Moreena will be up-dating through the night

Here. As of 8:30 PM, things were moving apace.

Go support Moreena, Annika, and the rest of the Tiede family

Annika is getting a new liver

One sock down

One on the needles. I expect to have a pair by the end of the week.

In other news, Virginia seems to have fallen in a vat of indigo, as does Ohio. I am hoping that these trends are real. Keep knocking those doors!

Would you believe????

I totally neglected to bring any knitting gear with me to this conference because I am a dork.

And then, last night, a woman got on the hotel elevator with me, carrying a small pretty shopping bag.

"What did you buy?" I asked.

"Yarn!" she said. "The only yarn store in Roanoke is five minutes away from this hotel! And it just opened TODAY!!!"

It was a sign.

I went. I swooned. It's a great store in a house across the street from the mall near the airport. Really nice inventory of sumptious yarns. I bought the makings of a pair of socks. Local yarn (Blue Ridge Yarns Jubilee in Evening Jewel).

I knitted six inches on it during the two (really excellent) sessions I went to today. It was just lovely.

It's almost 7 PM and so far today

I woke up at 4:30 to leave at 5:30 to drive 4 hours to a place SW of me in my state to attend a conference on my volunteer committee work.

Good conference. Good workshops. Good food at starting luncheon.

My hotel is nice, but not as nice as the conference hotel which is NICE. I wish I were staying there, but it is also EXPENSIVE.

Must go find food for dinner, no restaurant in hotel.

Night all.

Wow, he just makes it so easy!

From today's NYT:

Mr. McCain defended himself from critics who said he had acted impetuously by returning to Washington last week to work on the bailout proposal, which some said had made a deal more difficult.
“Some people have criticized my decision to put my country first, but I will never, ever be a president who sits on the sidelines when this country faces a crisis,’’ said Mr. McCain. And Mr. McCain, who spent this weekend in Washington working the phones, but did not actually return to Capitol Hill , said: “I know that many of you have noticed, but it’s not my style to simply ‘phone it in.’ ”

Pop (corn) goes the eyetooth!

MM lost tooth number 5 today while eating popcorn. He spit out what he thought was an unpopped kernel and found a tooth instead.

On my way to greet the tooth fairy!

Because David Letterman has friends...

Like Jon Stewart.

Things I learned today

When you are a Presidential candidate, slipping in the polls, you really really really do not want to piss off David Letterman.

Really.

Bad idea. Bad.

A simple chart

Is available for viewing at Voted Off the Island. It really says it all.

What do you want for lunch today, MM?

My spinach.

Not your spaghetti?

No. Spinach.

As you wish.

Reason

Why I'm voting and walking and calling and writing for Obama/Warner/RhymesWithSeder. The end of a series:

"I like your pin. I'm voting for him. No more Republicans for me. I'm telling you, I've been to Viet Nam, Desert Storm, and the present conflict, and 'Nam was well run compared to what we're doing now."

- Army man on Amtrak yesterday.

Iraq. Afganistan. Katrina. Darfur. Wall Street. Mortgage Crises. Remember how they made it tougher for people to get out from under predatory lending and credit cards? Bankruptcies are only available for the rich. Mess after mess after mess. McCain is complicit in every one. So is Wolf. Gilmore had his own issues here in VA.

We need Obama and Biden, Warner and RhymesWithSeder. Obama and Biden KNOW how tough it is out there for families. They've lived it. Warner knows how to take a budget deficit and turn it into a budget surplus. And RhymesWithSeder has a wealth of health care knowledge.

So that's why I'm voting and working and walking and calling for the Blue team. Anything else would be unreasonable.

I met Senator Biden and his wife

They are so nice! And I sat right next to Barbara Mikulski!

It was a great time in this swing county in this swing state.

If any of y'all in a solid state want a place to make a difference in the electoral college, c'mon over here and help us out. We need walkers and callers. We need to turn VA blue!

Also, what Jody said.

Read it.

We interrupt this Pro-Obama program to bring you an Anti-McCain Moment

Did you read Eugene Robinson today?

"John McCain was telling the truth when he said that economics wasn't his strong suit. In response to what many economists have called the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the Republican nominee has sounded -- and let's be honest here -- totally, embarrassingly and dangerously clueless."

Robinson spells out the ways in which McCain is horribly out-of-touch and sums it up thusly:

"Here's something that really ought to grab everyone's attention: McCain supports George W. Bush's idea of channeling at least some Social Security funds into "personal accounts" that individuals would invest on Wall Street. Some of that money would have been entrusted to firms such as Bear Stearns (failed), Lehman Brothers (failed) and Merrill Lynch (sold at a fire sale). Imagine what this crisis would be like if Americans' Social Security benefits were evaporating along with their housing values and their 401(k) accounts.

This is the man who's going to reform the economy?"

Go read the whole thing.

Reason 7 - Updated!

Why I'm voting and walking and calling and writing for Obama/Warner/RhymesWithSeder. Part seven of a series:

Domestic Violence

My internship last year was with a local women's shelter. Perhaps you didn't know that Biden is a hero to the people who work with victims of domestic violence?

" Senator Biden wrote the ground-breaking Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in the 1990s that set the national agenda on criminalizing violence against women and holding batterers truly accountable. It encouraged states to set up coordinated community responses to domestic violence and rape; was the catalyst for passage of hundreds of state laws prohibiting family violence; and provided resources to set up shelters so battered women abused by husbands and boyfriends had a place to go. The law also established the national hotline that over 1.5 million abused women have called for help. By empowering women to make changes in their lives, and by training police and prosecutors to arrest and convict abusive husbands instead of telling them to take a walk around the block, domestic violence is down 50 percent and rape is down 60 percent nationwide.

Each time the Senator renewed the Act – in 2000 and 2005 – he pushed for new initiatives. In 2000, the Act was attached to ground-breaking laws on human trafficking – crimes where over 80% of the victims are women. In 2005, the Violence Against Women Act tackled issues like domestic violence in public housing and treating children witnesses of family violence." - from Biden's senate web page.

This is the man Obama has picked to be his VP, a man of principles, courage, and compassion. As opposed to McCain's VP choice, the former mayor of a town that, while she was in charge, billed victims of sexual assaults for rape kits. Yeah. Nice.

Oh! And the AP reports that the McCain camp claims that the REAL reason she fired Monegan was not because he refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law! It was because Monegan was seeking federal funds to fight sexual assaults! (ht to Bitch PhD)

Health Care, Energy, Tax plan, Social Programs, Amtrak, Ethics, Domestic Violence. Seven down. More to come.

Reason 6

Have you noticed that I have 5 reasons up and I haven't even mentioned Iraq?
Or Afganistan?
Or Walter Reed?
Not mentioning it here either.


Why I'm voting and walking and calling and writing for Obama/Warner/RhymesWithSeder. Part six of a series:

Ethics

Openness (look at his Google for Government initiative) vs. Secrecy ("whoops!").
Honesty vs. Lies (Didja hear? McCain invented the Blackberry!)

More can be found here (ht to Cecily)

Eight years of fatal lies, cover-ups, and a culture of secrecy are enough.

Health Care, Energy, Tax plan, Social Programs, Amtrak, Ethics. Six down, more to come.

Reason 5

Why I'm voting and walking and calling and writing for Obama/Warner/RhymesWithSeder. Part five of a series:

Amtrak

Or, more specifically, rail infrastructure. Move more people faster for less money. Now, y'all know how much I love Amtrak. What you may not know is how angry I was back in 2001 when Congress was bailing out the airlines and saying that they were going to de-fund Amtrak.

I wrote letters. To my congressman, to both Senators, to the head of the DOT, to the NYT and the Washington Post. I was steamed.

The gist was, did they not remember that Amtrak was the only transportation available to move people over distances when the FAA grounded all the planes? How dare they bail out United -- who let their planes be hijacked! -- and let Amtrak fail? You can't fly trains into skyscrapers, people. A thriving rail system is a matter of national security.

Not to mention that trains (passenger, cargo, commuter) are highly efficient and reduce congestion. Safer, more comfortable, less expensive, and less polluting than cars or planes. Faster than cars (sometimes even faster than planes when you count the time spent in airports going through security, getting delayed on the tarmac, and waiting for your luggage which missed your transfer at Raleigh/Durham).

I want a Veep who believes in the rail system and who has used it to commute to work everyday for the last 30 years.

Health Care, Energy, Tax plan, Social Programs, Amtrak. Five down, more to come.

Reason 4

Why I'm voting and walking and calling and writing for Obama/Warner/RhymesWithSeder. Part four of a series:

Social Programs

Because we need some REAL compassion in the White House. Not just lip service. Not hand outs for friends and cronies and a punch in the nose for the rest of the country. Compassionate conservatism, my Aunt Fanny. McCain couldn't care less about what most of the country is going through. Today 12,000 people lost their jobs. This past weekend, thousands of people lost their homes. Gas prices are through the roof. Heating costs are going to be brutal this winter. It's going to be a choice between eating and staying warm for many people and there's only one candidate who cares about that.

Obama. For people in poverty, for people with disabilities, for all of us. Education. Access. Jobs. Security. Respect.

“We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination .... policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in their communities.” - Barack Obama.

Health Care, Energy, Tax plan, Social Programs. Four down, more to come.

Reason 3

Why I'm voting and walking and calling and writing for Obama/Warner/RhymesWithSeder. Part three of a series:

Tax Plan

People, our country is in deep deep financial effluvia. Now is not the time to be buying into the trickle-down theory. 'Cause what's trickling down ain't helping. The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the middle class are getting poorer.

I like Obama's tax plan. Hopefully, I'll be in the 2% that gets taxed MORE and I still like it.

I like what it does for the folks who need help, I like it a lot.

I like that it rolls back the unconsciencable Bush tax cuts for those who earn more than 250K.

I like it. I want it.

My co-worker whose family grosses more than 250K hates the Obama plan. Because she wants to buy another SUV with the money McCain will save her. Yeah. Nice. What she doesn't understand is that her taxes will probably go up under McCain because he'll tax her health care bennies. Good luck explaining it to her, I've tried.

There are so many with so little and so few with so much. I think that Obama's plan is fair and reasonable. Also, it's fiscally conservative.


Health Care, Energy, Tax Plan. Three down, more to come.

Reason 2

Why I'm voting and walking and calling and writing for Obama/Warner/RhymesWithSeder. Part two of a series:

Energy

Drill baby drill is not an energy policy. Looking for ways develop and promote renewable energy sources and to conserve what we've got? That's an energy policy.

One of the things that really frosts my cookies about the current administration and the backers thereof is the sheer waste. Particularly the waste of the opportunity given by 9/11 to shake us out of our routines and promote energy independence. Victory gardens in every yard and solar panels on every roof! And instead our bozo-in-chief told us to go shopping. Yeah. Nice.

Imagine what we could do to change our energy landscape if we had a president who cared about anything other than putting more money in his friends' pockets. Imagine investment in public transportation, solar and wind power, geothermal, non-toxic insulation, telecommuting, sidewalks and bike paths. And if all that helps slow down global warming at the same time, that's just icing on the cake!

So. Health care. Energy. Two down. More to come.

Reason 1

Why I'm voting and walking and calling and writing for Obama/Warner/RhymesWithSeder. Part one of a series:

Health Care

We've spent the last few years paying for private insurance. And people, let me tell you, it's expensive. MM and I are on one policy and MS is on another. To keep our payments to a reasonable level, we agreed to $40 co-pays, which shocked the crap out of the receptionists at our GP and Pediatrician's offices.

Here I have to pause to let you know that MS is a bit older than I am. Even with us paying high co-pays and high premiums, getting private insurance for him was nearly impossible. One big benefit of working again is, well, benefits.

Health care coverage shouldn't be a crap shoot. Doctors appointments should not be luxuries available only to the lucky covered few. And there shouldn't be life-time maximums for coverage either. Remember when Annika was in danger of losing her insurance coverage a couple of years ago?

Our country pays more for health care coverage than any other country and we have fewer people covered than any of the other industrialized nations. That is a crime. Why can't we put all that expenditure into something that will cover everybody? Most of us who already pay into an insurance policy would never even notice the difference. It would put our businesses on an equal footing with those in countries with nationalized health care.

Now, there's a woman I work with who disagrees with me. She's voting for McCain because she doesn't feel the need to share more of the over $250K her family earns annually. Why should she carry the burden for the lazy asses who aren't working as hard? She pulled herself up, so can they. Yeah. Nice. I pointed out to her that if the burden were taken off of our employer to insure all of us, we might get paid more. No dice. Sigh. Updated: Kathy A. drew my attention to more McCain shenanigans. I HAVE to tell my coworker about this. Taxing employer benefits and reducing protections for all.

I just feel that I'm willing to pay more to make sure everybody is covered regardless of age or health status. I'm willing to pay more to make sure that no one has to choose between a doctor's visit and a meal, a dentist's visit and rent, a pair of glasses and a pair of shoes. I'm willing to pay more, but I'm also willing to bet that compared to what I was paying insuring myself privately, I'll be paying less.

Walking

For Obama. For Warner. And for RhymesWithSeder (tryin' to keep it semi-anonymous here).

It was a good walk: first-floor-entry town homes and 3-story apartment buildings, not too challenging for the tootsies. The first door was a Strong Obama Voter. She'll probably volunteer. Then there were a bunch of not homes, about 30 in a row. There were a couple of Leaning Obamas who had never heard of the other two. One "No Thank You." One Leaning Republican (according to his wife). One "Not interested, go away." One "they don't live here anymore." (I asked that one if he'd registered since moving in!) A couple of realtor key boxes.

I knocked on 64 doors in less than 3 hours. Left lit at most. It was a good day.

XXL

Had to buy new shirts because the ones I bought back in the Spring shrank in the wash and are gapping (at least, I'm pretty sure it's shrinkage...though what with the ever-expanding nature of my rack, who knows?)

I bought 'em in XXL, on the theory that if they shrink they'll still be big enough.

Poll

What do you think should get priority in a school system?

Your choices are:

a) Large High School campuses with room for football and soccer fields*
b) Lots of technology including interactive white boards in every classroom
c) Full-day Kindergarten system-wide

Pick two.

*For extra-curricular team sports ONLY. These fields are not, repeat NOT, for use during recess. Recess not included in HS anyway. Nor are they for use by kids not involved in team sports as places to play, say, Ultimate Frisbee or capture the flag or what not outside of school hours.

Just another day

Like last year

Adventures in brown bagging - Uh oh Spaghetti-Os edition

It's hard to eat the same lunch at the same time when one of said lunchers has asked for crappy food.

MM was disappointed to hear that I, his mama, would be eating a different lunch, albeit at the same time. "But...but...mama, don't you like Spaghetti-Os?"

No, my little man. I Do Not Like Spaghetti-Os. Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee Beef Ravioli, yes. Spaghetti-Os, no.

"So what are YOU bringing for lunch today?"

I have a lovely veal cutlet sandwich made with leftovers from last night (Wegman's hormone-free, pen-free veal).

"But...but...mama. That's not what I'm having."

I know. You, you my little man, are having exactly what you asked for. (shudder) Spaghetti-Os with meatballs. Enjoy them.

"(Big sigh) Alright. But you don't know what you're missing."

Security Blanket Sweatshirt

When I brought MM to his new school last week to meet his teacher and see his classroom, I also bought him a hooded pocket sweatshirt with the name and mascot of his school in the school colors across the front.

He loves that sweatshirt.

The first day of school, he wore it and felt confident and part of things.
The second day of school, he wore it and felt confident and part of things.
The third day of school we couldn't find it.

Oh No! Mommy! I don't want to go! Come with me!

Last night, MS found it (in the cabinet of MM's new desk...yeah, that's where I would have put a beloved sweatshirt too. Sheesh).

Today, he wore it and felt confident and part of things.

I have a feeling that come June that sweatshirt will have been loved to pieces. Perhaps I should buy a few spares.

Adventures in brown-bagging

Today MM and I both brought our lunch.

MM has a Salami/Bologna/Swiss Cheese sandwich on white. No mayo. No mustard. Cut into two triangles. No crusts. He also has a side of Fritos, 2 chocolate chip cookies, and a fruit punch. I also sent a cloth napkin to make up for the juice pouch.

I have a Salami and Swiss on white cut into squares with mayo AND mustard. Crusts left on. Leftover guacamole and some corn chips. I have a cloth napkin to make up for the bottled water I'm going to buy.

MM is totally excited that we're going to be eating practically the same lunch! It's almost like eating lunch together! Woot!

My job so far has involved a lot of paperwork. I love my commute. Love. It.

What he likes best

1. Eating his lunch that he brought from home in the cafeteria.
   He's never brought lunch from home OR eaten in a school cafeteria before. He LOVED it. Today he brought lunch again, but he's going to BUY ice cream. He's totally into it.
2. Walking to class BY HIMSELF after getting off the bus.
   That's new, too. Never happened in a place where there weren't bedrooms before.
3. Taking the bus. He really liked that alot.
4. Everything.

First grade orientation/Back To School Night

Thursday afternoon, I took MM to meet his new teacher and see his classroom. He was so excited. He loved the classroom, loved that he gets his! Very! Own! Desk! With his name on it, even! He loves that there's a shelf underneath it with books! Already! He loves that his teacher put together a get-to-know-your-classroom scavenger hunt and that he was one of the few kids in the class who read it and wrote his answers without any help.

On our way there, I asked him, "Do you think Miss B will be tall or short?"
"Short."
"Thin or fat?"
"Thin."
"Glasses or no glasses?"
"No glasses."
"Freckles or no freckles?"
"Freckles."
"Nail polish or no nail polish?"
"No nail polish."

He was right in every respect except freckles. She hasn't got any. She also looks a lot like his music teacher from Posh Place, so he feels comfortable with her right away and feels like he's got the ability to predict what life will be like in her class.

It seems that the curriculum may be more laid back at his new school than it was at Posh Place, but that he will be given more responsibility. That's fine with me as long as he remains excited about learning and mastering new things. The focus will be on literacy skills, which he already has in spades. They only get music, art, and Spanish once a week each --- Posh Place has them every day --- and art is really something he loves, so I'm hoping that they'll get time to draw in class as well.

And that's all there is to report at the moment...We'll know more after Tuesday!

Three Years

And The Post seems to have nothing to say about it if you look at just their home page. A search finds articles in their B section, but that's it.

Three years ago today, Katrina hit. Today Gustav is on its way. Has anything changed for the better about how the governments will respond?

"Marc Anthony! Have you gone insane?"

What we watched this morning:



MM just about died from the cuteness.

Loving my new employer already

Got an email with a link to a website where I could fill out all the paperwork (direct deposit, W4, I9, yada yada yada) on-line. And then I printed it out and also saved soft copies. All that's left is for me to bring proof of citizenship with me on Tuesday.

This place is on the ball.

Once they got all the probing done, that is.

Updates

• The lamb turned out really good, except that I over-cooked it. Next time I'll put in the probe thermometer.
• Speaking of probes, my past has passed muster and I'm starting work Tuesday.

Cooking from the garden - making it up as I go along edition

Today's experiment: Boneless Leg o' Australian Lamb in the Slow Cooker.

Ingredients from the garden: Mint and Parsley

Other ingredients include:
A 5.5 lb boneless leg o' lamb (including juices from the packaging)
6 cloves of garlic
1 can sliced carrots
1 cup wine
3 cups water
1 pkg onion soup mix (what's a slow cooker recipe without onion soup mix?)*
Olive oil

I put the olive oil in my largest skillet and heated it up. I took the Leg o' Lamb out of its package, poured the juices into the slow cooker and put the LOL into the skillet to brown on one side for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, I rinsed the mint and parsley and began taking their leaves off their stems and putting them into the chopper attachment for my stick blender (mine is older than this and didn't come with a whisk).
Then I turned the meat over to brown on the other side for another 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, I added the garlic to the chopper attachment and pulverized the garlic, mint, and parsley into a lovely aromatic mash which I scraped into the slow cooker. I added 3 cups of water and one of wine. I added the package of onion soup mix. I stirred. Added the carrots. Stirred.

I brought the slow cooker pot over to the stove and placed the meat lovingly therein.

I scraped all the brown yummy bits off the bottom of the pan and added them to the mix.

Put the pot back into the slow cooker base. Covered. Set to low.

I don't know how it's gonna turn out, but it sure smells delicious.



*I didn't add any salt since the soup mix is waaaaaay salty.

Gimme Fever

MM's had a fever since Tuesday night. Finally, finally, he's back to normal today so that we can go on a bloggy playdate with a fellow Whiner and her two children.

His illness made me miss lunch with APL, darn it, but we're rescheduling for next week.

His fever was one that the pediatric NP we saw on Wednesday says is going around and lasts about 4 days. It had no other symptoms (although now he's got sort of a phlegmy cough). He wasn't even very grumpy.

Thank goodness my job DIDN'T start last week so that staying home wasn't an issue.

Oh! And my job won't start next week either, because they haven't finished digging into my past yet. The things we go through to get a job around here.

Practice makes perfect

I don't know if I've told you folks, but MM will be riding the Big Yellow Bus pretty soon. Kind of ridiculous since his school is within walking distance of our house, but necessary since it is beyond where the sidewalk ends. To get to school using a path with sidewalks would mean walking a mile around the school and coming in from the opposite direction.

Thus, the bus.

It will arrive on our corner every weekday morning at 0729 starting two weeks from today.

We are used to waking up at 0730. You see the problem.

So this week we're practicing. We all wake up somewhere around 0700, get dressed, eat breakfast, walk to the bus-stop (right across the street from our house), wait until 0729, and then go back indoors to play with PlasticBricksFromHolland until it's time to go to day camp.

It's already pretty obvious that we're going to have to move the wake up time up a bit. MM was unable to finish eating breakfast within the time-frame we've currently got.

This means an earlier bedtime. Which means an earlier dinner.

Feh.

But he's pretty darn excited about it all. Come to that, so am I!

I've heard differently

I had to go pee in a bottle again because the lab goofed and did the wrong test.

The good news is: I don't have gestational diabetes. Which is truly a relief, since I'm not pregnant.

Start date a week from Monday, unless I hear differently.

I seeb to hab a code.

Bery bery addoyig.

I stard by dew job Mudday, udless I hear differed.

How's by you?

Yes, I counted

We just bought MM a 700-piece box of Legos. They fit into a smallish shoe-box. Who'd've guessed?

Eerie silence

My computer has been snarling at me, despite many reboots. MS comes along, reboots it, now it works.

Must catch up on email and whatnot. Be back soon.

Whoa

The world is spinning too fast.

MM, who is now sporting the classic 6-year-old smile (great big gap there in the middle where two teeth used to be), is going to sleep over at DeepVoicedFirstGrader's house tomorrow night. The following three nights he will spend at my SIL's house. Because MS and I will be at a conference in CityWithFamousIslandPrison, 3000 miles away.

For four days.

MM is staying at DVFG's house tomorrow night because MS and I are leaving on a 0705 plane and MM's daycamp doesn't open until 0630. DVFG's mom will take them both to daycamp later in the morning.

He's been looking forward to staying with SIL for months. MONTHS. And not just because my BIL has every Lego Star Wars kit known to man-kind.

But I am sitting here, filled with wonder that my baby is a gap-smiled six-year-old who is going off on sleep-overs, and wondering what the hell I'm thinking leaving my baby for 4 days. MY BABY.

He's such a big kid now.

Is it just me or is blogger being difficult today? UPDATED

It's coming up as a Windows Explorer error for me. I can't read anybody's posts from today. Is it just because I'm the last to still be using Uncle Bill's software instead of Firefox?

Update: I downloaded and installed Firefox and everything is now hunky-dory. However, I think Blogger would do well to check that puppy out.

I GOT THE JOB!!!

I'm gonna work Five Minutes From My House!

Squee just doesn't even say it.

Thank you all for thinking of me during the interview. It really made me feel supported.

SQUEEEE!

I have a follow-up interview with FMFMH tomorrow at 0830. Meanwhile, sitting in my e-mail inbox is the offer letter from PIUTW. With an offer of 2,500 more than I expected.

I AM FREAKING OUT.

Errrrg!!!

PlaceIUsedToWork seems to want me. I called up FiveMinutesFromMyHouse to let them know that I'll be getting an offer letter from PIUTW but I'd drop PIUTW in a hot New York minute if FMFMH would hire me. Pleasepleasepleaseplease I said. Well, no, actually, I didn't. But I thought it. They are going to pass the urgency up the chain and let me know.

MM and I love riding trains. Did I tell you that?

We have two zukes and several green beans a-ripening on their vines. Still no 'loupes.

Say "Hi!" to my sister, BalancingAct!

I can't wait to go up and visit again!

What he said, mark II

"I don't see why that bee had to sting me. I wasn't bothering it!"

"I'm not going to call that waterpark by it's name anymore. From now on, I'm calling it 'The Home of Bees'"

"Don't put that nasty smelly stuff on me! My stung leg will get better by itself!"

What he said

"I'm not wearing Superman on my butt! I'm wearing Superman's symbol on my butt!"

Hi Grandma!!! And interview updates

Everyone say "hi" to my Grandma who is visiting my blog for the first time!

FiveMinutesFromMyHouse went well. I reallyreallyreally hope they hire me.

SoundsLikeAMiniMarathon wasn't a good fit. Life's like that.

Mwah!

I have two, count 'em TWO interviews scheduled for tomorrow

One at 2:30 with SoundsLikeAMiniMarathon and one at 11:00 with FiveMinutesFromMyHouse! If I get that job I could bike to work! Heck, if there were more sidewalks in this suburb, I could WALK to work. Hmmm, I wonder if I know anyone in local government with enough pull to get sidewalks added? (kidding! Just kidding! Though I really do believe in the value of universal sidewalks.)

I didn't get the job

Boo.

But...I have an interview with another company on Friday and a nibble with a company FIVE MINUTES FROM MY HOUSE!

Back from my sister's!

MM and I had a wonderful time. MM caught a fish his very first time fishing. He jumped on a trampoline. Swam in my sister's pool. Fed the cats and the dog and the chickens. Politely asked the rooster to be quiet as, "everyone KNOWS it's the morning already! You told us a million times!"

I didn't wheeze. My eyes didn't swell shut or turn red or make me want to scratch them out. My tongue and throat didn't itch once. Zyrtec? Or allergies going away as mysteriously and suddenly as they appeared? I don't know, but I'm grateful.

10 hours each way on Amtrak with a six-year-old were a snap thanks to the miracle of a laptop with a DVD player. Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, Shrek, and Buzz Lightyear kept us company, with occasional breathers playing kanoodle and my travel-sized Othello. And walks to the cafe car for rations. And, of course, potty breaks.

MM would have liked to stay 10 more days, and I would have too, but I have an interview tomorrow and a meeting in Richmond Thursday.

But we're going back. And soon.

Meet Ngaio Marsh

I'm missing about four of them, which is strange, because I thought my collection was complete, but I'm guessing I loaned out some and never got them back.

Marsh, a contemporary of Christie, wrote 32 books, of which, as you see I have 28. Her books are delightful, better plotted than Christie. Well worth a read.

The first one I ever read was Death of a Dancing Footman (1947). Above, it's 5th from the left. Lovely old paperback with a heady aroma of Used Bookshop or perhaps Grandma's Attic. Delicious.

I remember the first time I read it. I was on Long Island with my grandparents in a house they were renting and I wandered into a little summer house near the vegetable garden (oh! those zukes!) and there were all these beautiful well-read vintage paperbacks. They actually had this very edition. The one I have, though, I bought at Murder Ink from a consignment of used books.

School Supplies: WTF Edition

SchoolAroundTheCorner Student Supply List 2008-2009
GRADE 1

1 doz. #2 pencils
2 lg. bar erasers
2 pkgs cap erasers
4 thin black [brandname] dry erase markers
1 pr. [brandname] 5" blunt scissors
10 lg. white glue sticks
2 boxes 16 count [brandname] crayons
1 box [brandname] colored pencils
1 box [brandname] markers
4 plain 2-pocket folders in red, blue, yellow, green
2 black marble composition books
1 box tissues
1 5x8 school box
1 roll [brandname] transparent tape (3/4")(refill - boys only)
1 box gallon-sized [brandname] freezer bags (boys only)
1 box snack-sized [brandname] freezer bags (girls only)
1 box quart-sized [brandname] freezer bags (girls only)
1 box unscented baby wipes
1 bottle [brandname] glue
1 infant sock

I was (and am) appalled, but I finally found out why they have gendered supply sheets. Kudos to the first commenter who guesses correctly. Also, kudos to first commenter to correctly guess why the kids are bringing in an infant sock.

Pictures!

Can be found here. Those arms sticking out of the front of the truck on the uppermost leftmost picture belong to MM and Me. The fellow in the suspenders in the uppermost picture third from the left is MS.

It was even funner than I expected!

I know, I know. Funner's not a word. But it was! MM and I were on the truck. I decided to forego the husband's name and just wear red and blue, since yesterday was about Obama/Warner/CongressionalCandidateWhoseNameMightGiveMeAway and not about us.

Too late did I realize that I had dressed exactly the same as Muffin Man. Red shirt, dark blue shorts for him skirt for me, white socks and sneakers. Dear Lord. But then, on the parade route, I realized that there were people much more match-y than us and they had done it on purpose. I felt much better.

MS was very dapper in modified-Southern Gentleman attire. He walked behind the truck with CongressionalCandidateWhoseNameMightGiveMeAway. And we all smiled and waved, smiled and waved.

And there were tons and tons of people with Obama shirts and Warner shirts and CongressionalCandidateWhoseNameMightGiveMeAway buttons. Far fewer McCain shirts, unfortunately far MORE CurrentCongressman shirts (people 'round here really like that schmoe) and not a single Gilmore shirt or button to be seen. Hee. I think Warner might just have it in the bag.

The Republican truck had a big elephant balloon on it. "Full of hot air as usual," said the vice-chair of our committee.

After, we had coffee and muffins on the porch of our elected representatives who lives on the parade route.

And then we went home and played 5 levels of Lego Indiana Jones.

The Fourth from a politician's wife's perspective

Tomorrow I'll be marching in the parade with the Obama section, wearing my husband's name emblazoned across my chest, holding my son's hand, and smilingsmilingsmiling.

And I'll mean it.

This country has been great and can be great again and I think Obama will help make it so.

For the past 8 years, this country has been headed by people who encouraged us to shop, fly, and drive rather than plant victory gardens, cycle, recycle, and conserve. We've had leaders who thought it more important that huge corporations get tax breaks than that children have health insurance. They've turned their backs on the suffering of flood victims and sent young men and women to die in foreign lands.

I hope that Obama will bring our young men and women back home, will face the tide of flood victims, will make sure that EVERYBODY has access to health care without having to make a choice between an electric bill and a doctor's visit. I hope that he encourages us to shop less and invest more, to buy bonds to rebuild our infrastructure (wouldn't it be great if every suburb had a subway? Wouldn't it be great if no family ever needed two cars?)

He gives me hope. I'm excited to march to support him tomorrow.

God, I hope he wins.

Censorship---reading to Muffin Man Edition

I was reading a chapter of The Four Story Mistake to him. I've never read this book before, but I loved The Saturdays (the first book in the series) and we'd finished that so I ordered this one and the next one, And Then There Were Five, from Amazon.

Anywhoooo, I was reading the chapter that is about Christmas week and one of the characters says that she wishes she still believed in Santa Claus.

I didn't read that sentence out loud.

I skipped it.

MM still believes in Santa Claus and I like it that way. So I skipped the sentence about NOT believing in Santa Claus and the book was fine without it. We finished that book 4 days ago and now we're on And Then There Were Five.

A new character has been introduced in this book, Mark Herron. He's being abused by the horrible cousin he lives with. And I'm reading it to MM.

We've been playing Lego Indiana Jones on the Wii, so I've let him see the movies and reassured to him that it's only pretend. People aren't like the Thuggees in real life (plenty of time to explain about Abu Gharaib and Auschwitz when he's older).

But I censor the idea that Santa doesn't exist.

In a world where grown people hurt children they're supposed to be caring for, there'd goddamn better be a Santa Claus.

I carry him

I lift him out of the deep bathtub. Wrap him in towels. Carry him to his room and cuddle him while he dries enough for pajamas. For one small half-hour, he is my baby. Everytime I carry him in my arms I think, "This may be the last time. This may be the last time. Smell his hair. Cuddle him close. Hold him tight."



One foot to go and he will be as tall as me. Who knows how many days I have left before he thinks he's too old to cuddle with me, too old to be carried, too old to be my baby.



I carry him and cuddle him and coddle him on bath night. Which is slowly becoming shower night, getting closer to the day when he does it all himself. Getting closer to the day when he no longer calls me mama. Getting closer to the day when he calls me mooooooooom, complete with eyeroll and head toss.



I refuse to hold him back, but I'm taking my chance while I can get it. I carry him, I cuddle him, I hold him tight.



For one small half-hour. My baby.

The fact is...(last post about this for a while, I promise)

That I really have no clue what I look like. I see other people and can tell them how they look and what clothes look good on them and even go to a rack of clothes on hangers, pull 7 dresses off them, send an acquaintance into a dressing room with them and be spot on about ALL 7 DRESSES.



I could be a personal shopper. I have that talent. I'm just sayin'.



But I have no real sense of how I look. None.



I'm still surprised to see myself in the mirror or on film.



The parts of my body I see most (legs and arms) look exactly the same as they did when I was 95 lbs and a Si cup. Let me repeat that..My arms and legs are EXACTLY the same as they were when I was 30 pounds lighter. They are what I see when I'm not looking in a mirror.



The rest of my body has changed and I can't tell what it looks like. Which is why I feel like it's two bodies sewn together: the arms and legs from the body I still think I have and the core from the body I really do have.



I expected my body to change as I grew older. I did. I expected that my middle would thicken, that things would sag or be less elastic. I expected I would wear larger pants sizes but that my bras would stay basically the same (if perhaps more supportive). Instead I find that my pants sizes have stayed static for the last...oh...8 or maybe 10 years (barring maternity) and my bras that have grown ever bigger. I didn't expect or want to stay looking like I did at 16 or even at 26. But I had a concept of what I would look like as an older person. I expected to look like my mother. I expected to have her body. Instead, I find myself in my Grandma Hilda's body, and she died when I was 5, so I can't ask her about her experiences. I don't know if her rack continued to expand forever.





Do you have a true sense of what you look like? Do you look like you imagined you would when you got to be the age you are?

Skinny legs and all

Blurry pictures of my bits and pieces. Bad light and a cell phone camera. Today I feel pretty congruent, all told, but I wanted to illustrate what I was talking about here.

Hi! See what I mean about the arms being overwhelmed by a superior force?

Side. Barbie arms.


Yes, those are my bony ankles.
Sometimes I feel like someone sewed me together out of two totally different bodies. But you know what? It's alright. My body is strong and healthy. I can pick up my son and twirl him around, flip him upside down, and tickle his tummy. Today, I feel beautiful.

And by the way, this is what 4'11'', 125 lbs looks like.

I can predict the future

MM is in Posh Place's summer camp. Their summer camp is basically four field trips a week with one day back at the Posh Place building doing a cooking project and playing in the fun sprinkler garden.

Last week - Thursday, in fact - the field trip was to the entry-level casino otherwise known as CEC (y'know, the place with the pizza and the very large singing rat). That morning I said, "Oh fireplace! He's going to CEC. He'll have a cold by Saturday."

We've emptied 5 boxes of tissues since yesterday. His nose is red and crusty and it has a constant flow of green goop coming from it. Thank God he's adept at blowing his own nose and likes the idea of carrying a box of tissues around with him.

Still, he has no fever. He's cheerful and energetic. The only symptom he's got is his oozing nose. So I'm sending him to camp tomorrow with a big pack o' Kleenex (tm) and antiseptic wipes. And chapstick. And I'll keep him home from camp the next time they go to that germ-infested starter home for gamblers.

Y-O-U-L-O-V-E-M-E

He enunciated each letter and smiled slyly. When I nodded emphatically, he went on...I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U.

And then I melted into a puddle of goop.

Bum Ba DUM PA Bum Ba Dum

It's now all Lego Indiana Jones all the time here. Generally much easier than the Star Wars games, except for Episode 2, Chapter 4. That one is a bitch and a half, let me tell you. We weren't able to finish it last night (and holy heck, I'd forgotten how much Young Sherlock Holmes stole from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom).

We're using strategy this time -- going through the whole thing on story mode AND THEN we'll take the points and buy something. Preferably something useful like invincibility, if they have such a thing in this game. And only one of each type of character. MM agreed that this made sense since story mode doesn't let you bring extra characters along anyway and he does like having invincibility when he can get it, yes he does.

And, aside from watching an episode of Gilligan's Island, anyone know of a good way to get the Indiana Jones Theme out of my head?

Cooking from the Victory Garden

Tonight it was Pesto made from 2 kinds of basil, parsley, mint, and romaine - all home grown.

The romaine is our newest AeroGarden crop and the basil, parsley, and mint are growing in big clay pots by our front door.

The pesto came out yummy, a bit milder than my usual due to the addition of the romaine.

MM had seconds.

Cooking With Emergency Rations

We try to keep a couple months supply of canned goods on hand, just in case of emergencies. Mostly they're things that need no heat or can be cooked over a sterno if need be. We started this practice about 6 months before Y2K, because although we knew that nothing was going to happen on Y2K, we thought that people might panic just BEFORE it, and that therefore there might be a run on groceries.

We're planners, we are.

The key to good emergency rations is they've gotta be something you'd eat anyway. Otherwise you're going to be throwing out a ton of expired food and waste is Not A Good Thing. You need to circulate through your rations and replace them periodically.

Sunday night, I produced an Emergency Rations Casserole that was a rousing success. MM asked for seconds. He then asked for thirds. He PRAISED THE PEAS. First time EVER.

So here, with no further ado, is my recipe for Emergency Rations Casserole:

To serve 4, you will need...
1/2 package regular spaghetti
Butter or Olive Oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 can Snow's Turkey
1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 can Le Seour Peas
Milk
Freshly Grated Parmesan (though the Kraft stuff will do)
Bread crumbs
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cook the spaghetti. While it is cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet and saute the onion and garlic until soft and translucent. Add the turkey. Stir until the turkey is broken up and thoroughly infused with the lovely aroma of onion and garlic. Add the soup. Stir. Add the peas. Stir. Add some milk. Stir. Turn off the heat so the peas don't over cook. For God's sake, don't overcook the peas!

Drain the spaghetti and place it in a greased casserole (I use my round brown pyrex). Pour the turkey/soup/peas mixture mostly into the middle and poke it around with a spoon to get the sauce well mixed into the middle, but leaving the noodles around the outside kind of sauceless*. Now pour more milk over the whole thing. Then sprinkle the top all over with the cheese and breadcrumbs.

Bake for 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown and some of the noodles are on their way to being crunchy.

Serve immediately.

Don't expect leftovers.

*Joy of Cooking uses this technique in the recipe for Turkey Tetrazini, which this dish slightly resembles in flavor.

The Horror! The HORROR!

Today I drove MS to the Metro station so that he could go into DC for a meeting and I spent my time waiting to pick him up wandering about The Big Mall That Has The First Ever LL Bean Store Outside of Maine.

Dear Lord. The 70's are back. And they're out for revenge.




If you ever catch me wearing any of that, you have my permission to shoot me.

Talking, once again, about the tatas

Bad body image day. I'm guessing I'll get a visit from the crimson tide tomorrow.
From the front, I seriously look ginormous.
l( )( )l

the little l's at the sides are the outer edges of my Olive Oyl arms.

But I realized the other day that from the side, I look much much smaller

l l l )

The three l's are supposed to be my back and Olive Oyl arms.

So the impact of my front-view is, in great part, due to the fact that the breasts mostly obscure my practically non-existent upper arms.

Not that G is not ginormous, it is. But G in combination with upper arms that have the same circumference as a soda can is...an odd pairing indeed.

Add in some narrowish shoulders and it's no wonder that I have a hard time buying clothes.

When I look at my front-view in the mirror I don't see a body, I see a collection of parts. It's like looking at branches, leaves, trunk and never seeing a tree.

When I look at myself in profile, I see myself as a whole. I am not a collage, I am a sculpture, made from one marble slab.

I'm 39. How old do I have to be to feel at peace with my body?

It was a three-hanky event.

V E R K L E M P T.

An announcement

"Please join us for Kindergarten Graduation

As we celebrate

Posh Place's Class of 2008

Thursday June 12, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

Large Auditorium, 11111 Down The Rd.,

My Neighborhood, VA.

Refreshments to Follow.

Please RSVP to Sweet Director"

They are going to wear caps and gowns, people. CAPS and GOWNS!!!!

I'm not ready.

Today was Primary Day here in VA

And I was at the polls for oh...about 5 hours. In 100 degree heat. Yahg.

I stayed relatively cool, though. I stayed in the shade waiting for the pathetic number of voters to show up, and had a big jug of icewater and iced juice pouches and a wet washcloth in the cooler bag with the ice packs and salted cashews to replace the saline lost through sweat and sunscreen and an umbrella.

And two books.

I was out there from 9-10:30 and from 3:30 to 7:00. The whole day, only 136 people came to vote at the precinct I was at. 56 Dems and 70 Republicans.

The wet washcloth was wonderful. It actually had little ice crystals on it!

My guy lost. I am so bummed. He tied at my precinct and he won my county, he just didn't get enough votes in the other parts of the congressional district. So we're stuck with a very nice woman who lost last time by 16 percentage points. Sigh. Though she's raised over a million dollars so maybe she's got a chance this time.

I still think my guy would have had a better chance against our Bush-lite Congressman-for-life.

Eep!

I might be going back to work on the contract I was working on when I started this here blog. The folks who had it originally (and who I worked for for two years) won it back from the company who won it from them (and who I worked for for two years) and they're looking for folks who've worked on it and want to come back.

But the commute may be nasty. I'll have to work out how to get there on mass transit, 'cause friends? I am NOT putting off grad school just to pay for the gas it takes to get to work.

As seen at Ham-I-Am

Capture the Moment. Rules: Take a picture of yourself RIGHT THIS MINUTE.

Hi! Please to notice that it is right humid here abouts. Thus the little curlies.

And here is a picture of me from yesterday.

I was soaked. Just a few moments before, I was standing under a waterfall thing at the Amusement Park while MM got dumped on.

MM

MM runs and runs and runs and runs and runs until he sees his friend being carried and then he wants to be carried too.

MM wins a teddy bear, picks the pink one, and then protects it from evil villians by wielding his imaginary light saber.

MM puts on an Avatar baseball cap and is immediately Ang, the last Airbender.

MM is bored by the hokey musical show that we go to see in the middle of the day. His friend (LovesHighSchoolMusical) loudly declares that she thinks being in the show would be the most wonderful job IN THE WORLD. LHSM's father comments to me sotto voce that LHSM is a wonderful dancer - amazing innate talent - but that, unfortunately, she has inherited his singing voice.

MM loves rollercoasters, the bangier the better. He's just an inch shy of being able to go on some of the bigger ones.

MM stands right where the 40 foot high HUGE bucket of water will dump out on his head. Then he does it again. And again. He is disappointed that he is an inch shy of being able to go on the water slides.

He runs and runs and runs and runs and runs.

It's raining, it's pouring

The power's out and thunder's roaring.

I hope this posts!

Genius! Sheer unadulterated genius!

MM and me on the train from NYC. He's the one in the shirt with the pocket. The colors are all as close to what he actually saw as his abbreviated marker pack would allow.

I'm having a few issues with the scanner at the moment, this was taken with my camera phone.

Ruminating on my hair

When I got accepted to Nearby U., I stopped cutting my hair. I wanted to grow it long for graduation and grow it long I did.

In November of 2005, my hair looked much like it does in the photo that is my avatar over there on the right. Maybe just a bit shorter.

Today it hangs down past the middle of my back.

I had planned to cut it right after graduation and donate it to Locks of Love or similar organization. But it's been two weeks and I still have it on my head. I'm not ready to give it up.

I was trying to figure out why. Why am I not ready to cut off this hot, heavy hair? Today I figured it out. Today it hit me, smack in the puss.

Because then, how will I ever get to meet Jo(e)? Only people with gorgeous long hair get to meet Jo(e). People like Phantom Scribbler! So first I need to visit Jo(e), then I can cut off my hair!!!

Fire! Fire! Fire!

This morning we woke up and we knew...

That for once we'd actually be able to make it to the local volunteer fire station's monthly pancake breakfast. So we went and there was much climbing about on the fire truck.

And then we remembered it was the OTHER local volunteer fire station's annual open house! With a helicopter! And rides on the fire truck! And a "fire safety house"! And sno cones! And face painting! And a breathing dummy that the EMTs use to practice all sorts of life-saving techniques on!

IT WAS AWESOME! (a direct quote from a six-year-old I happen to know).

And when we got back, do you know what we did then? We played Lego Star Wars.

Did I ever tell you about the time...

That MM first tried coffee? He was, what? Two? Three? I'll go with two.

MS had his big papa bear mug. I had my medium-sized mama bear mug. And MM had a wee little mug that MS had brought me back from Scotland along with a clay highland coo.

MM was so proud. The coffee was poured, the cream and sugar were added and stirred. MM's mug had about 20 parts milk to one part coffee, but he thought he was sooooo grown up.

MM (pointing to each mug in turn): "Mommy's coffee, Daddy's coffee, Muffin Man's coffee" and the way he said "Muffin Man's coffee" was just filled with import. He even did a head nod.

It was the cutest thing EVER.

And, of course, it's become a household thing. We recite it to each other.

This morning, MM opted for water with breakfast.

MM (pointing to each mug in turn): "Mommy's coffee, Daddy's coffee"
MS (after a pause): "What about Muffin Man's coffee?"
MM: "But I'm not having any coffee!!"

He's quite the comedian.

Thunderbolts and Lightning

I guess we're not going to the pool today.
Or the playground.
Or the zoo.
Or miniature golf.

Hmmmm...I wonder what we will do?

MM: "I know! I know!"
Me: "What?"
MM: "LEGO STAR WARS!!!"
Me: "Oh my! I would NEVER have thought of that!"

Annika redux

Hey folks. I'm sure you remember Annika. She's seven now and, after two years of relatively good health, is having issues again. Please go and add your good wishes to the others who are thinking of her and her family and pulling for her.

Traveling With a Six-Year-Old: Survival Gear Edition

Traveling with MM these days is a whole different kettle of fish from traveling with him even a few months ago. A few months ago, I would have brought a complete extra set of clothes and many, many more activities for him to do on the train. Here's what I brought this time:

• We were going for one overnight, so I packed each of us one change of clothes and one set of jammies. Next time, I'll pack a bathing suit for him, just in case.
• I brought a travel set of markers (a Hanukkah present from my sister 2 years ago), an art pad (high quality paper, a birthday gift this year), 5 little pirate dudes (not played with AT ALL this trip), Usborne's Big Book of Puzzle Adventures (I don't really recommend this one, the picture puzzles are often misleading and go for more complex answers than strictly necessary), a Yes & Know book, a Leapster with some games, a couple of toy cars, and some snacks. And, of course, The Saturdays (as I said yesterday).

Everything we brought fit into my school backpack and MM's little blue backpack. Yes, he carried his own toys and didn't moan about it once.

I carried the art pad and the books (they were too large for his small bag), he carried all the other activities and some of the snacks.

Next time, I'll bring fewer snacks. Even though the cafe car is expensive, it's worth it to go just to get out of our seats for a while. Also, fewer small fiddly toys would have been better. And why I ever thought toy cars would be a good idea, I'll never know. He loved playing with them, but they rolled off the seat-back tray 15 more times than was good for my molars.

So, to sum up: Yes & Know + markers + art pad + Leapster + The Saturdays = Gold Stars; toy cars = Bronze starts (fun for him, annoying for me); Usborne puzzle book = meh.

Random Bullets of Whirlwind Trip to NYC

1. MM is an artistic genius. He drew a picture of the two of us on the train. In the picture, he has a black magic marker in his hand and is holding a picture of two people (upside down to the viewer, right-side up to the picture of himself). He's drawn a picture of himself drawing a picture of himself. I am flabbergasted.
2. If you are ever in NYC and you've got your kids with you and its summertime, go to the Hudson River Park across the street from West Beth. There's a sprinkler playground there that is just fantastic. MM ran around there yesterday in his TMNT boxer briefs. We borrowed sunscreen from a mom who was sitting next to us.
3. The Saturdays is just as good as I remembered it when I was a kid and is a great book to read to a six-year-old with a decent attention span. We read 56 pages of it on the train coming back.
4. I love walking around Park Slope. What a great neighborhood.
5. MM is getting to be a seriously big boy. I mean, there was no whining. He was fantastic.
6. It's always worth getting a red-cap when you are departing from Penn Station if you are with a young child and you get nervous in crowds.
7. Canvas bags are great to keep in the car for many reasons. Not the least of which is they catch vomit quite nicely.

They actually answered!

I sent a modified version of the letter below to the nice folks at Tampax and got this note back the very next morning!

"Thanks for contacting us.
I'm sorry you're disappointed with Tampax. Our goal is to produce high quality products that consistently delight our consumers and I regret this wasn't your experience.
We rely on consumer research to help us understand what people want from our products, and as a result, our tampon was designed to be shorter and wider to better fit your body. The improved size and shape, along with the built-in back up skirt, provides better leakage protection than ever before. And we designed the new grip applicator to make insertion easier. Still, I understand you were dissatisfied with our design, and I'm sharing your comments with the rest of our team. Feedback like yours is important to us and will be helpful as we develop new products.

Thanks again for writing.
Tampax Team"

And so I wrote back thusly...

"Thank you for writing back! I really appreciate that you are trying to improve your product, but I think that you should a lesson from the New Coke debacle and leave things as they are. Bring the new design out as a different (new) size while leaving the old size alone.
Thanks again,
Mystery Mommy"

Sheesh. I'm guessing, judging by the quick turn-around on the letter, that I'm not the first person to complain about this. You'd think a company dealing with menstrual flow would know better than to mess with women who are already plenty cranky!

An open letter to the makers of Tampax

Dear Sirs (notice I am assuming you are men. You must be.)

This week marks my three-hundred-twenty-fifth period. I have had a lot of experience with various tampons, and I take my tampon buying seriously. I am a Tampax Super user. That is who I am. If I wanted to use OB tampons, that is what I would have purchased. Imagine my surprise when I bought a box of Tampax Supers (at Costco! The large box!) to find that my beloved Tampax Supers had been replaced by an OB-look-alike, only with an applicator.

Your new tampons are horrible. They slide out. They are not absorbant. They are worse than OBs even. I cannot begin to tell you how upset I am about this.

Seriously, I would prefer to use pads.

Give me back the quality tampons you used to make.

Sincerely,

Mystery Mommy

And they call this intelligent design?

1. Air pipe and food pipe share the same entrance. Hello, choking hazard.
2. Rh factor. I mean seriously.
3. Waste elimination and reproduction - this is a great go-together?
4. Speaking of reproduction...who thought up the idea to have the uterus ON TOP of the bladder?

Feel free to add your own thoughts on the subject.

"Crazy woman says 'what'?"

This is what MM greeted me with yesterday when I went to pick him up from school.

He was laughing all over himself about it and didn't understand why I wasn't. I wasn't laughing at all.

Several weeks ago, however, I would have laughed. I would have thought it was funny. But that was before Blogging Against Disablism Day and, especially, this post.

MM, however, kept on saying it. As six-year-olds will when they have a new joke. So after considerable thought about what I wanted to say to him, I sat him down and said this:

"The word 'crazy' is a mean word for someone who has a mental illness. Mental illnesses are when a person's brain isn't doing what they expect it to, and sometimes they need help for that. Saying, 'crazy woman says what' isn't being mean to the person you're saying it to...it's being mean to people with mental illnesses because you're using a mean word in a mean way. I'm trying not to use mean words. Will you try, too?"

He said, "I didn't know it was a mean word."

I said, "I think you did know, but you were saying it to tease ME, not to make fun of a whole lot of people."

"Yeah."

"Well, do you see why I don't think it's a funny joke?"

"Yeah. I won't tell that joke anymore."

Status Change

Today isn't really different from last Monday. Last Monday, I was studying for my exam. Sitting right here at this desk, typing in important points from the semester's notes. Today I'm working on my resume, typing in important points from previous jobs. but there is a difference. Last week, I was a full-time student. This week, I'm unemployed.


I don't know how I feel about this.

B+B+B+B+

3.55 GPA overall.

Cum Laude BAYBEE!!

My reindeer flies sideways

This was taken a few days ago. Pictures from today coming soon.

And History and Systems in Psychology make three

B+ again. This one I'm pretty happy about. I did poorly on the first two exams but got a 93 on the paper and a 93 on the final. I'm a happy, happy camper.

She really liked my paper.

So, three B plusses. Still waiting on my Technical Report Writing grade.

Grades gradually garnered (Updated)

One in so far. Counseling Psychology. B+. I was expecting an A. Must have done less well on the final than I thought.

Edited to add: Make that two. Statistics. Another B+.

Final final finally finished

Feeling fatigued, fantastic, forlorn.

Phew!

That's odd

I just got a thank you note from the blood donation center I gave blood to back in March. Seems they used my blood last week.

Anyone else ever get a thank you note for this?

Soft

Last night there was a college marching band, complete with drumline, on my roof. The rain came down in such heavy torrents, I was sure that MM would wake up and come running into my room. Amazingly, he slept through it.

Today the rain is still coming down, but so gently that I can't hear it on the skylights above my head. The flowers and leaves in the garden are plump and juicy, freshly washed, with little beaded droplets balanced delicately on them.

Drumming

BadumbadumbadadumbadadumdumdumdumdumBOOMdumdumdumdudmdumdbadadumBOOMBOOMbadumbadadumbadadumdumdumdumdum

Classes over, Finals coming up

Last class was on Saturday.

First final is on Thursday. I've got a paper due that day as well, then I've got a final on Saturday and my last final is a week from tomorrow and then Convocation is on Thursday.

BigSister is coming for my convocation!!! Her husband, BuildsBeautifulThings is graduating this weekend with his Bachelors in Architecture. He's in a cool program where he gets his Masters degree next year. I'm so proud of him! I wish I could be there but see final on Saturday (above).

But you better believe I'll be at his Masters graduation. Ayup.

Why do I feel like somebody's watching me? I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me*

MS shakes me to get me out of bed this morning.

Me: "Quit it, you're sloshing my bladder."
Radio Snooze Alarm: "...and it was all yellow"





*Because Madeleine is right, goddamnit.