Category: family

  • My folks

    Yesterday was my parents’ 35th anniversary. Woot. Let’s hear it for my parents! In this day and age, 35 years is almost miraculous. When I was in high school, my parents were one of the few couples still together. Twenty years later and they are still going strong. I hope that Kevin and I are lucky enough to end up like them. We have the same attitude as my parents about money and general decision-making, so I bet the odds are in our favor. :)\
    Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad. I love and miss you.\
    ETA- Now with more better grammar and punctuation.

  • No more whining

    My husband is home, yay!\
    The office now has closet doors (that match! Way to go above and beyond, contractor!) and it’s time to pick a paint color, yay!\
    I FINALLY saw some awesome tv tonight, yay!\
    Potty-training hasn’t been nearly as horrible as I remember, yay!\
    It’s Friday, yay!

  • Raising Cain

    I’ve been telling everyone I know about The Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard. It’s a modern-day Walden and full of dense, lyrical, beautiful prose about living in Southern Virginia and contemplating nature. It’s as much about how we observe life and participate in it, and there’s one paragraph that makes my heart sing every time I read it (emphasis mine):

    Thomas Merton wrote, “There is always a temptation to diddle around in the comtemplative life, making itsy-bitsy statues.” There is always an enormous temptation in all of life to diddle around making itsy-bitsy friends and meals and journeys for itsy-bitsy years on end. It is so self-conscious, so apparently moral, simply to step aside from the gaps where the creeks and winds pour down, saying I never merited this grace, quite rightly, and then sulk along the rest of your days on the edge of rage. I won’t have it. The world is wilder than that in all directions, more dangerous and bitter, more extravagant and bright. We are making hay when we should be making whoopee; we are raising tomatoes when we should be raising Cain, or Lazarus.

    With one paragraph, she eviscerates complacency and sloth. Whenever I read it, I want to go looking for windmills to tilt at and giants to slay.

  • Whiny me.

    I am ready to have my husband back.\
    I am ready to have strangers out of my house.\
    I am ready to have Brian sleep past 4:30 in the morning.\
    I am ready to have Max not be sick.

  • Kevin won, thanks everyone!

    Last mustache joke, I promise: Kevin and I were sitting outside on Halloween to pass out candy. At one point a cop car drove past us. Kevin said, “Hey, cops.” I replied, “They’re recruiting. Quick, hide the ‘stache.” And then I giggled like I was full of sugar. Oh wait, maybe I was.

  • This ‘Stache’s a Winner!

    Kevin, showing off two months of 'stache-growing.

    They posted the final tally and I won! I have no idea what the trophy looks like or when it will show up, but expect pictures when it gets here.\
    There’s no way I would have won if not for Howard Uman, who sent an e-mail out to about 800 people (no, really, 750 people inside AOL, his hockey team and who knows who else) asking them to donate. I felt weird about hitting people up at work for money, so Howard did it for me. Expect a picture of Howie’s smiling face holding the trophy in the near future. Thank you, Howard!!\
    It was harder than I thought it would be to keep a mustache for two months. It looked ridiculous, itched a lot, was hard to trim (I was always afraid I’d make it uneven, so I just didn’t trim it until I was taking bites of it with my food)… I mean, who wants to look like the fat extra on CHiPS?\
    But, now it’s over. We raised some money to save some nuts (I guess I can stop with the testicle jokes now), and had some fun in the process. Thank you to all 29 people who donated, the guys who organized it, Jen for putting up with the ‘stache and not making too many mustache ride jokes, and everyone else for playing along and not giggling too much when I entered the room.

  • Beggin’ for some nuts.

    Kevin got hairy for some nuts these last two months. And by nuts, I mean balls, cojones, nads. You know, testicles. He participated in fund-raising event for the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation, Inc. Testicular cancer a serious problem and a real health issue. To raise money, TPTB decided to have a “mustache-athon”. Yes, it’s a real thing and a legitimate charity. Let’s hear it for the nuts! And by nuts, I mean the people who created this event and the people who participated. Basically, Kevin grew a mustache for two months and solicited donations for the charity. Part of the contest was for him to document his progress. If you click the “photos” link above, you can see his various stages of growth. He gets punchy about 1/3 of the way through the contest. My favorite is the Moose-tache, as I love a good pun.\
    I’ve endured, and participated, in porn-guy jokes, Officer Bob jokes, Lance Armstrong jokes, ball jokes. You name it, we’ve probably said it. It was a couple of months full of fun and immaturity. Yay for nuts! And by nuts, I mean the almonds in my ice cream. Yum.\
    Today is the last day to donate, if you want to. Check Kevin’s post to the immediate left and you’ll see the “donate” link. I know Kevin really wants to win the trophy for most donations (and appreciate any money going to the charity.) I wonder what the trophy looks like? Oh man. And doesn’t this sound like something Michael Scott would do?

  • Construction Day One

    Today wasn’t all that bad. The guys showed up about 9:30 and stayed until after 5. They framed the half of the office and bathroom that needed it. Sadly, this will take about 9 inches away from the office since one wall was only a concrete slab. Pout. I love me some square footage. We can hear banging and sawing but it isn’t ridiculously loud or annoying. The kids and I are staying on the main floor but when we need something from down there, I don’t hesitate to get it. I might even do some laundry tomorrow, woot. Brian wasn’t happy not getting to watch tv down there, but he survived. Around 11:30 this morning, I crashed on the living room couch after reading to the kids for awhile. I remember thinking then that I wish this were over already. But once I was fully awake again it wasn’t so bad.\
    Only 14 more days to go, (she says optimistically).

  • A new beginning

    Divorce parties are becoming popular.\
    I wanted to have a party when my best friend divorced. Not because it was joyous occasion, but because it was so long in coming that finally having it official meant that she could get on with her life. And that was reason to celebrate.\
    What says you all?