June 19, 2005 at 9:11 am · Filed under family, movies
The first Friday fun day of the summer was…. exhausting. But on the up side, we saw “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” which had a great storyline and wonderful chemistry between the two leads. I have a total girlcrush on Angelina Jolie. Sooo cool.
Before the movie, I:
- Took the doggie to her appointment to have her teeth cleaned. Discovered that her insistence on breakfast meant that we’d need to reschedule. Made mental note to remind Pete that doggie should not be fed after 7 pm next Thursday. (Good luck, Pete!)
- Picked up Peter for his dentist appointment. Now that Moon is done with every-other-week visits, it’s time for Peter to start. Knitted a few rows on my current project while waiting.
- Took Peter home. Went to Lands’ End to do an exchange, then stopped by Bath & Body Works to spend far more than I had originally intended. (New sheets for the kids! A Shark hand vac!)
- Picked up Moon — time for her eye appointment. She has been asking for contacts, so I figured we’d look into it.
- Left Moon at Eye Contact and went back home to get Pete, who needed to go to the Red Cross. (Yes, this was one of those comical One-Car-Family days.) Dropped him off so he could make his blood donation, then went back to Eye Contact to check on Moon.
- Sat with Moon while the technician coached her on contact lens insertion. Went into other room to avoid giving too much backseat advice. Realized an hour had gone by, and Pete would probably be eating cookies at the Red Cross and looking out the window.
- Picked up Pete. Took him home for lunch. Drove back to Eye Contact to check on Moon.
- One contact lens in! And it’s only taken an hour and 15 minutes!
- Left Moon at Eye Contact because getting them in is just half the struggle. She can’t leave until she’s removed and reinserted one. Good luck!
- Picked up Pete and Peter; returned Pete to work. Drove to Eye Contact, where Moon had finished her task mere minutes after I’d left and was waiting crabbily for me to pull up in the Priusmobile.
- Thank God for KFC drive-through. Movie time.
June 15, 2005 at 6:24 pm · Filed under knit/crochet
Yep, I finished my One Skein Wonder, and I love it, even though I’m not as cute as Stefanie. I’m also totally enamoured with Lorna’s Laces yarn. Once upon a time, I didn’t think I could wear wool because I was under the belief that all wool was scratchy and uncomfortable.
I never realized wool could be so soft and cushy. The Bazic Wool I used for the trim is pretty comfy, too. (You can see other pictures here and here.)
Now I can wear a tank top to work without breaking any rules.
June 12, 2005 at 10:04 pm · Filed under family
… and as soon as Nephew #4 saw Pete, he shrieked “yayyyyyyyyyy!” and jumped into his arms. It was a bit hot for outdoor activity, but there were games of catch to be played, and walks to the woods to be taken. I didn’t do any of that stuff, of course. I would have melted. But I did proceed to the ribbing of my One Skein Wonder, and we played a nice game (indoors, yes!) of Apples to Apples.
Anyway, as I gaze upon the chicken-and-apple stained face of my youngest nephew, I wonder whether it would make sense to just go ahead and use his actual name. Even I get confused by the numbering system sometimes. I mean, Jodi talks about her nieces and nephews without fear of non-anonymity. And some of their names are as unusual as the ones in our family.
What do you think? The boy in the picture, he shares his name with a city in New Jersey.
June 9, 2005 at 9:01 pm · Filed under moon (rachel), peter
Moon’s 8th grade class trip to Six Flags Great America was apparently great fun, but the heat and sun took a toll. (That’s what happens when you inherit the genes from the Irish/German side of the family, along with the red hair and milk-white skin.)
While she was enjoying roller coasters and a cushy charter bus ride, Pete and I went to Peter’s school to watch him get his 5th grade completion certificate. I kept thinking about how we’ve been involved with the elementary school for nine years in a row, and now it’s over.
Next fall, I’ll have a high schooler and a middle schooler. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that.
Peter to friend, while waiting in line for cake and punch: “This year, we’re like gods. Next year, we’re at the bottom of the food chain.”
June 7, 2005 at 10:36 pm · Filed under fitness
Sure, it’s been 90 degrees the past two days, but I dutifully did my exercise outside anyway. In fact, when a choir buddy emailed me yesterday to ask if I wanted to get coffee, I suggested that we go out walking instead. We went at least three miles, yammering all the way.
Today it was supposed to rain, so I didn’t want to take my bike to work. I walked instead, and the rain never came. So I effortlessly fit 50 minutes of walking into my busy day. Of course, I nearly melted.
June 6, 2005 at 4:19 pm · Filed under knit/crochet
Here’s evidence that I was not in bed Saturday morning. Need I say how inspiring the whole experience was? Or how happy I was to be a part of it?
I also have two newly-finished items to wear around my neck: the scarf you see at right, and my second Clapotis in a lovely summerweight bamboo. If you’re so inclined, you can see several photos of each while you’re clicking around at Flickr.
Now I’m working on Glampyre‘s clever One-Skein Wonder pattern, using the lusciously soft Lorna’s Laces shepherd worsted that I bought from Jane. (How ’bout those internets, eh?)
May 31, 2005 at 9:16 pm · Filed under movies, pete
Must admit, I don’t do much memorializing on Memorial Day. All the veterans I know are alive and well. Mostly, I lounge around and hope for good weather.
So. The Saturday Farmer’s Market is quickly becoming a habit. The market is more than just food. This time Pete and I took time away from the pastries to visit the guy in the Green Party booth. I was so impressed with their literature that our car now sports one of their bumper stickers. (A Prius with a Green Party sticker? Yeah, what a surprise.)
On Sunday, Pete had to work at the Brat Fest (his employer was a sponsor), so I took the kids to see Revenge of the Sith. Six thumbs up. It made us want to see the original three movies, which to me is exactly what it was supposed to do. I was horrified when I went to our DVD collection to pull out the trilogy and realized we didn’t own it. Now we do. The bonus disk was especially amusing because we got to see what everyone looks like 25 years later. Moon practially jumped when Mark Hamil appeared on screen. “Ahhh, what happened?! He was so pretty!”
Two interesting things happened on Monday. (1) Pete and I went to the UW Arboretum for the first time ever. (2) We then went to Target for a printer cartridge, where we ran into a guy from my high school graduating class. Actually, I’ve known him a lot longer than that — I think we started going to school together when we were nine.
The bizarre thing is that I almost didn’t recognize him. He waved toward us, and my first thought was that he must be a co-worker of Pete’s or something. When he stopped and talked to us, his voice and mannerisms were the same as always, but I kept looking at his face and thinking that he looks like any other dad I would see at a school concert or something. Like a middle-aged man.
It’s times like this that I think, My gawd, I must be getting old. Freeeee-ky.
May 31, 2005 at 8:56 pm · Filed under career
After a nice four-day weekend, going back to work was definitely a shock to my system. Especially since I had appointments scheduled nonstop from 10 am until 5 pm. A few people even stopped by without appointments, which meant that a few times I was juggling three potential students at once. Wahoo! Actually, I enjoy being so busy, because it definitely makes time fly. And it’s pretty fun talking to lots of different people.
It would have been cool to have been able to go to the bathroom before 5:30, though.
May 27, 2005 at 9:22 pm · Filed under blather
I slept in this morning, curled up with the dog until (!) 9:30. Then after showering and making coffee, I filled my thermos and headed off to do a few errands before my 11:15 salon appointment.
Today I did something different – I went to Josh, the kids’ stylist. See, yesterday I had a hair crisis. I suddenly hated it, and decided I desperately needed color. My regular person (who works at a different salon) wasn’t going to be available until next week. But Josh was able to get me in, and truth be told, I’ll probably go back. For one thing, when I confided that I was feeling fat and blah, he said, “No! I think you look great!”
And that’s always nice to hear, even when you suspect it’s simply kindness.
Anyway, I’m trimmed and colored. I was compelled to do a bit of clothes shopping after my appointment, because *ahem* I’m not fitting into some of my summer stuff. I picked up a few things to wear to work, plus some shorts.
Later, there was a cloudburst and then a gorgeous rainbow, and that’s pretty much how I’m feeling right now, if that makes any sense.
May 25, 2005 at 9:02 pm · Filed under idol
Oh man, I really wanted him to win. But the silver lining is that he won’t be stuck singing the lame-o songs that would have undoubtedly been forced on him had he been named this year’s Idol. I genuinely enjoyed all the finalists, but Bo Bice, he was my favorite from the first time I watched him step onto the stage. This was not an ordinary Idol contestant, not at all.
Moon even made an avatar for me. Pretty sweet. Well, now we can enjoy the stuff we’ve taped over the past weeks. It’s been fun being a fangirl.
May 22, 2005 at 7:38 pm · Filed under moon (rachel)
Pete and I went to the Farmer’s Market again on Saturday — two weeks in a row, can you believe it? This time Angelica tagged along. We bought more bakery items, which kind of cancels out my 45-minute daily walks. But life is short, and you’ve gotta support people who leave their farms at 2 a.m. to make a three-hour drive to Madison. Especially when they make scrumptious twisted cinnamon pastries with maple frosting. (See more farmer’s market pics here.)
Saturday night was the Pride Prom at Shabazz, and Nicole invited Moon. They went as a group with Nicole’s sister Aimee and a few other friends. (No, not a date.) Earlier in the day I took Moon shopping, and she ended up with black pants, a black blazer, a narrow red tie and a black pinstriped fedora. Very cool. I like her style.
May 18, 2005 at 9:45 pm · Filed under blather, idol
As of yesterday, Pete and I have been married 19 years. Yes, 19 years. We went out to lunch, and lamented that our busy lives prevented us from doing anything too wild that evening. (Next year: a cruise? Maybe.)
In other news, I am over the moon about my American Idol making it to the final two. My Idol, no matter what happens next week. The moment I laid eyes on Bo Bice and heard his distinctive voice, I was a believer. Heck, I even joined the Bice Squad. SpiritMan and the kids are pulling for him, too.
We’ve become geeky AI people. I read aloud from rickey.org and Jaded Journalist episode summaries. We’ll be at the AI concert this summer in Milwaukee. Oh yes, we will.
May 16, 2005 at 9:09 pm · Filed under fitness
What a time for the bike pump to fall apart! I bought a new one on the way to work (in the car), so I was able to use my bike as transportation after going home for lunch. *Whew* — I made it through Day 1. I had registered and everything.
Before my current job, I had a 17-mile round trip to the office. Now it’s less than 1/5 of that. It’s not really even long enough for me to break a sweat, but the upside of that is I can wear my work clothes and I don’t need toweling off before greeting my co-workers.
May 15, 2005 at 8:41 pm · Filed under shopping
And why? Because after Pete and I went to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and saw all the colorful, lovely plants there, our overgrown lawn and dead potted plants looked even more pathetic than usual. Which motivated us to mow, weed and plant. Amazing what a few flowers can do.
Did you know gardening is exercise? It is, and I have the sore glutes and thighs to prove it. I’m sure we burned enough calories to make up for the baked goodies we brought home from our trip to the square. (Huge cinnamon rolls — with frosting! Four kinds of cookies! Cheese curds! Cheesy flatbread! Oh, and we bought some excellent lettuce, too.)
In other news, our gym membership expires in two days, so I decided to motivate myself to start exercising outdoors by purchasing a new pair of running shoes. The visibility factor is an added bonus.
May 10, 2005 at 10:25 pm · Filed under moon (rachel)
It was an early birthday present for Moon: her first rock concert. As soon as tickets were on sale for last night’s Green Day concert, I nabbed three. One for Moon, one for her friend and one for a parental chaperone (me). The concert was sold out, and it was general admission, so we arrived a half hour before the doors opened. After we were searched and all that jazz, we went into the coliseum where I grabbed a few seats while the girls went to talk to a friend in the mosh pit.
The opening act was My Chemical Romance, which is another one of Moon’s favorites. Moon and Nicole ended up about 15 feet away from the stage — I stayed in the old people’s section, where I could see everything without getting kicked in the face.
I have to say, it was an incredible show. And it seems to have opened a whole new world for Moon. I think she’s going to be one of those people who go to a LOT of concerts.
She wore her new Green Day shirt to school today, and has been spreading the gospel of Billie Jo to anyone who will listen.
May 6, 2005 at 7:21 pm · Filed under knit/crochet
And now I have a cozy warm wrap to wear during those chilly May evenings. Must admit, I wore it for a while today, even though it must have been 70 degrees out.
I already miss working on the pattern, but the good news is that I have three skeins of bamboo yarn just waiting to become a Clapotis. A summer Clapotis. Because knitting is a year-round activity, don’t ya know.
May 4, 2005 at 9:35 pm · Filed under family
Birthdays at the in-laws’ are always fun, and lord knows I needed a break. Work is filled with drama and trauma. Of course that’s all I can really say about it. Just trust me on that.
Anyway, Moon and I taught the sisters how to play Blink and there was much laughter. I think we nearly sent Sister #4 into labor, because she was so thrilled to beat Moon at the game. The nieces were interested in what we were doing, so I played a slower version with them. Niece #2 said, “I love this game so much.” Niece #1 is a year older and caught on more quickly, and Niece #2 started to get frustrated. So #1 would say, “Let’s play again, and we’ll go really REALLY slow this time.”
And then of course she’d get competitive and end up winning.
Fun stuff, really. My old (as in long-term) buddy Deb was there, too, which just added to the fun.
April 28, 2005 at 10:39 pm · Filed under blather
This week has been almost too crazy for words. First, our phone was disconnected. Why? Because when we cancelled Vonage, and were assured that we didn’t need to do anything else, our transfer of service apparently went through anyway. Which means that a month later (Monday, to be exact), we lost our service and our phone number.
Several phone calls (using the cell, of course) later, we found out that we could only get our number back if we (1) signed up with Vonage again, (2) achieved a dial tone with them, and (3) transferred our service back to our regular phone company. Sorry, we’re not willing to do that. Four days without service is enough.
Naturally, Pete relies on the phone for his life coaching activities. Since he needed to be on a regular line for his Tuesday night teleclass, he went to the office and used our calling card. Peter and I went to pick him up and arrived early… and were flagged down by a woman who had run out of gas on the road we call the Beltline. She had climbed a fence to get to where we were. We took her to a gas station and back to her car. I’m making it sound much less complicated than it actually was, but suffice it to say we took our lives into our hands trying to get that gallon of gas into her tank.
Bizarre. But serendipitous. (Watch out, I’m trying to spell the big words here.) The dead phone…the class…the early arrival…meant that we were there to help someone in need. It was all quite surreal.
And my boss resigned today.
April 24, 2005 at 8:48 pm · Filed under moon (rachel)
A lot of other stuff happened this weekend, including Peter’s birthday (he’s 11) and a related visit to JM and Nichole’s for games, but today was a day for loud music, and lots of it. Pete offered up his voice (including a surprisingly effective rendition of “Back in Black”), and inspired me to get up to the mic for “I Love Rock and Roll.”
Yes, I guess it was kind of like karoke for parents.
One kid who must have been around 9 or 10 not only played guitar, he also got up and sang. We couldn’t believe how much confidence he had — and he wailed. I probably should have taken more pictures, because in 10 years when he’s on tour, they might be worth something.
April 21, 2005 at 10:29 pm · Filed under spiritual
So I went to see my psychiatrist on Monday, to check in with him after being back on the meds for two weeks. I continue to be amazed that the smallest possible dose works for me. Maybe it’s all in my head, you know? The placebo effect. Whatever.
One thing I did was ‘fess up to how poorly I had been doing up until the day I called him. When I first went off the meds, I only suffered physically… nausea, dizziness and all that. The slide downward happened so gradually that I was shocked when I realized just how much effort it was taking just to get through each day.
Why was I so clueless? Well, I wasn’t freaking out with anxiety, so I figured I was okay. I’ve become pretty adept at the behavior-modification thought-redirection stuff. Feeling dark and joyless threw me for a loop.
Anyway, being on the steroids turned out to be a good thing for me mentally. They do have a mood-boosting effect for many people, and I think that effect helped me hang in there while my regular meds kicked in. I’m sure that feeling physically better cheered me up a bit, too.
My doc pondered whether short-term steroids might be useful in psychiatry. (I had wondered the same thing.) He also gave me a bit of advice: “You might want to consider staying on the medication.”
Uh, yeah. *sheepish grin*
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