Long-ass life update

Brian has completely left babyhood and has entered toddlerville. He’s the big T-W-O now! He has tantrums, gets into all sorts of trouble, and tries to do please-let-me-have-my-way, puppy dog eyes. When it doesn’t work, he laughs sheepishly. So adorable. He watches Blues Clues, loves bubbles and drawing. He loves his blankets, but isn’t really into stuffed animals. At the end of the day, his feet stink-eww, the number one sign that he isn’t a baby anymore. He can say: ball, bubble, apple, moon, car, and sign more. That one sign was a huge wahoo! moment for us. Mostly he just points vigorously. Apparently I have watched too much Prison Break while Brian is around, because he sneaks into the dishwasher for a butter knife and then proceeds to slip it into the window casing. Silly kid. He is a great helper and assists with the dishes, laundry, and putting trash in the trash can. I know he will grow out of this soon, so I am taking advantage of it. I can’t put dishes into the dish washer when he is around though, because he keeps trying to “help” me by putting the dirty dishes away and then he cries in frustration. So I just wait until bedtime and then procrastinate doing them anyway. Heh.\
Max is a kid, no longer a baby or a toddler. A real kid. At six, he is one of the smartest people I know. (Which, I only know like four people, so take that for what it is worth.) He is very creative and lovable and tall and funny. He started soccer this Spring. He has been really enjoying it, but is really bad at it. I read somewhere there is a Fall league; I am going to sign him up for it too. I also want to get him into karate. Maybe take it with him, as a mom/son bonding activity. I don’t want to hit or kick blocks of wood though. Hmm, do you think he’d be embarrassed to take karate with me?\
Kindergarten finishes up in 2 weeks, then I am enrolling Max in summer camp. They have all sorts of cool activities and field trips planned. It sounds like a lot of fun. So only 2 more weeks of Max only having half-days away from me. Soon he’ll be spending as much time away from the home as he does at home, awake. Eep! I still have things to tell him: don’t eat before you swim, always wear sunscreen, and it’s okay to use some phrases ironically like “raise the roof” but when in doubt just don’t. Speaking of talks, I was giving Max a refresher about people not seeing/touching/showing private parts and penises and Max was all, “I know, Mom” with an eye-roll tone-of-voice.\
I am a mom of two real kids now. They interact like real people. I even have to seperate them sometimes! It’s odd and cool, at the same time.\
I am at home, as usual. Now that Brian is officially no longer a baby, I have been looking into doing some volunteer work. The local shelter doesn’t need any help right now. Isn’t that just bizarre and, I suppose, a good thing? The Red Cross is currently at the top of my list, but I am not sure what to do with Brian. I think I may have to put this off for a few more years. I can’t find a daycare place that will let me do a half-day. Their definition of part time is all day Tuesday and Thursday. Eh. I guess I could go that route, and then just pick up Brian early. We’ll see. Money is meant to be spent, right?\
I am also looking into joining a gym, one that has daycare attached. That way, I can sit in the locker room for an hour each morning and have some peace. Ha! I am going to make Kevin come with me. Ideally, I’d like someplace with an indoor track, but they seem to be in short supply.\
My biggest dream right now is to spend 24 hours in bed with Kevin, only getting up to answer the door for takeout and for the bathroom. I have been trying to finagle this for over a year now, since I stopped nursing Brian, but so far no luck. We’ll lie in bed together, watch movies, eat takeout, listen to music, take a nap, talk, and it will be marvelous. Ahhh. Doesn’t that sound nice?\
My BFF was telling me that a lot of her friends are constantly fighting with their husbands. I said “I’m not.” She said, “I know. You don’t have to convince me of that because I know.” Isn’t that a great compliment? I am not sure how or why I got so lucky with Kevin. We have a great marriage and I am so thankful for him. Maybe because we are sometimes laid-back about the same things (how to spend money, the house) and other times only one of us really cares about other things (where to vacation, what kind of car to buy). Whatever, it works. Viva la KevandJen!\
Most of my tv watching happens between 6am-10am when I am awake but don’t want to be and the brain isn’t functioning yet. Thank heavens for Tivo, so I don’t have to watch The Today Show. Tivo is also how I am able to provide you such witty and purposeful tv commentary like I sometimes do. I know you are all appreciative even if you don’t comment. Jerks. Hey, there is a new show starting in a couple of weeks called Wind Fall. I expect it to be bad, but since this is summer hiatus, I will take anything.\
Kevin has started traveling for work again. He didn’t finish his physical therapy before the travels kicked up. I am not sure whether he will start it again or not. He is supposed to be home most of the summer, so maybe that is something he will look into. He has been really busy, happy, and successful with work. So busy in fact, we haven’t had the time to buy the new-to-us car we’ve decided to get. Sad, isn’t it? Yea, I don’t know what else is going on with him. Read his blog to the right <———— to learn more. 🙂

TV pimpage

Hey, is anybody still out there in internet-land?\
For those who care, the Supernatural pilot is on tonight (Thursday) on the WB at 9pm EST. Check it out! Seriously, the music, the acting, the car, the emo-ness, the pretty boys, the lightness of it, oh, and THE MUSIC! What’s not to love?\
Did anybody out there, besides my loving and obedient husband, watch The Plight of Clownana?

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Edinburgh Day One

It’s cold and rainy in Edinburgh and the hotel wi-fi sucks. I think I’m almost done with my presentations for this week and I’ve already registered for the conference and hit a grocery store (disappointingly, they didn’t have Smarties, Kinder Eggs or orange Lilt). I watched Top Gear on real TV and caught the UK version of Big Brother. Hats off to you, Channel 4. You guys really know how to pick a cast! I’ve been a fan of the US version since it launched a few years ago, just because it’s really funny how stupid people get when they’re cooped up with strangers. This version? They’re not only stupid to begin with, they’re all pretty much insane in some way (and it doesn’t help that the UK version is much crueler than the US one). You’ve got:

  • Richard, the self-labeled “sexual terrorist” who dresses like a cross-dressing nazi youth cowboy (yeah, really)
  • Shabaz, the “Paki-poof” (he said it himself), who reminds me of Mario, this guy I used to work with in Tucson who was the first person to make me realize that being gay’s not a “choice”. Mario couldn’t be anything else if he tried, and neither could Shabaz.
  • Pete, the rock-n-roll Tourette’s guy who says “Wank!” at the top of his lungs every couple minutes.
  • Bonnie, who can’t even say her own name.
  • Lisa, the Chinese girl from Manchester who has the most AMAZING accent you’ve ever heard.
  • Glynn, “the sexiest lifeguard in North Wales”, who went into the house in a big red swimsuit, is actually really scrawny and kind of gawky, and who has the second most amazing accent you’ve ever heard.
  • and little Nikki, who’s life ambition is to marry a professional footballer.\
    There are others, but they’re the pretty filler to keep people looking for nudity all summer.\
    I’m only a little jet-lagged. I got a solid 8 hours last night, and am only slightly in need of a nap right now. Time for a Dr. Pepper! Oh, and cobblestones? I could really live without them. They’re kind of daunting to a guy who’s paranoid about twisting an ankle.
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What about a Pop Tart in the dryer?

From The Salon article about The OC finale: every scene with [Mischa Barton] in it had a way of reminding you that you had a Pop Tart in the toaster or laundry in the dryer.\
I have absolutely no idea what this means, but I kind of love it anyway. Mischa has been soooo bad on this show, it makes me want to gouge my eyes out with a spork. (Thankfully I stopped watching a long while ago, so no sporking needed.) What I really want to know is, what happened to the wonderful young actress first noticed on Once & Again?\
Here is a blurb about The CW from some tv critic: the combination alone of Veronica Mars, Smallville, Gilmore Girls and Supernatural guarantee the single best network schedule since the amazing, never-to-be-equaled, 2000-01 WB season that included Buffy, Angel, Dawson’s Creek, Felicity, Gilmore Girls, Roswell, Popular and Charmed… (emphasis all mine)\
I guess I don’t have to be that embarrassed to watch The CW then! Though, to keep my cool points from totally plummeting, I must say that HBO is the second-most watched network in my house. Well, not counting Nick, Jr. 🙂

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TV is cooler than real life

Studio 60 Preview looks awesome! Slide over, Grey’s Anatomy. You’ve got some competition headin’ your way. Too bad there are four decent things on Thursdays at 9pm. Can’t The Powers That Be spread out the good shows a little? Sheesh.\
The CW video montage looks like a big pile of teen cheese. (And can you believe they renewed 7th Heaven? What was with the big finale commercials I saw for a month?) Those 7th Heaven clips really don’t belong in there. But neither does Veronica Mars, which is actually a great show, nor Supernatural, which is just the right kind of awesome cheese (unlike One Tree Hill and Smallville). Honestly though, I think The CW will be the network I watch the most. Good thing I am not lactose intolerant! Hee. (I bet Kevin regrets ever deciding to work late those many years ago, which is when I discovered Dawson’s Creek on The WB.)\
Seeing The CW come together has been kind of interesting. I wonder how things will shake out this next year.

Yippee-Skippy, Howdee da Doooo!

Veronica Mars was renewed for season 3! Let’s do the dance of happy, happy, joy, joy:\
It’s just a jump to the left\
And then a step to the right\
With your hands on your hips\
You bring your knees in tight\
But it’s the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane,\
Let’s do the renew dance again!\
If you people don’t start watching though… Well, then you’re all dead to me. Especially you young, hip, cool ones in the targeted demographic!

Bloggin’

Now that the TV-season is over, whatever will we chat about? And no, don’t say baseball.\
In super happy news, Kevin came home at a decent time last night. Whooo. It’s like crazy-time is over! YAY!\
In other, almost desperate news, there is only one Diet Dr Pepper in the house! Eeeep.

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Weekend Update

Max had another soccer game on Saturday. He has so much fun there, I have to recommend it to all parents of young children. It is so much more interactive and physically demanding than tee-ball or little league. (It’s practically non-stop running for an hour, instead of standing around waiting to bat or for someone to hit the ball your way.) It’s kind of hard to watch though, because he tends to stop paying attention. Which is fine since he is only 6, except I want him to pay attention and get better. But I don’t want to be one of those overzealous parents you hear so much about. In practice all of the boys seem to be getting better at the basic skills, but come game time, they just kind of do a “Lord of the Dance” imitation when they get near the ball. If the teams kept score, you’d note that they are relatively high-scoring though because 1) we don’t use goalies and 2) once a kid makes a good kick, he can usually follow it through to the goal because there is almost no defense on the field.\
Yesterday was the first day in nearly a week that I didn’t have a horrible headache plaguing me all day. Also, Kevin only worked 11 hours. Coincidence? I think not.\
Tonight is the series finale of 7th Heaven. Sniff. Let’s all take a moment to reflect on this horribly written and horribly acted show. The fans will miss the many non-interesting story lines filled with hypocrisy, manipulation, backstabbing, and outright lying. I guess they’ll just have to pay more attention to the Bush Administration to get their fill from now on.\
In Brian news, he has been wearing only one sandal for almost 2 hours. I don’t know why.\
Kevin told me he gets teased by coworkers about my numerous Veronica Mars posts. Hmm, I guess this means I shouldn’t post my thoughts on under-wire bras.

TV rec

The Supernatural finale last night was so awesome! It had everything a great finale should: angsty confrontations, emotional realizations, demon-y exposition. Dean’s raw rage was so palpable it was scary. “I LIED!” Eeeep. That freaked me out, and he is the good guy.\
The TVGuide.com reviewer agrees with me. YAY! For some reason, I get immense pleasure in being validated by professional critics. I am not sure why that is. Probably because I wasn’t allowed to watch The Three Stooges as a kid.\
Last year, I revealed the wonderful pleasures of Veronica Mars to you. This year, I give you Supernatural. Go forth and enjoy, my little kiddies. (It is on The WB/ new network CW.)\
Speaking of tv, how much do I love that Starbucks and the like are taking down the Mob? So much! Hee.\
ETA- Someone just emailed me that they watched the Supernatural finale after I mentioned it and THEY LIKED IT! Yay for my first convert.