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February 24, 2003
2.24.03
Painting my nails in traffic…
Years ago when I was a teenager, I dreamed of owning a car. My own car. Early in the morning, on school days, I would huddle with my friends on the corner, in front of the “bus stop” house. While waiting, we waved at people driving by on their way to work. We’d point out the cars that we liked and say why we didn’t like other ones. We imagined what it would be like to have our own cars. The freedom that a car could provide seemed most appealing to me. No more riding the bus to school. No more relying on parents for rides. We all agreed that we would not drive an ugly-mobile. Not a Gremlin. Not a Pacer. Not the Chrysler K car. If I had a car, I could drive myself to school or, literally, anywhere I desired. And I would take my friends. To the movies, to the mall, to the Pizza Hut. Hot times in a small town. And, 25 years later, here I am. Driving myself and the kids to school, to work, and back, and it’s not very cool at all. I hope I don’t embarrass my kids, but I really don’t give much thought to the make or model of car I drive. I don’t relish commuting in rush hour traffic. Most of the drive isn’t that bad. There are certain spots where traffic flows freely and other areas are at a standstill. Gridlock at its finest. It’s just the way it is. We all do things to make the time pass. I don’t go out of my way to spy, but if I am bored, I will look over to see what my fellow commuters are up to. I have spied people reading newspapers, shaving, watching mini TVs, making out, putting on makeup, women in curlers, people changing clothes, typing on laptops, and picking their noses. Last week, I joined the ranks. It was an especially “not going anywhere” day in traffic. I looked down and saw a bottle of nail polish. I looked at my nails. I looked at the bottle of nail polish. As I sat at the light, I painted 2 fingers of my left hand. I held them under the AC vent and drove along to the next light. Painted 1 more finger. One more light. Two more fingers. The complete left hand was painted in 3 traffic lights. This was very cool! I finished 3 nails on the right hand before getting on the freeway. I didn’t risk finishing the hand until I got to the parking garage. I painted the final 2 nails and thought, “not bad,” for a day in traffic. My nails had not been painted since Mitch was born.
Rachel starts nursery school…
Rachel started nursery school last week. This was a change from her normal routine. We prepared her by telling her what to expect. We attended the open house and she met her teacher. She played with the kids, she played outside on the slides, she made a craft, a beaded bracelet, and had a snack in the cafeteria. She was really excited and a little nervous about her first day in nursery school. I walked her inside so she could she her classroom again and I took her to the café for breakfast. The café is set up with tiny tables and chairs. This is where the kids eat breakfast, lunch, and morning and afternoon snacks. The first day, they served fresh fruit and pancakes. Pancakes are her favorite, so this was a very good sign. I stayed with her until she finished her breakfast. As I walked her to class, I reminded her how much fun she would have, that I would see her on the web cams, and that I would be back to pick her up. She didn’t cry, but her eyes welled with tears and she said, “I’m really going to miss you mommy,” but she was fine. I couldn’t wait to get to work to see her on the web cam. I love to watch her playing, eating, napping, washing her hands. I’m in my own reality heaven, only I’m looking at my daughter, live from nursery school. It seems like an invasion of her privacy, but I love seeing her and knowing that she is safe and having fun.
How long does it take to change a light bulb?
I don't have anything to vent about today. Or do I? Why does it take so long to get a light bulb changed in my house? Usually if a bulb burns out, I just change it. Occasionally one will burn out in a hard-to-reach place, like our foyer where the ceilings are vaulted. I can’t just pull out a chair, hop on, and change it. This requires the big ladder from the garage. About 3 weeks ago, I noticed that the light outside, above our front door had burned out. I mentioned this to Jerry. Several times. Three weeks passed by. The bulb is still out. On Saturday, I had on my best dress, heels and pearls. I was joyfully (heavy sarcasm) doing the laundry. I flipped on the light switch and *pow* the bulb blew out! This light fixture is also in a vaulted ceiling area. Jerry was nearby. So, I asked him to change it, “it sure would be nice to see in here” and “I hope I don’t put my pinks in with your white socks,” didn’t seem to cause alarm. He didn’t budge. I reminded him that the front light was still out. “OK, yeah, whatever!” I thought it was either perfect timing or highly ironic, but on Sunday morning, Jerry was comfortably lying on the sofa reading his new Sports Illustrated magazine, and one of the bulbs blew out on the light/fixture ceiling fan directly above his head. The difference here is that the loss of this light interfered with the enjoyment of his sports magazine. He suddenly jumped up and changed all 3 bulbs within 10 minutes. So, you see it can be done in a hurry. Sports Illustrated can light a fire under his rear.
Getting some fresh air…
After a week of dreary weather, rain, and mud, we were rewarded with beautiful 70-degree weather this weekend. Skies were true blue. The ground was a bit soggy, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. The sandbox was totally soaked from the rain. They goofed around in the playhouse. Rachel likes to lock Mitch out, but he has figured out how to crawl in through the window, much to her annoyance! The kids like to help put bird seed in our birdfeeder. Jerry takes turns lifting the kids up in the air. They each pour a scoop in until it’s full. Jerry and I picked up dog poop. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it. Rachel has a good eye for the little brown piles. She walks ahead of Jerry and points them out. We just try to keep both of them from stepping in it while we get it picked up. We keep a themed banner on the side of the garage. Rachel likes to help change it every month or so. This weekend, they put up a Scooby-Do flag. She really enjoys it and gets very upset if the banner wraps around itself in the wind. Rachel rode her tricycle around the cul-de-sac. She’s getting better at pedaling it, but her dad helps her along when she gets stuck. Speaking of bikes, I was tired of seeing my bike hanging upside down from the garage ceiling. Jerry got our bikes out of the garage and pumped up the tires. We took the kids out for a spin on Saturday, the weather was perfect for it. We tried putting Mitch on the back of my bike. My bike is too short for the passenger seat. We put both kids in the bike cart and Jerry pulled them along with his bike. It’s a tight fit, but they have a good time in there. I’d love to be pulled around in something like that, just like a chariot. It’s more convenient to go to Mr. Car Wash, but on a fine day, I like to wash my own car. I really do. Rachel is interested in anything involving a bucket of suds and a hose. She helped me wash the SUV in the driveway. It’s hard for me to reach across the roof and the very middle part of the windshield. Jerry came out to help me with the hard-to-reach spaces, and in no time, we had a clean and shiny blue Explorer. Afterwards, Rachel wanted to get out her sidewalk chalk so we drew pictures on the front sidewalk: butterflies, rainbows, and the American flag.
Mitch and Thomas…
My parents gave the kids gift cards from Target for Christmas. We decided to save them, but allowed them to pick out some DVDs. Rachel picked out the Little Mermaid II and a Thomas the Train for Mitch. They really enjoy the Thomas the Train DVD. It has some games, music and many stories that the trains act out for the kids. I have this one song, “Puff, Puff, Puffing along,” stuck in my head and I wish I could forget about it. My Dad spent a lot of time playing with Mitch during their visit. One of the things they did was play with Mitch’s Thomas the Train car set every day. It’s stored in a train-shaped case. Each of the pieces has a name like Thomas the Train, Henry, Douglas, Bertie, Diesel, Butch, etc. They are small cars about the size of matchbox cars, but they are heavier and have magnets on the front and back so all the pieces can attach to each other. Mitch would sit in Grandpa’s lap at the table and he and my dad would play for 30 minutes at a time with these little cars. My dad told us when he left that Mitch would probably ask for the train set and he did. We keep it up on the butler’s pantry counter so the pieces don’t get lost. Mitch will run to the counter and point at the train case, “train,” and he keeps pointing until someone gets the message. I’ve enjoyed sharing this ritual with him. It’s nice to have him sit still for 20 or 30 minutes and play with him. He’s usually not one to sit still very long, as he loves to run and be chased. The other time he likes to sit still is when he hands me a few books. He will climb in my lap and turn the pages and point. We noticed that he loves the color yellow. For some reason, the color yellow is appealing to him. He points at anything yellow: the sun, the yellow-haired fairy godmother, bananas, a ball.
Rachel, under the weather...
Jerry took Rachel to the park yesterday afternoon. Mitch napped and I studied for midterms this week. They came home about 20 minutes after leaving, so I knew that something was wrong. Jerry said that when they got out of the truck, Rachel didn’t seem to be herself. Normally she bolts out of the car and races to the slides and tunnels. She slowly walked beside Jerry and hung her head. Jerry stopped and asked her if she’d rather go home and lie down (let’s see, would you like to play or take a nap?) and she said she wanted to go home. He carried her in the door and she vomited in one big forceful splash all over the place. I cleaned her up and we put her on the sofa in the playroom with a Thomas movie. Jerry took Mitch to Kroger and then I heard another unmistakable sound. She had thrown up again. All of her alphabet spaghettios, all over her hair, her clothes, the blankets. I wrapped her up and carried her upstairs to the tub. I bathed her, dried her hair, and put fresh clothes on her. She wanted to lie down. I found fresh linens and put her on her sleeping bag on the floor. When Jerry got home, she had thrown up 2 more times. Until there was nothing left in her tummy. She dry-heaved for a while. I held her and comforted her, just smoothing her hair and rubbing her back. We kept her in the play room apart from Mitch until he went to bed. She wanted to sleep in the play room with her dad, so they made a slumber party of it. She slept through the night, without waking up. In the morning, she said she was very thirsty. I gave her some water and she threw it up about 5 minutes later. Her temperature was normal. She asked for oatmeal, but I told her she had to keep water and a few crackers down for 30 minutes before she could try oatmeal. Jerry has the week off for vacation so he is taking care of her today. We are keeping the kids apart, in the hopes that this is a 24-hour stomach bug that will pass. By the time I got to work, Jerry called to say that she had some water and crackers and it had stayed down. I think she is starting to feel better. We want them both to be healthy, especially because they are both flying with me to California next Monday for spring break.
In the meantime, this will be a tough week. I have two midterms this week. I’m trying to stay on top of the bio/chem since it is more difficult. But, I have fallen behind in my reading for my other class. I didn’t realize just how far, until I looked at the book last night. I knew I had to read 6 chapters, but I didn’t know there were 227 pages in the 6 chapters. Like I said, I’ll have my head in the books cramming this week, but once those tests are over with, I can relax and not worry about studying since spring break is next week. California here we come!
Warmly,
Megan
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/m/millimaki/
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