droogs

Despite the hideous color and antisocial message, I just had to buy this shirt.

darn librarians

I suppose I should be glad that the school librarians trouble to notice the books that interest C and direct him toward others they think he might like. But I kind of wish they weren't actively encouraging his current fascination with Hitler. His current pick is "World War II: Battles and Leaders." He asked me why Hitler commit suicide, what an atomic bomb does, and the definition of "execute." Maybe I should appreciate the fact that the discussion enabled a conversation that didn't involve him storming off in a huff, but....

When I casually asked why he liked WWII books so much lately, though, he said "because I want to think of ways to stop wars from happening again." Thinking that he'd come up with a rather sophisticated prevarication custom-designed to make me happy, I tried to elicit something more antisocial. "Sometimes, even though I don't like to think about people getting hurt, it's exciting for me to read about battles." He looked at me like I was insane, and said, "It's not for me." So just maybe we're raising a little pacifist after all.

We have some 18' chestnut beams

Matchup for reused building materials.

I participate in a strange shadow economy

We just traded a chicken pox exposure "opportunity" for a pint of homemade maple syrup.

wheat prices

When I picked up our last 50-pound bag of flour (organic whole wheat pastry from Champlain Valley Milling) the price had jumped so much that I embarrassed myself by suggesting that Lee had made an error in pricing. It was nearly double what I paid six months ago. Apparently it's not just the local stuff, though. Possible bright side- maybe it will convince more Northeaster farmers to grow wheat?

he's very proud of himself

C's high scores.

water is cheap

Seattle stops buying bottled water. I've always wondered why water coolers were such a mainstay of office employment; everyplace I've ever worked has provided them. Given that there is potable municipal water available from the tap, why is what little money that is set aside for employee perks is used to pay for water deliveries? I'd prefer doughnuts once a week myself, but to be inclusive of those people who actually care about their health, they could instead deliver fresh fruit.

(My favorite random perk was the monthly-ish catered lunch at PRA. I realize now that they could well afford that because they were underpaying all of us. But it both encouraged employee bonding and made us think well of management, all for around $20/ head. Good deal.)

more signs of spring

A couple of the bulbs I planted in 2002 are sending up shoots

I'm losing consistent reception for my preferred radio stations (based in Manchester and Amsterdam I believe; they only reliably make it to Delmar in the winter)

The maple trees along Delaware Avenue are budding

A wants to dawdle on walks, instead of hopping in the stroller for a quicker ride

Traffic at the fitness center around the corner has increased, presumably as people remember they're going to be wearing fewer clothes soon (usually, the New Year's resolution uptick lasts about a month; the warmer-weather jump lasts two or three)

The varieties of birds we're seeing (and especially hearing) are increasing- it's been several weeks since we saw our first robin, and last weekend we saw a V of geese

It's time to start planning the garden in earnest- somewhat trickier this year because we've joined a CSA, and we might want to focus on growing stuff we're less likely to get lots of through there. We do know that we can not have enough sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, or basil to satisfy everyone so I can start there.

A new dress

A's new dress for late winter/spring that her Oma made...angle of photo makes it look shorter than it really is, but I guess I should have added more than an inch to my measurement of one of her old dresses...she's growing fast!

benefit of insomnia

Changing the clocks makes no difference! I'm no more tired than usual!

But loving the later daylight-
and signs of spring-
like the neighbor's lilacs budding-
Paco spending hours in the yard-
our basement flooding-
I'm going to try planting some peas this week; they probably won't make it but it's worth a shot.

someone just sent me this link

to which I just have to say HA HA HA HA

People with normal babies just have No Idea.

When do newborns get easier

why don't gypsies buy kids anymore?

A week of school vacation followed by Dan going away for four days followed by me succumbing to a really nasty cold and pinkeye is now topped off by C getting the chicken pox. He'll be feeling miserable and wreaking havoc on our work schedules for yet another week, presumably to be followed by A breaking out in spots. I'd been looking forward to a return to normalcy, but alas....

dilemma

I like the idea of having my home filled with beautiful things. I dislike knick-knacks and don't even care to have a lot of things on our walls, so it makes sense to make/ purchase functional things that are also aesthetically pleasing. This unfortunately conflicts with my unwillingness to fuss over care and maintenance. We spill food on our tablecloths, drop mixing bowls, wash everything in the dishwasher, and let our friends' kids bang things on the furniture. If I made (or spent a lot of money on) something like this hand-embroidered quilt, it wouldn't be long before the stitching was unraveling from the kids digging their fingernails into it and it had greasestains from the potato chips we eat in bed. And I'd be heartbroken over the destruction of something I put so much into. Bringing more art into our home would be decidedly easier if it weren't all so breakable....

no-VOC paint

We'll probably try this stuff the next time we paint. There's a Sherwin Williams in the Hannaford plaza on Delaware Avenue.

lyrics

It's hard to differentiate when A intentionally changes song lyrics (as we often do) from when she improvises because she can't remember the originals. But I've caught some funny ones lately.

There was a cat who liked to swim and Bingo was her name-o

There's a clean one and a dirty one and a pink one and a yellow one and they're all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same

Oh give me a tree and I don't need to pee (tune of Home on the Range)

Away in a manger no crib for a bed, worked hard all my lifetime no help from my friends

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree- how lovely are your friendships

Blocks of wonder, blocks of light, blocks of royal beauty bright

(I defy even those Christmas-ends-at-Ephiphany sticklers to phase out carols with a three-year-old.)

geeks and obsession

C has been playing these games during his computer time for a while. (My personal favorite is the one where you try to get cats to do the same thing simultaneously; he's more of a fan of the ones involving projectiles.) This morning he ran from his room shouting, "I made a top score! I made a top score!" and indeed he'd entered his name into the Top Score list. He was thrilled, and played some more and got his name in twice more (I wonder if the top scores are reset occasionally so it was easier for him to make the list today?) before running out of time.

We were especially amused because we'd just watched The King of Kong (Dan thought it would be a romantic pick for Valentine's Day). It's a documentary about people who are still trying to get top scores on 80's video games. Halfway through I said, "This is so weird maybe it's actually a mockumentary." Dan pointed out, "it's so weird it has to be real; no one could make this stuff up." It's a little too easy to picture C in that scene.

our house is on Google Street View

Apparently the pictures were taken while the contractors were here.

X is for-

What X is for.

I can add:
Xiphius
Xenophobia
X-Country Skis

unpaid advertising

Hey New Yorkers- try to make it to this. I know one of the people involved and it promises to be amazing.

Our weights may be naturally fixed within a 10-20 pound range. While it's possible to use diet and exercise to move above or below that range, it's really really hard. This doesn't surprise me too much based on my own experience (my own weight doesn't vary more than 20 pounds outside of pregnancy, though over the past couple years it has responded more to winter lethargy/ junk food) but it defies most of our cultural assumptions about fat. (via Shapely Prose)