Archive for September, 2009
Well, we moved most of the big stuff yesterday. And by, “we,” I mean my DH and several colleagues from school. My primary job for the day was keping the little people out from underfoot, which turned out to be too much for me.
In the morning, while my DH went to pick up a moving van, I shuttled a few carloads of whatever I could fit. The Little People did pretty well with the back-and-forthing, all things considered. I hung out at the new house most of the morning; some folks came by and helped me put up dishes and the like while the Little People explored their new digs. When the big truck arrived, Miss Baby was delighted to see Daddy, but otherwise overwhelmed; I took her and her brother on a walk. We are now very close to the golf course, so that made for a pleasant excursion. When we returned, they were unloading the last of it. I turned around to look for a clean diaper, and when I turned back, it had already begun to happen. Miss Baby was trying to climb an empty bookcase — one with glass doors on it — and pulled it down on top of her. She went down flat on her back, and it went down flat on top of her. It’s heavy, too. The glass didn’t break, but everyone stopped what they were doing. I quickly pulled her out, she cried for Daddy, he cuddled her. within moments, she was banging on the piano and laughing ever so maniacally. Not a scratch on her.
Today, my DH bracketed all the bookcases to the wall, a Californian habit that has many merits.
The rain we were worried about? It drizzled a bit in the morning, just enough to cool down the air to a good temperature for this kind of work. That was it.
The cat is even happy, sleeping on top of us at night, using his box. He seems to like the house, but hasn’t found too many hiding places yet, because everything is in flux. We have a nice big ottoman that will go under the living room window; we anticipate that becoming one of his spots.
Today we did some more back-and-forthing, digging out the little bits that got left behind. Tomorrow, more of the same; the old house reverts to the rental company next Saturday.
Remember the flooding in Atlanta last week? Yep, that rain is headed our way. No prob, we’ll just curl up on the couch and read Harry Potter all weekend.
Oh, wait, we were planning to move this weekend. That’s right, this is the weekend we were intending to move. We have to be out of this house this week, and we intended to sleep in the new house tomorrow night. I still want to do that — We will move all our little stuff anyway, and sleep on inflatable mattresses if we have to. If there’s any sunshine at all, we’re slinging stuff into the truck as fast as we can.
aaarrggh!
Filed under: DodgersPosted: September / 23 / 2009
So, the whole facebook thing does rather draw one in. Earlier today I got involved in a thread about cloth vs disposable diapers, and have been forced, once again, to conclude that I am a bad mommy who should not have reproduced. Not only did I mostly use disposable diapers, I didn’t nurse for several years running, and I didn’t make baby food from scratch. The proof is in the pudding; Miss Baby isn’t talking as much as the other 3-year-olds, and the Little Guy is, well, obsessed with trains.
It’s a social liability, anyway.
I’ve been avoiding the social workers and my mother, so I haven’t had a good bout of maternal guilt in a while.
Yeah.
Next time, I’m not going to take the bait. You all can go ahead and mother your marvelous children without me; I’ll stay behind with my sweet little obsessives. We like our little world(s).
Well, we are moving stuff into the new house. My DH moved a lot of stuff out of the garage and the Little Guy’s room already, and every time I leave the house, I take stuff over in my car. Of course, my DH has a pickup, and I have a CRV, so I don’t take quite as much stuff as he does. Still, every little bit helps. I hope. I’m beginning to get a bit nervous; we need to get out of here before the end of the month, which is rapidly approaching. We’re trying to get as much of the little stuff over there as we can before the weekend.
This weekend is the big moving weekend! Anyone who wants to show up and help haul, let me know! Rain or shine, we’re going.
A few weeks ago I pulled the first Harry Potter book off the shelf and put it on the coffee table, hoping the Little Guy woud notice. Well, last night, he picked it up and said, “What’s this?” So we read chapter one before bed. He was quite interested; at one point the cat jumped up on my lap and interrupted my reading. I lost my place, and when I asked, “Where was I?” the Little Guy knew exactly: “Privet Drive!” The Little Guy is entirely capable of reading this book on his own, but he also enjoys being read to sometimes, and it’s a good read-aloud book.
At breakfast today, when the cat jumped up on the table, I called him Professor McGonagall, and the Little Guy explained things to me: “Magic isn’t real. That book isn’t real. Well, the book is real, but the things that happen in it aren’t.” That last careful self-edit made me laugh, but it is important to him to distinguish between fiction and non-fiction, which is fine. It will be helpful when the book gets scary.
Yesterday, Miss Baby and I were playing with socks — she likes to put them on her hands and do puppet shows, so she’s always digging through laundry for colorful socks. She will use white ones in a pinch, but prefers colors and patterns. She grabbed a little plastic elephant — there are always small plastic animals lying within arm’s reach at our house– and held him at arm’s length, saying, “Ayubame! Ayubame!” (That would be cute baby-talk for “Ayudame,” which is “help me!” in Spanish). This is, of course, what the lost animals always say in “Go Diego, Go,” or “Teevee-aygo,” as Miss Baby puts it. So the sock puppets conferred, sang the chorus of the little song, thus, “Go Diego, Go! A rescate, amigos, come rescue my friends!”
She does enjoy Diego, preferring him to Dora. It’s not about gender, though; it’s about animals. Diego has them; Dora has Boots and the musical bugs, but that’s it. Baby Jaguar is far more exciting a sidekick than Boots.
On Friday, there was a big blackout on campus, and it messed up all the computers, including the one that runs all the air conditioners on campus. They’ve been bringing them back bit by bit. In theory, our air conditioner is back. Now, it is in another building, and it is supposed to cool three different buildings. Evidently this means it has to cool the other buildings first, because we are still hot. It’s hard to teach at night, because the building heats up all day.
It’s definitely a pedagogical challenge.
Filed under: DodgersPosted: September / 17 / 2009
Oh yes, a painting of Tommy Lasorda is going to hang in the National Portait Gallery. That’s the Smithsonian, folks.
I love Tommy. If it weren’t for the fact that my BIL had already named his son Tommy, after himself, I would have pushed seriously as a name for the Little Guy (I did give some consideration to the name Vin). This is lovely.
The Little guy still has a fever, so I took Miss Baby to church this morning and the guys stayed home. This afternoon, my DH went to the house and did touch-up in two rooms. I stayed home with the Little People. The Little Guy and I chatted a bit while Miss Baby napped, and when she woke up, she was in a fantastic mood. We played mommy and baby sheep, went outside on the swing, and generally had a good time. After dinner, she and the Little Guy played paper dolls sweetly. It was a nice afternoon. I haven’t gotten to spend much time with the Little People this week — too many meetings and the like.
After dinner, I did go to the house and do some touch-up work too, so I’m trying to pull my weight on the diy front.
