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November 19th, 2009
 | 10:13 pm - Plaid Hatted Thief
This morning when I woke up (and I use "woke up" loosely -- let's say more like stumbling around in the dark more than half asleep), I could not find my deodorant. Finally I just went without and hoped nobody got too close.
Tonight I found the deodorant. It was lodged under the TV stand. How did it get there? I always keep it on the bedside table.
Soon enough, the thief appeared and I caught her red-handed!
I VOW TO SMELL GOOD TOMORROW!
Cutest little thief ever. Emilia has now discovered that the adorable factor skyrockets when she dons a hat.
( HAT! )
Keep the hand turkeys a-coming!! I love them. : )
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November 18th, 2009
 | 07:22 pm - Hand Turkey
It's that time of the year again. It's time for HAND TURKEYS! Show me what you got (or in Ange's case, what you have or what you can do or whatever needs to replace "got"), ladies and gents, either here or on your own journal or both.
*sings poorly* We need a little hand turkey, right this very minute, a little turkey lurky, you know that you want in it.
Your turn. :)
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November 9th, 2009
 | 09:10 am - Christmas Declaration
I have made a decision for myself this year.
I am not going to become bitter and dreary about The Holidays. I am not going to write endless, depressing posts about people who do not understand me or people who make assumptions or people who are only trying to be Merry.
This year, I am going to say "Merry Christmas" to people who say it to me. I'm not going to proclaim Not My Holiday in my nasally Jersey-Jewish voice. I'm going to smile more. I'm going to celebrate my own holiday and not fuss over other people.
I have ordered an attitude adjustment and now that it's here, I'm going to use it every day until December 26, at which point I will haul it out to the curb and buy a new one next year. Or I will box it up and put it in the attic, labeled "fragile" and "Christmas Junk." SEE HOW SPIRITED I AM?
It is a new day in the life of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) sillyliss! Christmas: Bring It On!
note: Sorry, Hornbachers Santa. Emilia is still not sitting on your lap, though we now entirely respect your right to Ho-Ho-Ho.
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November 7th, 2009
 | 03:40 pm - Something Happened at the Library
Something scary happened at the library today.
Emilia and I were playing with the other kids in the children's section of the Moorhead Public Library. Mostly we were playing with the large collection of puppets. A three-year-old who was there with her baby brother, two older siblings, and mother was showing Emilia and I a good time. We were making all the puppets talk and play with each other.
Then the little girl, Elizabeth, wandered toward her mother across the children's section. A few seconds later, she was running back toward us when she tripped and fell over. I've seen Emilia do this a thousand times, so I was puzzled when Elizabeth's mother rushed over, baby on her back, and frantically said, "You're okay! You're okay! Annika, come quick and take the baby." I thought she was overreacting to her child falling and certainly inspiring a soon-to-be tantrum. Then she said to Annika, her oldest daughter, "Elizabeth is having a seizure."
So I jumped up from where Emilia and I were playing and rushed over. The mother, Jenny, told me I didn't need to call for help. She cradled the shaking girl on the floor through a five-minute seizure, and then said the girl was asleep. I helped her and the kids out to the car, and then Jenny went back in to check out their books while Emmy and I hung out with their sweet children, aged 8 to 9 months.
Jenny thanked me for helping her. What could I say? How could anyone have been there and NOT tried to help?
I was shocked that nobody on the library staff rushed over at the commotion, and one of the other parents in the children's section was staring horrified and asked me if I had called 911. She didn't move to help at all, but maybe it was clear that Jenny didn't need help? All I could think was, if this had happened to me, I would have wanted help.
Jenny was shaken up, but she said she would be okay to get the kids home. It was Elizabeth's fourth seizure.
I was pretty shaken up, too. I wish there was something I could do. What could I have done differently?
Now we are home, and I can only think, how lucky we are. How very lucky we are.
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November 6th, 2009
 | 11:26 am - In the Local News
Last night, I heard on Facebook and then the actual news about the Fort Hood shooting. And now I hear about another shooting in Orlando. The horrors. It made me think about how locally, we have had more than our usual share of bad news, too.
Murder Goes to the Dentist
This sounds right out of Law & Order. A dentist, Philip Gattuso, living in South Fargo was bludgeoned to death in his home a week or so ago, leaving his 3-year-old daughter an orphan. His vanity plated Porsche was stolen. The crime was solved quickly. There were witnesses who talked with the suspected murderer, who told the story that he had bought the car off eBay, picked it up in Manitoba and was driving it back to Oklahoma City. The silver Porsche Boxster was the only one registered in Fargo. After catching the guy, they found links to organized crime. And then...it turned out he was hired by the dentist's father-in-law, who didn't like the way his granddaughter was being raised after his daughter's death (heart problems - she was on an artificial heart for 18 months). Allegedly, this Oklahoma City man paid his handyman $3,000 to kill the dentist with a promise of $20,000 more once the deed was done.
Students Die While Stargazing
To our west, the much smaller city of Dickinson, North Dakota was in the region's spotlight when three college students went missing. They had gone to dark fields to look at the stars. At one point, the three girls made some frantic 911 phone calls to friends, but nobody was able to find them. Their vehicle was pulled from a 12-foot deep pond on private property a couple of days ago.
All Mucked Up
This last story is a lot less tragic, but I'm glad it didn't happen to me. While I was at a luncheon, the hostess (one of my coworkers) was called away. Her cleaning lady had called to tell her that the sewage had backed up into the house. The next day, the story is that the City of Fargo was testing the sewage system when a pipe broke. You probably don't even want to think about the muck that ended up in people's living rooms, basements, and all over the place. The City supposedly is going to pay for the damage, but... Ick. My coworker was quoted a lot in that article. It affected a good 30 homes or so in North Fargo.
H1N1
This topic stays near and dear to my heart, so here is a funny video a hospital in Tennessee found time to make, to the tune of "Gimme Three Steps."
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November 3rd, 2009
 | 11:18 am - Cookie Monster
One of my favorite fall activities is decorating cookies, hindered only by the fact that nobody ever really eats the cookies. Except for me.
The cookie dough had been sitting in the refrigerator for two weeks. It was one of those delicious tubes that is meant to be consumed prior to baking? I got out the sugar cookie dough and the cookie cutters: Laura Ingalls Wilder, an oak leaf, a maple leaf, and a heart. Cookies were pressed, cookies were set, cookies were stuck in the oven. Cookies came out in one big lump. I had to cut them apart.
And they were burnt. I had pressed them too flat.
But I was determined that the decorating would occur. I cut the cookies into odd shapes. Z and I decorated up a storm. His looked like actual...stuff. Mine looked kind of silly. Z's:
When Emilia woke up from her nap, I showed her the cat cookie I had designed for her. It wasn't a cookie so much as a cat-shaped toy, since the cookie wasn't really edible. But Emilia took it in her two sweet mitts and took a big (tiny) bit off the top of its head. "MMMMM!" she said. "mm-mm-MM!"
She smiles as though the cookie was made of pure joy, then leisurely ambles around the living room with her cookie, alternating between big (tiny) bites and MMMMs.
It melted my heart.
Eventually, we had to take the cookie away to prevent an imminent sugar rush. She wailed. It was marvelous. MMMM, BURNT COOKIE!
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October 28th, 2009
 | 11:53 am - No Vaccine for You
How broken is the United States? Good grief.
Z and I have been debating whether to wait in a long line this Saturday so Emilia can get the H1N1 vaccine. The local news reported that our area got ONE SHIPMENT of vaccine and there is not enough vaccination for everyone, so you should show up expecting to wait and not expecting to necessarily get vaccinated.
I called Emmy's doctor, since she's already been exposed to the illness. Before I even talked to Dr. Espejo (he is calling back...eventually), I received more information. There are only two locations in Fargo-Moorhead to get the vaccine. On the Minnesota side, they only got in the flumist, and they won't give that to children under 2 years of age, so Emmy can't get that one. On the North Dakota side, they received the injections, but you have to prove that you are a North Dakota resident in order to get it.
So the decision is out of our hands. Emilia cannot be vaccinated, even though she is in one of the highest risk categories.
I hate H1N1. I loathe it. I despise it.
But I really think somebody fell down on the job on this one.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114215612&ft=1&f=2
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alert-alerte/h1n1/faq_rg_h1n1-eng.php#vac
I need to stop reading about this thing.
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October 21st, 2009
 | 11:40 am - Life of a Pig
Since my doctor never called back (I thought she would call in a cough medicine prescription for me without needing to see me), at 6 p.m., we left for the Meritcare Walk-in-Clinic. (Meritcare is one of the two big healthcare providers in Fargo -- it's also the hospital where we had Emmy.) I really HATE walk-in clinics, because I feel like I'm just sitting there getting what everybody else has. But the thought of spending another sleepless night with this wretched cough and NO SLEEP made me willing to try anything.
Inside the walk-in clinic, there was a sign at the check-in: PATIENTS WITH RESPIRATORY OR FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS ARE REQUIRED TO WEAR FACE MASKS.
The place was full of masked coughers. I fit right in.
 I kept the mask as a souvenir.
The nurse who saw me first told me that both of her kids had H1N1 for a week each. The youngest is only 6 months old! I really hope Emilia doesn't get it.
Then the doctor came in. He was nice, too. Checked me over and told me it was almost definitely H1N1 but he saw no need to do a culture since his instructions would be the same either way: rest, fluids, no work for rest of week. He printed off a prescription for robotussin with codeine and said it would definitely help me sleep.
After that, we drove all over Moorhead in search of a pharmacy still open at 7:30 p.m. The prescription (with insurance) actually costs less than the over the counter robotussin I was taking! I was overjoyed and would have paid any price. SLEEP.
But guess what. It didn't work. It made me really sleepy, yes, but every time I would fall asleep, I would wake up 5 minutes later to cough some more. At one point, I fell asleep for half an hour and woke up coughing, thinking days had gone by. Finally, I fell asleep for about 6 hours, which is a lot more than I have slept in the previous 48 hours combined. And this morning I woke up feeling about 10 times worse than I did yesterday, when I didn't even think that was possible.
I hope this thing starts to go away soon. I can't remember ever feeling this sick in my entire life!
( On the Bright Side )
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October 20th, 2009
 | 10:10 am - Sicko: The Post Everybody Loves (to Skip Over)
I turned off my computer for over 24 hours. It was somehow turning the whatever-I-picked-up-at-work (one of my coworker's husband was diagnosed with H1N1 last week, but I used hand sanitizer like CRAZY?!?) into something-even-worse.
Today I am feeling even worse. The most unfair part of getting sick is the cough that keeps you awake all night. I haven't had more than half an hour of sleep in the last 48 hours. That can't be helping anything! As soon as I fall asleep, though, if I actually manage that feat, my cough wakes me back up.
Z called my doctor this morning to see if she would call in a prescription, because the over-the-counter stuff isn't working. Meanwhile, I've moved on to holistic methods. I think the lemon-honey-water is actually helping a bit, because I was able to read quite a few friends' page entries without feeling like I would pass out!
Every time I get sick, it makes me feel so, so, so grateful for the rest of the time when I feel healthy. There is absolutely nothing worse than being stuffed up with a cough and not being able to sleep. I would seriously rather go through childbirth again than continue this cold. (But I guess that isn't an option?)
Emmy has been trying to cheer me up. This morning, she stood at my bed with four wrapped peanut butter cups (she doesn't know they are for eating) and lined them up on the bed. She then proceeded to tell me a long story about them, involving one cup that fell off the bed ("uh oh!") and how it came back to the bed. Also, there was a dog and a keed. I wish I had the energy to play with her, but I really-really-really do not want her to get sick (I have a lot of anxiety about that), plus I think I should go outside and inhale/exhale deeply. Holistic Online told me to...
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October 16th, 2009
October 13th, 2009
 | 09:59 am - My Tongue Hurts
Last night, I was enjoying the nachos Z made for dinner when I bit down on my tongue. Hard. So hard that I made my tongue bleed, and it still hurts today. You would think with 30 years of chewing experience, I could manage to not cause myself harm during periods of self-nourishment.
Speaking of Jim Gaffigan bits (I assure you, my tongue is in pain), he was pretty good in Away We Go. Catherine O'Hara was also (briefly) hilarious. Allison Janney was a little bit too zany for my taste, and Jeff Daniels should have been played by Michael Gross (of Family Ties). Maya Rudolph was awesome, but John Krasinki was still Office Jim. The beard and glasses are no disguise, Big Tuna! Oh, but this movie had some really touching moments. I point specifically to the trampoline scene.
We (and by "we" I mean Emilia and I) also watched The Cat in the Hat with Mike Myers. I was stunned that there was so much adult humor in there, but I suppose it goes right over children's heads and then there's something in there for the parents, too. Also, I can't see Conrad without hearing the theme song to 2½ Men. Yuck. I did think they did a wonderful job of turning the children's book into a feature film. The Cat, as Z noted, however, was pretty darn creepy.
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October 12th, 2009
 | 10:03 am - Pork Chops
I have never had pork chops in my life. My mother never made pork chops or ham or anything made of pig. Except for bacon. For some reason, we still had bacon.
When I pictured pork chops, they were pieces of bone with meat on each end. I have no idea how I created this image.
On Friday, I got home from work, and Z surprised me with pork chops for dinner. He had asked for cooking directions from my mother. (What?!? My mother knows how to cook pork chops? Is there ANYTHING she doesn't know how to do?) So Z had the pork chops broiling in a sauce he had made from scratch.
Emilia and I were having tea in the living room when the ruckus began.
BANG! BOOM! CRASH! ... SMASH! CLANG! HONK!
Pork chops are noisy!
BOOM! CRASH! BANG! ... CLANG! SMASH! ... mutters ... BANG! BANG! BANG!
Our pork chops were stuck in the oven! The oven door would not open!
TAP! TAP! TAP! BANG! CLANG! CRASH! SMASH! Ten minutes later, Z saved the day. Somehow or other, he rescued the pork chops from their prison.
And they were juicy, tasty, and delicious! He served them with apple sauce, but I thought the marinade he made didn't need any accompaniments.
As we sat around our kitchen table eating, I looked outside. Oh my word. We were inside a snowglobe. Big, fat snowflakes were falling from the sky.
Cold outside, but inside our house was as warm as a locked oven.
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October 7th, 2009
 | 07:59 pm - Dan Band from the Jay Leno Show
Which of these sketches do you like best? (Note: They make you watch a 15-second ad first. Sorry. :()
The Jay Leno Show - The Dan Band
The Jay Leno Show - The Dan Band: Dentist Disco
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 | 03:01 pm - Date Night
Last night, Z and I took a lovely autumn stroll through downtown Fargo. Downtown is one of my favorite places in Fargo. It's not too big, but it is just a taste of downtown Portland to me. There are lots of different shops, boutiques, and restaurants.
We were looking for a place that serves hot soup, but Josie's Cafe was closing for the evening and their soup was sold out already. We picked King's Buffet, a Chinese restaurant instead, and it was delicious! (Although I won't be ordering the aforementioned cheesy seafood again, as delicious as it was -- also won't be adding soft serve to my coffee, hm.) The interior of the restaurant was really nicely decorated.
After dinner, we strolled down Broadway to Zandsbroz, a variety store where everything is just a little bit more expensive than anywhere else, but the ambiance makes you want to buy it all anyway! I love those locally-owned stores.
It's nice to have a date on a Monday night. We plan to have some more dates before the winter snows us in. In fact, in two weeks we are headed to the Big Ol' Twin Cities to attend a conference. I am looking forward to it!
And now: a poll! (You all should really join that community. Polls are the best.)
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October 6th, 2009
 | 10:27 am - Gran Torino, Dan in Real Life
You know what I thought Gran Torino was going to be about? The mafia. This could be because I'm playing too much Facebook games. Or just because I am clueless about movies AND cars. It turns out, Gran Torino is NOT about the mafia, although it DID feature Clint Eastwood wearing his pants a little TOO high. There was also a lot of swearing and other kinds of cigarette-burning-a-hole-in-your-face violence, but if you put all that aside, you have a very good movie. Also, I will not be moving to urban Detroit any time soon.
The week before, we watched Dan in Real Life. That's the one with that one guy from 40-Year-Old Virgin. I thought Virgin had WAY too much slapstick. Dan in Real Life did not. It was a nice comedy. Only...I don't like Juliette Binoche. Most of the characters, though, were good, if not very real (ironically). MY family never gathers together in the front yard to practice aerobics. Nor do we have family talent shows in the living room. But maybe it's more common than I think.
Neither of these movies had much to do with lightning strikes, eye mutilation, or the Holocaust. So I guess all's well that ends well.
I'm interested to know what you thought of these movies. If you haven't seen them, what did you think they were going to be about?
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October 5th, 2009
 | 10:56 am - The Tickets Are Coming, the Tickets Are Coming
After last year's Big Train Debacle (in summary: Girl Buys Expensive Train Tickets; Girl Loses Expensive Train Tickets; Giant Train Monopoly Makes Girl Pay for Expensive Train Tickets Again, Girl Gets Voucher to Use in One Year), I thought this year, I will do things differently. I will have the tickets held for me at the local train station. I will *not* have tickets sitting around the house for six months or longer.
Yet...the tickets are coming. They are coming and I am starting to freak out about them being here.
Last year, I put the tickets in the chocolate cabinet. I don't know why they didn't like it in there. I thought they would be happy, surrounded by so much chocolate. But they up and walked out, never to be heard from again.
Where can I put them where they will be safe this year? Where will the train tickets be happy?
I didn't WANT to order the tickets six months ahead of time. But the further ahead of time you order the tickets, the better the price. And the better your room. I promoted myself to the room with a bathroom this year. (Imagine, just imagine, if Emilia is potty trained by then! A girl can dream...)
I asked the extremely friendly Amtrak customer service representative if I could have the tickets held at the local station, but alas, no, they are shipping to my house, six months before my date of travel. I feel a little bit sick about them coming here.
Should I open a safe deposit box for the tickets? Would they be happy at the bank?
What kind of nut doesn't like chocolate, I ask you that?
The only solution I can find is to give the tickets to the husband and let him be responsible for their well-being.
Yes, that is definitely the way to go.
But, really, who wouldn't want to live in the chocolate cabinet? I know I would rather be there right now...
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October 3rd, 2009
 | 06:36 pm - Lake Region Writers' Conference
A while ago, I signed up to attend a writer's workshop hosted by the Lake Regions Writers' Network. Today was the day! I did not attend all of the sessions, but I met some people and went to a good discussion on publishing. They talked about the various types of publication, how to avoid vanity presses if you are going to self-publish (and how much work self-publishing is!), plus traditional and literary presses, agents, and a bit about the writing process, which was mostly anecdotal. I was disappointed that there was not any expertise on on-demand publishing, which interests me the most (after traditional publication). Both of the hosts of the session were published writers -- one had written a memoir and was published by the University of Minnesota Press and the other was an Minnesota State University Moorhead professor who had her own self-publishing company.
While I didn't learn a lot of new information or tips, I gathered a lot of resources and became somewhat inspired to edit one of my stories again. I almost feel inspired to seek out agents/publishers, but that process bores and exhausts me. I just want to do the fun part, not the tedious part! Also, I loathe the whole you-need-to-be-published-to-get-published circle. It's vicious. (If only puzzle publication counted as being published!)
The conference was held at the college in the town of Fergus Falls, about an hour-and-a-half away. It was a perfect autumn grey-day for a drive, with intermittent sprinkles of rain and intermittent fall colors. Fergus Falls is a lot less flat than Fargo (most of the world is!), and they have a very cute downtown/tourist area, so we went to a couple of our favorite stores after the conference.
I'm glad I went. Onto the editing!
( Ubiquitous Photo Opportunities )
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October 1st, 2009
 | 08:34 am - Gordon Lightfoot Was Here
My mom was right. I am an old, married lady. With a baby. I'm too old to be out on a weeknight.
Then again, we were among the very youngest at the Gordon Lightfoot concert last night.
Then again, most of the other late night concert-goers were probably retired and didn't have to get up for work the next morning.
It was a good show in a fairly intimate setting: just Gordon and his small band. Nothing fancy, nothing loud. No souvenirs. No mosh pit. No push to get in the doors. It was tame. I like tame. As noted, I am an old, married lady. With a baby. Tame is good.
I do wonder, though, how all those other old people sat in those cramped little seats for two hours. It was so hot in the room, I thought I was going to pass out, and I'm not even suffering from post-Menopausal hot flashes. It was so cramped that when we stood to leave, my legs almost broke in half. "Ouch. My back hurts. Wah."
Emilia had a good time with her new babysitter, Mandy. Somehow, she managed to stay awake the entire time, wayyyy past her 8 p.m. bedtime. I guess she should have just come to the concert with us!
Now it's on to the Carefree Highway...
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September 25th, 2009
 | 08:28 am - Friends and Family Orientation
Last night was the orientation of the Friends & Family Program that we joined. North Dakota State University's International Programs Office hosts this group to match up an exchange or international student with a host family. The student does not live with the host family, but instead the host family and the student get together whenever they want and do things around town or invite the student over to their house.
We were the only family who toddled in with a toddler, and there weren't more than 25 people in the room, so we made a noisy entrance. One girl came up to us and said hello to Emilia, who was quite busy enjoying a tantrum. It turned out that Hyemin was our match! Kismet!
Hyemin is from Seoul, South Korea. She is a senior at her home university, where she is also two years older than she is in the U.S. And she's an English/Theater major who wants to someday create a non-profit theater program for needy kids. She picked NDSU to spend one year abroad because she wanted to see the U.S. and wanted to experience a more rural, quiet lifestyle. I think she found the right family, because you can't get TOO much more rural or quiet than us (well, minus tantrums).
Meanwhile, Emilia occupied her time by chasing after two older boys (oy, already), mingling with EVERYBODY, and drawing all over a book of stamps I'd purchased earlier that day (can you mail stamps with black ink all over them?). We had to leave a bit early due to some major leakage, but we exchanged contact information with Hyemin so we can get together soon.
Now I need to learn to say her name properly, because she has already mastered all of ours!
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September 24th, 2009
| 03:19 pm - The Invention of Everything Else
Do you know what the best thing about historical fiction is? It gets you interested in learning more about history.
Z picked a book on CD from the library for me: The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt. This story wonderfully weaves together the real life events of alternating current (and everything else) inventor Nikola Tesla with the fictional story of a young woman working at the Hotel New Yorker in 1943.
Samantha Hunt does everything right by me with this book: she creates interesting characters out of Louisa, her father, her father's time machine-building friend, and a mysterious old classmate of Louisa's named Arthur -- not to mention her heavily researched real life character, Serbian-born inventor Nikola Tesla; she brought to life a newly-lit New York just after the Great Depression; she gave the book wonderful emotion; and she also gave the story a lot of suspense.
On audio, the reader did an excellent job of voicing each character, complete with accents and homing pigeon sound effects.
I never thought a story about a scientist would interest me at all. Now I am researching Tesla on the internet and cannot get enough (I cannot find anywhere that Hunt took any kind of poetic liberty with his life story, except for meeting Louisa). What happened to his death beam? How come he wasn't credited with inventing radio? Why was Thomas Edison such a blastard?
Have you read The Invention of Everything Else yet? Why not?
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September 22nd, 2009
 | 07:37 pm - Sesame Street Songs for Emilia
These are some of Emilia's favorite Sesame Street songs for her to look at from time to time. The rest of you are also welcome to this post if you like. What is your favorite Sesame Street song?
( Rocking the Street )
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September 18th, 2009
| 02:08 pm - Jay Leno Show
Is anybody watching the new Jay Leno show? I was skeptical about anything that was going to be on every single night. But I really like it. The first night, they did this car wash sketch. Oh, man. It was hilarious. And last night Tom Papa did his comedy routine that had both Z and me cracking up. The only part that's not so great is the boring talk with the celebrities. They should just do away with that. : )
It's nice to have something on television at night that is not on past my bedtime, yet is not founded on the kill-em-all premise.
However, I did miss the season premier of Survivor. Ugh. I hope I can catch up next Thursday.
I really don't watch that much TV...
Now for some amazing photography by my friend from high school.
EDIT: POLL -- tipping!
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September 12th, 2009
| 08:30 pm - Mairzy Dotes
After listening to a CD full of children's music at Toddler Time, the librarian leaned over to me and said, "I have 'Grandpa's Farm' stuck in my head now." I replied, "I have 'Mairzy Dotes'...and also the 'Charles in Charge' theme song." She gave me a peculiar look. I'm used to peculiar looks. I get a lot of them.
Incidentally, I still have the "Charles in Charge" theme song lollying about in my brain. What's stuck in your head at the moment?
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September 11th, 2009
 | 11:04 am - Toddler Time
One Tuesday a month, the Moorhead Public Library hosts a toddler time. It's like storytime plus an activity and it's geared toward 12 to 36 months. We brought Emilia to Toddler Time hoping to meet some other parents.
Well, we got there early. Emmy played with 19-month-old Braden (SHE SHARED. AND GIGGLED.) and when he left, all was quiet on the library front. No other toddlers showed up! The librarian tried to read Emmy a book one-on-one, but all Emmy wanted to do was practice her newfound running skills throughout the library.
Finally, a few older kids showed up -- probably first graders or a little younger. They joined in for storytime, and after storytime it was MUSIC TIME. All of the sudden, Emmy is BACK. She is DANCING. She is crawling through the cardboard barn with the other kids. She is giggling. She is trying to mimic the big kids and throw herself onto a bean bag chair. She is coloring a picture of Clifford the Big Red Dog. SHE IS DANCING.
So Toddler Time was a huge success.
We didn't get home until 9 p.m., and of course Emmy fell asleep on the way home. She was quietly laughing as we changed her and put her to crib. She slept so soundly that even a horrendous thunderstorm didn't wake her. (I can't say the same for us.) Of course, it only took the click of the computer monitor turning on to rouse her this morning. For me, it took a super sugary Gloria Jean's vanilla caramel chiller.
Now I'm just watching the clock and waiting for 5 p.m.
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September 10th, 2009
| 09:35 am - Blood Memory
Another audiobook done: Blood Memory by Greg Iles.
If you take away the Dolly Parton accent (which makes sense for Mississippi/Louisiana, but for some reason just took something away from this particular story for me), then you have:
A 30-something, free-diving forensic odontologist/alcoholic trying to solve a series of murders in which the victims have been savagely bitten after death as well as the mystery of her affluent but unbelievably tragic upbringing in Natchez, Mississippi. Oh, and she's pregnant by a married detective. So right away I identify with the main character.
( If you're planning to read this thing and don't want to know how the story ends, don't click this cut. )
It was a horrible story. Yet I listened to the whole thing and was ready for more.
This must be what Twilight is like...
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September 8th, 2009
 | 10:22 am - Dinosaurland, Frozen River, Falling Asleep
On Sunday I took Emilia to Dinosaurland at the West Acres mall, which is an indoor playground for toddlers. At first, all she wanted to do was run up to the other toddlers and give them a hearty, boisterous laugh that meant, "HELLO! I'M LITTLE, TOO!" When the number of kids dwindled down, she picked a favorite dinosaur (the green one) and sat beside it, petting it until I decided we would go find the pretzel shop. When we met up with Z, we went to Target and then drove around and looked at houses. It was a long day for Emmy, and her only naps were in the car.
Z's parents visited Sunday evening. Emmy was getting so much attention that she did not want to go to bed. She insisted on kissing everybody at least twice before I finally took her upstairs and put her to crib.
I can't even remember what we did yesterday, except that we finished watching Frozen River. That was a good movie, even though it reminded me that winter is coming. I'll pretend it's not.
Back to work. I wish I could crawl under my desk and take a nap right about now. These "allergies" are really zapping me! And whatever energy is left, Kodak takes away from me post-haste. This must be what general malaise feels like. Give me strength, Emily Dickinson!
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September 5th, 2009
 | 08:25 am - Happy Birthday!
And happy birthday to studied, too!
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September 4th, 2009
 | 03:07 pm - Garage Sale Blues
Emilia and I headed off bright and early for the prospect of North Moorhead garage sales. I am in search of 18 month to 2T baby clothes for fall and winter. We went to three garage sales, one of which advertised girls' clothes specifically in that size range. Nada. I did find a cute wooden chair for $3, so we took that home.
But I'm bummed at the lack of cheap winter clothing. The stores already have their $12 to $15 winter outfits on display, and my heart sinks at the notion of spending so much on clothes she'll wear for one season. The consignment shop is cheaper, but not by much. I saved tons of money last winter by garage sale-ing at this time of year.
On the way home, we listened to Sesame Street's greatest hits. I am not too big to admit I kept right on listening...after Emmy dozed off. Those tunes are catchy!
On a brighter note, I think I baked the carrot birthday cupcakes to perfection. I hope the husband loves them. : )
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August 31st, 2009
 | 11:47 am - Unbalanced
I started a new medication this month and I have noticed a change in attitude and temper. I've been feeling sad a lot more, and therefore have not been on Livejournal as much. It's been hard finding happy words to reply to posts, even though I want to find happy words. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep taking the medication or not. I'm feeling a little better today and more like myself.
Over the weekend, Z and I watched Vertigo with Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. I love Alfred Hitchcock movies, but I could not remember much about this one. It was good to see it again, as it was like seeing it for the first time. I wish I would have fast-forwarded through the opening credits, however, because there are some eyeball scenes that were not to my liking.
Another really fun thing we did this weekend was make our own pizza pies. Kramer would be proud. Only -- Jerry was kind of right. We burnt our pizza just a bit. It was still delicious. But I think Jerry would be satisfied to know that pizza parlors will not ever be run by the customer.
Finally, I finished another book -- an audio book this time: An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England. (He sure got a lot of apostrophes into that title.) I loved it! The reader of the audio book did an excellent job voice-wise (except for, in my opinion, mispronouncing My Antonia). This book is about a person who accidentally burned down the Emily Dickinson house, but it is also a book about books and a book about truths and a book and a book about a lot of other things. It is one of those books that does such an awesome job of being profound and whimsical and amusing, creating interesting and quirky characters, and burning down writers' homes in New England. I recommend it, even if you are not a would-be arsonist or a bonds analyst looking for truths to write in your memoir.
What book should I get to listen to on audio CD next?
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