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.

The trouble with Spring

Each spring as the grass turns green and the air fills with the heady scents of lilac and vibernum I grow excited about the season. Warm weather, rainy days, and blooming flowers combine to encourage us outdoors. I willingly go outside and take a deep breath, sucking in the newness to revive my soul. But when I come back in the house is when I remember what it is that irks me so much about spring. One little four-letter word sums up the bane of my spring: ants. Little tiny ants invade my kitchen each and every spring without fail. They are small, yet they come en mass crawling up and down the cabinets, across the counter tops and into the pantry. Sometimes they feast on the cat food, other times they find a open sweet on the microwave. But mostly I just see them running back and forth, not carrying any food to the nest, not really doing anything useful as far as I can tell. 

So, I put out my tried and true ant poison Terro. Sounds scary and intimidating. Should strike terror in the hearts of my little uninvited guests.  Typically the ants feast on the sugary syrup, return to the nest to poison the rest and I never see them again. But this year I think they've built up an immunity. They've been eating the poison for at least a month now and still they are in my house every day. 

I try to ignore them but that is so difficult as each time I open the pantry I see ants scurrying. When I use the sinks, ants run from the water. When I wipe down the counters, I swipe the little bugs into the cloth and rinse them down the drain. And they are not just in the kitchen. Oh, no. They've found a way in through the den where the cable comes into the house. They march across the carpet as I'm watching TV, searching for a crumb or a bit of dropped popcorn. 

It's amazing to me how many ants there are. How, no matter how many I squish, more keep coming in the house. When I vacuum the floor, sucking up ants as I go,  I feel as though I'm defeating them until I see them crawl back out of the vac later on. 

I have some options I know. Since the ants seem to be from an advanced colony immune to my poison, I could call in the big guns: Orkin or Paramount. But the thought of more chemicals in my house really bothers me. I could ignore them, hoping they will get bored with my food and go off in search of some high fructose corn syrup in some other house. 

Or I could just decide to peacefully coexist with them. That's probably what Buddah would do. I could see them for the amazing creatures they really are. So industrious and strong. So determined to find food and water. So f-ing annoying!!!

OK. The peaceful coexistence is not going to work. Anybody know a good exterminator?

Health Insurance Absurdity

The closer I come to turning 40, the more health conscious I become.  I try to eat organically grown produce. I rarely eat meat. I eat wild caught fish and try to stay away from the "bad" ones. I make healthy choices when it comes to snack foods skipping trans-fats and high fructose corn syrup. I rarely drink soda and if I do, I opt for one made with natural ingredients. 

After living this way for a few years, I decided I ought to make sure I'm as healthy as I think I am. So I scheduled an appointment for a physical. For those of you who know me well I'm sure this comes as a surprise. I haven't had a primary care doctor since my pediatrician. But, I made the appointment and went in for a checkup. The doctor thought I was in pretty good shape but wanted me to see a dermatologist for a skin check. I made the appointment and 6 months later, went in for my skin check (note to those who are looking to go into the medical profession - dermatology may be the way to go - these docs are seriously busy).

Immediately the doc noticed the large amount of sun damage on my face and arms. Fortunately she didn't see anything needing direct attention  in terms of biopsy but she did prescribe Retin-A for the brown patches on my face.

So, I took my prescription to my local CVS, dropped it off and came back to pick it up 2 hours later. It wasn't ready and the pharmacist seemed a little baffled but told me he'd call when it was ready. Well, before I arrived home he had already called. I called him back and he told me that the prescription was pending pre-authorization from the insurance company. It seems that the insurance company needed to talk to the doctor to be sure I really needed the Retin-A. Obviously a written prescription from the doctor for the cream was not enough proof that she wanted me to use it. They need to be super sure so they need to talk to her first. So CVS told me to call back in 48 hours and maybe everything would be taken care of by then. By then, hopefully, the doctor would have convinced the insurance company that, yes in fact she did want me to have it other wise, I can only assume she would not have written the script in the first place.

I wonder if this ever happens in the case of something a little more timely, say blood pressure medicine or asthma medication. Are there people out there being hospitalized while awaiting drugs requested for them? 

I also wonder if the doctor ever says, "Oh yeah, I forgot, I really didn't mean to prescribe that. Boy, it's a good thing you called, otherwise my patient would have taken something they didn't need."  I don't put all my faith in doctors of western medicine but I can't imagine a doctor is going to prescribe Retin-A unless she thinks the patient needs it. Strangely enough, I've been prescribed and received  Oxycodone a number of times with no further authorization. And that's a drug  I could sell on the street in a heart beat.  

I guess there is a reason for this delay and I'll probably never understand it. Hopefully this is not the kind of thing that happens in a more critical situation. And hopefully I can get my Retin-A soon and get rid of these brown patches so I can look as healthy as I feel. 

I ran yesterday and I passed 5 blonde haired women and 2  brunettes. One blonde said hello to me (I know her so it doesn't really count). Of the four others, only one nodded a greeting. She was easily past 60 and her hair was no longer naturally blonde so I'm not really sure she can count either. The 2 brunettes looked at me and one smiled, one nodded. The 3 remaining blondes though avoided eye contact. One looked straight up in the sky as I passed her. I looked too just in case there was a UFO or something interesting to see. But there was nothing more than the overcast sky. Before I approached her she was looking straight ahead, so I waved and nodded. That's when she looked up. The other two were walking together. I passed them from behind and looked over to nod my greeting. They both looked right at me and continued their conversation as though I had made to attempt at civility. I soon got to my turn-around point so I passed them again, this time head on. I thought I'd try the friendly thing again (that's just how I roll) but instead of looking at me as I passed within 2 feet of them, they both looked off to the right avoiding all eye contact. So, is it a blonde thing. Are brunettes friendlier? Are we more sure of ourselves and therefore able to see the fellow runner/walker as a sister in exercise rather than a competitor or perhaps someone to be ignored. I certainly will be conducting further research into this. I wish I had recorded the hair color of the people who ignored me last time I rode on the trail. Maybe I should call Cambridge University. I think I'm onto something here.

Shut UP!!!

My darling husband and I went to lunch together yesterday at San Sushi II in Towson. We came in from the freezing cold to  be seated at a cozy corner table. We ordered hot tea and soup and were soon sipping the warmth. It was lunch time and the place was pretty crowded but being seated in the sushi bar area is not too noisy as the padded walls absorb so much of the sound. There were two business men having lunch behind us. I hardly noticed them as they were not the type to yell their conversation, rather they sat conversing in quiet tones. Frank and I were having a nice quiet conversation of our own. 

And then, the loudest most obnoxious ring tone was heard. I wasn't sure where it was coming from at first as no one was moving to answer it. Then, slowly business man #1 dipped into his pleated khaki pocket and drew out the still-ringing phone. He looked at it and said,"Ugh." He continued looking at it as it continued it's nerve-jangling sound. He finally decided to answer it on the 5th ring. But the noise did not stop there. Oh no. He took on a completely different vocal quality from his conversation with his dining partner. I'm pretty sure the guys in the kitchen could hear him over the clanging and banging of pots and pans. He informed his caller that he was at lunch and I thought that would perhaps be the end of it. But he kept on talking. The conversation was not about any emergency. Children were not dying and he certainly was not a brain surgeon needed back at the hospital stat. He was making arrangements to watch a movie with this person later. And he would be sure to call him back as soon as lunch was over and he got back to his office so they could firm up their plans because that's what he was doing. "Yeah, I'm going back to the office. Are you going to be around? OK I'll call you when I get back to my office."

Maybe I was supposed to be impressed that he had an office. I'm not really sure. But I couldn't wait for him to get off the phone. He was talking so loudly that Frank and I were unable to continue our conversation. It was terribly distracting. Then, after a few assurances of calling back later. He hung up. He and businessman #2 chuckled a little about the caller and then went right back to a normal toned conversation. Which was great as Frank and I were then able to continue our conversation. Of course, I was inclined to talk about how irritating it is when people talk so loudly on their phones. And how annoying it is that people don't put their phones on vibrate when in a restaurant. And how I can't understand why people don't just ignore the call. 

I have been in the situation before where I've needed to use the phone when in a public place. If I can't ignore it, I excuse myself and go to an anteroom or outside. And if I were to answer in a restaurant at the table, I would certainly do so in the quietest tone I could. I don't really have a problem with people talking on their phones in public. My real problem is why they feel the need to raise their voice to talk. It's a phone, right next to the mouth. No yelling is really necessary.  I could understand if the phone were across the room. But it's right there connected to your face!!!!

Phew. I'm glad I have this forum to vent about things that piss me off. So, when I rule the world there will be punishments for people who use heir phones in a rude manner. It will be completely acceptable for me to do what I wanted to do when BM#1 answered him phone: Take his phone, hang up the call and yell,"Shut up." in his face. Perhaps it will even be legal to confiscate the phone of an obnoxious user. Kind of a modern-day stock. The offender will be publicly humiliated, condemned by his peers and unable to offend again without the cost of replacing the phone. I think that it would only take one confiscation to make someone really think long and hard about answering and talking loudly. Ah, I can dream can't I? 

Mi Fit

Now that the house is back together after a whirlwind Christmas/Vacation period I thought it was time to get this body back in shape. I could go to the gym but the thought of running indoors on a treadmill depresses me a bit. So I cracked open the Wii Fit Santa brought to us. I set up my profile and took the Body Fit test. This test rates your balance, BMI, weight and gives you your Wii Fit Age. I'm happy to say I'm 35 in Wii Fit years. I don't like that I'm only a pound or two away from being overweight though according to my BMI. I think Wii Fit is putting a little too much stock in the BMI. I'm not sure that's so accurate a measure as it does not take into account fat vs. muscle. But I now have a baseline from which to measure my progress. And I have a real way to track my workouts. each time you "play" Wii Fit, your minutes are charted on a graph. And if you miss a day, the animated balance board will give you crap for it. I worked out two days and took a day off. When I turned it on on the 4th day the board asked, "Too tired to work out yesterday?" I love it. A smart ass computer to motivate me.

In addition to the Body Fit test there are 4 Training Categories : Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics and Balance Games. For the Yoga and Strength Training you are given a trainer who shows you how to do each move and encourages you and gently tells you improvement is needed. For example, I suck at pushups and after I did what I thought was a good job on the pushup move she said, "I can see you're not quite strong enough for this move yet. Keep working out to improve your strength." Well, I'll show her. And I have. I no longer cheat and do my push ups with my knees on the floor.  You see, the balance board is constantly measuring the weight and when I was on my knees, it knew and wouldn't credit me for having done the pushup. They aren't pretty push ups, but I do get credit for them now. 

Another good motivator is the Piggy Bank. For each move or game you play you are awarded credits. These credits unlock new games, moves or increased reps or activity levels. As I run through all the Yoga moves, I may unlock a new balance game. I was overjoyed yesterday when I unlocked Snow Boarding. Frank asked if he could try it. "Oh, no," said I. Only I have unlocked it. And if he got on the board pretending to be me, it wouldn't work. So of course I gloated about all the games I had unlocked already and got the reaction I wanted. Frank signed on and registered his Mi. Now, he and I have a healthy competition. The Wii Fit tracks the standings of all the games for all the Mis registered. So we are now trying to knock each other out of first place in all the games and yoga moves. In fact, Colson topped my Hula Hoop status today and I can't wait to get back up there and kick his butt! 

All this competition can only be good for us. I know I feel good. I've got muscle pain in my abs and thighs that I have not felt in a while.

I think this Wii Fit is going to be a good thing and I hope I stick with it. The competition within the family and the encouragement from my trainer should be enough to keep me interested. And, I've still got a lot of games to unlock and master. I'll keep you posted.