Yippee!

Well, this was a good day.

This morning, I discovered a package from Jessey. Gifties from Crochet Funtime! Athena got a pretty pink purse, and I got a crocheted soap holder/loofah! Sweeeeeeeeet. Pics are forthcoming. Athena loved her purse so much she insisted on taking it to school, and then I left it in her cubby when I picked her up tonight. Oops.

Then I only worked a half-day at work. I work this coming Saturday, so I have the comp time during the week. I went to the gym, then the bank, and then I cross-stitched for two hours. Of course, I work on such large projects that two hours hardly seems to make a dent... but progress was made... I'm sure of it.

Then, as I went to get the kids, my mom called and invited me to go with her to New York for a three-day weekend in two weeks! My sister has to be there on business, and my mom has some legal issues to resolve, so we're all going. Unfortunately, it's the weekend that we are taking the kids up to Virginia. So I asked Chris if he minded that I bow out of that trip. I assume he will still take the kids up... but I'll go to NY instead.

No idea what we'll do while we're there. My sister is making all the arrangements I think. Regardless, it will be a good time. Too bad it wasn't timed better so I could have been there when Alaskan Amy is....

On Illness

We are just completing medication for the third bout of pink eye this summer. Marcus has it this time. I think each of us has had it twice now... in basically three circuits.

And then there's the stomach issues that plagued most of us last night, and it plagued me well into today. And it's back tonight, just when I thought it was gone.

And we're opening a library on Saturday.

Just shoot me.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Chris has already posted his account of this on his blog, but I wanted to bring it to you from my perspective, because it really was terribly cute and funny.

This morning, Chris' mobile rang at 4:30. I saw him set the alarm for 4am the night before, so I assumed it was the alarm going off. So when he started talking, I assumed he was talking to me. He said "Oh my God, it's 4:30!" and I said, "Yeah, so? What's wrong with that?" Then he said, "I'll be right there!" I was about to say "You ARE right here!" but then the morning haze drifted away from my brain and I realized he was on the phone with his coworker, who was waiting for him at the airport.

He took off, and I couldn't get back to sleep. I was worried that he missed his flight. I was stressed about work. And I had a nasty cough. At 5:15, I ran myself a bath to calm the cough. The warm water did the trick, and I was in bed and asleep by 5:45... only to have the alarm rudely awaken me at 6:15... right in the middle of a dream. So, I hit the off button and went instantly back to sleep.

Fortunately, Athena has a built-in alarm and she frequently awakens at 6:30 on the dot. This morning, she did not disappoint. She tottered in and announced "Wake up time!" So I obliged and got in the shower.

I was almost done... I was shaving my legs, when suddenly Athena bursts in and says "Daddy is on the phone! It's Daddy!!" I glance up and see she has the phone... which is nothing unusual. She often picks it up and pretends to talk to whoever she thinks of at that moment... frequently grandma.

So I said, "That's nice honey," and resumed my work when suddenly I hear Chris' voice. I look again, and see the red speaker-phone light is on. I opened the shower door and said, "Chris?! Is that you?!"

"Yep."

"Did she answer the phone?! Did you answer the phone, honey?"

"It would appear so," Chris said. Athena just nodded proudly.

So cool.

Random Musings

I feel I should post as I haven't done so for a while. However, I only have little dribs and drabs to report. So once again, here is your catch-all blog for the day...

- Just heard from an old friend who I haven't talked to in well over a year. She has been wonderful about sending me cards and notes, and I haven't replied to a single dang one of them. I knew she had a baby, and her baby is totally cute, and I have totally neglected spoiling her child. I will rectify this soon.

- This week at daycare is "Wacky Wobbler Week." They divide the one-year-olds into the "Wobblers" (12-18 months) and "Toddlers" (18-24 months). Marcus is now almost 16 months and is still quite the wobbler (although the bow-leggedness is gradually getting better, thank goodness). Anyway, today was "Wacky Hair Day," so I turned Chris loose with some hair gel and a willing blondie boy, and we got a mohawked punk rock Marcus. Pics are still stored in the camera, but I'll share soon. Tomorrow is PJ day. I'm thinking we'll just take pictures each morning and post them all together. Thursday is sort of a "general zanyness" day, so I bought him a t-shirt at Target that says "I'm with handsome," and it has an arrow pointing up at his face. Love it.

- I've been stitching quite a lot lately. I'm currently working on a piece by my favorite designer called "The Storyteller." It's a dragon listening to a prince tell a story. The colors will compliment the newly painted accent wall in my office, so I really want to finish it. I still have a ways to go, though. Not likely to be done this year. I'll get sick of it and put it down for a while before I finish, only to resume it several months later.

- Speaking of my newly painted office, they finished the renovations on my library on Friday, and the movers arrived at 7:30 this morning to start bringing all the stuff back in from the trailers in the parking lot. We knew the shelving was dirty, but we had no idea HOW dirty until we saw it with all the fresh paint and carpet. It's totally gross. And now when they DO clean it, they'll get all that dust and yuck all over our new carpet. *sigh* We reopen on July 21, which is also the day the final Harry Potter book comes out. Crowds should be significant.

- Athena can not have any accidents in the near future that would send her to the hospital. This is because she is covered with so many bumps, bruises and scratches that I would most certainly be detained. And I am fairly confident that if someone asked her "Does Mommy hit you?" she'd say, "yes" because she knows it's what they want to hear. Ugh. Chris informed me she has a black eye today (I was at my stitching circle from 6-9 and therefore never saw the kids tonight), which is probably from her walking into a door that I was opening for her at the gym yesterday. Perfect, eh? "Athena, how did you get that black eye?" "I walked into a door." Yeah, right kid.

Flying Solo

Chris is out of town, rendering me single once again. Oddly, I do better with the kids when Chris isn't around. I think when he's here, I rely on him too much, so my temper with the kids is shorter. That may not make sense to you... and it doesn't really make sense to me... but it's what seems to happen.

Chris left last night before dinner, so the Gundlach's helped me feed, wear out, bathe, and then load the kids into the car. When we got home, getting them to sleep was really not a problem.

Tonight, I picked them up at daycare and Kathryn (who is also down a husband and a child) joined us all at Char-Grill. They just opened one near her house. For those not from the Triangle area, Char-Grill is an institution here. It's been around forever, and their business model is a bit irritating to me. Basically, you have no contact with a human being until you actually pick up your food. This is because you order by filling out a confusing menu/ticket, then depositing it in a slot big enough to JUST fit the ticket. Behind the glass, a cook picks it up, makes it, and then they call you by number to come pay for your food. I just don't trust it.

I haven't eaten there for a while, and couldn't remember the difference between a "hamburger steak' and a "char-burger." Of course, the menu/ticket contains no descriptions... nor does the menu hanging on the glass. So I ordered hot dogs all around. Unfortunately, I forgot their hotdogs are of the pink (i.e. non-food) variety. Ew. Marcus, however, was the only one smart enough to toss his to the ground immediately and eat fries and goldfish crackers only.

Kathryn had to make a hasty exit home because Char-Grill not only doesn't want to actually talk to you, but they apparently don't want you to have babies with you either, as exemplified by the lack of changing facilities in the restroom. So I enjoyed the rest of my dinner trying to extract conversation from Athena while catching various bits of food that Marcus tossed at me.

We headed to the gym after our healthy supper so Athena could attend her last swim lesson of the session. First, I stopped by the manager's office to complain about various things from the lack of toilet paper in the women's locker room to the fact that when they cancel our swim class because of lightning, it is apparently too difficult for their staff to call the FOUR people registered for the class to let them know they need not come. He just smiled and nodded and essentially thanked me for sharing my thoughts. Ah... great customer service... how I miss thee.

Next stop, kid's care center. Nothing like picking up your youngest child from 9 hours in day care, only to dump him in another care facility while you go ensure your eldest doesn't drown. Needless to say, he was unimpressed and generally displeased... but because he is an angel, he waited it out. AND he charmed the entire staff in the room so they all carried him around and played with him the whole time... spoiling him rotten. That charmer.

Anyhoo... Athena kicked ass in her swim class. She's come a long way, and I am going to try to enroll her in the next level up for the next round of classes. I want to keep up the momentum.

When we got home, Marcus collapsed. It was 8:45, after all, which is WAY later than his normal 8pm lights out. Athena, on the other hand, who should have been exhausted from an hour total in the pool, was wired. It took a change of clothes (from nightgown to t-shirt), a trip to the potty, a brief lie-down with her, the extermination of two monsters and a "bad shadow" (one by trash can, two by sink) and a call to her father to get her to settle down.

When we called Chris, I just put the phone to her ear and let her talk. She almost started crying, and said "I just want you to come hooooooooooome!" Chris about lost it. I actually teared up.

But Chris, being ever-industrious, knew just the way to talk her into waiting until Sunday to see him.

"I'll bring you a present, Athena!"

She beamed. (Good thing we don't spoil her, eh?)

The Modern Librarian

Okay, I'm sorry to be geeking out on video lately, but this documentary was premiered at ALA last week, and it looks fabulous. Maybe it's just me... but it's short... give it a look and see if it grabs you too...