And To Think I Want to Be a Travel Writer...

Well, Chris kept posting updates on our days at Disney, and it's hard for me to get motivated to post about the same stuff... so I didn't. However, I thought I would offer up a summary of major points in the trip now that it's all over... starting on Monday... the day after my last and only post from the trip.

Monday - Sea World
Athena did not care at all that she was at Sea World. The dolphins and whales intrigued her, but not enough to justify the money we spent. For example... lunch was three hot dogs, chicken strips, and four beverages (we were picking up the sitter's lunch) and it set us back $35. We can get a meal for four at the hockey game for less than that. Better food too. We'll go back, but not until Marcus is at least five... more likely seven or so.

Tuesday - Magic Kingdom
By far, the best day of the trip. We used a touring plan (tells you when to do what in what order to avoid lines) and it worked beautifully. We had to improvise a bit... for instance, Athena wanted to ride the Carousel before Dumbo, but on the plan, Dumbo was first and the carousel was fourth. We missed waking up Tinker Bell by about 30 seconds, which was a bummer, but Athena keeps talking about doing it next time. She was delightful most of the day, and overcame some shyness to really enjoy lunch with the Princesses at the castle. We went to the Polynesian late afternoon for "naps" and pool time, and the day went down hill from there. Lesson learned: Plan to leave the park by noon in order to get your nap and pool time in and make it back for fireworks.

Wednesday - MGM
Athena woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Despite the fact that she looooooooooooves the huge Sorcerer's Hat, she hated this park. We could not do anything right there. She even grumped during Playhouse Disney Live... which I thought was fabulous. During the stunt show, she was terrified by the stuntwoman on fire (who knew?!) and we finally threw up our hands in surrender and left the park. She was an angel that night for our sitter, while the parents enjoyed front row seats at Cirque followed by an unimpressive meal at Ragland Road. Well, mostly unimpressive... the Dalkey Duo (deep fried sausages) were to die for. We shall indulge in those again, my friend... oh yes.

Thursday - EPCOT
Or "Ep-i-cot" if you are Athena and think it's funny to mispronounce things. The EPCOT Flower and Garden festival is in full swing at EPCOT now, so we enjoyed some of the special exhibits before Athena had the most amazing meltdown in front of The Land Pavilion while the bulk of our party enjoyed Soarin'. I believe most parents in the park (even the ones as far away as the American Pavilion in World Showcase) now believe that I am the worst parent ever and my child is the spawn of Satan. Fortunately, she only tantrumed for a half hour until Daddy appeared and made it all better. Athena won't be going back to that park any time soon. I've decided Marcus and I will go on our first day there in June, as we should arrive several hours before Chris and Athena do. They are about to revamp the attraction in Spaceship Earth, and I want to see it one more time before they do. I also didn't get to ride the new Nemo clamshells. Both attractions have no height requirement, so Marcus can ride. He'll be my date.

That night, parents went to Victoria and Alberts. I will devote another entry to this experience at a later date.

Friday - Magic Kingdom again
We did a lot of standing around. No touring plan per se and we literally spent more time standing around trying to decide how to proceed than we did riding rides. We learned a lot on this day as well. That night, we learned Marcus was in the hospital, so we scrapped any thought of hitting a park before leaving the next day and we left early the next morning.

Marcus is fine now. He was rehydrated and re-electrolyted and although he is still clearly not 100% better, he's good.

So there's the summary. Sorry it was late in coming. I'll try to download pics... but we don't have many. Our camera pulled an Amy, and broke mid-trip.

P.S. Staci... got your email. Sorry to hear about the job thing... but looking forward to hearing what's on the horizon. Can't seem to email you back. Yahoo hates me. It's a conspiracy.

Disney: Day One

All is well in Mickey world. Athena has only peed herself once, and that was in her car seat on the way back from Animal Kingdom. Unlike yesterday, she had a very good day (with the noted exception) and enjoyed herself today.

We kicked things off with a character breakfast with Mickey and Friends. Then we rode Triceritops Spin (Dumbo, but with dinosaurs) twice. The grown ups then enjoyed the new Expedition Everest ride and then we trooped over to Kali River Rapids. Athena is tall enough to ride this one (in a modified seat) so she did. She was okay with it all until she got wet. Apparently, adding water to an Athena creates a similar effect to adding water to a Gremlin. The poor thing was shrieking and begging to get off the ride.

Of course, as Daddy was helping her potty once we DID get off the ride:

Athena: That was fun, Daddy.
Daddy: What? The water ride?
Athena: Yep

We then walked the Jungle trail to see the bats and the tigers and the dragon (oh my!) After that, it was time for Flights of Wonder, a bird show... which is fantastic every time I see it. Then it was off to lunch. We hoped to get FastPasses for Kilamanjaro Safaris, but the machine was malfuntioning. Since the kids were getting close to naptime, we decided to catch the next showing of Finding Nemo: The Musical (I liked it, Chris didn't) and head back for naps.

Athena just woke up, I'm about to change, and then we'll fix dinner for the kids and dump them on Seneca so we can go have a nice steak and some amount of wine at EPCOT. Athena has had a few moments, but overall, it's been a great day.

Mostly Packed

For those of you who laughed at my ridiculous packing lists... I say, NYAH!

I've already packed SEVERAL things that I am fairly sure I would have forgotten had I not had a list. AND, I was able to pack far more conveniently... like making sure the right supplies are in the diaper bag vs. the suitcase.

Of course, as I say that, keep in mind I have not put this system to the test... but I'm sure it will work.

All that's left for tomorrow is the last-minute toiletries, the food, and the stuff to keep us busy in the car (those of us not driving, that is).

Hilton Head is our first stop. It's about six hours from here. Stopping there does lengthen our overall drive, but we think it will be worth it to break the trip in smaller chunks. Plus, we are meeting 1/3 of our party there so we can caravan the rest of the way.

I'm exhausted, but excited. The weather forecast looks FABULOUS for next week at Disney. It may rain on us at Hilton Head, but that's only a layover anyway. Would have been icing on the cake to hit the pool or beach, but if we don't... well... no harm done. If it has to rain on our trip, I want it to rain tomorrow.

We're going to try to keep up with blogs while we are gone, and we are also promising ourselves to make a movie each night with the day's footage and photos. It's an ambitious goal though, and we aren't even sure we will have affordable access to the internet for postings. But we'll do our best!

Breaking the Silence

So we are in the last 26 hours before vacation, and it's especially dramatic because we're packing up an entire library just as I'm trying to pack up an entire truckload full of crap that we "need" at Disney.

Athena didn't nap today. Well, not until we were in the car on the way home. Her teacher described her as "cranky." But her teacher wasn't here for the grand awakening. If she had been, she may have chosen a more colorful adjective. Like "Freaked Out Pea-Soup Spouting Being From the Fourth Level of Hell."

It has become a tradition. If Athena falls asleep in the car on the way home from daycare, and then she wakes up only to be subjected to talk of sitting on the potty (something she objects to before, during, and AFTER she pees in my lap), she goes totally apeshit. It has happened thrice now. Methinks we shall just let her freaking sleep next time. She doesn't need dinner. We don't need a show.

This "spell" prevented me from cooking dinner (Chris did it) and doing laundry, which means I couldn't pack Marcus' stuff tonight (after dinner, he goes RIGHT to bed... do not pass go... do not collect cute little outfits from his room to put in a bag for grandma's house). Not that it mattered that I couldn't do laundry, since we only had enough laundry detergent for one load.

Athena was tired as well (who knew?) so she hit the sack early too. I'm about to switch over the one load of laundry I was able to do, and then I'm taking a long soak in the tub to ease the sore muscles from standing all day. One more day of it, and, in the words of the Genie, "I... am... OUTTA HERE!"

Zip a dee do da day indeed.

I'm at the End

The library closes next week for renovation, and I'm at the end of my rope. I've hurt people's feelings, made them angry, and even think I've ended a friendship because of the stress. For the first time in years, I don't want to go to work tomorrow.

But I will. And I will go in next week too. And then I will go to DisneyWorld and try to re-normalize myself so I can come back a productive, caring citizen of libraryland.

I doubt I will post again until we travel. Unless I witness or partake in a great "moving-the-library" story, which I will... of course... share.

Oh, and if Marcus doesn't start walking soon, I may rupture a disc. He's almost as heavy as Athena. I'm developing severe wrist pain from carrying him.

I know... "whine, whine, whine." But if you can't whine in your blog, who can you whine to?

I'm Still Here

Sorry for the infrequent posts. I have had plenty to say, but it's all work-related, and sometimes I just can't post that stuff. As much as I want to, I won't post about patrons (other than their parenting or clothing choices) and I certainly won't post about coworkers... although my coworkers are great and normally don't give me much fodder to work with.

Basically, we are closing the library in about 10 days for renovation. New carpet, paint, and moving furniture around. It's very stressful, and I just haven't been in a great place mentally to post without making an ass of myself. I did prepare a post about an email campaign that was launched against one of my staff because of an "inappropriate" book display, but then I reconsidered. We're all entitled to our opinion, and despite the fact that they chose to bully this one person, she handled it especially well and professionally and all the hub-bub seems to have ceased. Huzzah.

Basically, we are open for business a week from Tuesday (the 24th), close and start packing on the 25th, and I leave for Mouseland on the 27th. I am going to need a serious vacation by then, so it's just as well.

Oh, and we owed Uncle Sam just under $2K because of Chris' contract status the last quarter of the year. So much for having finances on track.

The kids went to the zoo today with Daddy and Grandma. We have this strange tradition in which Chris and I never seem to take the kids together. One of us always goes with other people. It's weird. But everyone had a good time.

So there is the skinny. I'll try to be better about posting, but with the upcoming stressful stuff, I'm not sure how well I'll do.

Technology Has a Sense of Humor

Someone posted this as a comment on my favorite podcast site. I'm not reproducing his post exactly, just follow these directions.

Go to google.co.uk
Choose the new Maps function
At the top, select "Get Directions"
For the origination point, type in Birmingham, England
For the destination, type in Orlando, Florida
You get directions and a map! The funny bit...
Look at step number 36.

That Google computer! I bet he's great to have a drink with...

Ah, Ethics... How You Torment Me

I paid my bills this morning. In doing so, I entered my paycheck into Quicken so I could see exactly how much money I don't have. Lo and behold, my check was REALLY high. Almost $400 more than I expected!

Now, I was expecting it to be higher than in the past, because my deadbeat husband finally got himself a real job with benefits (he has been contracting up until Feb. 1) and I was able to drop him from my plan. However, I was only expecting a couple of hundred dollars... and even then... with the adjustment in taxes, I wasn't sure how much it would come out to be. But I never dreamed of $400. (Before anyone starts leaping into librarianship under false pretenses, keep in mind I get paid monthly.)

Anyhoo... I started itemizing my deductions, and that's when I saw it... they actually managed to CREDIT me for my insurance premium rather than deduct it. I emailed them today to fix it. *sigh*

Sometimes it hurts to be good.

Elise's Turns One

Photo album includes before and after party shots. Sophie, let me know if you can't download the pictures from this album... I'll send them via email if necessary.

Elise's First Birthday

Mr. Man Turns One

Better late than never, eh?

Marcus' First Birthday

Taking This Show on the Road

Tomorrow night, we head down to Charlotte to celebrate Elise's first birthday. When we return, I'll post the pics of both Marcus' first birthday and Elise's first birthday. Two for one!

We bought Athena a pretty pink dress with matching shoes and hat for the party. She's very excited to wear them. It had better be warm out though. It's definitely a warm-weather dress. I have a dressy outfit for Mr. Man, too, but it may be too warm for the weather... so he may be a bit more casual for the festivities.

Apparently, Jason and Bernie's neighborhood is having an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Add that to the one we had last week and the one Aiden's parents are throwing Easter weekend, and we have a total of three hunts. Easter is the new Halloween! Hooray!

On the work front, I'm currently putting together the schedule from Hell. We will be closed and renovating for two+ months, so I volunteered to make the master schedule, assigning folks to cover other libraries and attend as much training as possible, and attend committee meetings, and go on vacation, and work on special projects that we never have time to do when we're open. It's going well. I'm down to two Advil a day. It's been as high as six. I'm confident the Advil factor will rise again next week, when I give out the first true draft to staff to have them check for all the mistakes and problems early next week. Wish me luck.

And send Advil.

Time and Energy Suck

So why haven't I been posting? I love to talk about myself ad nauseum... so it can't be that. I love to talk about my children even more, so it can't be that either. So what is it that keeps me from boring you all to tears with my lackluster writing?

Two words...

Disney Planning.

Now... don't laugh, but I normally am not a huge planner when it comes to The Mouse. I know the parks well enough, and keep up with enough of the news about them, that I usually can just go and enjoy them. I haven't even paid that much attention to crowd calendars (wonderful sites that take lots and lots of scientific data gathered at the parks over years and years, and spit back the best and worst times to visit each park... my favorite is TouringPlans.com). This is because I normally go off season and I travel with other Disney know-it-alls... so we just see what we want to see, and if something has a line that is unreasonable... we skip it. Unless it's REALLY important to us. After all, we've done it before and we'll do it again.

But this year, there are two issues. My kids. There is a third issue as well, which is our "free" trip falls right in the smack dab middle of the chaos of high season, which means bigger crowds and longer lines. These issues are forcing me to research every last detail. To seek out the best way to approach everything. And to make every little moment at Disney seem like a casual, non-rehearsed magical moment. No pressure, right?

I've ordered invitations to be sent out to everyone who will be attending Athena's birthday, and I had them specially printed to look like they were sent from Her Royal Highness, Cinderella herself. I've made a complete packing list AND made a list of everything that needs to be in our diaper bag(s) (both specially purchased for this trip) and our stroller. In making this list, I realize I'll need a different list every day, depending on the plans for the day, so I'm going to work on that next.

I've also been thinking about what the kids will wear (a bright color that will be easy to spot in a huge crowd) and also how to "tag" them in case they get lost. I've had nightmares about them getting lost, too. This actually happens all the time at Disney. Hell, it happens all the time at the library, so it MUST happen all the time at Disney.

Tonight, I even called into a live podcast to ask about getting Marcus' first haircut at the Magic Kingdom. I did this for Athena, as you may remember, but it was a fiasco... as we ended up waiting about an hour and a half in line, with Athena falling asleep five minutes before her turn. I don't want that to happen again, so I called the professionals at WDWtoday and probably sounded like a huge dork. Fortunately, they always take forever to post their live shows, so I'll probably be completely over the humiliation just in time to hear what I actually sounded like and get humiliated all over again. They did give me some tips... so we'll see how it pans out.

To make matters worse, I actually got a reservation for an Illuminations cruise for our second trip only to find out that Illuminations may not be happening. There is no date set yet, but they are going to be taking the "video globe" (the centerpiece of the show) out for refurbishment "sometime this year." There are only five boats that go out for Illuminations, and they book each day in five minutes. These reservations are highly coveted and are also quite expensive. Fortunately, I have until 24 hours before the cruise to cancel, but I GOT THE BOOKING! I hate that I may have to give that up! Argh! So now I'll be continuously watching the boards to see if there will even be a reason to take the damn boat ride. *sigh*

But it's all in the name of fun, right? sheesh.

Bummer

We had plans to go to the Hurricanes game tonight with the whole family. We haven't attempted this since last season. I was really looking forward to it. Marcus is at an age when he would probably sleep through it and Athena is starting to actually enjoy being part of a crowd... cheering, etc. We even had Marcus' Super-Crochet Fun-Time hat! He would have been toasty AND stylin'.

However, Marcus had other plans. We joined Aiden and family for a pregame dinner at Olive Garden, and Marcus threw up twice. It wasn't a sick thing as much as a choking thing, but when it happened the third time, I decided he and I were going home. So Daddy and Athena are at the game, and he and I are home. He's sleeping happily.

I noticed when we got home that the water in his sippy cup was really cold, and I've noticed that ice water tends to make his tummy more sensitive... so maybe that's what did it. I thought I had told Chris that, but either I didn't, or he forgot.

Since Athena is old enough to require a seat/ticket, we may not get a chance to go as a family again this season. Very much a bummer.

The Twelve-Month Checkup

Marcus saw the doctor today for his twelve-month well-baby checkup. I normally let Daddy post about the stats of the doctor visit, but this time I'm going to do it. Nyah!

He got shots... one in each arm, which he handled very well. He cried for a bit, but was easily comforted with his sippy cup of water.

Normally, babies start drinking whole milk once they hit one. We tried with Marcus, but he started spitting up again. He did the same with regular formula way back when, so we have been giving him soy formula. So, no suprise here, the doctor recommended switching to soy milk.

So the numbers:

Weight - 23 lbs., 2 oz. (55%)
Length - 31 3/4 inches (95%)
Head - 18 1/2 inches (70%)

Summary, he's a lean, mean thinking machine! He's not walking yet, but the doctor seemed to think everything was progressing well in that area. And he has most of his teeth, including the molars. The doctor even noticed that the eye teeth (the only ones toward the front that haven't come in yet) are starting to bud.

All in all, a healthy happy baby, despite the shots. Just what a mommy wants to hear. :-)

Surprise Night Off -- Sort Of

Tonight, our daycare sponsored another "Parents' Night Out." We've talked about participating in one of these, but felt really selfish in doing so. After all, they are in daycare ALL WEEK, and then what do we do? We LEAVE them there until 10pm on a FRIDAY so we can be adults for four hours. Guilt, guilt, guilt... Just haven't been able to do it.

Well, this month, the fees they charge (which are reasonable, but still fees) for this service are going straight to the March of Dimes. All for charity. So I was tossing around the idea of trying it next Friday when we have nothing to do. (I'm supposed to be baking Marcus' birthday cake tonight... but I'm not. Hopefully I can get it done in the morning.)

Anyhoo... I go to pick up my little tots, and elder tot doesn't want to leave. I WANNA STAY RIGHT HERE! (Jabbing pointy finger at the ground to accentuate HERE). I asked her repeatedly if she wanted to go home. Nope, I stay. You sure? Stay. Really? Stay. Okay.

So I left.

Granted, I took Marcus with me. He goes to bed at 7pm, and he seemed to actually like the fact that I showed up at the end of the day, so I figured I'd bring him home. Athena stayed at daycare to eat pizza and watch a movie.

Chris and I decided to take advantage of the time by... wait for it... it's not what you think... really... we decided to have a conversation during dinner. Seriously. Conversing at dinner in our house is normally not possible. Either Athena is interjecting/interrupting, or she is doing something that requires one of us to tell her to stop. Constantly.

Marcus, on the other hand, happily crams food into his face and allows us to carry on a real conversation. It is glorious!

So we still may take advantage of this little service next week... only perhaps we'll leave Marcus as well and actually go somewhere and do something fun. After all... it's all for a good cause!

The Mouse and Me: A Retrospective

With my two upcoming trips to Walt Disney World, making my total three trips in a 9 month period, I've had several people ask me, "So how many times have you BEEN to Disney anyway?" The honest-to-God answer: I have no idea. So, I thought I'd count them up here, and to prevent you from falling asleep, I'll throw in some interesting, if not entertaining, tidbits about each visit... giving you some insight into my life. Mostly the last fifteen years of my life, but my life, all the same.

April, 1977 - Walt Disney World - I was five, my sister was three (although we were closer to 6 and 4 ... birthdays in June and May respectively). The only park there was Magic Kingdom. Oh, and Sea World. I had been begging to go for YEARS and Grandpa (mom's dad) decided that he wanted to play an amateur golf tournament down there, so he took us all. It was my first time on a plane. He flew us first class. Imagine how bummed I was the NEXT time I flew, and discovered that you didn't get a set of headphones every time you got on a plane. I remember very little about this trip. We stayed at the Polynesian, and I remember the pool. I also remember not being able to ride Space Mountain, and dad coming off the ride scared out of his wits.

August, 1987 – DisneyLand – I had just turned sixteen, and we took a family trip to the west coast. DisneyLand was just one day of a two week vacation that included LA, Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon, and San Francisco. Star Tours was the newest attraction. I didn’t ride it because the lines were three hours long. I may be crazy about Disney, but I’m not crazy.

August, 1992 – DisneyWorld – This trip was to find employment with the Disney Corporation. I had just graduated from Carolina in May. I had interviews… I was even told to find an apartment… and then I didn’t get the job. The funny part? I chose a traveling companion who I met in college. We went to Pleasure Island one night… he fed me LOTS of alcohol, and then he showed me his letter from his parole officer allowing him to cross state lines with me. I made a drunken mental note to choose my traveling companions more carefully in the future. Only had one day to spend in a park, so I spent it at MGM.

August, 1993 – EuroDisney (now DisneyLand Paris) – went with the amateur theater company I sang and danced with. We got to sing and dance in front of the castle. It was cool. This was my first trip to Europe sans parental units. Good times. Due to my outstanding French, there is a man in Paris who believes that I could not accept his kind offer to make love because I was pregnant with another man’s child. All I intended to say was that I had a boyfriend.

August, 1994 – DisneyWorld – trip number two with amateur theater company. I lost my voice in Charleston on the way down, and had to croak my way through performances on the Tommorrowland stange and on the American Pavilion stage. My one chance to sing at the big park, and I blew it. *sigh* This was my first visit to EPCOT.

January, 1997 – DisneyWorld – Mom and I went down to experience the now defunct Disney Institute. We spent a lot of time at EPCOT and we took lots of cooking classes. I also visited my first dueling piano bar… which started an addiction I still am battling today.

February, 1998 – DisneyWorld – Mom and I had so much fun the year before, we made my sister come along. More cooking classes. I really do miss the Disney Institute. Loved it.

November, 1999 – DisneyWorld and Disney Cruise Line – Honeymoon. This was Chris’ first trip. We liked the cruise more than the parks… but that was mainly because of the food, I think.

January, 2000 – DisneyWorld - Until these two upcoming trips, this marked my shortest wait between visits. Seven weeks after the honeymoon ended, I went to Disney with a girlfriend for a business meeting. I got her addicted to dueling pianos as well.

May, 2001 – DisneyWorld – Our first foray into timeshares. Our friends finally made good on their promise to take us to Disney on their timeshare points, starting the ongoing tradition of trading off every two years. This year, it’s their turn. We bought into our timeshare that September, just after 9/11.

February, 2002 – DisneyLand – We took a hockey trip to the west coast to see our ‘Canes play in LA, Anaheim, and San Jose. We used our brand new timeshare to stay at the Grand Californian. My sister flew down to join us and drive back up to the Bay area with us.

November, 2002 – Disney Cruise Lines – for our third anniversary, we thought we’d try the seven-day cruise since we had liked the three-day cruise so much. Turns out we liked the seven-day cruise even better. We swam with dolphins. I kissed one. It was cool.

September, 2003 – DisneyWorld – Our turn to use our points, we stayed at the Boardwalk Villas and did as much adult stuff as we could. Our friends left their 15-month old at home, and I was ten weeks pregnant. We knew our trips to Disney would never be the same.

October, 2004 – DisneyWorld - Athena was five months old, but we had a friend coming to Disney from England, and how often do you get to see your friends from England? So we took her down there and went to SeaWorld and Universal. I spent one afternoon at EPCOT for the food and wine festival, and to ride Mission: Space, which I couldn’t ride the year before due to my gestating.

November, 2005 – Disney Cruise Lines and DisneyWorld – Pregnant once again, we opted to celebrate our sixth anniversary aboard the Disney Magic. By now, I am blogging, so you can read all about it if you look back in the archives. J

September, 2006 – DisneyWorld – My first solo trip!

April 2007 and June 2007 are in the works. So when all is said and done, I will have been to a Disney Park 18 times… 14 to DisneyWorld, 3 Disney Cruises, 2 to DisneyLand, and 1 to EuroDisney (some trips combined, which is why the numbers don’t add up).

Wow. And to think… you just READ all that! Impressive.

All By Myself

I had a very quiet weekend. Chris took the kids up to Virginia to see family, and I had to work, which meant I had to stay home. We looked at going other weekends so I could join the fun, but our next free weekend is about two weeks before our Disney trip, and I will be in exit mode. Not to mention, I'd like to avoid long drives just before that SUPER long drive.

I was looking forward to the peace and quiet. I lived by myself for years before I met Chris and I rather enjoyed living alone. However, apparently I have adjusted to life in home with small children, because when the family left Friday night, I found the place eerie and spooky even. It just didn't seem right.

I thought maybe by Saturday I would have adjusted, but I didn't. In fact, my dreams that night were all horrible, violent nightmares... frequently waking me with horrible shivers and spine-tingly feelings. Not fun.

So I was mighty glad to see everybody on Sunday when I returned home from work. I think I like the full house way better than the empty one. Who woulda thunk it?!

Things Were Going Great! Until...

So it had to start coming down sometime. This year so far has been a complete whirlwind. Let's review, shall we?

• Chris got his second promotion in almost as many months.
• Said promotion came with a salary increase that officially puts him at making 50% more than he was this time last year.
• Thanks to his going full-time regular (rather than contract) our healthcare premiums will drop by about $200 per month.
• Thanks to Athena being (almost) potty-trained and soooooooooo smart, our daycare costs will go down about $300 per month.
• Everything is in place for our Disney trip in April.
• I have just been handed a very nicely wrapped business opportunity that may or may not work out... but if it does, I could be my own boss within six months. If it doesn't, I still have my fantastic job at the library!
• Chris' company just announced they are paying for everyone in the company (and their families) to go to DisneyWorld for three days in June! WOOT!

And now, here I am at home... planning our second trip to Disney of the year (and my third in a nine month period) and Athena jumped in my lap, causing the laptop I had precariously balanced on the nightstand to tumble to the floor. Chris' laptop. Mine is still down with a nasty virus. Chris' brand new laptop.

So, when he gets home from the hockey game... I suspect he will be disappointed (or worse) to see the large crack in the LCD undercarriage, that has created a nasty black spot on his otherwise lovely display. Does that spread? Please God say it doesn't. Please?!

Walk Like a (Wo)Man, Talk Like a (Wo)Man...

So, Athena is a real person. I know, I know... you are marvelling at how brilliant I am for finally noticing. Well, trim your sails on that, because I didn't actually realize it on my own. Someone had to tell me.

We are two months shy of Athena's third birthday (to be celebrated at DisneyWorld in approximately eight weeks -- WOOT). Yesterday, we got a note from the daycare director. It was the world's nicest note. So nice, in fact, that it made me a little suspicious. I was going to just post it for you, but it's somewhere downstairs, and I'm borrowing Chris' laptop since mine is ill, and I think he wants it back soon.

Anyway, the letter said something about how great Athena is and how they would like to go ahead and move her into the threes' room. This is really good news on several counts. Actually 300 counts to be specific. $300 per month. However, I am a bit nervous about it because Athena hasn't quite mastered the potty... and normally, that is a requirement for movin' on up at the daycare.

So I checked with her teacher this morning, and we discussed the various issues with pressuring a person to use the potty when they don't want to. Basically, her teacher feels that it won't be an issue... but that's not the real point of this post.

The real point is... her teacher said, with great awe and wonder in her voice, "Athena is soooooooo smart. She talks like a real grownup. I can talk to her the same way I talk to my coworker."

--silence--

I had to let that soak in. See... I know my kid is great. And I've noticed that she is more verbal nowadays. But occasionally, I still talk around her as if she can't understand what I'm saying. I'll tell Chris something about her day, and I won't even give her the chance to talk about it, as I am sort of thinking in my head that she is still six months old and not talking.

But she is talking. And she is understanding. And I really need to stop cursing in front of her. Really. Like now.

And I have to give her the chance to talk too. Chris and I both made a solid effort to let her do the talking tonight at dinner, and it was great. She is very smart and remembers all sorts of random details now. Not only that, but she'll relate those details to us. And she grasps the concept of "tomorrow" too... like "Tomorrow, you will go to school again and see your friends."

Seems like only yesterday she was barfing and burping and pooping. Oh, wait... she still does that. But now she talks too!

Seems silly that I even feel this is important enough to blog about. I guess you need to be here.

Spending Money We Don't Have

So, if you read Chris' blog, you know that we are not going to Las Vegas and I probably won't be seeing The Police afterall. We really are flat broke and in debt.

Which is why I joined a gym today.

Seriously, I am completely in knots about this. Truth be told, by the end of the year, with the family membership I purchased, we will have spent as much on the gym as we would have for the two of us to go to LV and see The Police. This is still money we don't have. Why do I do this?

Well, it comes down to several things. First, Chris and I need to exercise. Period. We are generally lazy and prefer hobbies that are fairly sedentary. This is not working well for our kids, nor do we feel it sets a good example. We don't want to ruin them before they even go to school.

And honestly, we both don't mind exercising, as long as it is fun. For years, we have said that we want to join a swim and raquet club, because I love to swim, and Chris loves to play raquetball. And we both like to do the other thing as well. But those places are expensive... and they generally don't have much for the younger set.

Now a new gym is opening in Cary, and it has pools (indoor and outdoor), courts (raquetball, squash, and basketball) and all the normal gym accoutrements. It also has a large child care area. It's expensive (a bit pricier than the Y), but it's luxurious, and that alone will (hopefully) motivate me to go back again and again.

It doesn't open until May, and we have 30 days to try it and see if we can really squeeze our money's worth out of it. Our hope is that it will give us opportunities for more family time, despite the fact that in some cases (anything not pool-related), we will be plopping them in child care... again... like we do five days a week. I wonder if I even want to be a parent sometimes. Here I am, trying to do something that will set a good example AND make me healthier, and yet all it seems to be doing is pushing the kids into someone else's care... again.

But then again, Athena will run around like a monkey in the playground... and does she really need me there to enjoy that? I don't know.

If you are wondering how we will pay for this... well, so are we. We will probably pre-sell half of our hockey season next year. The only reason I'm not talking about selling off the whole thing is because we already paid about 50% in three years ago during the lock-out. This is the final year of our commitment (our money from that season has been earning interest for us) and if this gym thing works out, we may give up our treasured third-row seats forever.

Daycare costs are going down for us, since Athena is moving up into the "potty-trained room" this year, so that will help as well. And we are going to give up eating out as much and also cut back on our power use, if possible. We are so horrible about leaving lights on and random shit we never use plugged in all the time.

Hopefully that will equal more than what we are throwing at this fitness center and we can actually afford to keep the kids in clothes and shoes.

And what's in this for you, dear reader? Why, perhaps I will be able to compete with Amy's naked locker room stories... one can only hope not.

The Hat and Other Cuteness

Our hat arrived from Jessey's sweatshop! And isn't it cute?! He received many compliments on it today.

And look at our other cutie. I'm really glad I got this picture, because this is my favorite sweater. Or at least it WAS my favorite until they had spaghetti today. Let's hope the Oxi-Clean can knock out that stuff again...

The First to Hit the Big 03

Aiden turned three a couple of weeks ago and we were fortunate enough to be his exclusive guests at the Festival of Threehood.

First, Athena and I made a cake. She sported her new apron and hat. It actually made her a better chef. Honestly. Truly. Okay, so really, it just made her cuter.



Wow, my kitchen looks junky. Please ignore the clutter...

Then we iced the cake. She was really impressively careful about it. Not that we're ready to audition for Martha Stewart or anything, but she did well...



Then we wrote on the cake. Well, Mommy wrote. Athena just got to eat "icing worms" that I squeezed out onto her finger. And yes, I cheated and used store-bought frosting and icing. The cake was good. When they get older, I'll be better about not cheating...



And this is the birthday boy with his giftie. He and Athena "shared" the toy, which translates roughly into, "Athena bullied him into letting her use the Aquadoodle Pen while he was relegated to the bowl of water, until she saw how you could make handprints using the bowl of water, at which point, she shoved the pen back in his hand and took over the bowl."

The Police - Plan of Attack

I am going to join the fan club to get access to pre-ticket sales. I'm going to buy tickets for the June 15th show in Las Vegas. I haven't even told Chris this yet. But we're going to Vegas, baby!

I can get four tickets. Who is in?

A Pox on Your House!

Okay, two housekeeping items to get out of the way.

1) I will totally post pics of Aiden's third birthday. I don't have many... and none from Bullwinkles where we went for dinner. (I forgot the camera). But really, they just ooooooed and ahhhhhhhhed at the dancing fountains while the grownups choked down bad food. I just haven't had a chance to download the pics of Athena and me making the cake, and that's the bulk of the pics I have.

2) I will totally post pics of Marcus' brand new, hand crocheted hat that is on it's way here from Arizona as soon as I get it. Hurricane's colors and all. Cannot WAIT.

Now, on to the meat of the post.

There are three infants in Marcus' daycare class. All of them are about the same age and will be moving up to the Wobbler room next month (Wobblers are 12-18 month-olds). I'm hoping that they will all get along and be great friends, forming a rival gang to Athena's posse (split up temporarily as Aiden and Kaeley have already moved on the the threes, but Natalie and Athena don't go until May).

Of course, I wished for that lovely scenario until I realized today that good friends share. And one of the babies in Marcus' class has chicken pox. And Marcus gets his chicken pox immunization in ONE MONTH. And chicken pox is VERY contagious. And it is contagious 1-2 days BEFORE the bumps appear. And this kid just got his bumps today or yesterday (I didn't read the whole information sheet). So the only saving grace is 1-2 days ago was Saturday or Sunday, unless the bumps actually appeared over the weekend sometime, in which case, we're screwed. Here's the best news from the article I linked you to:

Children under one year of age whose mothers have had chickenpox are not very likely to catch it. If they do, they often have mild cases because they retain partial immunity from their mothers' blood.

I had a mad case when I was five. Which was great because I got out of kindergarten for a week. So I've had it and clearly remember the misery of the itching followed by the sheer boredom of those last days when you are waiting for the damn dots to disappear.

But the bad news is, he most certainly will have it. It's so contagious, and these three kids spend LOTS of time together... all up in each others' stuff. If he dodges this bullet, then I'm going to have to start calling him Callel.

If I Could Save Time in a Bottle...

At the beginning of the year, I started using a new (to me) time management system. I was beyond fed up with myself... forgetting appointments, commitments, and tasks all the time, feeling disorganized and discombobulated always, and not having any sort of grasp on how much work I needed to get done.

I chose Julie Morgenstern's Time Management From the Inside Out, in which she compares time management to organizing a closet... everything has its place, and if you respect that place, you will find you have more time in your day.

I've been using her system (or a variation of it at least) for over a month now. Just the fact that I've stuck with it is a testament to how well it's going. But I have to just shout out from the mountaintop how much happier I am since I started using this. I've stopped worrying about what I might have forgotten... I get WAY more done each day than I ever have, and I am even finding more time to read and to cross stitch.

The worst part about implementing this system is discovering how much I procrastinate. I knew that I often put off tasks that I was scared of... or didn't want to do. But I didn't realize just how LONG I procrastinated and I had no idea that if I would just DO those things, then it really wasn't so bad.

Anyway, I didn't set out to write an especially exciting post tonight, but I did want to celebrate my success. Hooray!

Paaaaaar Tay!

Well, it's just like I'm 21 all over again. This weekend, I had THREE, count 'em, THREE parties to attend. On Friday, I went to the retirement soiree of a library employee. Tonight, I dragged the whole family to Jen's going away party with the old library crew (although she's not going far... just to be a reference librarian at a local women's college), and tomorrow we are going to a Superbowl party. PLUS I am working this weekend. Whew! I am way too old for this.

I seriously cannot remember the last time I had three engagements in one weekend. I'm all a-twitter. Granted, two were sort of work-related, but they have been fun. If this keeps up, I'll have to get an agent to schedule my bookings!

Hmmmm... that made it sound like I'm jumping out of the cake at these functions, didn't it?

I Love You So Much I Have to Poison You; or, Amoxycillan Is the Devil

Okay... I have to come clean here... I knew that the medicine was making Marcus even more miserable. I could tell. He was grouchy ALL the time, and he had been taking medicine for five days. He should have been getting better. But... it's medicine, and I have to get rid of the ear infection, right? So I kept giving it to him.

I was actually glad when daycare called yesterday and told us he had broken out in a rash that covered his whole body. This is the same reaction I get when I take any "-cillin" drug. Allergies. Gotta love 'em.

So Chris called and got him Zithromax instead. He put Marcus in his crib at 5pm last night with no dinner because the little guy was clearly tired. Chris also knew we'd be getting new medicine, so we'd have to wake him for that anyway, and we could feed him then.

When I got home from work, I read the bottle. "Can be taken with or without food," it said. (HOORAY! No tummy aches!) "1 tsp every day for three days," it said. (HOORAY! The evil stuff was 1 tsp. twice a day for ten days!) And finally it said, "Use enclosed dropper." (HOORAY! No more forcing Marcus to drink from a shot glass!) Makes me wonder why we can't just start with this stuff.

So... since he only needs it once a day, I decided not to wake him. Let him sleep. The poor guy needed it.

Did he ever!

14.5 hours later at 7:30 am, he woke up. He was whimpering a bit in his crib, and I'm glad he was, because I was about to go put a mirror under his nose. When I opened his door to say good morning, he popped one of those killer smiles. He had not smiled since Wednesday, I think. It was a glorious vision. Angels sang. And I don't even really believe in angels. It was that good.

Daycare reported that he slept for a total of five hours today. Then, when we got him home, he couldn't keep his eyes open past 5:30. We gave him a bottle, but he only took half. My biggest concern at the moment is hydration. His diapers have been pretty dry, and I'm having trouble getting fluids in him. But overall, he is quite a bit better than yesterday. I'm so glad to finally be seeing improvement.

Da Do Do Do, Da Da Da Da

Best. News. Ever.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070130/en_nm/grammys_police_dc;_ylt=AqO1qv7TxhcK7jzvMLP4pZFb.nQA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

And did you see that mention of a possible REUNION TOUR?! I am so there.

Okay, and here is where you will either think I'm a goob or a dork.

The Grammys are February 11. That is the day in 1984 that I met Andy Summers in person. He was doing a book signing. My friend and I couldn't afford his book, but we got to sort of sneak through with someone who bought a few copies. I was thirteen. Ever since then, February 11 has been a very good/lucky day for me. It actually was the day of my first kiss in 1985. It's also right around the time Chris started courting me.

Man. How cool is that? (And if you don't think that I am a dork yet, then let me share that I, too, collect state quarters...)

Waiting to Zonk

Ah, illness. Such a fantastic blog topic. But when it happens, it's really all you can talk about, isn't it?

Athena gave Marcus and me her cold. Marcus has decided that a cold isn't good enough for him, so he has the nasty infection of the ear. Athena waited until after she turned one to get her first (and only... knock wood) ear infection. Marcus is such an over-achiever!

But considering his constitution, I wasn't surprised at how well he handled his doctor visit today. And actually all the subsequent activities. The little guy is gasping for breath because he is in such pain. But he barely cried the whole time we were out. He only whimpered here and there... most particularly when I would wake him from the sleep he had managed to achieve... first on my shoulder in the exam room (had to wake him when the doctor came in), in the car seat during the 30 second ride to the drug store (had to wake him to go in), when they called our name that his medicine was ready (it wasn't... they just wanted me to pay before they mixed it), when they called our name because his medicine was REALLY ready, and then finally when we got home... twice. Once to get him out of the car, and once to give him his medicine. In the two minutes it took me to pour out the medicine (he now gets the same dose a two year old child would get!!!!), he had taken off his socks and zonked belly down on the carpet in the den right in front of the TV, which was blasting Dora at the time.

I put him down at 5:30 and there has been narry a snuffle from him. I have the Motrin upstairs at the ready in case he awakes in the middle of the night. But I have taken a Sudafed (the REAL kind that they have to keep behind the counter now in case I wanted to buy a case and make Crystal Meth in my kitchen) so I may not hear him if he does. I was trying to avoid medicating myself for precisely this reason, but when I tried to lie down about an hour ago, the pressure in my head was too much.

So here I sit... waiting for it to hit me. Waiting... waiting... *sigh*

Look Familiar?

Athena found daddy's skull cap for his hockey gear Monday night when we were hanging out. I had to take pictures because she reminded me of someone. Anyone come to mind?

I'll give you a hint:

Been to a mall or convenience store lately?

Smoochie Boochie!

Creepy, isn't it?

Farewell, Old Friend

I had minor oral surgery today. I had some sort of cyst or tumor (they are giving it the old biopsy to be sure -- but they are 99% sure it's benign) that has been under my gum tissue, on top of the bone for at least 15 years now. I've been living with it since college. It didn't hurt. Never really bothered me. I just knew it as "the lump in my gum."

It was below "number 19" for those of you who minored in dentistry. For the rest of us, that's on the lower left set of teeth, around the middle. I went to the dentist last week, and they noticed it had changed a bit (which it has not done in the past 15 years, really) so they sent me to the oral surgeon. He extracted it, leaving me with a hole in my gum, some gauze, and a little bottle of Hydrocodone. I came home, took four Advil, took a nap, and woke up with a bit of pain, but nothing serious. I decided to wait until Chris's mom got here for dinner before I took the good stuff. I prefer not to take the really powerful stuff as I am kind of anti-drugs in general (although trust me... I do take them when I need to).

So I've taken the good stuff, I've put the kids to bed. And now I'm hanging out waiting for the drowsy to kick in. I don't think it's going to. But I'm waiting anyway. At least the pain is gone.

I'm supposed to keep gauze on it for 24 hours. But I've discovered that the gauze just makes it hurt. So Chris called a friend who is an EMT. Here was our conversation:

Mommy Librarian: So I took the gauze out so I could eat.

EMT: Uh huh

ML: And it felt fine

EMT: Yeah

ML: So then I put the gauze back in and it started to hurt. Bad.

EMT: Then take it out.

ML: What?

EMT: If it hurts, stop doing it!

ML: Oh

The man is brilliant, I'm telling you.

He went on to explain that if the gauze was irritating it, then there was no point in using it. It would just stay inflamed and angry. So, I'm gauzeless and loving it.

It's going to be weird not to have that lump in my gum anymore. They told me what the thing looked like. I almost asked to see it, but then I thought it might just gross me out. Still, it all felt a bit weird... I've lived with it for so long.

What a way to spend my holiday, eh? Back to the grind tomorrow... all puns intended.

How to Lose Friends and Piss People Off

So we went over to Aiden's house tonight. It's been a long time since we've given the little munchkins a playdate, and Kathryn and I have long weekends this week (YAY government jobs!) so we figured we would have the energy. Upon planning this fiesta, we determined that we should do it at her place, since I had just had her over for a Pampered Chef party Friday night (at which she bought stuff... so it's not like I didn't get anything in return). But... since her place is so much cleaner than ours, I like to go there. It's like going on vacation.

Too bad we can never go back.

It all started innocently enough. Marcus was cute. Aiden and Athena played outside. The boys cooked on the grill (well, John cooked... Chris hung out) while they watched the football game. Kathryn and I lounged about (she's pregnant, and I get to lounge by default) while we watched Marcus eat Goldfish crackers and play with a Barrel of Monkeys (Best. Toy. Ever.). We ate dinner, we enjoyed each others' company, and the kids were generally very good. Even ours.

After dinner, Kathryn and I headed to Fresh Market to forage for dessert. Came back to find Athena shedding her pants. "Do you need to go potty?" I asked, expecting the normal, "NO!" Instead, she went and got a book, and trotted off to the bathroom. SWEET! Doesn't sound bad yet? Just wait.

She actually went to the potty... signaling that this evening was going WAY too well to last. We changed Marcus' stinky diaper and got him into pajamas (which is very similar to catching a greased pig, incidentally). Chris made him a bottle, and I sat down in one of those really deep chairs (with ottoman) to feed him while Chris moved back to the alter (HUGE flat-screen tv on which a football game was transpiring) in the den. John and Kathryn set about cutting the cake and distributing it. That's when Athena seized her moment.

The next bit was all slow motion to me. I'll try to portray it as I saw it.

Marcus is happily guzzling his bottle. I watch his cute little cheeks puffing at the effort.
I glance up.
I see Athena on a stool in front of the fish tank.
I see her arm go up.
I start to try to get up from the chair.
I see her lift the lid.
I start to sternly admonish, "nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"
Her other arm goes up.
Oh my God, it's the fish food!
"oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"
Dump - oh yes... the whole thing
Fish go apeshit.
John and Kathryn turn to see what she has done. I can't even lie about it now, as there she stands, one hand on the fishtank lid, the other clutching the empty canister of fish food.

Athena... completely unaware that she has probably just killed about eight fish, goes to play with Aiden's cool helmet with the microphone in it. I realize that there is absolutely nothing in my skill set that I can do to make this better. I eat cake instead.

Meanwhile, John and Kathryn are rushing about trying to get the fish into some clean water so they (read: John) can clean the tank. Meanwhile, Marcus fills ANOTHER diaper and I have no more with me (who knew the boy would need two diapers in thirty minutes? I suppose most mothers would prepare... but not me). Fortunately, Kathryn has an extra in his size. So not only do we kill their fish (the fish are not actually dead... yet... please keep them in your thoughts and prayers) but we deplete their diaper supply. I believe I owe them a box of diapers by now, as this happens about every third time we come over. And soon, I may owe them a tank of fish.

And I wondered why it had been so long since we last got together. I expect they'll be calling us again, say, when Athena is in college.

Let Me Get This Straight

The Wall Street Journal published a piece about libraries the other day. I would like to take this opportunity to respond. I wish I could reproduce the whole article here for you, but that would violate copyright, and we all know how I feel about that. So I shall quote a lot of it. My citation is incomplete (read "nonexistent" at the moment, but I will edit it later). It appeared in the 1/3 paper I believe, and was written by Mr. John J. Miller. His words are in italics...

Full Citation: In the Fray: Should Libraries' Target Audience Be Cheapskates With Mass-Market Tastes? John J. Miller. Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Jan 3, 2007. p. D.9

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" may be one of Ernest Hemingway's best- known books, but it isn't exactly flying off the shelves in northern Virginia these days. Precisely nobody has checked out a copy from the Fairfax County Public Library system in the past two years.

I say, does this surprise you? Who reads Hemingway anymore?

And now the bell may toll for Hemingway. ... If titles remain untouched for two years, they may be discarded -- permanently.

Well, yes. No one has read it, so why exactly should one keep it?

Library officials explain, not unreasonably, that their shelf space is limited and that they want to satisfy the demands of the public. Every unpopular book that's removed from circulation, after all, creates room for a new page-turner by John Grisham, David Baldacci, or James Patterson -- the authors of the three most checked-out books in Fairfax County last month.

But this raises a fundamental question: What are libraries for? Are they cultural storehouses that contain the best that has been thought and said? Or are they more like actual stores, responding to whatever fickle taste or Mitch Albom tearjerker is all the rage at this very moment?

If the answer is the latter, then why must we have government-run libraries at all? There's a fine line between an institution that aims to edify the public and one that merely uses tax dollars to subsidize the recreational habits of bookworms.

Okay, wait just a second. So... if people are reading books from the library, but they aren't Hemingway (or Proust, or Hardy) and they LIKE those books, then why do it? Are you saying that government entities should not exist for recreation? Hmmmm... I imagine there is a whole Parks service that may see that a bit differently.

Perhaps [Fairfax County is] inadvertently highlighting the fact that libraries themselves are becoming outmoded.

Uh, what?

There was a time when virtually every library was a cultural repository holding priceless volumes. Imagine how much richer our historical and literary record would be if a single library full of unique volumes -- the fabled Royal Library of Alexandria, in Egypt -- had survived to the present day.

Okay, first... there is this place called the Library of Congress. It has a lot of stuff in it. You should check it out (if I may use the phrase).

And second, this is REALLY hypothetical, dude. Are you trying to put forth that if the Library in Alexandria had survived, we would be better off? That if we had held on to a whole lot of papers that no one was reading anymore until they disintegrated... we would be living in some sort of Utopia now? And that all those papers were worth reading? Okay... I think that's a stretch, but I'll bite, as I'm just curious where this is going.

Carnegie always credited his success in business to the fact that he could borrow books from private libraries while he was growing up. His philanthropy meant to provide similar opportunities to later generations. ...

It has never been easier or cheaper to read a book, and the costs of reading probably will do nothing but drop further...

YAY! Books are cheap! This is good, right?!

If public libraries attempt to compete in this environment, they will increasingly be seen for what Fairfax County apparently envisions them to be: welfare programs for middle-class readers who would rather borrow Nelson DeMille's newest potboiler than spend a few dollars for it at their local Wal-Mart.

My head... it's hurting... Please... don't go where I think you are going, man.

Instead of embracing this doomed model, libraries might seek to differentiate themselves among the many options readers now have, using a good dictionary as the model. Such a dictionary doesn't merely describe the words of a language -- it provides proper spelling, pronunciation and usage. New words come in and old ones go out, but a reliable lexicon becomes a foundation of linguistic stability and coherence. Likewise, libraries should seek to shore up the culture against the eroding force of trends.

AAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH! You totally went there! You WENT there. May I remind you that Austen, Bronte, Dickens, Poe... they were all writing serial novels? They were POPULAR READING! Some were even, dare I say, considered substandard for a while. There was little that marked them as much more than... well... TRENDS!

The particulars of this task will fall upon the shoulders of individual librarians, who should welcome the opportunity to discriminate between the good and the bad, the timeless and the ephemeral, as librarians traditionally have done...

You mean, "censor?" And exactly what tradition is this? Librarians have been pushing the right to read and Freedom of Information for decades now. How old are you, man?

They ought to regard themselves as not just experts in the arcane ways of the Dewey Decimal System, but as teachers, advisers and guardians of an intellectual inheritance.

Well, at least you support my desire to be an expert in the Dewey Decimal System. After all, that's why I went to library school, right?

The alternative is for them to morph into clerks who fill their shelves with whatever their "customers" want, much as stock boys at grocery stores do. Both libraries and the public, however, would be ill-served by such a Faustian bargain.

So, by "Faustian bargain," do you mean "spending your tax dollars on things you want to read rather than on things that I think you should read?" Because personally, I'm usually looking for my government, whether it be local, state, or federal, to actually do something that I WANT them to do with my tax money, and give me something that I will actually use. But maybe that's just me.

That's a reference, by the way, to one of literature's great antiheroes. Good luck finding Christopher Marlowe's play about him in a Fairfax County library: "Doctor Faustus" has survived for more than four centuries, but it apparently hasn't been checked out in the past 24 months.

Dare I suggest that you consider going to Fairfax Library and CHECKING THE FREAKING BOOKS OUT IF YOU CARE SO MUCH?! Or would that be too arcane for you? Or wait... it's not your job, right? It's mine! Might I remind you that you are the patron and if you wish for the library to keep a book for the betterment of your community, you can let them know that by READING THE DAMN THING!

Sheesh.

Christmas Album

I'm experimenting with Picasa's Web Album feature. Hope this works...

Christmas 2006

The Haul

Jessey requested a run-down, so here are the highlights:

• Two necklaces (I am shamefully short on jewelry and have only recently discoverd I enjoy wearing necklaces).
• A purse that is made of a zipper (my mom bought it from a street vendor in South America... Brazil, I think. It's really cool... like one of those puzzle rings)
• Clothes from my sister
• A suit from my mother-in-law (actually, she went in on it with me a few months ago)
• An Animal (muppets) keychain and notecards
• A noteholder and letter opener (something I REALLY needed, actually)
• An iTunes gift certificate (to date, I have purchased some Fergie, some Timberlake, some Eminem, some Weird Al, some Belafonte, some You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, and that "I Like to Move It" song from Madagascar (the movie, not the place). How is THAT for eclectic?

My mom bought us a joint gift... a framed picture from the Stanley Cup Finals Celebration. The coolest part is you can actually see us in the picture. We're still talking about the best place to hang it.

Chris got Guitar Hero II (from me), and actually it is our "funnest" gift. We have been playing it every night. We just got Guitar Hero (the first one) in the mail tonight, and I was just playing Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple) when Athena crept out of her room. I just put her back in bed and I'm waiting until she is definitely asleep to resume playing.

Our house looks like Toys R Us exploded in it. Athena got a Princess Castle tent from her grandma, which she LOOOOOOOOOVES and Disney Princess (sorry, Staci!) dress up shoes, rings, and bracelets from Santa. She clops around in her shoes everywhere. Four pairs of little low-heeled shoes, and she walks like a model in them. It's kind of scary. She also got a Dora rolling backpack/suitcase from her Aunt Linda, who really wants us to come to San Fran for a visit. Marcus got several toys he can bang and chew on, and a couple he can push around the room.

Overall, we were spoiled. It was a good Christmas. And to top it off, I prepared the best food of my life. For breakfast, we had a Dream Dinner... Custard French Toast with caramel and pecans and peaches. It was lovely. Then I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. And finally, I made a simple, but REALLY delicious (if I do say so myself) Christmas dinner... Roasted Beef Tenderloin with a Shallot-Merlot Sauce, Potato Gratin with Goat Cheese and Garlic, Fast Buttery Peas (with shallots and thyme), Crescent Rolls (a la Pillsbury) and an Angus Barn Chocolate Chess Pie, made completely from scratch (crust and everything).

I never brag on my cooking, but this time, I have to brag. It was a really tasty meal.

So that's the scoop. I promise to try to post more often. Things were a little hectic through the holidays, but I'm starting to come back down to Earth. I've been reading everyone else's posts, just haven't gotten around to mine! Hope you are still all out there!

The Holidays are Nigh

Well, this has been the strangest holiday... and I mean that in a good way. I feel completely in the Christmas spirit! And even if all my gifts that I'm mailing will be late (I will be mailing them tomorrow with any luck), I don't care. I'm really enjoying the holiday.

And my coworkers are too! In the last 48 hours, I've had two people tell me what a great supervisor I am, one tell me how productive I am, and one tell me how great the collection has been looking since I got to this new location. Four big kudos in two days! That has to be some sort of record.

We kicked off the gift-giving tonight with Aiden and family. Athena gave Aiden a puzzle that he has been admiring for some time, and of course she gave him his colors for joining her posse. Lavendar head wrap with unicorns. He looked totally def in it. We didn't have cameras, but we'll try to get pictures soon.

Aiden gave Marcus a toy that has a hammer which he can use to bang on these little lighty-uppy things. And he gave Athena a princess stamp set and a doctor kit (the latter for caring for his boo boos whenever she bites him).

Much fun was had by all. Athena really wants to live with Aiden though. She wanted to ride home with them ("No ride in the ESS YOU VEEEEEEEEEE! Ride in 'DIS car!"), and then when I finally got her into the Vue, she whined for Aiden the whole way to Target. Fortunately, there was enough at Target to distract her, and she finally seemed to forget about him.

We ran into Ms. Stanley at Target, and Athena claimed she didn't remember her. Ms. Stanley was in the infant room with Athena, and was there briefly for Marcus. Her last day was, coincidentally, the last day for the former director as well. She is doing well and said she really misses the kids. She clearly loved seeing Athena, although Athena wasn't quite as charming and polite as I would have hoping... scowling at her and whimpering. Sometimes having a two-year-old is very similar to having a full-grown pitt bull.

Librarian Secret #2 - Not All Things You Get on the Internet are "Internet Sources"

I worked a couple of hours on the Reference Desk today, and several high school students came to me with their questions for their homework projects. Bless their little hearts, some of them are really confused about "sources." I remember being one of them. And yet, I didn't have nearly as many choices as these kids have.

They ask me for a "Newspaper Source" for their paper on Global Warming. I start typing into the computer. They say "NO! I need a NEWSPAPER!" I explain that old newspapers fall apart, take up space, and present a HUGE fire hazard. So thanks to the "Digital Age," we have gotten rid of all of them and we have it all on the computer now.

"But NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" they cry. "My teacher said "NO INTERNET SOURCES!" Don't you have newspapers?

*sigh*

Just because you access something over the Internet, doesn't mean that it is actually an "Internet Source." There is a phenomenon called "The Deep Web." Or perhaps there is a new catchphrase for it. The information in this Deep Web costs money. And our taxpayers pay for those resources to be available.

So... if you teach children and assign them papers, or if you are a parent who will help your children with homework one day, please explain the difference between an Internet source and a database. PLEASE! These poor kids are freaking out.

Oh, and teach them not to use so many "quotation marks." It's really "irritating" to read.

Wherefore Art Thou, Mommy Librarian?

Friday, December 1: Took day off work to prepare for two holiday parties. I like to refer to this day as "The Day I Pretended to be Rich." Got my nails done, shopped at Nordstrom for something to wear to Chris' work holiday party, went to said party and enjoyed an open bar and good food (three courses plus an appetizer buffet), and Chris got his company gift... a Zune. Score.

Saturday, December 2: Spent the day preparing food for annual Caran Holiday Party, and then proceeded to have said party. Very enjoyable evening. Less attendance than normal, but good friends were there and the night was a success. I also only drank beer and found I was not exhausted at the end of the evening. I won't be drinking wine at these parties again. It clearly wears me out.

Sunday, December 3: Recouperation.

Monday, December 4: Nuthin' special.

Tuesday, December 5: Thought it was a "nuthin' special" day, until 7:30 pm when I got a call at work from home telling me that Athena split her head open and needed stitches. Spent most of the night in the ER waiting room taking turns chasing a wild, up-way-past-bedtime toddler around.

Wednesday, December 6: Work. Then met Aiden and family at Firehouse Subs (after a fun-filled trip to Target for essentials) for "Kids Eat Free (And Entertain Each Other So We Don't Have To) Night."

Thursday, December 7: work, then hockey game.

Friday, December 8: Work, then Grandma's apartment complex to meet Santa. Athena simply eyed him from across the room all evening, but that's cool. She liked the cheese. She especially liked impaling the cheese on the little toothpicks.

Saturday, December 9: Chris rearranged some furniture and assembled a bookcase so now each child has a bookcase in his or her respective room... giving me a chance to actually get a bunch of crap off the floor in both rooms and split up their belongings so they can know whose is whose (something that becomes more important by the day). Earlier in the week, I purchased some bins for downstairs as well. The toys are taking over the house. It's scary. Then we went to a holiday party... something we are becoming really good at. Someone at the party suggested we do a "Calendar Girls" type calendar featuring the librarians of our county system. She was a librarian in our system. Needless to say, there was alcohol at this party. Fortunately, we all remained dressed.

Sunday, December 10: Attended... wait for it... a holiday party for my old library in Garner. Athena and I attended to participate in the white elephant exchange. I had been an honorary recipient of a handmade ornament we affectionately call "The Space Station" and it was time to pass it along. Athena brought a gift too, so they wouldn't know which container had the ornament. In exchange, Athena got a Billy the Big Mouth Bass, which she loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooves. Loves it. Loves. *sigh* I got a red christmas tree that resembles a boot scraper. I think I preferred "The Space Station" actually. The singing fish is in Athena's room where she can see it, but not touch/activate it.

Monday, December 11: My car died. The alternator. I'm really lucky I was able to drive it to the dealership. Fortunately, Athena was getting her stitches out, which meant Chris was still on this side of town and we were able to do some fancy footwork to get me to work and the kids to daycare. Fortunately, for a price, the good folks at Saturn were able to bring it back to life. Not only did this set us back almost a grand, but I had to get a rental car, since they didn't HAVE an alternator and had to keep the car overnight until one could arrive via Fed-Ex. The plus? I got a Jeep Cherokee for 24 hours. Love those cars. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Tuesday, December 12: Lunch with my former boss. Then a meeting for the committee which I have a strong love/hate relationship with. Then a night shift, that concluded with me learning that my friend who was expecting twins (I haven't mentioned it on this blog, so you didn't know about it) just lost them. She was about 15 weeks along. I haven't been able to talk to her... her husband talked to Chris, and now they aren't answering the phone. If I talk to her, I will be of no help, because I will just cry. If there is a service, I am going to try to attend. It's not local... but I'll do what I can.

So now you are up to date. Perhaps you see why I have not posted. I am going to bed now.

The Vampire Athena

We've been having a little problem with Athena biting her friends at daycare. Okay, honestly... it's just one friend lately. The following is a series of emails between that friend's mom and myself.

Email one:

Subject: Christmas list for Athena
From: Friend's mom

1. A sports mouthgard
2. One of those cones they put on animals after surgery
3. Lots of peanut butter
4. Picture book version of "How To Win Friends and Influence People"
5. Some fava beans and a nice Chianti (why stop at one course, when you can have the full meal?)

Don't worry Aiden still loves his Athena. We are considering picture books on how to deal masochism for him. ;-)

My reply:

Like I told your husband this morning... she only bites the ones she loves. So Aiden should feel honored. :-)

Besides, perhaps this is her way of teaching him to stand up for himself. Tough love and all.

Or, it's just her initiation ritual so he can officially be a part of her posse.

On the flip side, she totally wanted to do whatever Aiden did yesterday morning, adding another ten minutes to my tardiness to work while she poked at Chocolate Chip the Bunny.

I'm completely okay with you telling Aiden to bite her back. Or her hand, or whatever happens to be handy.

Of course, one of those cones would be REALLY funny...

By the way, I'm totally posting this email on my blog.

Her reply to me:

My coworker says her cat Belle will be done with her cone (she got fixed last week) in a few days. She also said it was adjustable and that we could have it. So just say the word ...

In the meantime I told Aiden to tell Athena that biting isn't nice. I can't bring myself to ask him to bite someone. That kind of thing could completely backfire. I can hear the judge now, "and your son tells me that you told him to bite the plaintiff."

So when does he get the colored handkerchief as a member of her posse? I'm assuming it is pink or purple with little unicorns in a check pattern. I really don't think John will let him wear it (something about it not being manly) but it would be a nice memento. Or double as a tourniquet to stop the blood flow from the latest bite. :-)

Post away, I'm sure they'll look back and remember it fondly. I know I'll look back and laugh my head off.

*********************end emails**************************

So let me just say that I just ordered the little duo a little something something for Christmas that she will love and John will hate. Stay tuned...

The Battle of the Wills

Are you ready to rummmmmmmmmmmmbuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*cue house music*

Round One (yesterday)

Mommy Librarian: Athena, if you take your nap, we can go see some dancing penguins, okay?

Athena: Dancing penguins?

ML: Yep. At the movies. But you have to go to sleep now. You have to really take a nap or we won't go.

Athena: A nap?

ML: Yep

Athena: Then we see penguins?

ML: Yep

Athena: Okay

*one hour later*

Athena: *sleepily opening her bedroom door* Mommy?

ML: You wake up?

Athena: *barely audible* I wanna see penguins.

Round One goes to... TIE! (Mommy and Daddy should have specified a longer nap)

Round Two (Yesterday)

ML: Athena, if you don't stop throwing your popcorn, we're leaving the dancing penguins.

Athena: *throwing popcorn* I wanna go see Daddy (who is currently in the breezeway letting Marcus crawl around)

ML: Okay

Athena: *running around the theater, after giving Daddy a cursory hello*

ML: We're leaving

Round Two goes to... TIE (Athena didn't seem to care and we didn't get to see how the movie ended)

Round Three (This morning)

ML: Athena, do you want orange or banana for breakfast?

Athena: mmmmmmmm.... Dora Snacks!*

ML: That wasn't a choice. Orange or banana.

Athena: *whining* Dooooooooooora Snaaaaaaaaaaaacks!

ML: Fine, you get an orange.

Athena: Noooooooooooooooooooooooo... no orange! Dora Snacks!

ML: *peeling a Clementine* How about an orange AND Dora Snacks?

Athena: Noooooooooooooooooooo... no ORANGE!

ML: Okay. This orange is for Marcus then.**

Athena: Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! My orange!

ML: No, it's for Marcus

Athena: I WANNA ORANGE!

ML: Okay, here you go. Marcus will be so disappointed.

Athena: *taking the orange slices to Marcus and sticking them in his face* MINE! MY oranges!

Round Three goes to MOMMY! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

*For the offspringless, Dora Snacks are gummy snacks in the shape of characters from Dora the Explorer. If you have a dark sense of humor, as we do, you will find these very entertaining as your daughter says, "This is Benny the Bull! I like him! I eat him!" and then gobbles him up. Classic chuckles all around.

**For the record, I would not feed my eight-month old whole chunks of Clementine, in case you were worried.

Croup It Up

This just goes to show you how the life of a mommy can change on a dime.

Yesterday, about 4:15 pm, I was enjoying my half day off work (from working on Sunday) by baking two pumpkin pies. I had just begun to blend the wet stuff with the dry, when the daycare called. Marcus had a fever of 102 or 103. Yippee.

Since I was at a place where I really couldn't stop, and since Chris was just leaving work anyway, I called him and warned him that Mr. Man was ill. Sure enough, when he arrived at the house, the pies were smelling yummy in the oven, and Marcus was warm enough that perhaps I could have baked one in his mouth.

He's had a runny nose for about a week, as has everyone in the family. 'Tis the season and all. But last night, he had developed a little cough. Athena has also had a cough, and although it has sounded bad, it hasn't kept her up at night or anything. Well, Marcus went down about a half hour earlier than usual, and about an hour into his sleep, I heard a noise in his room that sounded like perhaps I had locked Murphy in the room with him. I looked down at my feet, and there was Murphy snoozing happily on the carpet in my room. Crap.

This morning, his fever had gone down to about 100, and his smile was big and his eyes were bright. I thought perhaps he would kick this as he has every other illness. I gave him some Tylenol then plugged his morning bottle in his mouth.

He ate merrily and happily. Then about halfway through, he exploded. Let's just forget about the fact that he was in my lap at the time... the important thing is that he threw up twice as much as had been in his bottle. It was impressive. Mucous and milk plus Tylenol in the tummy is apparently combustible.

As soon as the pediatrician's office opened, I called and got an 8:40 appointment. At the time, Marcus still seemed happy and alert, so the doctor concluded it might be croup, it might not... but he wasn't sure enough to prescribe the steroids normally given for croup. After all, why take the things if that's not what is wrong with you.

So he gave me some tips on what to look for and sent me home. Marcus slept in the car and then another 1/2 hour, when he woke up coughing. I gave him some warm water and some Tylenol (since the first batch came up with his breakfast) and tried to entertain him. He just really wanted to go back to sleep. His cough is now much worse and more persistent. But he's napping now, and I'm doing dishes/laundry/domestic goddess stuff.

Today is my evening shift day, so I'm taking the afternoon off, and then Chris and I will switch off so I can go in for the 5-9pm shift. Then I'll work tomorrow and he'll take off. Next on the list is to call Shelley to see if she wants Marcus around Zoe. The doctor said that it should be fine as long as we keep the babies separate and we wash our hands a lot... but I would feel horrible if Zoe got sick. So currently, I'm thinking that Chris and Athena will drive up to Baltimore and I'll hang here with Mr. Man. Not the ideal Thanksgiving, but Chris needs to see his family, and Athena needs to meet her cousin. It's a bummer, but what can you do?

Damn croup.

Love Assault

Athena has grown more affectionate in the last few weeks. She has developed a serious attachment to the people she loves. Sure, there were times when she would come up and plant a big sloppy kiss on your face, but those times were rare, and often required a lot of prompting. I think she's an introvert... gaining her energy from within. She loves people, of course, but just isn't terribly touchy-feely. And that's okay.

But now she is a downright cuddle muffin. When she sees someone she loves, her face lights up like a Christmas tree and then she throws herself at that person full throttle. Kathryn has coined the apt phrase "Love Assault" when she does this, because she literally tackles you with the intent to press you into the ground, thereby making you stick there so you can never leave. It's terribly cute and terribly good news for our chiropractor.

She also remembers people and places really well. And she says very nice things about them. For example, although she has only recently gotten to get to know her grampa Greg, she looked me square in the eye this morning and said, "I wanna see gampa." And for Thanksgiving, everyone made a little Thanksgiving art thing and they had to say what they were thankful for so Ms. Shanika could write it down for them. She said "I am thankful for Aiden." Of course, this does leave me wondering where WE fit in on the ladder of love...

Since Marcus is just learning to crawl, he's all about taking in his environs rather than cuddling, so this comes at a perfect time. Just as one leaves my arms, the other wants to jump in. It's good to be the mommy.

For Dad

A warning... this post may be kind of morbid and depressing. I'm not sure, as I haven't written it yet, but I wanted to warn you. I also wanted to let you know that I am hoping the end will lighten it up a bit... so if you are really interested, try to stick with me...

Yesterday meant it was officially ten years since my father died. I hesitate to refer to the day as an anniversary, because anniversaries seem to indicate celebration. However, it is a day that is marked in my heart. I always become melancholy right around Halloween, and the mood doesn't lift until around the Holiday Party... which is probably one reason I keep throwing it.

He died from prostate cancer, which sucks in many ways. The worst part about it is that it could have been avoided. Very few men die of prostate cancer anymore because it's the slowest developing cancer, and if it's detected early, then it's quite treatable. I'm not mad at my dad, mind you. It would be a bit hypocritical if I were, as I am just as likely to go to a doctor if I'm not feeling well. I really despise going when I'm healthy. So guys, in case you need motivation...

By the time the cancer was diagnosed, it had metasticized to his bones. Basically, we watched as his spine started collapsing. I will admit that bending and coughing isn't the most comfortable way to pass five minutes, but it's a LOT more comfortable than having your back collapse while cancer eats your bones.

end lecture

Today, Ohio State beat Michigan by three points, in what is probably the most anticipated game in college football in over a decade. My dad was an Ohio State alum, and oh how he loved his football team. Let's just hope that when we say "rest in peace," we mean, "rest in a big old easy chair with a cold brewsky watching a hell of a football game." I really like to think that the win was a little nod from all that is good in the world to my Dad.

I love you, dad. Go, Buckeyes!

Holy Monkey! Where Did November Go?!

I seriously cannot believe that we are midway through this month. And my last post was from the zoo, which seems just yesterday. Since then, we've been to High Point twice (once without the kids), the kids have both gotten nasty head colds, I have also been somewhat ill, both of our cars have broken down (mine was brakes, Chris' was the starter), I finally wrote my September and October monthly reports at work (yes, I was that far behind), Chris has helped move his mother into her new apartment (although we both wish we could do more), I've cancelled my Pampered Chef party due to too few participants, and I've written ONE blog entry -- this one.

The sad thing is... there's way more in my future. I have to take the car in next week to have the body work done from the accident last month. We are going to Maryland for Thanksgiving, which will be fun, but a long drive with two kids. I have to send out invitations for our big holiday party (not to mention plan it). I have to do all my Christmas shopping (although I did get a teensy bit done in High Point. And I'm going to take a yoga class in December to see how I like it.

Insanity.

What is it about the holidays that dictates we all run around like beheaded chickens? And if that weren't enough, I really should bake cookies and decorate the house and do all that fru-fru stuff.

I sure hope I don't explode. Sheesh.

Another Day at the Zoo

We went to the NC Zoo on Sunday while Chris was in Austin and the kids had a blast. Here, Athena tames a wild bee on the playground. Or maybe the bee tames her... I'm not really sure.

Stroller Man

I LOVE THE ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Panda Bears

Hey , guys! Whatcha doin'?

Hanging out in the bamboooooooooooooooo.

Fun.

Do do do do do Dora

We surrendered the battle-axe princess costume to next year because the skirt was too long and Athena couldn't walk without tripping. This is what I found instead. Need I say that she loved it? I think it goes without saying. Here, Dora displays healthy eating habits.

A Night at the Theater

Here we are all dressed up to go see the Lion King. Apparently, Athena was practicing her roar.