Saturday, November 12, 2011

Oh, hello.


In between thinking of projects yesterday, I thought of something to discuss, but  it eludes me now, and that's not interesting.  So.

Meanwhile, I'm busy wrapping my head around Thanksgiving, which is suddenly here.  It's starting to be time to make a bigger deal of the holidays because Adeline understands them.  We're hosting here which just means two extras to feed, but there's that.

The Friday following, we're up to something.  So far the idea is to bring Thanksgiving to the in-laws.

Followed by a Saturday birthday extravaganza wherein I have somehow invited no less than 17 children to celebrate with my daughter.  How does she even have that many friends?  I don't even have that many friends.

So there's that.

The week following we have doctor appointments every day.  Badda-Bing.  Followed by a PPT on Friday to determine where and if our kiddo will be off to pre-school.

In the mean time, I'm trying to set up an office in the basement to get all that rolling, and come up with an interesting story or five to share here so that I'm not stuck writing about my busy schedule and meetings with teachers.

Monday, November 7, 2011

The Storm

Last Sunday after the snow stopped I went outside with my camera.  It was 5am, dark, and I had been listening to trees break and fall all night.

I only recorded for a minute because limbs were falling literally everywhere and it was dangerous to be outside, but for those of you who weren't part of this storm, here's a little bit of what it was like.

Friday, October 28, 2011

birthday eve

Egads.  I almost let a day get by.

Tomorrow is my Big Birthday Celebration, complete with a snow storm, errands to run, and those mother humping bookcases to move... yet again.  Did I say I loved them?  I meant loathe.

I may just give myself the day off, what between shoveling, shopping for a headlight, and tearing up the busted sacrum.  I mean, the levity of it all may have me in a joyous tizzy.

Sorry, it's the narcotics talking at this point.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Just for the Record

I can't WAIT until Halloween is over.

Adeline?  Not a fan of this holiday.  BUT, much like chocolate (she thinks she likes it, says she likes it, tries to like it, yet spits it out any time she has it in her mouth) she is excited about the idea of a costume any time a well meaning adult asks her what she's going to be.  She has made up several stories.

However.  My kiddo is one sensitive chick.  Today, in a store, she grabbed a hat and it bumped into a sword that made noise and she flipped out.  I mean, flipped out.  Noise is a problem.  Being startled is a problem, and faces that are not happy and smiling have always been a problem.

Halloween is not a holiday for Adeline.  Not this year anyway.  But, like I said, adults can't quite get their heads around it.  To say I'm not taking her anywhere is akin to child abuse apparently.  I've gotten stares and looks, and you know, I say, "who cares, it's what's best for her".  And of course it is.  And I would never do something against what I know is right just because of someones opinion.  My point is quite simply this:  it's hard.  It won't change my mind, it won't change my actions, but it's a pain in the ass to have so many of my moves with Adeline questioned because they're so different.

   

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Saga Continues.

The good news is that the bookcases are in the house.  The bad news is that they don't fit under the carrying beam.  And also, I'm spent from getting them through the door.

But, I'm writing.  So that's good.


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Bookcase Infatuation

I think every year, my Birthday and Christmas list have included bookshelves.  I really love them, second only to... I suppose... my books.  So, I'm finding it a little ironic that the same year that I aquire an e-reader, I also find myself in the posession of not one, not two, but five new bookcases.

And they're enormous by the way.

One is shorter than I am, but the rest dwarf me.  Two of them are arriving today and are probably about 8' long.  I'll have to measure.  And take pictures.  I know nobody really cares, but it'll be fun for me.

Anyway, in preparation for this momentious occasion, I've been making some room in the basement for my new shelves, not to mention all that new office furniture we scored over the weekend.  When I went downstairs this morning I was confronted with this:




That's what I said.

Figuring that the movers wouldn't really care for this situation, I set to work.  An hour later I found the table that was apparently under that spool up there.



And about an hour or so later, I figured out how to move that heavy freeking table out of my way, and I was done.  By the way, I feel like baby gates are something that people keep for a long time after having kids.  As if some day, for some reason, I'll need to section off a portion of the house for some reason.  Odd.

























Monday, October 24, 2011

Today, I'm covered in Mod Podge, surrounded by clippings and shreds of plastic and paper and I have several projects drying around me.

Hence, no time to write.  I'm just making sure I don't fall out of habit.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Moving Day


Right, so breaking my ass was not only bad, it was bad timing.  Yesterday was our designated moving day for office furniture.

At the initial planning stage, the goal seemed simple:  Move some desks and chairs from Matt's old office to our basement.  I guess you could say that things began to go awry with my injury.  I was not 100 percent of course, but I swallowed a handful of Advil and was ready to have at it.

Next it was us vs. the desks.  Apparently, steel desks weigh about 7,000 lbs each.  We were taking them apart.  Drill?  Check.  Figuring out how to get the drawers out of the file cabinets?  Well... we lifted them, pushed them, pulled them, flipped them in every angle we could think.  Pushed on things that looked like release buttons, but weren't.  About an hour later, Matt gave one a mighty yank, and... it came right out.  Nice.

Onward.

Down a flight of stairs with a 180 degree landing in the middle.  Why this building doesn't have an elevator is beyond me.  But anyway, three of these desks who's parts were only slightly lighter than the sum, went down the stairs.  We had developed an excellent system by the final trip down.

And of course, I looted.  I mean, it was an office - and everything in it was getting thrown away.  Envelopes, post-it's, organizational racks and drawer things, pens, sweet Jesus - I think that made everything else worth it.



Saturday, October 22, 2011

For my NaNo's

As promised, and long awaited, here's one video from Wednesday night.  I didn't get the question at the beginning, but as you'll deduct, it was something along the lines of, "Tell me about your writing process".

I won't say too much more, I'll let you take what you will from the authors themselves.  I have a couple more videos to upload in the meantime.

Oh, and sorry about the ladies in front of me discussing something about 4:30 minutes in.  My camera held out for a few seconds before focusing in on their hairdoos and glasses, but alas.

Friday, October 21, 2011

I'm not trying to drag this out, but...

This morning, as Adeline and I were taking a lovely Nature Walk, we slipped and fell and I broke my ass.

Well, not exactly.

I mean, we were out walking.  There was a little brook, and we (read: she) decided to head down the quite steep, leaf covered embankment for a closer look.  About half way down, she needed to be carried and this is where things went awry.

I picked her up, turned around, took a step, and fell.  She landed on top of me because I was still holding her (read: not breaking my fall) and while I was listening to some bone, somewhere, go *snap*, and quickly assessing my level of all-right-ness, my daughter announced that we were fine.  And so we were.  After about three minutes of me carefully testing out my injured body as hike-worthy.

Anyway, I don't know what, if anything is broken.  But man.  Sitting, standing, walking, and bending are awfully painful.  And I know, you're like, aaaannnndddWHAT does this have to do with you not posting about your book event evening?  Well, me and my broken butt are going to take a nap instead of spending the hour plus it will take to upload videos to youtube and such.

I'm sorry.  I am.


Here's another blurry photo for you though?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

I'm dying to write about my evening last night.  Not only was it amazing to be in the same space with three best selling authors, but the atmosphere was really something.  My friends and I were easily the youngest people there.  And I mean by a decade or two.  There was more than one hoveround spotted and not a few walking devices.

A hot night out on the Yale Campus, for sure.

But, for now - I'm exhausted, having stayed up FAR beyond my bedtime last night.  I need a nap.  I'm leaving one single snapshot of my evening as I depart.



Here it is.  My super blurry photo of the Occupy Wall Street camp, which was actually about three blocks from Wall Street, in the pouring rain.  I took a picture to say I saw history in the making.

More tomorrow.  

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Fancy Schmantzy

Well, well, well.
 
I just clicked the, "try new user interface" or some such button here on my Blogger account and oh la la... everything is all shiny and new.  I wish you could see it.

One thing struck me as wacky.  One button that was pretty clearly prioritized was for creating a whole new blog.  Not a new POST mind you, but a new BLOG.  I know this because for an instant or two, I considered it.  Think about this for a minute.  How many blogs does one person need?  Okay, maybe two.  Or even three, but seriously.

Not that I want to keep blogging about blogging, but at this point I'm writing for practice and, well, blogging is what's on my mind.

Blogging and pom poms.

I'm surrounded by them.  Kid crafty things.  Pom poms, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners... I'm like a one woman band of preschool supplies.  More on that later.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

What's That?


The other day, we were driving home - Adeline and I.

"What's that?" She said.

We were stopped at a red light. I looked around. Not sure. And yet, she continued to point.

After about the third time she asked, I finally followed her gaze.



Do you see it there? Next to the electrical box? Perhaps you need a closer look. I know I did.


Right.

So, now that I've seen what she's pointing at. I had to answer her question, namely: "Mommy, what's that?".

"It's a man wearing green." I said.
"Oh."

I'm not sure I satisfied her curiosity.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Do It.

Here's what I just did. I added this here page as a tab to pop open at start-up.

My goal, of which I have many, is always to write more. I got to thinking. About a million years ago, when I started blogging, it wasn't to an audience. It was only to myself. I think I'll start there again. Even if it's only a sentence, I'll come here every day and jot something.

It'll probably be about Adeline.

But I'll get better.

Monday, September 26, 2011

To Be a Blogger



I stopped blogging even before Facebook and Twitter became part of every day conversation. I'm not sure why.

There were a few of us though, and to say we all lost our platforms, we all got too busy, or each of us stumbled into the same writers block seems far fetched.

Did Blogging run its course? Did we say what it was we had to say? And now that we can post a sentence as often as we want, or repeat what was said to us with a few clicks, are we content?

I don't think so.

I think the real muses out there have stories to tell. I think some of us paint with more than 140 characters and will always gather around the fire to talk and listen, laugh and learn. I'm going to try.





photo: © John Smith/Corbis

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Civilest War Ever




My neighbor is 83 years old and just about the sweetest thing alive on this street.

Wait. This blog is misleading already. That's not her, above or anything. Nor I for that matter.

And, Hazel, maybe she's not "sweet". She's a firecracker. A pistol. A real hoot. She travels abroad and has two jobs. Two. She was out shoveling in the thousands of feet of snow this past winter when Matt and I had hired someone to plow. (For the record, if you add up our ages, She's STILL old enough to be our combined mother.)

I love Hazel something fierce.

But this is, after all, my blog... and so... there is this one thing.

She calls my daughter "AnnaLee".

I know what you're thinking. Shame on me. This nice lady who is so kind to us and loves AnnaLee to death... let it be. Not a big deal. And it's not, seriously. I mean - who cares if she thinks my daughter's name is "Pineapple", right?

Well.

I mentioned that she's the active sort, yeah? Every day she's at the casino, or working, or packing up an RV with eight others and heading 3000 miles away for a vacation. And she brings with her, photos of my daughter... Adeline.

When she comes home and we visit, she never fails to tell me how she showed all the ladies, or her granddaughters or the whole family, the photos of AnnaLee and told them all about her.

I think there are about 2000 people who believe I named my child AnnaLee. Maybe this would be okay if I liked the name AnnaLee. I don't.

It makes me think of several things, not necessarily in this order:


1) Puff the Magic Dragon. That's right, who frollicked in the autumn mist in a land called hona lee. The land wasn't called anna lee, but apparently my synapses find it close enough.

2) Sara Lee. Okay... tasty.

3) Antebellum south. Fly me a big fat confederate flag flying in the front yard! I named my kid AnnaLee! I might as well get her a job picking cotton.

As you might imagine, if you know me. This discrepancy has lodged a tiny little splinter of dissatisfaction in my brain. I mean, not huge, but... well... if you know me, then you know me. Any time I see a car in Hazel's driveway I try to think of a way to be available to visit with her guest. You know, ever so casually slip in an introduction.

"Oh, and this must be Ann-"
"-Adeline!, Yes, the famous Adeline!"

And in my mind, confederate soldiers shave their mutton chops, and all is well with the world.