I really heart 'Ruby' by Apples in Stereo. The song truly puts me in a good mood. No matter what, I always sing at the top of my lungs and have an extra skip in my step when I listen to that song.
Now, Lubbock, can enjoy their stuff, too ... Robert Schneider of Apples in Stereo is releasing a kid's album on February 17, 2009! I am so excited. I can't wait. It's called Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine. What a great title!
They've also got two tour dates listed, but it's no where near us ... so I'll just have to keep my eyes open. The count down begins!
I suppose I should add this ... the lyrics to 'Ruby' aren't exactly uplifting ... it's just the sound of the song and the 'ba ba ba' part in the middle that put me in such a good mood!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Tagged Photo
Jen had a photo tag and since I've run out of material to ramble about, here's mine. 4th photo in the 4th folder. Proof that I am in desperate need of a better camera ... mine takes too long to focus and so I either wind up with a photo of something one or two seconds after what I really wanted or a blurry photo. I've learned to embrace the blurry photo, however.This photo is from about a month ago ... Lubbock eating yogurt with a spoon. Me being very brave since I really hate messes. Really hate messes.
We've not had yogurt again.
Not that this is really on topic (I do realize I wasn't really on an interesting topic anyway), but tomorrow is the five year anniversary of when Kevin proposed. It's really insane to think that five years ago, we lived in Oklahoma City and couldn't even imagine what a kid in our life would mean. Now, here we are. It's been a really great last five years.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
The Almost One Week Break
I'm sorry it has taken so long to get back here, but I've been crazy busy with all sorts of social activities and as Lubbock isn't napping as long as he used to, something had to give.
Right now, Kevin is getting his oil changed, Lubbock is taking a nap, my mom (who is in town for the weekend again) is taking a nap, and I just completed the tedious task of calculating how much we donated to Goodwill last year ... almost $3200. Wow! That's a lot of clutter. More on clutter clearing later.
Let's go back to the beginning of the week.
The Frozen Back Seat
We found out just before Christmas that Kat had a cracked tooth. They were unable to do anything at the time because she had just had all her shots, so they said to wait until January and bring her in then. Our choices were to do a root canal (I think they said $5000, but I could be wrong) or extract it (a mere $250). I believe you know what I did. Anyway, she was beyond upset at having to go into her cage and peed all over the place, but I didn't notice the smell until we were already on our way to the vet. When I noticed that pee had leaked out of the cage, I was happy (yes, happy) that the weather was so frigid that day. The pee had simply frozen into little pee balls and were sitting on the seat. I simply wiped them up with a Kleenex! I've never been so happy for cold weather.
We were supposed to go to a play group that morning, too, but Lubbock was being B-A-D and I did not have the energy to try to take him out in public.
The Extreme Close Up
We went to the Red Oak Nature Center again, but this time with Jen, Lori, Hailey, and Sergio. We let them go crazy for about two hours and they loved every minute of it. I can't tell you how much I enjoy going there.
I was taking pictures of the kiddos running around looking at snakes and walking sticks and everything else and was zooming in and out. I took a picture of Lubbock and I, forgetting I was zoomed in. I like the picture anyway.
The Angry Volcano
Then Thursday morning came and my once monthly Mom's Together meeting. We're supposed to be there at 9:15a so there is time to drop off kids at the Kid's Together program and be back for a little chatting and breakfast prior to the speaker. Lubbock (aka my little alarm clock) decided to sleep in this particular morning. So, at 8a, I threw him in his seat for his breakfast, hopped in the shower, got out, put him in the tub, put the egg casserole in the oven to heat up, got ready, pulled Lubbock out of the tub, got him ready, put on makeup, pulled casserole out of over, placed in car, started car to warm up, put Lubbock in car, saw that it was 9:04a, thought ... "I can't believe I'll make it."
Famous last words.
I forgot that I told Heather I'd bring her grapes for her. So, take Lubbock back out of car, run into house, rinse and pluck grapes into a Ziploc bag, all the time, fighting with Lubbock that he need not be between me and the sink, anger building in me like a volcano (it's exactly what I was thinking right at that moment). But, we got back in the car, made it to the meeting and I was very thankful that anything involving moms and kids will never start on time.
Our speaker this month was Julie Barnhill. She was talking about mothers and anger and about her book, She's Gonna Blow. I thought it was quite spectacular when she likened anger to volcanoes, giving examples of explosions and lava and words spewing out of a mothers mouth. I knew exactly what she meant. They then reminded us that in two weeks, they were starting a book study class on Julie's book. A six week course with free child care. So, I signed up. I need it. It doesn't hurt that they're providing child care, but that wasn't exactly the top reason.
The Gas Can in My House
I think I've mentioned this, but the vehicle I bought just before having Lubbock had been sitting around for a year or two prior. I drove it around for a while, never paying attention to the gas gauge (or how far I had been driving) as it was sitting above 3/4 of a tank. While driving around when I was 10 months pregnant, the car broke down. Fortunately, I was right in front of a mechanic. They looked the car over and after about 15 minutes, informed me I had run out of gas.
"But, I had 3/4 a tank ... how is that possible?"
They shrugged and told me where the nearest gas station was. They donated a gallon to the cause to get me there and refused payment, possibly thinking the longer they kept me on their property, the more likely the possibility of me having my baby right there!
A few weeks later, I was driving with Lubbock to show him off at my old office, when I ran out of gas again. I was tracking my miles, thinking that surely I could go 300 miles on a tank of gas (since that's what my last car got). Wrong. Again, fortunately, my good friend, Bill, was able to bring me a gallon of gas and we were on our way ... vowing that from then on, I would never go past 200 miles without filling up.
That was over a year and a half ago.
Thursday afternoon, I was running late for my doctor's appointment and thought, I'll fill up afterward. I made it to the appointment and as I was just thinking about filling up, I noticed that my needle was down at 1/4 of a tank. Is it possible that it fixed itself (something my mechanic told me was possible, but I had given up hope of)? I called Kevin and told him of the amazing event of the day. I then called my sister and started planning our afternoon together.
Sputter, sputter. Heart dropping.
I ran out of gas. I was able to pull off the busy road, but not able to make it to the gas station (about another 1/2 mile up the road). I had not worn my coat on this balmy 30 degree day and was wearing my cute loafers with no socks. I had also cleaned out my car, leaving my gas can at home. Could this have happened at a worse time?
I called Kevin and he informed me that he was too busy to help ... hmph. Called my sister, but she is extremely nervous about driving outside of her comfort zone and this was way outside. Heather couldn't help because she had Lubbock, so one more kid than car seat. Who else? All my friends with school aged children were likely picking them up or waiting for them to come home. I called Kevin again. He finally agreed that he could come get me, swearing that I could not have possible run out of gas if I only drove 240 miles. But, that's exactly what happened. I love my car, but not it's quirky habit of running out of gas.
The Scrapbooking Forest
Yesterday, I was determined to get my side of the playroom in order. I organized (and yes, purged) all my paper, envelopes, magazines, and stamps. I believe after going through all this, I am responsible for a small forest. I'll make up for it on Arbor Day.
I organized it in two separate file containers. I used ROY G. BIV! With additional folders for white, pink, brown, black, metallic, and patterned. I put paper in one and envelopes in another. Please ... all my local friends ... should you need white envelopes, take mine! I'm overloaded.
The good news is that the room is almost ready for the computer to go down there and I can walk into my area. I still need to pare down my magazines and pictures, but that's a project for another week. I'm proud of the progress I've made so far.
I hope to not have another one week break, but I've also got lots going on around here. I'm considering my Great Aunt Jan's advice to join Fly Lady. It looks like a great step-by-step plan to get control of your home life, but I've been making such great strides that I think I might wait until all the big projects are completed around here.
Right now, Kevin is getting his oil changed, Lubbock is taking a nap, my mom (who is in town for the weekend again) is taking a nap, and I just completed the tedious task of calculating how much we donated to Goodwill last year ... almost $3200. Wow! That's a lot of clutter. More on clutter clearing later.
Let's go back to the beginning of the week.
The Frozen Back Seat
We found out just before Christmas that Kat had a cracked tooth. They were unable to do anything at the time because she had just had all her shots, so they said to wait until January and bring her in then. Our choices were to do a root canal (I think they said $5000, but I could be wrong) or extract it (a mere $250). I believe you know what I did. Anyway, she was beyond upset at having to go into her cage and peed all over the place, but I didn't notice the smell until we were already on our way to the vet. When I noticed that pee had leaked out of the cage, I was happy (yes, happy) that the weather was so frigid that day. The pee had simply frozen into little pee balls and were sitting on the seat. I simply wiped them up with a Kleenex! I've never been so happy for cold weather.
We were supposed to go to a play group that morning, too, but Lubbock was being B-A-D and I did not have the energy to try to take him out in public.
The Extreme Close Up
We went to the Red Oak Nature Center again, but this time with Jen, Lori, Hailey, and Sergio. We let them go crazy for about two hours and they loved every minute of it. I can't tell you how much I enjoy going there.
I was taking pictures of the kiddos running around looking at snakes and walking sticks and everything else and was zooming in and out. I took a picture of Lubbock and I, forgetting I was zoomed in. I like the picture anyway.
The Angry Volcano
Then Thursday morning came and my once monthly Mom's Together meeting. We're supposed to be there at 9:15a so there is time to drop off kids at the Kid's Together program and be back for a little chatting and breakfast prior to the speaker. Lubbock (aka my little alarm clock) decided to sleep in this particular morning. So, at 8a, I threw him in his seat for his breakfast, hopped in the shower, got out, put him in the tub, put the egg casserole in the oven to heat up, got ready, pulled Lubbock out of the tub, got him ready, put on makeup, pulled casserole out of over, placed in car, started car to warm up, put Lubbock in car, saw that it was 9:04a, thought ... "I can't believe I'll make it."
Famous last words.
I forgot that I told Heather I'd bring her grapes for her. So, take Lubbock back out of car, run into house, rinse and pluck grapes into a Ziploc bag, all the time, fighting with Lubbock that he need not be between me and the sink, anger building in me like a volcano (it's exactly what I was thinking right at that moment). But, we got back in the car, made it to the meeting and I was very thankful that anything involving moms and kids will never start on time.
Our speaker this month was Julie Barnhill. She was talking about mothers and anger and about her book, She's Gonna Blow. I thought it was quite spectacular when she likened anger to volcanoes, giving examples of explosions and lava and words spewing out of a mothers mouth. I knew exactly what she meant. They then reminded us that in two weeks, they were starting a book study class on Julie's book. A six week course with free child care. So, I signed up. I need it. It doesn't hurt that they're providing child care, but that wasn't exactly the top reason.
The Gas Can in My House
I think I've mentioned this, but the vehicle I bought just before having Lubbock had been sitting around for a year or two prior. I drove it around for a while, never paying attention to the gas gauge (or how far I had been driving) as it was sitting above 3/4 of a tank. While driving around when I was 10 months pregnant, the car broke down. Fortunately, I was right in front of a mechanic. They looked the car over and after about 15 minutes, informed me I had run out of gas.
"But, I had 3/4 a tank ... how is that possible?"
They shrugged and told me where the nearest gas station was. They donated a gallon to the cause to get me there and refused payment, possibly thinking the longer they kept me on their property, the more likely the possibility of me having my baby right there!
A few weeks later, I was driving with Lubbock to show him off at my old office, when I ran out of gas again. I was tracking my miles, thinking that surely I could go 300 miles on a tank of gas (since that's what my last car got). Wrong. Again, fortunately, my good friend, Bill, was able to bring me a gallon of gas and we were on our way ... vowing that from then on, I would never go past 200 miles without filling up.
That was over a year and a half ago.
Thursday afternoon, I was running late for my doctor's appointment and thought, I'll fill up afterward. I made it to the appointment and as I was just thinking about filling up, I noticed that my needle was down at 1/4 of a tank. Is it possible that it fixed itself (something my mechanic told me was possible, but I had given up hope of)? I called Kevin and told him of the amazing event of the day. I then called my sister and started planning our afternoon together.
Sputter, sputter. Heart dropping.
I ran out of gas. I was able to pull off the busy road, but not able to make it to the gas station (about another 1/2 mile up the road). I had not worn my coat on this balmy 30 degree day and was wearing my cute loafers with no socks. I had also cleaned out my car, leaving my gas can at home. Could this have happened at a worse time?
I called Kevin and he informed me that he was too busy to help ... hmph. Called my sister, but she is extremely nervous about driving outside of her comfort zone and this was way outside. Heather couldn't help because she had Lubbock, so one more kid than car seat. Who else? All my friends with school aged children were likely picking them up or waiting for them to come home. I called Kevin again. He finally agreed that he could come get me, swearing that I could not have possible run out of gas if I only drove 240 miles. But, that's exactly what happened. I love my car, but not it's quirky habit of running out of gas.
The Scrapbooking Forest
Yesterday, I was determined to get my side of the playroom in order. I organized (and yes, purged) all my paper, envelopes, magazines, and stamps. I believe after going through all this, I am responsible for a small forest. I'll make up for it on Arbor Day.
I organized it in two separate file containers. I used ROY G. BIV! With additional folders for white, pink, brown, black, metallic, and patterned. I put paper in one and envelopes in another. Please ... all my local friends ... should you need white envelopes, take mine! I'm overloaded.
The good news is that the room is almost ready for the computer to go down there and I can walk into my area. I still need to pare down my magazines and pictures, but that's a project for another week. I'm proud of the progress I've made so far.
I hope to not have another one week break, but I've also got lots going on around here. I'm considering my Great Aunt Jan's advice to join Fly Lady. It looks like a great step-by-step plan to get control of your home life, but I've been making such great strides that I think I might wait until all the big projects are completed around here.
Monday, January 19, 2009
The City Folk
Are you sick of me yet? I have a lot to catch up on ... so here we go ...
Nadine and Cormac visited us this weekend. It was really nice of them to drive out from the city since we're not very good at getting down there ourselves.
My sister graciously offered to babysit (or did I practically force her?). We went to our favorite restaurant, The Turf Room. I don't think they have a website, so the link is for a review that I absolutely agree with.
Kevin and I both ordered a glass of wine and while we were looking through the menu, we were brought a Chef's Tasting of chicken confit. I can't remember what sauce was served with it, but it was pretty yummy. (And impressive since I had never been served a Chef's Tasting before ... I felt very fancy!)
I ordered tortellini (chicken with spinach and cheese tortellini, pesto sauce, pine nuts, and goat cheese), Nadine ordered a coconut curry chicken pizza (it was the perfect amount of sweetness), Kevin ordered a New York strip steak served with a fried onion stack, and roasted fingerling potatoes (they tasted like at the last minute they were deep fried ... and you can't go wrong with that), and Cormac got the Turducken (I think mainly because he didn't know it really existed).
Everyone offered their dishes up for tasting and I tried it all except the Turducken. I'm just not that adventurous. He said it was good, though, and I'll take his word for it.
Then, for dessert (I've already had a creamy pasta dish ... what's a few more calories, right?) I shared a delicious bread pudding based on s'mores. It had a chocolate sauce and marshmallow on top. I'm regretting that I left some of it there because I would eat it right now.
Give me a moment.
Okay, I'm done. Oh, it really was heavenly.
So, if you're looking for a great place to go ... give it a try. My favorite part of the meal, of course, was the absolutely perfect company. I have so much fun when I'm with Nadine and Cormac. The conversation never dulled and I can't wait to hang out with them again. We'll have to get up our nerves for a trip downtown soon so we can check out their side of town.
Nadine and Cormac visited us this weekend. It was really nice of them to drive out from the city since we're not very good at getting down there ourselves.
My sister graciously offered to babysit (or did I practically force her?). We went to our favorite restaurant, The Turf Room. I don't think they have a website, so the link is for a review that I absolutely agree with.
Kevin and I both ordered a glass of wine and while we were looking through the menu, we were brought a Chef's Tasting of chicken confit. I can't remember what sauce was served with it, but it was pretty yummy. (And impressive since I had never been served a Chef's Tasting before ... I felt very fancy!)
I ordered tortellini (chicken with spinach and cheese tortellini, pesto sauce, pine nuts, and goat cheese), Nadine ordered a coconut curry chicken pizza (it was the perfect amount of sweetness), Kevin ordered a New York strip steak served with a fried onion stack, and roasted fingerling potatoes (they tasted like at the last minute they were deep fried ... and you can't go wrong with that), and Cormac got the Turducken (I think mainly because he didn't know it really existed).
Everyone offered their dishes up for tasting and I tried it all except the Turducken. I'm just not that adventurous. He said it was good, though, and I'll take his word for it.
Then, for dessert (I've already had a creamy pasta dish ... what's a few more calories, right?) I shared a delicious bread pudding based on s'mores. It had a chocolate sauce and marshmallow on top. I'm regretting that I left some of it there because I would eat it right now.
Give me a moment.
Okay, I'm done. Oh, it really was heavenly.
So, if you're looking for a great place to go ... give it a try. My favorite part of the meal, of course, was the absolutely perfect company. I have so much fun when I'm with Nadine and Cormac. The conversation never dulled and I can't wait to hang out with them again. We'll have to get up our nerves for a trip downtown soon so we can check out their side of town.
The Incomplete Playroom
I don't know when I'm ever going to get back to working on the basement mural, so I'm posting a picture of it as it stands ... incomplete.Lubbock doesn't care, so I'm in no hurry. I think his favorite part of the playroom is the teepee. He, Eleanor and Joey love to all get in and close it up and giggle. I don't know what they're up to, but I'm fairly certain they're plotting something!
Heather was brave last week, too, and bundled up her munchkins to come over and spend some time in the playroom. I took advantage of this and started to go through the boxes of previously mentioned cards and letters. It was nice to have Heather there to have a sounding board.
"Oh, who was this guy? I remember ... He was really nice ... I should keep this card."
Heather gives a disapproving look.
"Yes, a card from a guy I didn't instantly remember is obviously worth keeping. You're right, Heather. Off it goes."
All in all, I only kept about 10 things. So, I'm really proud of myself. I think my next big 'emotional' clutter purge will be my boxes and boxes of pictures. I need to get them all scanned and loaded onto a disk, but that takes time ... lots of it, so it's probably a project I'll save for when the desktop gets moved downstairs.
Anyway, I know I've been promising pictures of the playroom and kept thinking I'd wait until it's done ... but, realistically, I have no clue when that's going to be, so there it is. It's missing anything that's dark purple and the bridge section in the middle. Once all the color is up, I'm debating tracing everything in black. I haven't decided yet, though.
The Coldest Day
To all my friends in Texas who have been complaining lately about the cold weather ... Puuuleeez!This first picture is the inside of our front door. Frost. Ice. I'm aware that's a pretty hefty gap below the front door. We used to have weather stripping there, but I would find Lubbock face to the ground eating it. I figured it was probably better to have a gap there than allow my son to ingest ... whatever weather stripping is made of.
The second picture is the inside of a window. Again. Frost. Ice. Dang it's cold. I believe on this specific day, it was -32 (with a -50 wind chill) in Aurora.
That's a few miles away and usually the closest city on the weather report, so I go with it.Where the heck is the global warming everyone keeps complaining about?
We were very brave, though, and got out a few times last week. We went to a story time at Barnes & Noble and had lunch that day with my friend Meredith and her two kiddos. And we went to Target one day. (Is any week really complete without a trip to Target?) I went grocery shopping and worried about my groceries freezing if I stopped anywhere on the way home!
I'm not sure how much snow we've had, but it's plenty. I'll have to measure it later on today, but I'm guessing we've got about a foot of snow at least. I'm tired of it already!
The Fun Mirrors
Last week, Lubbock, my mom, and I went to Red Oak Nature Center. I absolutely recommend this to anyone around here looking for a free (yes, free) place to take your kids. They have so much to do. There's a room with mirrors that make you look short (or fat) ... fun for kids, not so much for moms. There's a room with live bugs, snakes, and turtles. Puzzles, puppets, and more education opportunities than you can cover in one day. Lubbock's favorite was the bees-in-a-box. They're dead, but he liked carrying them around and handing them to people. One room is decorated to look like the inside of a leaf and the next room is the inside of a tree. We spent almost three hours there and he never got tired. He was so sad to leave, in fact.
Another nice thing about it (did I mention it's free) is that hardly anyone knows about this place!
So, when our play group was there, we were the only people there and that's super nice because you don't feel like you have to keep your kids out of the other kid's way as much if they're 'stranger' kids.I can't wait for the weather to get a bit nicer because they have trails and a picnic area, so we could probably spend an entire day there and not get bored. I hear that it does get a little busy on the weekends, though, because they offer opportunities for boy scouts to earn badges. So, I recommend the weekdays; although, I haven't been there on a weekend, so I can't say for sure they're busy.
We liked this place so much, we're going there again this week. Oh, and it's free!
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