Category Archives: Just stuff…

Of Sloths and Moths, Zero-Pack Abs and Other Items

Posted on June 22, 2011 | 2 comments

Good morning everyone!

On the four lane and at Patriot Point

You may remember my post from a few days ago, Hometown Heroes: The 214th Comes Home. If you do, you will be happy to know that the remaining 57 members of the 214th came home this past Saturday, to the same rousing reception the first group received. The flags, signs and ribbons were still in place, and I’m sure the people were, too.

Six Pack of Abs - Not for 9 year olds!

Kayla and I stopped at the grocery store on the way home yesterday, and in the checkout line she managed to entertain the (male) cashier, bagboy, and the three adults waiting in line behind us. It started when I told her not to lift the dog food, it was too heavy. In a bright, conversational tone, she informed me that everyone in her class said she was “skinny as a rail.” A trifle indignant on her behalf, I told her that wasn’t true, she was the perfect size for her. She nodded in agreement, and said, “I know.” Then she held her arm up in the classic bicep flexing pose to announce to me and the world that, “I’m strong, even if I have a zero-pack of abs!” That’s when the observers were no longer able to keep a straight face. I told her she was nine, and didn’t need anything more than a zero pack!

This weekend, just goofing around, I combed my hair completely over my face so that I looked like “Cousin Itt” from the Munsters. I asked Kayla what she thought of it. She told me I looked like a moth. Then she said, “No, not a moth, but it is an animal that sounds like moth.” It took me three days of rolling it around in the back of my mind before I realized she meant a sloth! And I have to admit, there was a resemblance.

Sloth: Public Domain Photo by Dave Pape

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

2 Comments

Posted in Just stuff..., Out of the mouths of babes...., working mom

Tagged daughter, family, humor, kids, parenting, working mom

Beach Talk

Posted on June 20, 2011 | 10 comments

Good morning (almost good afternoon) everyone!

We went to Destin, Florida for a few days, in connection with a meeting I had, and got home last night. I have one more day off to get us caught up on household chores, especially laundry, before I start back.

Load of Laundry: From Print Shop Professional 2.0

The weather at the beach was pleasant – a little hot, but the breeze off of the ocean made up for it. I got to play in the ocean for a while late Saturday afternoon. It was the perfect time to go – late enough that we didn’t have to worry about sunscreen, or fooling with chairs or any other paraphernalia besides towels, and late enough that the water had been warmed by the sun all day, making it enjoyable and refreshing instead of numbing. There were a few people around, but not many. Because we weren’t going to be there that long, I left my camera in the room, so you will just have to picture the sugar white sand, with the blue-green turquoise water on your own.

From PrintShop Professional 2.0

We have been trying to encourage Kayla to be a little braver while swimming in the ocean. We will let her swim in a pool without a life vest with one of us watching her, but she is not quite a confident enough swimmer yet to do the same in the ocean. She does well, but every once in a while, even with the life vest, she starts to panic and when she does, she immediately grabs my swimsuit (often in a place where I would prefer a wardrobe malfunction not occur). At one of those moments this trip, her hand slipped across my back, giving me a scratch. I told her to be careful, she had just scratched my back , and she looked at me and said, “Usually you like having your back scratched.” I started to comment further, but decided to let her win that one on points.

Back Scratch: From Professional Print Shop 2.0

On Friday evening we got ready to go out. She put on a skort and a cute top that matched the new purse she bought with her allowance( to go with the other 10 purses she has that she doesn’t use – can you tell I wasn’t exactly in favor of the purchase?) and began prancing around the room. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me “I’m a professional!” I asked her “A professional what?” She shrugged, answering, “I don’t know.” It didn’t particularly worry her!

From Print Shop 2.0 Professional

One of the things about being a mother is that once your child is able to talk, you are programmed to react automatically every time you hear, “Mom!” We went to see the movie Green Lantern one afternoon, and after we finished we both went into the restroom. A voice floated out from somewhere in the bathroom while I was in a stall that said, “Mom, is that thunder?” Being well programmed, I answered, “No, the theater music is just very loud. Don’t worry about it.” When I went up to wash my hands, Kayla was grinning from ear to ear. “You do know that wasn’t me, don’t you?” Well, no, I didn’t, (the echo made it hard to identify the voice) but I wasn’t going to admit it to her!

Thunder Clouds: From Professional Print Shop 2.0

Have a good day everyone!

Nancy

10 Comments

Posted in Just stuff..., Out of the mouths of babes...., working mom

Tagged beach, daughter, family, humor, kids, parenting, working mom

Heat Wave! (And I Ain’t Talking Basketball!)

Posted on June 8, 2011 | 4 comments

Ladies and Gentlemen, (and with apologies to my youngest sister, who says talking about it makes it worse):

IT. IS. HOT. Pure-T fried egg on the sidewalk, 100+ degrees, thank God for air conditioning, get in the car and ride around to cool off, hot.

Driving home on Monday, the bank sign informed Kayla and I, just for grins and giggles I guess, that, at 6:21, it was 101 degrees. The car’s thermometer disagreed, coming in at 99 degrees. There’s just nothing redeemable about that kind of heat.

Our poor heat pump is doing its best, but I know it has to be ready for a break! When we’re not home we keep the thermostat set fairly high (for us), but the heat pump is still pulling about 14 hour days to keep the house comfortable. However, at least it is working. Last year, in August, with similar weather, the air compressor went out.

With the impeccable timing that home appliances, office copiers and computers have, the heat pump decided it would go out on one of the rare days when we were having company over. Our friends were quite gracious about it, declining to comment on how hot it was in the house when even the dogs were looking for some kind of shade at 8:00 p.m. at night.

The high today is supposed to be 96, with 88% humidity. I don’t believe it. They have tried to con me into thinking that the temperature would stay in the mid-90’s for two weeks, and each day it has instead inched up towards 100.

I haven’t watched any weather reports on TV; I just check the forecast on the computer. The reason is that infernal invention known as “the heat index.”

The “heat index” is supposed to tell us what the outside really feels like, as opposed to what the temperature is. According to Mike Hoffman, a weather man at WNDU, the “heat index” is “an ‘estimation’ of how a human feels during certain weather situations.” I know how a human feels during weather like this – we feel hot! (My observation has been that the “heat index” is always higher than, or equal to, the actual temperature. If not, than it is called “wind chill” which is used to make us understand how much colder we are in the wintertime than the temperature would suggest.)

I asked if we could move to Maine, (the high today in Caribou is supposed to be 58 degrees) but my husband nixed that idea, so I guess I am stuck with the heat until the weather breaks. According to the weather channel, that looks to be sometime late next week, when the temperatures will ease back down into the low 90’s. A veritable cold wave, no?

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

4 Comments

Posted in Just stuff..., On the Home Front, working mom

Tagged daughter, family, humor, parenting, weather, working mom

Light Switches

Posted on June 7, 2011 | 2 comments

Good morning everyone!

A few years ago, the Home and Garden Channel showed a home where everything, including the lights, worked by voice command. At the time, I thought it was a silly idea, but the older I get, and the more trouble I have with light switches, I am re-thinking my position.

For example, I was leaving the office late last Thursday, from a building where I have worked for over 20 years, and found myself playing the “guess the light switch” game yet again. (It was 10:15 at night and I was exhausted, but still…)

I am at least, consistent – I have the same issues with light switches at home. I lived in one house for ten years; to the day that we moved, I was hitting multiple light switches in order to get to the right light. It goes without saying, then, that after only 5 years at our current house, I still am playing musical chairs with light switches.

Remembering what switch goes with which light is probably simple for most people, but, this is just one of those areas that challenges me. Of course, the bewildering array of possible configurations, doesn’t help.

Back Door

For example, we have two light switch panels on either side of our back door. That means I have five switches assigned to various lights. I believe the set on the left controls the porch lights outside, while the panel on the right controls the lights over the dining room table and the breakfast bar. In a further attempt to confuse the Russians (those of you who don’t remember the Cold War, please look the phrase up), the outside lights that aren’t on the porch, including the ones on the back, are controlled by a switch at the front door.

The outside porch light switch plate looks like this:

After some trial and error, we found that the switch on the right controls the four recessed overhead porch lights, while the two switches on the left side control two fans (with lights) that are outside on the porch. This would seem to be very simple, except for the fact that there is another switch to the overhead porch lights in our bedroom.

Another deceptively simple light switch arrangement exists for the study area of the great room:

The simplicity of the light switch by the hats, which runs the chandelier in the study, is a sham – there is a second switch by the kitchen that is a double panel, one of which also runs the chandelier in the study. Keeping the two of them in sync can be a challenge! (Of course, I could learn that it doesn’t really matter whether they are in sync or not, but that is another column for another day!)

My favorite light switch is the one in the hall outside the two smaller bedrooms:

It runs a single light, in the hall, and has no brothers and sisters to help it out anywhere else.

The light panel switch in the kitchen has at least one switch that I can always identify:

The switch on the far right controls the garbage disposal. The only reason it is easy to remember is negative reinforcement. It doesn’t take too many times of hitting that switch by mistake and jumping startled 3 feet in the air before you start to remember what it belongs too! The other three light switches I am hit and miss with – two of them have twins in other parts of the house, while the third does not. Don’t ask me to tell you which!

It goes without saying, of course, that both my nine-year old daughter and my husband have no problem figuring out any of the light switches anywhere!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

2 Comments

Posted in Just stuff..., On the Home Front, working mom

Tagged daughter, family, humor, light switches, parenting, working mom

The Rewards of Patience

Posted on June 6, 2011 | 6 comments

Hi Everyone!

I hope you had a great weekend!

Thursday night, I had to work extraordinarily late – until 10:15 at night. Because Kayla is attending day camp here where I work, and Mark was out of town that night, she got to stay at the office with me, and I have to say that she waited about as patiently as you could ask a nine-year old to do. She played lawyer for a while, interrogating imaginary people on a play phone, read a little bit, drew pictures and kept herself occupied for five hours so I could concentrate on my e-filing.

I was so proud of her, and so grateful for her patience that I decided to schedule Saturday morning to take her to get her hair done and to get a manicure and pedicure. I explained to her Friday night what we were doing Saturday and why, and she turned to me with her eyes wide and asked, “All that for one patience?” Visions of shelling out her entire college savings to her as rewards for such things as waiting two or three minutes before interrupting Mark and I dancing in my head, I told her quickly not to get used to it! She thought that was funny.

Saturday morning, she popped out of her room at 7:00 fully dressed announcing,” I’m ready to go be made beautiful!” She was a little early, but by 8:30, we headed out to the salon as we had to be there at 9. I had planned about an hour and 15 minutes for the hair and scheduled the nail appointment accordingly, planning that Kayla would ask for her hair to be blown straight. She has never once walked into a salon and asked for her hair to be more curly – until Saturday. The lady cutting her hair had naturally curly hair in tight ringlets cascading down her back, and that was the look that Kayla wanted. (Kayla told the stylist that she had always wanted curly hair. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing!) They managed to come up with a way to do it, but it took a little longer than we expected.

Towards the end, I got a chance to take some pictures of Kayla while she was “on the chair.”

I think I like it!

Uh Oh! She's taking my picture....

Maybe if I ignore her she will stop it!

Oh well, I'll have a good time anyhow even if she is taking my picture!

The pictures alone were worth the entire expedition, but we also got our nails done, and I got a real kick watching her explore the mysteries of the Spa Massage Chair she was sitting in!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

6 Comments

Posted in Just stuff..., Out of the mouths of babes...., working mom

Tagged daughter, family, hair, humor, kid, parenting, working mom

Peanut Butter in the Refrigerator and other matters

Posted on June 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

Good morning everyone! I hope you had a good day yesterday!

Peanut Butter in the Refrigerator
From Print Shop Professional 2.0

Mark and I were getting dressed today in our bedroom, when our daughter came pounding on the door to demand, “Who put the peanut butter in the refrigerator?” (We don’t normally do that; the only peanut butter I have ever refrigerated is the natural kind that separates, but this was plain old Jif.) There was, of course, only one answer. I told her through the door that I must have done it when I was having a senior moment yesterday after making her PB&J sandwich as part of lunch for day camp. There was a second of silence, a flat “oh,” and then the subject was dropped.

Mandy and the Treadmill

Mandy’s fascination with the Treadmill continues. As soon as she heard the “beep” that means it is being turned on, she sailed across the room to sit down and stare at it with her head hanging so low it almost touched the belt. We are very curious as to why this one object fascinates her so much.

Mandy and Darwin Mesmerized by the Treadmill

Mandy’s reactions to things take an extra effort for us to figure out, because she is a very unusual dog. Not only are her looks extraordinary, but we adopted her from the shelter when she was two, and the shelter’s information on her stated that she was found digging in the dumpster in McDonald’s, so unlike the other two dogs, we have absolutely no information on where Mandy was and what conditions she was living in until she was sent to the shelter.

We could tell the first Christmas we had her that she had never really seen a Christmas in a house before, so we tend to think that maybe she spent all of her life as a stray, but at the same time things come up, like the treadmill, that make us wonder. I can tell you at least that the dumpster diving instinct survived to morph into an instinct to root around on cabinets, in trash cans, and anywhere else food might possible be obtained!

Turtles in the Bed (Not!)
Turtle, 2008

Driving to work/day camp today, Kayla told me that she wished she had a turtle. I said, “Kayla, you have three dogs!!!!” She told me she knew that, but she still wished she had a turtle. I told her, “No,” and she asked why, so first I repeated the obvious, “Kayla, you have three dogs!!!!!” and then listed other reasons: 1) Dad has said that nothing else living, even a goldfish, is coming in the house as a pet, 2) I would be the one who ended up taking care of the turtle, and I only like turtles that were outside my house, and 3) she only wanted a turtle because she had a friend who had one. We digressed into a discussion of whether said friend had a turtle or not, but then she brought us back to the subject, saying, “I’ve tried asking for even a goldfish and everything, but the answer’s always no.” I told her I was sorry she didn’t like the dogs, but Dad and I did, and three dogs was enough. She told me she did like our dogs but that “a turtle is the only pet I could have that could stay in bed with me.” (9-year-old logic – go figure!!!!!) I still haven’t figured out that comment yet, but it was the wrong thing to say – the idea of a turtle was firmly and permanently nixed after that point.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

Rash Promises and Blaky Wakey!

Posted on June 1, 2011 | 2 comments

Hi Everyone!

I’m a little bit late today, I know, but my bronchitis is trying to decide whether to come back or not, so it took me a little longer than usual to get ready for work, which means my morning blogging time was interrupted. I am now using my (late) lunch hour to accomplish the same thing. For those of you who are worried about how Mandy did without someone sitting by her, at least she ate! She had the chance to get entertained by the treadmill first, so that relaxed her a little bit first.

Mandy, Fascinated by the Treadmill

Rash Promises

Have you ever made a rash promise to your child? One that just popped out before you really thought about it? Well I have, and it is one that I’m going to get to have almost a whole year to think about!

Grace and Poise I Shan't Have Come Next May!

Up until the day of her recital, Kayla was uncertain about whether she wanted to continue dance next year, and I couldn’t tell if she wanted to stop because she didn’t like dancing, or what was going on. On recital day, I could tell that she did like to dance, so I asked her about continuing. At first she wasn’t sure, but then the fatal words slipped out of my mouth – every recital, those parents who want to participate in a parents’ number at the recital get to do so – “if you will sign back up for dance, I will do the parents’ number next year.” She told me she wanted to think about it, but as we were walking out of the house for the second recital, she turned around to me and said, “Deal!” I’m not sure what I was thinking, since I have two left feet, unless I am being led by my husband, and my sense of rhythm is only suitable for choral singing (not to mention that I am extremely out of shape, not helped by the bronchitis) but I said the words, “I promise,” so I will live by them. Mark finds it all highly amusing, and even my mother who was up for the recital thought it was a little funny too.

Please note that I will not be informing anyone in advance of the recital date, besides grandparents, next year; however, I will tell you if I turn out to be the first parent in her dance studio’s history to be fired from the parent dance team!

Blaky Wakey

As I mentioned yesterday, Kayla and I are now driving to work together, and while I did not have to resign control of the radio to the Disney Channel yesterday, this morning it was on before we left the driveway. As we were driving, the DJ for the hour came on and announced something to the effect that we were listening to the “Blaky Wakey” show. Kayla looked at me and said, “You’ve got to be kidding! I’m just not in a Blaky Wakey mood this morning!” I had to agree with her, but I also notice that the channel did not get changed, either.

Have a great rest of the day everyone!

Nancy

2 Comments

Posted in Just stuff..., Out of the mouths of babes...., working mom

Tagged dance, daughter, family, humor, parenting, rash promises, working mom

The First Day of Summer Vacation and Other Matters

Posted on May 31, 2011 | 6 comments

Hi Everyone!

I hope each of you had a great Memorial Day weekend! We did; we didn’t do anything special, but we got to go bowling, nap, shopping, nap, attend church, nap, eat out, nap – you get the idea!

Today marks a change in the rhythm of our lives for the next two and a half months – Kayla’s summer vacation starts today. Until I taught, many moons ago, I didn’t realize how much teachers look forward to summer vacation. Until Kayla started Kindergarten, I also didn’t realize how much parents enjoy summer vacation, too. I don’t have to fuss about homework; bed time, while still important, is not essential; and getting Kayla ready in the morning amounts to being sure she is dressed properly instead of the list of things we have to have ready for school.

Specifically for us, too, summer vacation is different because I take Kayla to a day camp near to where I work, which means that she and I ride to and from work together. I am looking forward to the extra time with her, although I have to resign myself to the fact that I will be listening to the Disney Channel radio for the next two and a half months, also.

Rememborizing

On the way to the bowling alley this weekend, Kayla was trying to tell us that she either remembered something or had memorized it, I am not sure which, but the word that came out was “rememborized.” She tried again with another variation, and finally got frustrated and said “Whatever,” which in 9-year-old parlance translates to “you know what I mean so let’s get past the pronunciation and on to the discussion.”

Santa Claus

When we went shopping this weekend, one of the things we needed were new white church shoes for Kayla. We noticed Sunday that her feet were hanging off both the front and the back of her old church sandals. (She is in the middle of a growth spurt.) As we were walking into the store, out of the blue, Kayla started talking about maybe buying some underwear also, then, remembering that she had gotten some from Santa for Christmas (yes, folks, she got a lot of other things too, and they were all toys), stopped in the middle of the road and asked Mark and I, “How did Santa Claus know my underwear size?” I asked her if Santa knew whether she had been good or bad, why couldn’t he know her underwear size? She answered, “That’s just embarrassing!

The Treadmill

For Father’s Day, I got Mark a treadmill. It came last week, a little early, so he took some time yesterday to put it together, with Kayla’s help. She did a very good job helping him, both in reading the directions, handing him the necessary parts and sometimes getting to handle some of the tools, like the wrench and screwdriver, and even the drill (used as a screwdriver) once or twice.

Once Mark and she got it put together, it was time to try it out, briefly. Each of us spent about two minutes on it, just to see if it worked. What we didn’t expect was the dogs’ reaction to it. Tyra ignored it, but Mandy was mesmerized, and Darwin, unwilling to let his twin enjoy something without him, decided he would be mesmerized, too. I thought maybe it was just a one day thing, but this morning, when Mark got up early to use the treadmill, the two dogs camped out by the treadmill yet again.

: Mandy, Fascinated by the Treadmill

Mandy and Darwin Mesmerized by the Treadmill

You never know exactly what is going through the minds of your dogs at any particular time, except maybe feeding time, but I sure would like to know what they are thinking while they watch the treadmill!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

6 Comments

Posted in dogs, Just stuff..., On the Home Front, Pets, working mom

Tagged daughter, dogs, exercise, family, humor, kids, parenting, working mom

Please stop improving my life! (Part II)

Posted on May 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

Hi Everyone!

Happy Memorial Day! Please take a minute sometime today to remember the reason for this holiday. On the left of the blog page is a link to a poem I wrote about Memorial Day.

Now, on a lighter note….