Thursday, November 29, 2007

discussions with andie


today 8:45 am

driving andie to school. she's telling me a random story.

"mommy, i stayed in a hotel one time."
"oh yeah?"
"yeah, i stayed in a hotel with my friend ryan. ryan who plays hockey."
"oh, your cousin ryan?"
"yeah, who plays hockey. and i got a shot once in the hotel."
"you mean the doctor's office?"
"NO! A HOTEL!"

we did go up to watch cousin ryan play hockey but none of us stayed at the hotel and she certainly didn't received any vaccinations there. but god forbid i correct her.

today, 12:30pm

i had called my buddy erika on the way home from picking andie up from her little school. i asked her if she and baby "oxer" wanted to join us for lunch. unfortunately, the timing wasn't going to work out with oscar napping and me picking up kieran from school. oh well.

and then just a second ago at home andie asks me, "is erika coming over for lunch? and oxer?"
"no," i said, "oscar's sleeping, they can't come over."
"aidan?"
"nope, he's at school."
"bud?" she asks desperately, hoping maybe their dad might be available.

she just loves having company, the goofball.

1pm

i have TLC on right now and the intro for "A Baby Story" came on and they show a teeny newborn for a split second.

"who is that baby mommy?"
"i don't know the baby's name honey."
"WHAT IS THAT BABY'S NAME???"
"uh, timmy. his name is timmy."
"timmy's a cute baby. what's his mommy's name."
"i don't know."
"no mommy WHAT IS TIMMY'S MOMMY'S NAME???"
"uh. mary."
"okay."

on t.v., in magazines, anywhere she sees people, i am required to identify them on the spot. should that be impossible, i have to pull a name out of thin air and bestow it upon them at a moment's notice.

it's like having an evil, irrational boss at times.

sometimes during these moments i do indeed think that should i return to the working world, this quick thinking may benefit me greatly. i've definitely thought that there are skills i've honed as a mother that would be useful in the workplace. patience, getting along with difficult personalities, heavy lifting, delegating, managing, leading by example, patience, troubleshooting, creativity, working under pressure, did i mention patience?


****

Thursday, November 15, 2007

"I couldn't even think about knowing how to answer that question."
~The Royal Tennenbaums


right now i'm sitting in panera, trying to "work" but i've got The Royal Tennenbaums playing in a background screen and don't seem to be getting much done. hmmmm.

anyway, things have been pretty good. as a mother at kieran's school said yesterday, "it's been an especially long fall". we were watching the kids roll down a hill next to the school. they were having such a great time, gorgeous leaves all over, 60 something degree weather. in the middle of october it was still in the 90's, so it's been nice to have trees still so full of colors and somewhat mild temperatures.

andie's been working on those terrible twos, which i often feel are worse around three years old so i'm hoping it doesn't get worse. yesterday she opened the pantry, pulled out a box of cereal and then when i asked if she wanted me to pour her a bowl of it, she cried, "NO! NOT THAT CEREAL!" and wailed and screamed and kicked and yelled. as if i had been the one to pull out the offending box. she wakes up and instantly smiles sweetly, cocks her head to the side and says, "i want to have candy!" right. the old candy for breakfast deal. because that happens all the time. right. then the tantrum ensues.

kieran had picture day at school, he wore a red and white Hawaiian shirt he'd never worn before. i thought it would be fun. after school he said to me, "mom! the kids loved my shirt!" "they did?" i asked, "did they tell you that?" "no, " he said, "they just smiled at it!" what a goof. and later i told aaron about our exchange and so he asked kieran about it. again kieran said how much all the kids liked his shirt. "did they tell you that?" aaron asked. "no!" kieran exclaimed happily. so who knows? and when we asked him to show us his picture smile he broke out in what he called his biggest smile, one of those garish, kids smiles that's all teeth and open so wide his eyes were shut. ...i'm kind of hoping it really looks like that too. our goofball in a bright red and white Hawaiian shirt, eyes pinched closed and showing every tooth in his head. that's our kindergartener :)

meanwhile i've been working on a new obsession. i don't know why but i've decided i need a new perfume. i don't usually even wear perfume. but blame it on a magazine with a quiz in finding "your perfect scent" and suddenly i decided i did need my perfect scent. so, i went to bath and body works and dragged my friend dori with me. we spritzed and sprayed and finally i decided on Moonlight Path. but i got it home and quickly determined just by smelling the cap outside of the store that it really wasn't my perfect scent and i exchanged it for Velvet Tuberose. then the same evening that i brought it home i sprayed it on, i was at a neighborhood function and sitting next to my galpal erika and i asked her if she could smell the perfume. no. darn it. i moved a little closer on the couch to her. nothing. finally she said when i waved my arm in front of her face she thought she could smell it. geez. it would be swell of Velvet Tuberose were my scent but i really can't see flapping my arms in front of people just so they can admire my lovely fragrance.

then last friday aaron's sister liz babysat for us so that we could go on a date. i had looked up the times for three movies. we chose one and then drove to the theater, got out and started on our way and decided we really didn't feel like a movie after all. so we got back in the car and went to the mall. we stopped at The Body Shop and aaron sweetly smelled all their perfumes with me and he bought me one that smelled lovely, something 'jasmin'. then we split up and i bought three more bottles of perfumes at the gap. i didn't tell aaron, sssshhhh. then i brought them with me to a girlfriends' and made everyone smell them. i'm telling you, i have a problem.

lastly, the other day erika and her kids were over and aidan and kieran ran out to get the mail after it was delivered. there was a small package and i said, "oh good! it's the perfume i ordered!" "another one?" erika asked. well, in my defense, i ordered it before aaron and i went to the mall and i came home with four bottles. it's Estee Lauder "Pleasures" and it's delicious. i didn't even detail the various trips to the mall previously in which i smelled all the perfume suggestions from the perfect scent quiz. i wrote them down and kept the list in my pocket, smelled them at the mall and then narrowed it down to Pleasures and ordered a small one on eBay.

anyway, i'm hoping that i'm almost done with this whole perfume thing. it's harder than i thought too--finding the perfect one, spraying just enough on that it lingers and i don't have to wave my arms around to detect it, but not so much that i smell like the Bath and Body Works store. i'm getting there.

and i'll bet you anything that by january i'm not even wearing my perfect scent anymore. it's always something though, isn't it?
***

Monday, November 12, 2007

just a couple shots





Monday, November 05, 2007

hockey

we had such a great time saturday night. we drove up to watch our cousin ryan's hockey game in lake forest. the kids had a blast and it was so nice to see aunt judie (my mom's sister), uncle charlie, and aunt martha (known in the family as "The Queen"). we can't wait to go again :)

**and totally check out ryan's hockey hair. he said he was cutting it the next day, but can you really play hockey without it???

aunt martha, looking lovely


andie is into making faces these days, very much a ham
a zamboni. if i only i could get behind the wheel again one last time....i can dream anyway.
under all those stinky pads is ryan somewhere
aunt judie, uncle charlie, cousin ryan, ryan's girlfriend carolyn (she's been playing hockey since she was five herself and plays for the women's team. she's all right in my book).

doesn't it look like he's striking a pose? one of the nicest guys ever. did i ever tell you about how when we went on vacation with their family when ryan was four the first thing he came up and said to me was, "when you are sleeping, i'm going to kill you with a knife." i was about twelve and eager to hang out with my little cousins. nope. three boy, a whirling tornado of arms and legs and wrestling. ryan was the youngest and most beat up on so he was the toughest.
rockin' the hockey hair. and love the suit. can't see the scar on his neck. oh yeah, must have also forgotten to mention that once in a hockey game some guy skated across his neck. skated across his neck. for the love of pete.

nothing like a few family pictures in the hotel lobby.





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