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Archive for March, 2010

Snips & Snails & Dragon Tales

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 9, 2010| 1 Comment »

An actual conversation over lunch today.

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“Who’s your favorite Dragon Tales character?”

“Ummm…I think Ord.”   (first one that came to mind)

“Ohhhhh.  I know why you like you Ord so much.”

“You do, huh?”

“Yup.   You just like him because he’s so BIG.  Like you.”

Awesome.

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Everything In Its Place

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Anyone reading my blog lately knows that we’ve been on a quest to clear some clutter.  One pile, one box, one drawer at a time.   Serial swooping tends to lead to excessive piling.  So, every now and then, it’s time to actually dig through a pile, remember what’s in it and trash all the stuff we thought we’d “get to” when we piled it up in the first place.

One day last week, while Husband was at work, I decided to clear the clutter from the top of the giant dresser in our room.  It’s BIG, an IKEA purchase (a b*tch to put together) from a few years back.  It holds our somewhat outdated (read: also BIG) clunker of television and sits against a wall a few feet from the foot of our bed.  And, I went after that sucker last week.  In my de-clutter frenzy, I removed the following items from its surface and placed them either in their rightful place in the house or their rightful place in the trash:

  • Nine hard cover books
  • An old  box full of “jewelry” circa 1988 – 1992 (tarnished silver crap,  hippie-days Fimo bead necklaces, my Tri-Delta pledge pin –yeah, yeah, yeah, judge away– anklets with jinglebells, match-less earrings)
  • A pair of fireplace / work gloves
  • A random collection of Time US, Newsweek People and National Geographic Boston magazines
  • AA batteries
  • Tyrone and Pablo (pronounced Plablo) miniatures
  • A “Disney on Ice” light up swirley stick
  • Two rolled-up retail bags with still-tagged items enclosed to be returned

Like I said, it’s a big dresser.

Husband returns home that evening, greets the kids, kisses me, dodges our always-shedding yellow labrador trying to brush up against his suit pants, and heads into our room to change.  The suspense is killing me.  I shush the kids and wait for the response that will come when he sees my masterful de-cluttering job.  And I wait.  And wait.

Out he comes.  Not a word.

“Hey!  Did you notice the dresser?”  I walk him back in.   “See?!”

“Oh, yeah!  Nice going, cutie.”

Not exactly the enthusiasm I was hoping for but it’s not exactly like I ran a marathon so I’ll take it.  The night continues.

Bedtime.  We finish up watching Masterpiece Theater, World News Tonight, oh, ok….Real Housewives of Orange County and head into our room.  Going through the bedtime routine.  I’m in the bathroom brushing my teeth when I hear from the bedroom…

“Hey!”

“Yeah?”

“What happened to my workgloves?!”

Your workgloves? I kid you not.   Turns out he used said gloves to hold his Blackberry at night so that we don’t have to listen to it vibrate at all hours.  Not a bad plan, of course, but man…sometimes you just can win.

(Of course, we would need these in our bedroom.)

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Anything Done at Maximum Speed is Apparently Great Fun. Who Knew?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on March 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Late last week, I decided to take my boys to “Open Gym” at our local YMCA.  We’ve done this a few times before and it always took place in the Y’s Main Gymnasium.  The room is loaded with stuff — trampoline tracks that lead to a big pit of foam blocks, balance beams, giant foam building blocks, a rope swing and the entire floor is covered by mats.  Plenty of easy entertainment for a couple of boys.  I can let them run wild together and know they’re safe while I play on my iPhone watch them lovingly.

But, the other day, we excitedly arrived at the gym and found it was full of (gasp!) gymnasts!  Twirling, swirling, leaping little girls in leotards.  Hmmm…did I have the time wrong?   Turns out that Open Gym that day was to be held in another gym.  One room down.  A real, shiny wooden floor, bleachers, basketball hoop and soccer goals type of gym.   The Y had made a small attempt at improving this new version of “Open Gym” by throwing in a few foam building blocks, one balance beam and a few random balls.

I looked at my guys.

“What do you think?  Is this kind of lame?  You wanna just go home?”

Because to me, it looked awful.  No real entertainment. Nothing new or different than what you’d usually find in, well, a gym.

Big Brother looked at Little Brother.  “You want to play Freeze Tag!?”

“Yeah!”

And off they went.  Racing around, chasing and laughing and throwing balls around and just completely, gleefully entertained for nearly forty-five minutes before they collapsed down next to me ready to go home for a snack and a nap.

Apparently anything that can be done at maximum speed suits them just fine.  Lesson learned.

Big Brother in foreground (like I said…fast).
Little Brother in background.

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Oh, Look!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on March 8, 2010| 1 Comment »

Credit to Fellow Blogger

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Tiny Hands and Frog Boots

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on March 6, 2010| 1 Comment »

There are certainly times, like last week, when I can do a lot of complaining and feel fully justified in doing so.  And then there are days like today.  Sunny, mid 50s and spring is in the air in this beautiful New England seaside town.  So, I spent the morning at the beach with my little family (even the dog).   Searching for Periwinkles.  Splashing along the shore line.  Hearing them call out in high-pitched voices as they discover something new.  Breathing in the ocean air and thinking…wow.  Thank you…

For curiosity
For carefree splashing
For tiny hands…and frog boots
For this foolish but good-hearted dog
For the way he loves them.   The way he loves us.

For all of it.  Thank you.

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Go Online and Order Yourself a Bald Guy. I Did.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on March 5, 2010| 4 Comments »

These cards kill me.  Dry, slightly bitter, wickedly smart humor.   Enjoy.

Left side is the cover.  Right side the inside message.

        
I can’t wait to use my next one.    Here’s the Bald Guy Cards website in case you liked them, too.   

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Bye, Bye, Birdy.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Predictably, that didn’t take long.

I knew I hated Twitter.

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And Now The World Can Stop.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on March 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Just emerged from seven long days in which the kids and I were violently, repeatedly sick.

But, now Husband has a cold.

Commence Armageddon.

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An Actual Article From My Former Local Newspaper

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on March 4, 2010| 3 Comments »

The following is an actual article from The Bee, my former local newspaper…with a little editorializing. You gotta love the hometown breaking news.

___

Treed Cat Doesn’t Stick Around To Thank Would-Be Rescuers

Botsford Fire/Rescue volunteer firefighter Steve Osmolik was positioned at the end of the ladder extended from Sandy Hook’s Quint fire truck at about 11:30 am February 25, and was just about to reach out to rescue a black long-haired cat that had been stuck for days in a tree off Marlin Road. The frightened cat, however, then suddenly jumped out of the tree, dropped about 20 feet to the ground, and ran off into a rocky, wooded area. The cat is shown in the left-center area of the photo, perched on a branch. —Bee Photo, GoroskoEnlarge image

Fire/Rescue volunteer firefighter O. was positioned at the end of the ladder extended from fire truck at about 11:30 am February 25, and was just about to reach out to rescue a black long-haired cat that had been stuck for days in a tree. The frightened cat, however, then suddenly jumped out of the tree, dropped to the ground, and ran off into a rocky, wooded area. The cat is shown in the left-center area of the photo, perched on a branch. —Bee Photo, Gorosko

You might call him Blackie, the Mystery Cat, the long-haired feline who eluded rescue. (If you were someone who names random cats, that is.)

It was not for a lack of effort, but the disheveled black cat, which reportedly had been stuck high up in a tree for almost a week, on February 25 managed to avoid rescue by well-intentioned firefighters. (I imagine if I was in a tree for almost a week I might be a little less than pristine myself.) They had responded to the scene and extended an aerial ladder (a ladder, huh? wow.) toward the animal in seeking to remove it from its dicey perch about 20 feet above ground at the Norling residence on Marlin Road, off Hill Road.
Norling explained that the unfamiliar cat had been sitting up in the tree near his driveway for nearly a week and seemed for some reason unable to come down. (You’ve been watching the cat up there for a week? How humane of you to finally call someone, chump.)  Police were alerted of the situation, as were firefighters, and the animal control officer (Calling all cars! Calling all cars!). They converged at the slush-covered property during a cold rain in seeking to help the stranded cat.
Fire/Rescue Chief C., wearing a long fluorescent-green raincoat (flourescent green? now that’s news!), supervised firefighters who used a ladder truck as a platform from which to try to snatch the isolated cat.
Chief C. noted that the volunteer fire company does not normally respond to retrieve stranded cats from trees. Normally, cats that become stuck in trees eventually find their way down to the ground, he noted, adding dryly, “You usually don’t see many cat skeletons in trees.” (Then again, who’s really looking?)
For some reason, however, this cat had not been able to come down.
Mr Norling speculated that perhaps a dog or a coyote had chased the cat up into the tree, where it had become isolated for almost a week. (Or, he just wanted a peek at that flourescent coat.)
As he had approached the stranded animal, the cat would make “meow” noises, he said. (No way.  He meowed?  That’s crazy.)
As the fire truck’s ladder was extended toward the cat, Firefighter O. climbed to the ladder’s end and attempted to retrieve the feline. (The suspense is killing you, isn’t it?)
But the frightened cat suddenly jumped away from him in the opposite direction, rapidly dropping 20 feet to the ground (landing on all fours, I bet!), after which the cat quickly ran away from its would-be rescuers who were standing nearby.
Animal Control Officer M. returned to the Norling residence with a baited cat trap in seeking to lure back the cat who had run away, but she had no luck (shocker.)
It is unclear if the cat is owned by someone in the area, she said. If so, it may have run back home after falling from the tree, she said this week.
Or the animal may be a feral cat which has lived in the wild, she said. (So, we deduce here it either has a home…or it doesn’t.  And all lived happily ever small-town after.  The end.)

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To Tweet or Not to Tweet

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 4, 2010| Leave a Comment »

See that new bird over there to the right?   I don’t even really use Twitter (as you’ll see if you decide to click on him to follow my page of nothingness over there.)   Well, except to stalk follow some of my favorite mind-numbing celebrities.

I “joined” Twitter over a year ago, never posted a single thing, set my profile so that I had to approve any “followers” and ignored every single weirdo that came my way.  It was just sort of a voyeuristic peephole for me.  I was there.  And, I was watching…but silently.

And then, predictably, I got bored.  Stopped checking daily, then weekly then stopped altogether.  Facebook’s more my obsession thing.   Twitter wasn’t for me.

Turns out, though, that anyone who’s anyone in the blog world thinks “tweeting” your posts is a good idea.   Drives traffic, encourages a following, comments, etc.  So, I’m somewhat skeptically trying it out.

But, if it scares me (a la Craigslist) at any point, you all (my prior readers) will be the first to know.  ‘Cause I’ll cancel my Twitter account and BeeBee gun that little birdy over there right off his post.

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