Treme: Homefront Log; The Early Days, Day 3

The day began in typical style. Colson was up first, followed by Bella then me. Matthew came and brought a pair of jeans for Colson's school party where they dressed as their favorite book character. Colson was dressing as Jack from The Magic Treehouse series. I asked him how he liked the jeans and he said he didn't like them at all and that he felt claustrophobic. By the end of the day though he liked them a little more but not enough to warrant me buying a pair for him.

Bella was up, dressed and ready to go in her cowboy boots, jeans and new t-shirt. She had her vest and hat in a bag which she brought down and placed by the door. I think she was a little excited about her party. wWe added braided pigtails and she was all set.

We walked to school, just the 4 of us. Everyone else has wimped out this week and driven. It was down right chilly though. I was dressed for running and couldn't wait to start so I could warm up. I ran almost 4 miles and felt great. I'm really looking forward to a nice long run on Monday. I may try for 5. It's strange how the longer I run, the better I feel.

I came home and cleaned the bathroom and had some lunch. I made a delicious grilled Haloumi, ham and tomato sandwich with jalapeno and cilantro mustard. Yum.

I hopped in the shower and began to ready my witchy self for Bella's party. I really had fun with my makeup this time: very dramatic eyes, hollowed out my cheeks and played up my wrinkles. The look on Bella's face when I walked in was priceless. She looked so cute in her costume. The kids really had a good time. They played pin the nose on the pumpkin, made bookmarks and had cupcakes and pretzels. I didn't dare go to Colson's class. I can only imagine the mortification of my showing up as a witch. He said his party was a lot of fun though.

I came home and washed most of my face leaving the dramatic eyes. I figured since I was going out later I may as well just keep it. I quickly changed and walked back up (alone again) to get the kids. I considered staying in costume to pick them up but I didn't want to embarrass Colson. Of course, I was telling that to the gang at pickup and Colson overheard andsaid it would have been cool if I was dressed as a witch! Go figure, I guess he's getting over his being embarrassed by me.

We came home and Matthew and Colson played legos and football while Bella, Emma and Annaliese wrote and illustrated a Halloween story. Jill came by to pick up the boys while I took Bella for her hair cut. She just got a trim but it looks much better - less shaggy. She and I picked up a chicken at SuperFresh for dinner and she picked out a few salad bar items for herself then we grabbed Colson on the way home. The kids were very excited for Hana to come and Bella hid to surprise her when she came in. They were eager to show her the back yard but Bella's thoughts soon turned to a movie. So they ordered "Monsters vs. Aliens" popped some popcorn and had at it.

I picked up Mom, Sue and Walter and we headed down to Mob Town theater. I bought a bag of props and a bottle of wine. We had quite a crowd - we took up the first two rows. When Parker walked in he created a stir and we all hooted and hollered as he walked down to his seat. He wore a blue dress, black wig, zebra bra and black low heeled sandals. He sat in the front row and got a nod of approval from Frankfurter from the stage.

Before the show started one of the actresses came out to give the lowdown on the show and the audience participation. She asked who the Rocky Horror Virgins were and asked us to come up. So, Ben, Alicia, Mic and some others came up on stage to be marked as virgins. We got v's on our hands in red lipstick but before she would write them we had to fake an orgasm. Somewhat embarrassing - poor Mic had to go first and he was right in front of Merey, Richard and Sophie. Then Ben went, right in front of Gran, Walter and Sue. Then it was my turn, I started but got too embarrassed to go to far. Poor Alicia just said, "I can't do this, my boyfriends whole family is here including his Grandmother." So, she let her off easy. It was really funny.

The show was great and the singing was really good. Jimmy played a mixture of Jimmy/Timmy which was really pretty funny. He looked like he was really having a good time. At the end of the show the cast invited people onto the stage to do the Time Warp. The narrator came over and grabbed Mom and took her up on the stage - she didn't do the time warp but they danced together. She really enjoyed it. After the show we were talking to various cast members. Jimmy was talking to the director and I wandered over in that direction and started singing what was on the radio. The director heard me and told me to audition for the next show. I asked him what they were doing and he said "Little Shop of Horrors" so I burst into "Suddenly Seymour" and he smiled. Maybe I will have to think about that.

Treme: Homefront Log; The Early Days, Day 2

Today began a little earlier as Colson woke up at 7 and was ready for action. Bella slept in a little. I did not. I joined Colson in the kitchen as he was finishing his breakfast. You've just gotta love a self-sufficient kid. He went upstairs to practice guitar and as I helped Bella pick out her clothes I heard a much improved "Don't Stop Believing" coming from his room. At guitar practice Tuesday, Matt taught him "Crazy Train" and "Fire on the Mountain". He'll be very well rounded in terms of musical genre.

The weather was pretty nice today, overcast at high 50's so we walked even though Bella insisted that she hates walking. It's nice to walk with the crunch of leaves underfoot. I returned home and attempted to clean the kitchen. I was distracted often. As I cleaned the table I noticed how dirty the outside window sill was. So I spent 20 minutes cleaning the exterior kitchen windows and frames. Of course I then had to do the kitchen doors as well. The phone rang a few times and the dinging of fresh emails caught my attention once or twice. Cleaning the countertops led to cleaning out a cabinet to make room for supplements which led to washing some water lined mugs to put in the freezer which led to wiping out the freezer. Finally though I did get most of the room clean. I took a lunch break and watched "Clean House" (go figure!) before heading to school for Finer Diner.

Siri stopped at Micky D's for the kids' lunches and she was kind enough to pick up some fries for Colson and me to share. He was thrilled. The kids were pretty well behaved and seemed to enjoy their prizes of Halloween themed erasers and pencils. Once back at home I organized some art fundraiser papers and reluctantly went back to face the kitchen floor.

My focus was better and I whipped through the task not stopping at the end of the kitchen though. I cleaned all the wood floors, then vacuumed the rugs. I cleaned the bathroom and butlers pantry too. I was on a cleaning roll. Nothing could stop me. Next, on to the upstairs. Well, maybe tomorrow. It was time to pick up the kids so the bedrooms will have to wait.

No dead animals on the way home today. Only Bea running amok with the kids trying to catch her to get her back in the house.

Ellen Birkenthal was waiting on the porch for us with a dress form her daughter bought at a yard sale. She no longer wants it and thought I might so she sold it to me. It's very old and a little junky, but I think I can make it work. Mostly, it's going to be a wicked and creepy Halloween decoration. I'm going to get some gauzy black fabric to make a dress. I think it will be a headless ghost of some sort. I may try to rig a sound effect in it too.

After homework, Bella headed over to Theresa's where she stayed to have dinner. Ben Stoner came and played with Colson and wound up having dinner with us. When Bella got home we all went to Old Navy for a shirt for Bella's costume. We then just had to check out the Spirit Halloween store after how creepy and scary it sounded from Ben's description. Thank heavens I didn't need to buy anything there. The line went all the way to the back of the store. We browsed all the scary and bloody items then decided it was time to go. Ben thinks the owner of Spirit "really thinks outside the box." He then described an item in the store that made him think this. It's a portrait of a man, but when you walk past it, the picture is of a skeleton. Therefore - out of box thinking.

We got home a little before 8 and I told the kids to head up for PJ's and teeth. The doorbell rang which creeped me out a little but it was only Mitch and Shane. Mitch is dressing as a country singer tomorrow for work and needed a wig and hat. So up to the attic I went and with just a little digging I found what she needed. Why I didn't get my costume out while I was up there I'll never know. I'll have to go back up in the morning though. Bella wants me to dress as a witch for her class party.

So, now they are in bed and I've still got dinner dishes to do - and no, I'm not slacking. The dishwasher was still running when dinner was over so I couldn't do them right away. I do not really like the whole cooking and cleaning of dinner. I took trash and recycling out today too. Heavy lifting can't be too far off.

Hope you had a lovely day. Goodnight.

Treme: Homefront Log; The Early Days, Day 1

So far, so good. Of course, he's only been gone one and a half days, so how bad could it really be. We spoke twice yesterday after he left and 4 times today. Soon, the video chats will commence and we can have dinners and breakfasts "together" on the weekends. I have high hopes that this initial separation will fly by and Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. Then he'll be home for Christmas and we'll drive each other batty by the end of the two weeks and he'll be off again. Of course, this is all speculation. I've got lots of projects in the Lodge and in the house to occupy my idle hours, soccer and homework, baths and music lessons and general child entertainment to occupy the others.

I shall now enter the days' activities for Frank's behalf so he can feel more involved in our day to day. It is completely understandable for the rest of you to want to ignore the rest of this posting as it will most likely be dull and uninteresting unless you were married to me or the father of my children. Read on if you wish. There will be no personal messages, gushy "I - miss - you" type entries and certainly nothing vulgar. At least not yet. Maybe later in these 5 months of separation, but not now.

This morning I woke sandwiched between the kids, Bella's elbow in my face and Colson's feet on my legs. Pure bliss, but tonight I vow to sleep alone. Colson hopped directly into the shower and Bella dressed and joined me downstairs. I opened the doors and was so surprised by the warmth of the morning. It was a little drizzly but there was not a chill in the air.

Matthew came in shortly and went directly to the basement for some Poptropica. Shortly after, as I was getting the lunches in the bags (the lunches I had prepared the night before - what a time saver!) the lights flickered on and off a half dozen times ending with full power outage. Colson exclaimed we had blown the circuit breaker but as all the power in the house was out, I assured him that was not the case. We opened all the shades in the house and the doors in order to let in more light, but as it was overcast, this was barely helpful. So, we dug through the dining room and found two candles and lit them. Matthew lamented the loss of computer when Colson joined us in the kitchen. At least he was able to finish his shower before the lights went out. I prepared breakfast and the children ate by candlelight. I tried to find a working flashlight in the kitchen, but since the kids use them so much to play flashlight tag, neither had any juice left. I put in new batteries, and even replaced a bulb in one but still neither worked. I have to remember to get new flashlights tomorrow.

I went into the dark basement and into the dimly lit garage and sifted through the camping gear until I found the bag o' flashlights. Thankfully, most of them worked and the kids brushed their teeth and played checkers and chess by their light.

Soon we were off to school. We walked even though there was a light misty drizzle (fo' shizzle). We spoke of Halloween and leaves and Bella told me what she liked best about fall and winter. Fall: leaves falling, Halloween candy, trick or treating, Halloween parties. Winter: sledding, hot cocoa, s'mores by the fire, friends coming over for parties after sledding.

I went for a 50 minute run and felt better than I have felt running in a while. I guess I need to go more than once a week. I came home and the power was still out which made me a little nervous about the fridge and freezer contents, but my worry was for naught when the power came back on shortly after. I had some lunch while finishing my library book - quick read, nice story - then I headed to the Dr.'s to pick up more supplements. My spirits were buoyed somewhat after she told me my dietary changes would most likely not be permanent. Here's hoping. I really miss eggs!

I headed down to Arundal Mills Mall to return something to J. Crew and meandered though Bass Pro shops hoping to find some fun thing for the Lodge. I didn't find the perfect thing, but I got some ideas from the fish mounts, bear welcome signs and deer wind chimes. I hunted down some perfect cowboy boots for Bella's costume and got her some new jeans with "Hello Kitty" on the back pocket - she's really into jeans suddenly - we'll see how long that lasts.

I got home with plenty of time to spare before picking up the kids. So I set about looking for the origin of the fruit flies. There are about 100 of them stuck to the fly traps I placed near the vinegar traps. It's disgusting, but I think they work more quickly than the vinegar traps so maybe this will stop them before they can procreate.

I walked up to pick up the kids - the weather now quite beautiful, partly cloudy and warm. The walk home was quite normal, though Bella made plans with Courtney and Caroline for later in the evening. We hurried home to get ready for Colson's hair cut, but first I made a quick stop off at the Collins' house to see Bitty's new gap-tooth smile. She had her two front teeth pulled. She was quite eager to show them to us in her new tooth box. She looks adorable.

We headed to Texture and I asked Marcus to cut is short but stylish. We looked through a book and agreed on a style that was short in the back but still long enough in front not to be above his ears. He looks adorable and young and I can see the toddler he once was if I look hard enough if he's not standing that is.

When we got home, the kids went into the Lodge to do their homework. Colson was on the couch already started when I came out. Bella was pushing a dead squirrel with a stick across the patio. It was a rather small squirrel, probably the one I'd been watching forage for nuts yesterday morning. He had no sign of any trauma: no cuts, not blood, no deformity. It was our second dead squirrel of the day in fact. In front of Dave's house there was a large dead squirrel with a broken rock next to it. Colson, CSI detective that he is, immediately blamed a few of the neighborhood kids for murdering the poor creature. I asked a kid from the Street With No Name about it. Sure, he'd thrown the rock at it, but it was already dead. Colson didn't buy it at first. But then we talked about how hard you'd have to throw a rock to kill a squirrel and how accurate you'd have to be in that throw and we determined that kids just didn't have that skill set and it must have been a car. Why throw a rock at a dead squirrel? Why not?

Back to the baby squirrel in the back yard: Not being a vet and never having before performed a necropsy, I decided it best to just assume the poor young squirrel had eaten something it oughtn't and move on. So I picked it up with some paper by it's tail and threw it into the woods. Bella was a little annoyed when I wouldn't let her do it but she soon got over it and began her math.

With homework completed, the earlier plans for a get together between Bella, Courtney and Caroline came to fruition. They played well together at first, but Courtney soon became somewhat weepy and cried at the drop of a hat. That combined with her runny nose gave me cause to put an end to one half of the play date. She seemed really tired and didn't balk at the suggestion of going home. So, I called Kerry and she soon came and got her.

Caroline and Bella continued to play as I began dinner and Colson finished up his homework.

He wrote a great story for reading homework. I'll have him read it to you tomorrow. He made up some really great characters with unusual names.

We had dinner in the Lodge while I attempted to start a fire with slightly damp wood - the open flew and the rain combined to thwart my scheme. But I prevailed with many a match, a few pieces of cardboard (from the box the bottle opener arrived in!) and lots of the fire starting goo. Cindy came to pick up Caroline soon after dinner and the kids munched on some Thin Mints while building club houses and staircases with the pine scraps. I foraged for a few dry pieces of fire wood to keep the fire going for reading time. The kids got into their PJ's and grabbed blankets and books and we read out on the new couch under the floor lamp borrowed from the den. I put Bella to bed (in her room - here's hoping she stays there) while Colson continued reading. I joined him and did a little fundraiser paperwork but he was growing sleepy so I helped him in with his things at sent him off to bed.

I poured a glass of wine and cozied up to the fire and did a little catalog shopping for a bit. Popped myself some popcorn and watched "Northanger Abbey".

And so that has us caught up on Day 1. Enjoy your evening. We love you and miss you.