Count ‘em – 6 degrees here right now. S – I – X
Snow coming tomorrow afternoon, followed by freezing rain.
Rain on top of that Friday morning.
Chances I’ll be driving in to work on Friday morning? Looking slim.
Let it snow, let it snow let it snow!
Just a day
November 30, 2005 at 10:10 am (Family, Kids, New Jersey)
The girl is in Maryland and I feel like I’ve lost my keys. I’ve almost called her name four times today to show her something before I remember she’s not here. Then I panic for a bit because, where is she??? Oh, ya. I got to talk to her for a little while this afternoon, and she’s having a really great time with her cousins, so I feel good about that. They’re on a 3 day project of decorating my brother-in-law’s freakishly huge fake Christmas tree. Thing is 8 feet tall, and at least 9 feet wide.
Today I took the boy, and the boy cousin, Christmas shopping with me. I inadvertently triggered a new obsession in my nephew. I must apologize to his parents for the constant begging they will hear this whole year because he now will die without his own foosball table. They got to play for about a half hour while I picked out gifts for K. This particular nephew of ours is prone to, uh…what should I call it? Pit bull like tenacity? I know for sure he won’t let this foosball thing go. So sorry.
The boys are having a really great time. Today they trekked some more, shopped with me, and acted out the whole story of Star Wars. Including every single line spoken between Obi-wan and Anakin. About 47 times. I’m glad they’re having fun.
The Turkey Vulture has landed, and taken off again
November 28, 2005 at 2:30 am (Family, Holidays, Home, Kids, New Jersey)
Phew! They came, they ate, they left.
We finished all the cleaning during the mad dash, except for putting the boxes away. The house was ready, the RV was ready, the kids were ready, the 9,000 pounds of groceries were ready to be cooked up by the chef.
All worries about space aside, we had a very good visit. The kids all had a blast. Even though it was minus a billion degrees outside, they still had to trek through the woods at the end of our street together at least twice a day because that’s what spies do. Only one lamp got broken and Kelly made the most fantastic, huge Thanksgiving feast you have ever seen. I think the table actually groaned with the weight of it. Oh, wait…that was me.
We really enjoyed the visit so much. Kelly and his brother had some very good conversations about politics in which no blood was shed. We laughed, we played card games, we ate, we stayed up way too late, we ate some more, and we really did have a good visit. Even the dogs behaved. Nothing was chewed up or pooped on this time. They stayed for 4 days and left about 3 hours ago. With holiday traffic today, I expect them to complete their 4 hour drive within about 9 hours. They better be extra safe because they took Salem home with them. They also left their son, Preston, here with us. Our kids have been trying to wrangle this swap for 3 years and would have risen up and eaten us if we hadn’t scheduled it. We’ll trade them back on Thursday. I miss her already.
I expect the boy and his cousin to be upstairs on the video games for the next 100 hours. Kind of like they have been for the last 100 hours. Small breaks will be taken for more spy trekking, I’m sure. And, of course the eating. Thank the gods for massive piles of leftovers. So, I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, whether you spent it alone, with family, with friends, or among strangers.
Me? Procrastinate?
November 24, 2005 at 12:53 am (Family, Holidays, Home, New Jersey, let me explain)
Scrub kitchen floor
Scrub bathroom floor
Wipe down counters and stove
Scrub toilet
Finish 5 loads of laundry
Re-make 5 beds
Clean cat box
Wipe down fridge
Move cat food so dogs don’t eat it
Take out all garbage
Replace all garbage bags
Put away DVD’s
Vacuum downstairs
Vacuum upstairs
Put away storage boxes
These are things I have to finish. I’ll do some tonight (it’s already 1am) and I’ll do as much as I can tomorrow before 11:30am when I have to get ready for work. We have family coming tomorrow night. There will be 4 adults, 5 kids, 3 dogs and a cat here in our tiny little house. I hope the weather is good so we can send the kids outside. I might have to tie them up and gag them otherwise.
Sshh. Let’s not talk about it.
November 4, 2005 at 1:00 pm (Moving, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Relocation)
It seems we might be leaving the northeast sooner than we thought. Our plan was originally to leave around June or July, but a friend’s wedding has been postponed and possibly cancelled so there is no reason to stay past about February now.
Since we’re not going to be here much longer, and this is almost definitely our last fall here we took an afternoon to get lost in a giant cornfield maze and hike through some beautiful eastern PA scenery. I think I will really miss the beauty of the trees. Something tells me Houston doesn’t get a lot of color in the fall unless you count brown.
Another benefit is that we’ll be able to save a boatload more money for our bus once we’re in Houston and not spending $900 a month in rent. K’s parents won’t accept a single dime for living expenses for the months we’ll be staying with them. Since K will just transfer his job down there he won’t have any real interruption in the income and we can make a big dent in the fund. The faster we save, the faster we get out of the inlaw’s house.
More good things should come out of this move, but alas – my superstition prevents me from talking about them. Let’s just say big new good things are coming our way. Wait, did I say too much? Did I jinx it? Damn! Let’s just leave it at “we’re hopeful”.
I so can’t wait to hit that road.
Sploosh
September 28, 2005 at 11:23 pm (Kids, New Jersey, let me explain)
We went to the beach yesterday. Oh, excuse me, the “Shore”. As a west coast transplant I’m still getting used to the whole east coast language.
We went to Sandy Hook in NJ with one of the local homeschooling groups we belong to. The kids loved it, especially when the got to put on waders that were about six feet too long for them and wade into the inlet with a big net. Fishing Oompa Loompas.
The weather was perfect if you don’t count the wind. 70 degrees and overcast, which was a really good thing because I forgot sunscreen (bad Mommy, bad). They caught shrimp, crabs, pipe fish, some other kind of little fish, and a bajillion little hermit crabs. We were there for the day to learn about the Lenape Indians who used to live around this area several hundred years ago. They supposedly used this fishing method. After hauling in our catch I’m left to wonder why they didn’t starve to death. After four rounds of hauling in that net we had a total protein count of maybe 8 ounces, including shell. They must have used bigger nets.
I think my mom skills are slipping because even though I knew we were headed to the beach I forgot to bring an extra change of clothes. I used to leave home with an entire kit filled with everything we might possibly need in case of any emergency short of nuclear holocaust. Now? A pair of sandals each and a towel. One towel. Oh, well, at least I remembered the food.
So, The Boy has just not filled his day unless he’s gotten wet or climbed on something. This time he got both! After the net dragging he figured out that if he lifted up his shorts high enough he could make it all the way across the inlet to the other part of the beach while keeping his clothes dry. Much exploring was to be found there, far away from mom. At this point we figured the shoes were a total loss, so he just squished around in wet tennies until we could get his sandals later.
Well, when it was time to go I called him to come back and didn’t he just run full speed into the water towards me? You know what happens when you run down hill into two foot deep water? Your feet slow way down while your body keeps moving. Yes, my boy with no other change of clothing fell into the water. All the way. Head dunked and everything.
Of course, I had to yell at him because I had just yelled over to him NOT to run becau….Ugh.
Too late. I got mad, but really shouldn’t have because it didn’t hurt me in any way. He was the one who had to wear soggy underwear for the rest of the afternoon. I found him a sweatshirt to change into for lunch, he put his sandals on and just tolerated the wet shorts. His shirt had dried out in the wind by the end of the day so he could wear that home.
He spent a blissful half hour after lunch up in a big Sycamore tree where he repeatedly told me how great the view was.
I gotta stop getting mad about stuff that doesn’t really matter. I’m usually pretty good about it, but once in a while I backslide with them. I find myself butting heads with this boy especially. He is so determined to do things his own way. Maybe I should be used to this after ten years?
OK, I’m a little slow. He learns by doing and touching and trying stuff out. He’s curious and goal oriented. He’s so smart. All of these things will serve him well as an adult. In fact will make him an exceptional adult.
I just may have to kill him before he gets there.
Roy
September 7, 2005 at 5:27 pm (New Jersey, Things I don't like, let me explain)
I told a friend at work about my freaky bug problem. You know what she said? Oh, they’re cute! I should keep one as a pet.
I knew there was something wrong with her.
I had to do some laundry this morning. I crept down the stairs like a Navy Seal, flyswatter in hand. No bugs on the wall, grab the dirty stuff and I’m goin’ in. All was going well until I pulled out the lint trap. There, next to the garbage can, it was watching me. For a moment my heart started racing and I got that itchy fear feeling in my fingertips. Don’t panic! Then I thought about what my friend had said. I could catch it, keep it in a fish bowl and watch it every day until I’m no longer afraid. Desensitizing myself like the pros. We even came up with a name for it. I had to giggle at the thought of calling him “Roy”. I used to work with a great guy named Roy who was not the most masculine man in the shop. “Roy” would be an interesting addition to the pet population around here, joining the cat and the fish. We could talk to him and gross out our friends with our creepy little family member. Wouldn’t it be great?
Then I killed it.
Sorry, Roy.
Uninvited guests
August 30, 2005 at 9:04 pm (Home, New Jersey, Things I don't like)
We live in a very old house in New Jersey. That house has a very old basement. We’re talking pre 1900’s here. Do you know how they made basements in the 1800’s? With rocks. Rocks picked out of the ground. Still covered with dirt.
Somebody sometime at least put in a cement floor, probably some time in the 1940’s when the kitchen and bathroom were added to the side of this house. They made a new section of basement with cinder block walls and added a floor down there, thankyouverymuch.
One of the drawbacks of a fieldstone basement is all the dirt and such that wiggles its way into the basement between the cracks. By “such” I mean streams of rain and freaky bugs. At first I thought these occasional bugs were some mutant form of spider, about an inch and a half across and UGLY. Plus? They jump at your face. Now, as I’ve stated before, I don’t really mind bugs unless they’re A) pincher bugs, B) on me, or C) jumping at my face. Can you guess how much I like these mutant spider freaky bugs? NOT.
After much discussion at work and lots of google research I have found out that these things are called Cave Crickets, also Camelback Crickets. A cricket you say? How cute! Don’t they make that charming chirp sound to lull you to sleep at night? NO, to say they are like a regular cricket is to say that the incredible hulk gets a wee bit unpleasant when he’s angry. These are crickets crossed with tarantulas on crack. Like this. Picture that jumping at your face.
I like to consider myself a fairly strong and even tempered woman, who can handle herself with minimal male help in times of crisis. I also hate to be afraid. I LIKE this house and don’t like having a portion of it wich makes me so damned jumpy. My laundry facilities are in the basement. Do you see the problem? Every single time I have encountered one of these things they have been sitting on the rock wall just at shoulder height at the bottom of the stairs. The very narrow stairs. Right where my shoulder brushes against said rock wall when I take a basket of laundry downstairs. Do you recall I have two kids? Do you know how often I have to go down there to do laundry? So I arm myself with a fly swatter and sloooooowly ease down the stairs on a recon mission. If all is clear I go back up for the laundry basket. If there is a monster, er, bug – I kill it. The second one (there have been NINE) I killed with at least 9 major whacks with the fly swatter, then I put a glass over it so my husband could see in the morning that I didn’t actually make these things up. 8 hours later, when he checked it out, it was still alive!
So, my kitchen is clean, my room is picked up, the kids are fed, everything is done around here. Except the laundry. How many other things can I find that NEED to be done? Oh, sorry, I can’t quite get to the laundry because my recipes need to be sorted, and, um, my, um, sock drawer needs to be color coded, yeah!
OK, I guess I have to face up to the six foot tall pile of laundry and get my ass down there, right? My ratings for mother of the year are slipping every time I tell the kids to just pick something from my closet to wear. What? You have no underwear? So?
So, I’m arming myself with the flyswatter and will NOT look around lest I see a bug once I’m down there.If I’m not back by tomorrow, call for rescue.
