My other accomplishments this weekend: more yarn (without going overboard), a new swimsuit for water aerobics, and my first trip to the new Trader Joe’s.
November 4, 2006 at 12:11 am · Filed under career
Hey, I’m only 7 minutes late for Nov. 3. Does this count? I can’t help it that I had an incredibly busy day. I met with my team (another business venture — have I talked about this? I don’t mean to be overly cryptic) and it was awesome as always. I sometimes forget how much I like bouncing ideas off other people and interacting face-to-face during my work day.
I also got to try out my new toy. More later, as I’m incredibly tired.
November 2, 2006 at 11:25 am · Filed under friends, shopping
Last night, when Deb called to see if we were still on for a visit today, I had to admit that I had forgotten. But hey, I’m totally up for visitors, I told her, so c’mon over!
I tried to make the house look like it’s not ravaged every day by Viking warriors. She called a little while ago to tell me that she was kind of lost trying to take the scenic route, so I actually got a little bit of paid work done, too.
With my wacky calendar, I’ve realized that I do need to be using my PDA — even though it’s crappy, not back-lit, and keeps accidentally turning on. When I dragged it out of the electronics drawer, though, I discovered that it’s dead. (*trying to hide my glee*) So I’ve been sneaking peeks at possible replacements. I want an actual PDA, not a smartphone. I think I’ve come to a decision.
I wonder if Deb feels like shopping. I know she’d better feel like having lunch, because I’m getting hungry.
November 1, 2006 at 5:35 pm · Filed under moon (rachel)
And I’ll start the month on a happy note, because Moon made a last-minute decision to go trick-or-treating yesterday. Otherwise, this would have been our first Halloween with non-costumed* kids. (Peter stayed home, which he regretted when he saw Moon’s haul.)
The cool thing is that I get all the Tootsie Rolls. They’re not as glamourous as other candies, but they’re my favorite anyway.
*Technically, she didn’t wear a costume. Just lots of black, with fang marks and bruises created from my makeup stash.
October 27, 2006 at 3:59 pm · Filed under knit/crochet
Yes, I’ve been knitting (and crocheting), but mostly just little projects that I can finish quickly. Well … this water bottle caddy wasn’t super-quick since it was knit on US2 needles. But it’s cute and useful. One change I made to the original pattern was to put the pocket on the inside of the strap — seems more secure that way. I also made a bib for my 1-year-old niece and cute cabled footies (sucky photo, though). I’m still making felted bowls and coffee cozies with my bits and pieces of yarn.
In other news, I’m having new lenses put into my old glasses frames. I get bored wearing the same pair all the time. Apparently there’s some funky new technology for old people glasses (i.e. ‘progressive lenses’ — which sounds like they’re in favor of socialized medicine or something), and I’ll love the results so much I’ll want to switch up my other glasses, too. Yahoo.
October 24, 2006 at 9:06 pm · Filed under career, spiritual
I’ve been working on letting go, and that has involved asking myself what I’m supposed to learn as a result of my *gasp* fallability. Coincidentally, I found this. This was a good find.
October 22, 2006 at 9:11 am · Filed under blather
Oh, by the way … it snowed last night. We have schizo seasons today.
October 22, 2006 at 9:10 am · Filed under career
Writing about it helped. So did watching SNL (My Chemical Romance was on!) and having a good cry after everyone went to bed. Moon was at her friend’s house overnight, so I had a convenient place to go where I wouldn’t wake anyone up.
Besides the stress of the past few weeks, one other issue I’m finding I need to deal with is the whole boundaries thing. When I was in an office, reprimands or explanations would take place privately, behind closed doors — and then I could leave it when I went home. At home, a situation can come up out of nowhere. It wasn’t private. My son and my husband were both right there, able to hear my end of the conversation. My laptop was set up in the kitchen, and I needed to refer to it. I needed to concentrate on my words, so my body was pretty frozen.
Pete and I had been getting ready to head out for some weekend errands, which we went ahead and did. But my mind was elsewhere the whole time.
So … the boundaries thing. I’m learning the ins and outs of working at home. Still measuring to see if this is right for me.
Today I’ve got some fun stuff to do, thank God.
October 21, 2006 at 8:17 pm · Filed under career, spiritual
What started as a potentially awesome weekend day quickly turned into crapola, as I had a call regarding a snafu that happened more than a week ago. A snafu that I thought I was done being upset about. I kept my wits and my cool well enough … except that I let something slip that I had meant to keep to myself.
In the context of explaining how careful I am — how thoroughly I check things, how seriously I take it when something goes wrong under my watch — I told the other party about my OCD. And immediately wished I could hit “rewind.”
See, the thing about the situation is that I’m doing work for someone who doesn’t spent any time with me — that’s the way it is with online business. It’s one thing to tell someone who knows me and has observed me over a period of time. I know how very normal I am, and I still hold dear to my heart the person who said, “But you’re the most mentally well-adjusted person I’ve ever met.” But in this situation, all I can think is that I’ve painted myself into a corner because now I have this label. “OCD” doesn’t tell how hard I’ve worked to learn to keep an even keel and trust the universe.
But besides that, there’s still the issue of the initial snafu behind the call in the first place. It’s bugging me because I’m not the only one getting chewed out about it — and I have no idea what’s happened since we hung up. I’ve had this horrible heart-in-my-throat feeling for, oh, about 9 hours. Basically, I’m trying to keep busy and keep breathing. I had lunch and dinner even though I’ve felt on the verge of throwing up all day.
The weird thing is: What’s the worst that can happen? That I’m released from my duties? I have plenty of work to do, and life goes on. I’m not worried about that. So I’m playing “Name That Anxiety.” Maybe you can help me figure out this panicky feeling.
P.S. Our digital camera is AWOL, which is why the lack of knitting pictures. My hands have been busy, trust me. OCD, ya know. *irony*
October 18, 2006 at 8:50 am · Filed under moon (rachel)
NaBloPoMo is coming, so I figure I might as well warm up. Even if it’s all pretty mundane. Why shouldn’t my blog reflect my life, right?
So … Moon is taking the PSAT today. I only had to do one car trip this morning instead of two, although it looked like I was going to have to go back to the high school in my pajamas to bring Moon her ID so she could get into the test room. (They let her in anyway. Can you imagine the horror that is your mother at your school in mismatched PJs?)
Hey, I wear a coat and I don’t usually get out of the car, so no big deal.
In other news, have you seen Heroes on NBC? We watched the 4th episode this week, and it rocked so hard. Good thing there’s Television Without Pity so I could get caught up.
Moon wants this shirt.
October 17, 2006 at 10:48 am · Filed under blather
My first tattoo is an example of photo restoration at this site. Check it out.
‘Tattoo and blemish removal: Less expensive, less painful than real surgery!’ I love it.
October 1, 2006 at 9:43 pm · Filed under blather
I’ve had kind of a hate-love thing with my greying hair. First hate, then love. When the first strands came in, I just covered them up with my usual dark red tint. As long as I used temporary color, I could spend a few bucks every couple of months and have a fine (enough) looking ‘do. Then the stubborn greys popped up, and the temp stuff wouldn’t keep them quiet. That’s when I switched to permanent color.
At some point, I decided that a lighter shade would be more age-appropriate. I’ve been waffling back-and-forth between red, brown and blonde ever since. My roots mocked me. I told my stylist that I was ready to grow it all out into my natural color. To help with the transition, he gave me platinum highlights. (I wanted white, but it wasn’t possible.)
So it grew, and it grew. In a weak moment, I begged for bangs. Last week, I realized that what I should have done was lop off some of that length. I had sedimentary hair. My whole styling history was visible in those layers of color. The picture I took as documentation makes me cringe, which is why you have to click if you want to see it. Anyway, when I called in my hair emergency, I was horrified to discover that my stylist had disappeared. My desire for change outweighed my fear of going to someone new, so I took the plunge and went to a completely different salon.
Here’s my after, which is the closest I’ve been to my natural color in years. The grey patches aren’t very visible, but they’re there.
September 24, 2006 at 5:24 pm · Filed under family, idol
As avid fans of talent-based reality shows (i.e. American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Hell’s Kitchen), we were quick to buy tickets when we heard that SYTYCD was going on tour. They stopped in Milwaukee last night, and it was a fantastic performance. I enjoyed it even more than the Idols concert in August. For one thing, the venue was smaller — Milwaukee Theatre — and more intimate.
Afterwards, as you might have guessed, we stuck around to try and meet the dancers. We were greatly rewarded for our patience, because every one of them came out to greet the fans and sign autographs. (The lovely Donyelle posed with MoonChild, as you can see here.) Moon had created a custom ‘Team Tranji’ hat and Dmitry t-shirt to wear, and was thrilled to get them signed. She was also able to get her program autographed by nearly all the other finalists, too.
You can see the other photos here. If you’re at all familiar with the show, it’s worth taking a look.
P.S. That Dmitry, he’s the same age as my nephew. And he’s like solid muscle. Arms like rope, or tree trunks, or something.
September 17, 2006 at 6:05 pm · Filed under family
Another thing that working at home has made me notice is that our house is easily cluttered. Peter has two video game systems. The kids bring DVDs up from the basement and just leave them all around the television. (We have one TV. It’s kind of vintage. Big wooden casing — if that’s the right word — and around 30 years old.) I’m not totally innocent, because my knitting stuff sits out in the open, too.
I had a brainstorm a few weeks ago. What if we took the coats out of the coat closet, and installed shelves instead? After all, we have coat hooks by the back door. The infrequently used outerwear (like snowpants) could go in Moon’s closet. Brilliant.
So I went to Home Depot and bought a load of shelves and the hardware for them. Pete goodnaturedly agreed to put them up, and the kids settled in to watch. Because they know how entertaining our home improvement projects can be.
Read the rest of this entry »
August 31, 2006 at 2:39 pm · Filed under career
One of my greatest joys this week was when I figured out that I could get on the internet from our deck. It’s been lovely sitting out there and working this afternoon.
Now if we could only just put an actual room there.
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