I've confirmed my near-constant suspicions that Jill cannot be trusted.
Jill is my GPS.
I've been wary of her directions ever since her predecessor, Emily, and then she herself joined our collection of devices. Her choice routes are almost never MY choice routes (why, oh why, with the constant insistence that I travel in the local lanes of the highway, rather than the express lanes, even when I'M NOT GETTING OFF!?), and her continual inability to account for the occasional (or in my case, nearly constant) red light when calculating the ETA is always a source of frustration. Yet she is my only source of directions on the fly if I find myself in unfamiliar territory. So we struggle along, Jill and I. And sometimes I even humor her, taking her directions, even when I'm pretty sure mine are better. If only to avoid the endless chime of "Recalculating." But I also secretly think it makes her happy, as if inside that little black screen is an actual person who is mentally screaming "idiot" at me as she politely asks me to make a U-turn when I've disregarded her directions.
Why wax poetic about my GPS? I've been making the trek back and forth between our Maryland house and a nondescript hotel near the Dulles airport in Northern Viriginia this week. The Department of Defense (my employer), along with lots of other government agencies, has eliminated all "non-essential" overnight travel in a mostly-admirable attempt to save money and cut down on misuse of funds. No one wants to be the next group slammed in a new article about conference-attending employees drinking champagne in bathtubs with strippers. I get it, I do. I don't like being part of the well-behaving majority that is getting punished for the sins of a few, but I do get it. Unfortunately, it means that my colleagues and I now have to drive back and forth from our homes to attend the research review meetings hosted on behalf of our own office - not an easy feat when you live in one of the traffic capitals of the nation.
To make my 8:00 a.m. meeting start time, I rush, rush, rush to get out of the house so that I can sit, sit, sit with thousands of my best friends on a packed highway. The morning ride in isn't too bad - I have a steaming mug of coffee and NPR to keep me company. It's the afternoon that's much worse. I turn on the car and set Jill for Home, and then I eye the little red circle on the left hand side that tells me the length of the delay I'm about to encounter. It goes something like this: Car on, route set. Delay reads 3 minutes. I glance over 20 seconds later, and we're hovering at a 5 minute delay. Not too bad, but we're only getting started. Within about 5 seconds, the GPS is registering a 30 minute delay.
And I haven't even left the parking lot yet.
I then watch as the delay fluctuates wildly between 20 to 49 minutes from moment to moment, up and down, up and down. I don't have much else to do as I sit on the entrance ramp for the D.C. beltway, waiting for my turn to wrestle into the slow moving traffic. Occasionally I call M. with an update, trying to figure out if I'll make it home for dinner, for back-to-school night at school, for bedtime.
I know the way, of course. These meetings are almost always at the same hotel, and I've been driving to it for years. But I bring Jill along with me to give me reassurance when night has fallen. Her voice is more pleasant then, when the cars aren't squished around me, but my fear of not seeing the road, or an obstacle, or the exit ramp presses in, making my hands grip the steering wheel tightly. I hate driving at night. And during the daylight, when traffic is at its worst, I imagine I can count on her to re-route me when the delays get too bad. That's why I had her on yesterday, when traffic was already looking ominous, and it took me 15 minutes just to traverse the ramp between one highway and another. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as an "alternate route" until after the Potomac - one must cross it to get from Virginia to Maryland, and opportunities to do so are few and far between. Three crossings, in fact, and I kid you not, one of them is an actual auto ferry boat (the lines of cars waiting to get on. THE LINES. This is not an actual, sane option), while the other brings me far north of where I actually live. So I have no choice but to cross the Woodrow Wilson bridge on the D.C beltway, regardless of traffic conditions. After, though, there's at least one other route choice that involves leaving the highway that could take me home, one I've never actually driven, but I know it exists. I figured Jill would tell me if I needed to use it. I crawled along, flipping radio stations (could we PLEASE play songs other than "Blurred Lines," PLEASE?), for 4 miles. Jill was happy with my progress, and complained not a whit.
And then, of course, when I was ON TOP OF the alternate route exit, she decided to re-route me. Onto the exit ramp that was 0.1 miles and 5 lines of traffic away. Thanks, Jill.
Needless to say, I did not make it. Didn't attempt it, even. Just crawled along with half of humanity on my original route. Eventually I spotted a pair of cars stopped in the middle lane of the highway. It's too hard to say if their presence was really a major factor in the traffic or not - was the traffic worse because they were stopped? Or did they have an accident because the traffic was worse than usual? Everyone flowed around them with minimal issue, and little change in speed. Possibly because we were all already going so slowly.
Interestingly, I saw a car stalled in the exact same lane and spot on my way home today, too. This time, Jill didn't try to re-route me. Maybe I'm training her.
The sad thing is that in both cases, none of the traffic reports I heard mentioned the stopped cars. It's a bit invalidating when a drive that should have been 40 minutes takes 2 hours, and not one bit of it bears mentioning on the radio. Which is probably just testament to the idea that speeds of 12 miles an hour are pretty much par for the course around D.C. at commuting time.
Tomorrow I head back to my office via my usual 30 minute commute. I think I'll leave Jill at home.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
7 Quick Takes
I'm behind on my photo posting, I know, I know. They will come, as soon as I rouse my lazy behind to edit the rest of them. In the meantime, here are some things:
1) This past weekend was a flurry of house projects that required the kids to "entertain themselves" (aka complain and mess shit up), back-to-school shopping, laundry, and pool time. By the end of the day Sunday, the house was a disaster. M. and I agreed that night that it was a damn good thing that it was not a "cleaning lady" week, because there is no way we could get the house in order by Tuesday morning.
Except we were all screwed up from being on vacation, and it apparently WAS a cleaning lady week. OOPS! Now she knows how we really live. So embarrassing. Also, the poor thing cleaned up so many of our messes, and we didn't even leave her a check. I feel terrible. But I'm also completely surprised that this is the first time in over 4 years that we have made this mistake. So, bright side?
2) In a growing panic over the thought of not watching a lick of football this season, M. went out and bought a new antenna to try - something designed for the military, apparently. This thing. We now have over 20 broadcasted stations on our basement TV (where we do all our evening TV watching), including FOX, NBC, CBS, and ABC. And also a bunch of crappy other stations. M. is watching a Ravens game as I type (blergh), and I'm thrilled at the prospect of actually watching The Good Wife and How I Met Your Mother in decent quality (streaming to the TV from a computer just isn't that good). He may not catch much of his beloved Badgers this year, but at least we can now watch the Super Bowl.
3) If they gave out degrees in "getting the last drop of wine out of the wine box," I would be at the top of the class.
4) I'm seeing a podiatrist right now. God, doesn't that make me seem old? I FEEL old. I even have orthotics I'm supposed to wear. That doesn't fly with cute dress shoes, though - I can't seem to fit them in my most of my existing shoes without entering severe blister territory. You don't even want to know the kinds of desperate Google searches I've been doing lately - "orthotics for heels," "orthotics for dress shoes," "dress shoes with removable inserts," "orthotic shoes," "shoes with arch support,"... it's so depressing. God I'm so old. I have plantar fasciitis, which Dr. Google told me, and then my podiatrist confirmed. Score one for Dr. Google! Anyway, it's depressing because I haven't been able to run much at all without at least 24 hours of intense pain afterward. But I think it's getting better? My mom bought me this foot stretcher thing, which seems to be helping. That's how you get rid of it, by the way (though you're always at risk for it coming back) - by stretching the crap out of your calves and feet. I can now say my left foot is LIMBER - sexy, no?
By the way, my podiatrist's name is Dr. Footer. Reminds me of how the anesthesiologist that administered my epidural when Finn was born was named Dr. Payne.
I can't even make this stuff up.
5) I did squeeze in a short jog two nights ago, and decided that this is my new favorite running song:
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's "Can't Hold Us."
Finn introduced us to the song, and knows far more of the words than we do. It's ridiculously adorable to watch him singing it.
Lucy's favorite song right now is this one (we downloaded the clean version to our iTunes library):
Icona Pop's "I Love It" - also a super catchy, good-for-running song.
6) Tomorrow marks the end of my "Furlough Fridays." In good news for my paycheck and bad news for all my PLANS, the DoD decided to cut short the civilian furlough, from 11 days to 6. I had so many things I was going to do with that time! But also, I was feeling so broke! So this is really for the best, and I do think that I made the most of my furlough days. Even though too much of it was spend scrubbing grout (because any grout scrubbing is too much).
Anyway, in celebration of the last furlough day (and because he's been working so hard lately), M. is taking tomorrow off, too, and we're going to spend it together. We are heading in to D.C. for lunch and a visit to the National Portrait Gallery, where my friend Jen's work is part of an exhibit - she won second place in a national portrait competition! I'm so excited to see it, and to have a grown-up day with M. while the kids are at daycare...
7) ...where they will be showing off "their" science project. And by their, I mean the one they helped with a little bit. Or a tinsy bit, as the kids are fond of saying. A study on different conditions that grow mold on bread. Mostly conceived and executed by yours truly and M., in exactly the kind of dick parent's move that I hate. But who are we kidding - when prompted for Ideas, Finn suggested some really complicated thing, as always, and Lucy studiously ignored us. So instead, the bread mold project. And as I type, there are 9 baggies of moldy bread affixed to a piece of poster board up on my living room couch.
Ah, learning.
1) This past weekend was a flurry of house projects that required the kids to "entertain themselves" (aka complain and mess shit up), back-to-school shopping, laundry, and pool time. By the end of the day Sunday, the house was a disaster. M. and I agreed that night that it was a damn good thing that it was not a "cleaning lady" week, because there is no way we could get the house in order by Tuesday morning.
Except we were all screwed up from being on vacation, and it apparently WAS a cleaning lady week. OOPS! Now she knows how we really live. So embarrassing. Also, the poor thing cleaned up so many of our messes, and we didn't even leave her a check. I feel terrible. But I'm also completely surprised that this is the first time in over 4 years that we have made this mistake. So, bright side?
2) In a growing panic over the thought of not watching a lick of football this season, M. went out and bought a new antenna to try - something designed for the military, apparently. This thing. We now have over 20 broadcasted stations on our basement TV (where we do all our evening TV watching), including FOX, NBC, CBS, and ABC. And also a bunch of crappy other stations. M. is watching a Ravens game as I type (blergh), and I'm thrilled at the prospect of actually watching The Good Wife and How I Met Your Mother in decent quality (streaming to the TV from a computer just isn't that good). He may not catch much of his beloved Badgers this year, but at least we can now watch the Super Bowl.
3) If they gave out degrees in "getting the last drop of wine out of the wine box," I would be at the top of the class.
4) I'm seeing a podiatrist right now. God, doesn't that make me seem old? I FEEL old. I even have orthotics I'm supposed to wear. That doesn't fly with cute dress shoes, though - I can't seem to fit them in my most of my existing shoes without entering severe blister territory. You don't even want to know the kinds of desperate Google searches I've been doing lately - "orthotics for heels," "orthotics for dress shoes," "dress shoes with removable inserts," "orthotic shoes," "shoes with arch support,"... it's so depressing. God I'm so old. I have plantar fasciitis, which Dr. Google told me, and then my podiatrist confirmed. Score one for Dr. Google! Anyway, it's depressing because I haven't been able to run much at all without at least 24 hours of intense pain afterward. But I think it's getting better? My mom bought me this foot stretcher thing, which seems to be helping. That's how you get rid of it, by the way (though you're always at risk for it coming back) - by stretching the crap out of your calves and feet. I can now say my left foot is LIMBER - sexy, no?
By the way, my podiatrist's name is Dr. Footer. Reminds me of how the anesthesiologist that administered my epidural when Finn was born was named Dr. Payne.
I can't even make this stuff up.
5) I did squeeze in a short jog two nights ago, and decided that this is my new favorite running song:
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's "Can't Hold Us."
Finn introduced us to the song, and knows far more of the words than we do. It's ridiculously adorable to watch him singing it.
Lucy's favorite song right now is this one (we downloaded the clean version to our iTunes library):
Icona Pop's "I Love It" - also a super catchy, good-for-running song.
6) Tomorrow marks the end of my "Furlough Fridays." In good news for my paycheck and bad news for all my PLANS, the DoD decided to cut short the civilian furlough, from 11 days to 6. I had so many things I was going to do with that time! But also, I was feeling so broke! So this is really for the best, and I do think that I made the most of my furlough days. Even though too much of it was spend scrubbing grout (because any grout scrubbing is too much).
Anyway, in celebration of the last furlough day (and because he's been working so hard lately), M. is taking tomorrow off, too, and we're going to spend it together. We are heading in to D.C. for lunch and a visit to the National Portrait Gallery, where my friend Jen's work is part of an exhibit - she won second place in a national portrait competition! I'm so excited to see it, and to have a grown-up day with M. while the kids are at daycare...
7) ...where they will be showing off "their" science project. And by their, I mean the one they helped with a little bit. Or a tinsy bit, as the kids are fond of saying. A study on different conditions that grow mold on bread. Mostly conceived and executed by yours truly and M., in exactly the kind of dick parent's move that I hate. But who are we kidding - when prompted for Ideas, Finn suggested some really complicated thing, as always, and Lucy studiously ignored us. So instead, the bread mold project. And as I type, there are 9 baggies of moldy bread affixed to a piece of poster board up on my living room couch.
Ah, learning.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Day 3
Finn just called from his bedroom when he should have been sleeping. He was apparently pondering the deep, deep question "Do you need to count to 100 one hundred times to get to 1000?" He was not happy with my answer that no, you only need to count to 100 ten times. He kept insisting that would make only 110. I think we were having some communication issues, and I promised that I would attempt to explain multiplication in the morning, but for now, GO TO SLEEP.
Goodness, though, I'll take math contemplation over a nightmare any day as a sleep interruption. This kid is so excited to learn lately. Tonight we watched a bunch of videos from NASA on YouTube - he's very into space at the moment. He was fascinated by the Air and Space Museum's planetarium show on exoplanets this weekend (I have to say, I was too - lots of stuff I didn't know!). And his favorite pastime on the weekends is to watch all kinds of faux documentaries about life in the land of dinosaurs. Thank you, Netflix!!
Lucy has very little patience for any of these activities, and would prefer to watch He-Man or Jake and the Never Land Pirates, thank you very much. We're still working on her.
Sooooo, this week marks the first week of my 11 weeks of furlough. I'm trying to stay positive about the 20% pay cut. Friday is the mandated furlough day, so I'm hoping I can take advantage of the "three-day weekend" aspect of it by planning some fun things to do each week. Tomorrow I hope to kick it off with a morning jog (and not an insanely early morning jog - I discovered the hard way with a foot injury that 5 a.m. is not a time that my body likes to be up and running), lunch with a friend I haven't seen in way too long, and maybe some later afternoon pool time with the kids. Other weeks I plan to tackle some DIY projects around the house, go into D.C. to have lunch with M., and take the kids on some fun outings (splash park, Baltimore's Port Discovery).
Of course, I should probably make sure these things are as cheap as possible, what with the aforementioned 20% pay cut that accompanies all this newfound free time.
At some point the realization that "Thursday is the new Friday" should sink in, but for now I feel a little frantic. I'm not actually ALLOWED to do any work tomorrow, so I felt this crazy sense of "must get everything done" urgency today that is not very relaxing. Probably compounded by the fact that I'll be away on Monday, too - I'm heading up north for my grandfather's internment service. Which I expect to be both sad and fun - saying the official "goodbye" will be tough, but seeing all of my family and several of my friends will be great. Plus, I'm going up alone, so I'll have just me to take care of - what luxury!
Finally, a teaser photo of the kitchen renovations M. and I are having done right now - painting (did that ourselves), new countertops, and a new backsplash. The granite is in, and official before and after photos will come once the new backsplash is finally installed!
Goodness, though, I'll take math contemplation over a nightmare any day as a sleep interruption. This kid is so excited to learn lately. Tonight we watched a bunch of videos from NASA on YouTube - he's very into space at the moment. He was fascinated by the Air and Space Museum's planetarium show on exoplanets this weekend (I have to say, I was too - lots of stuff I didn't know!). And his favorite pastime on the weekends is to watch all kinds of faux documentaries about life in the land of dinosaurs. Thank you, Netflix!!
Lucy has very little patience for any of these activities, and would prefer to watch He-Man or Jake and the Never Land Pirates, thank you very much. We're still working on her.
Sooooo, this week marks the first week of my 11 weeks of furlough. I'm trying to stay positive about the 20% pay cut. Friday is the mandated furlough day, so I'm hoping I can take advantage of the "three-day weekend" aspect of it by planning some fun things to do each week. Tomorrow I hope to kick it off with a morning jog (and not an insanely early morning jog - I discovered the hard way with a foot injury that 5 a.m. is not a time that my body likes to be up and running), lunch with a friend I haven't seen in way too long, and maybe some later afternoon pool time with the kids. Other weeks I plan to tackle some DIY projects around the house, go into D.C. to have lunch with M., and take the kids on some fun outings (splash park, Baltimore's Port Discovery).
Of course, I should probably make sure these things are as cheap as possible, what with the aforementioned 20% pay cut that accompanies all this newfound free time.
At some point the realization that "Thursday is the new Friday" should sink in, but for now I feel a little frantic. I'm not actually ALLOWED to do any work tomorrow, so I felt this crazy sense of "must get everything done" urgency today that is not very relaxing. Probably compounded by the fact that I'll be away on Monday, too - I'm heading up north for my grandfather's internment service. Which I expect to be both sad and fun - saying the official "goodbye" will be tough, but seeing all of my family and several of my friends will be great. Plus, I'm going up alone, so I'll have just me to take care of - what luxury!
Finally, a teaser photo of the kitchen renovations M. and I are having done right now - painting (did that ourselves), new countertops, and a new backsplash. The granite is in, and official before and after photos will come once the new backsplash is finally installed!
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Queen of Corona
I taught the kids some of the words to "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" recently. It was one of those things where I couldn't get it out of my head. I don't know why - I hadn't heard it recently. But there it was, in my head, so I sang it. I got maybe half the words right. The kids were intrigued. Mama Pajama? Did what? So of course I dug it up on iTunes, since I couldn't rely on my memory to get the words right, and played it for them a few times. Ever since then, Finn likes to call me "Mommy P-Jommy." "Mommy P-Jommy, you are the BEST mommy." He also likes to tell me that he loves me more than anyone. More than I love him. The most, ever. He's all elbows and knees and NOT cuddly, until he suddenly is, squeezed up against my side and kissing my cheek.
Lucy's love for me is not worshipful like her brother's. It's demanding. She is confident in her love for me, in my love for her. And so she demands, constantly, in booming, regal tones. Get me this! I want that! I CAN'T take my shoes off, YOU do it! She tests, and pushes, and aggravates, as three-year-olds should. She can drive us crazy, and turn around a second later and captivate us with a joke (her jokes are not funny, making them endearingly so), or a hug (she gives the absolute best hugs ever), or a sly sideways glance. She calls a wedgie a "woodgie," and it kills me, making me ignore that I'm about to strangle her because of her refusal to get dressed. She grabs my face and leans in uncomfortably close during a cuddle. She is open and unreserved and full of demanding love.
___________________
I learned late last week that a work colleague of mine had passed away. She was sick - we knew she was sick. But we also understood her to be recovering, to be doing much better. We thought she was coming back soon. I didn't think that I wouldn't see her again.
She was one of the warmest, friendliest, most unflappable people I have ever met. She always, always had a kind word for me, and for everyone else. She had a difficult job, and often had to work with strong personalities. Yet she had this calm peace about her all the time. In situations where I would have lost my temper, she didn't bat an eye.
You don't always know when it will be the last time you see someone.
I'm not trying to trot out sentiments like "live in the moment," or "appreciate what you have" here. Though we should, when we can, which is not the same as always. Instead, I think what I could do better here, and what my co-worker did so well, is to create more positive interactions. With my kids. With my work colleagues. With M. With the checker at the grocery store. Just leave a trail of positivity behind me, in front of me. Don't focus so much on the negative side, the hard parts, the things that don't work out.
Do more to earn the worshipful, demanding love Finn and Lucy have for me.
And, yeah, of course, savor those hugs. But I already do that ;-).
Lucy's love for me is not worshipful like her brother's. It's demanding. She is confident in her love for me, in my love for her. And so she demands, constantly, in booming, regal tones. Get me this! I want that! I CAN'T take my shoes off, YOU do it! She tests, and pushes, and aggravates, as three-year-olds should. She can drive us crazy, and turn around a second later and captivate us with a joke (her jokes are not funny, making them endearingly so), or a hug (she gives the absolute best hugs ever), or a sly sideways glance. She calls a wedgie a "woodgie," and it kills me, making me ignore that I'm about to strangle her because of her refusal to get dressed. She grabs my face and leans in uncomfortably close during a cuddle. She is open and unreserved and full of demanding love.
___________________
I learned late last week that a work colleague of mine had passed away. She was sick - we knew she was sick. But we also understood her to be recovering, to be doing much better. We thought she was coming back soon. I didn't think that I wouldn't see her again.
She was one of the warmest, friendliest, most unflappable people I have ever met. She always, always had a kind word for me, and for everyone else. She had a difficult job, and often had to work with strong personalities. Yet she had this calm peace about her all the time. In situations where I would have lost my temper, she didn't bat an eye.
You don't always know when it will be the last time you see someone.
I'm not trying to trot out sentiments like "live in the moment," or "appreciate what you have" here. Though we should, when we can, which is not the same as always. Instead, I think what I could do better here, and what my co-worker did so well, is to create more positive interactions. With my kids. With my work colleagues. With M. With the checker at the grocery store. Just leave a trail of positivity behind me, in front of me. Don't focus so much on the negative side, the hard parts, the things that don't work out.
Do more to earn the worshipful, demanding love Finn and Lucy have for me.
And, yeah, of course, savor those hugs. But I already do that ;-).
Monday, August 20, 2012
You Should Get An M., Too
Why do hotels go to the effort of putting huge flat screen TVs in each guest room, and then offer only a measly selection of low-definition channels to choose from? I was almost forced to watch a rerun of Two Broke Girls until I stumbled upon HGTV - it was not listed in the hotel room channel guide, so I can only assume that some higher being saw my need and came to my rescue. A frosty glass of rose (imagine an accent on the e, since I can't figure out how to put one there) can help with a lot of things, but not even that can make an episode of Two Broke Girls palatable.
So clearly, I'm in a hotel right now. Again. It's my fifth night alone in a hotel room over the last 9 days, and while I do treasure the occasional night away, I've way exceeded that limit. Thankfully, I drive home tomorrow (I'm not TOO far away), and then I'm done with work travel for a couple of months.
While I'm away from home, M. is overseeing the transition of this:
into something that will hopefully look more like this:
See the piles and piles of boxes in the first picture up there? During my trip last week, M. rented a truck, picked them up, and then carried them all one by one into the house. He hauled over 1500 pounds of materials all by himself. Now he's home alone again, handling emergency installation questions and decisions on the fly. Like the one where the workers had to change plans and lay some of the flooring on top of CARDBOARD (the same cardboard that the wood planks came in) because our subfloor was way too low in one part of the space. CARDBOARD. When the workers pulled up the carpet, it was discovered that some of the joists have sunk, and it was being masked by extra padding under our wall-to-wall carpeting. M. had to decide, once the carpet was already up, whether to stop the installation completely and put new carpet back down, to stop it and get a new subfloor installed ($$$), or go with... cardboard. Then, once he chose the cardboard option, sign a waiver saying that it's not the company's fault if we aren't happy with the installation.
If I was the one home, I probably would have panicked. Thank goodness he is the one that handled it instead. Love you, honey!
I'm not completely confident that I'll be walking into a house with fully installed, gorgeous hardwood floors tomorrow evening, but I'm HOPEFUL. It's too late to turn back now!
In other news, Finn starts Kindergarten a week from today. I have no idea if we are ready, but Finn clearly is. He is done, done, done with daycare, and excited to start at his new school. Friday we have an orientation for parents at the school, and then it's off to the races! Should be interesting to see how we adjust to a new daily routine - ALL of us.
So clearly, I'm in a hotel right now. Again. It's my fifth night alone in a hotel room over the last 9 days, and while I do treasure the occasional night away, I've way exceeded that limit. Thankfully, I drive home tomorrow (I'm not TOO far away), and then I'm done with work travel for a couple of months.
While I'm away from home, M. is overseeing the transition of this:
 |
| My living room |
 |
| Not my living room (source) |
If I was the one home, I probably would have panicked. Thank goodness he is the one that handled it instead. Love you, honey!
I'm not completely confident that I'll be walking into a house with fully installed, gorgeous hardwood floors tomorrow evening, but I'm HOPEFUL. It's too late to turn back now!
In other news, Finn starts Kindergarten a week from today. I have no idea if we are ready, but Finn clearly is. He is done, done, done with daycare, and excited to start at his new school. Friday we have an orientation for parents at the school, and then it's off to the races! Should be interesting to see how we adjust to a new daily routine - ALL of us.
Monday, January 23, 2012
I Never Use All the Space in the Bed, Anyway
The last couple of weeks have involved lots of work travel and all-day meetings/conferences. It has been exhausting, and I am missing the “normal routine” badly. I’m not spending ZERO time with M. and the kids, but it has been abbreviated, and the feeling of upcoming work obligations always makes that time seem even more rushed/less relaxing.
Of course, not every aspect of work travel is unpleasant. I commuted into Washington, D.C. two days last week, and it was kind of fun to get swept up with the rest of the masses riding the Metro, pounding the sidewalks, and in general moving with purpose. No one walks slowly in D.C.! My new Kindle (and the engrossing book State of Wonder) definitely helped pass the time during the lengthy Metro ride. Food I don’t cook myself, conversations with new and familiar-but-rarely-seen faces, (for last night and tonight) a big hotel bed all to myself... there are some bonuses to work travel. But I never sleep as well – I imagine that, even though M. told me that Lucy woke up 3 or 4 times last night, I probably would have had a more restful night of sleep had I been in my less-than-crisp, crowded bed at home. And I miss my family.
A few observations from the last few days -
1) There is nothing like an alarm malfunction to allow for speed records to be set in the sport of “getting ready.” Last Thursday I was supposed to wake up at 5 am and leave my house by 5:30 to begin the long trek into D.C. (for a meeting that was beginning at 7 am). My alarm did go off at 5, but without any volume at all. It was apparently caught between radio stations, or some such nonsense. Fortunately, an act of God made M. look at the clock at 5:34 am, and he woke me up. I was out the door 15 minutes later, and only 5 minutes late to my meeting. Why is this kind of speed not possible on a normal day?
Panic + no kids + showering the night before + advance outfit planning = 15 minutes
On a typical day, that equation looks more like:
No early morning meeting + snooze button X 2 + shower + clothing deliberation + rousing the kids X 12 (because this step is really hard) + making kids use potty + dressing kids + forcing kids to brush teeth + brushing Lucy's hair X 46 (really, really hard) + shoes, coats, hats, mittens for all / the inverse of all the bags that need to get carried out to the car = 5 thousand years
Addended to add that I at least matched my "getting ready" record this evening - I arranged to meet work friends for dinner at 6:30 tonight, and decided to work out on one of the hotel treadmills beforehand. And by beforehand, I mean 5:40-ish. Foolish? Perhaps. But I was determined to get in a workout. I made it back to my room at 6:21, showered, dressed, and even put on some make up, and was out the door to meet them by 6:34. So apparently the appeal of dining kid-free with friends and the promise of wine is also quite motivating for me.
2) Surgeons start meetings WAY too early. A 7 am meeting in D.C.? Cah-razy!
3) I am currently attending a two-and-a-half day meeting where many different scientific and medical professional come together in an expert capacity. Representing their fields, their institutions, etc. Last night was the formal "kick off" dinner, though formal can mean many different things within the science crowd. I accept this, I know this, I understand that I will see more than one pair of jeans. And yet. I was more than a little surprised to see a woman wearing slippers.
Time to get back to my clearly-not-High-Def viewing of House Hunters, and the glass of chardonnay keeping me company. One more day to go, and then I'm back to all the wonderful comforts and discomforts of home!
Of course, not every aspect of work travel is unpleasant. I commuted into Washington, D.C. two days last week, and it was kind of fun to get swept up with the rest of the masses riding the Metro, pounding the sidewalks, and in general moving with purpose. No one walks slowly in D.C.! My new Kindle (and the engrossing book State of Wonder) definitely helped pass the time during the lengthy Metro ride. Food I don’t cook myself, conversations with new and familiar-but-rarely-seen faces, (for last night and tonight) a big hotel bed all to myself... there are some bonuses to work travel. But I never sleep as well – I imagine that, even though M. told me that Lucy woke up 3 or 4 times last night, I probably would have had a more restful night of sleep had I been in my less-than-crisp, crowded bed at home. And I miss my family.
A few observations from the last few days -
1) There is nothing like an alarm malfunction to allow for speed records to be set in the sport of “getting ready.” Last Thursday I was supposed to wake up at 5 am and leave my house by 5:30 to begin the long trek into D.C. (for a meeting that was beginning at 7 am). My alarm did go off at 5, but without any volume at all. It was apparently caught between radio stations, or some such nonsense. Fortunately, an act of God made M. look at the clock at 5:34 am, and he woke me up. I was out the door 15 minutes later, and only 5 minutes late to my meeting. Why is this kind of speed not possible on a normal day?
Panic + no kids + showering the night before + advance outfit planning = 15 minutes
On a typical day, that equation looks more like:
No early morning meeting + snooze button X 2 + shower + clothing deliberation + rousing the kids X 12 (because this step is really hard) + making kids use potty + dressing kids + forcing kids to brush teeth + brushing Lucy's hair X 46 (really, really hard) + shoes, coats, hats, mittens for all / the inverse of all the bags that need to get carried out to the car = 5 thousand years
Addended to add that I at least matched my "getting ready" record this evening - I arranged to meet work friends for dinner at 6:30 tonight, and decided to work out on one of the hotel treadmills beforehand. And by beforehand, I mean 5:40-ish. Foolish? Perhaps. But I was determined to get in a workout. I made it back to my room at 6:21, showered, dressed, and even put on some make up, and was out the door to meet them by 6:34. So apparently the appeal of dining kid-free with friends and the promise of wine is also quite motivating for me.
2) Surgeons start meetings WAY too early. A 7 am meeting in D.C.? Cah-razy!
3) I am currently attending a two-and-a-half day meeting where many different scientific and medical professional come together in an expert capacity. Representing their fields, their institutions, etc. Last night was the formal "kick off" dinner, though formal can mean many different things within the science crowd. I accept this, I know this, I understand that I will see more than one pair of jeans. And yet. I was more than a little surprised to see a woman wearing slippers.
Time to get back to my clearly-not-High-Def viewing of House Hunters, and the glass of chardonnay keeping me company. One more day to go, and then I'm back to all the wonderful comforts and discomforts of home!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Minutiae
Yesterday I left for work early - I had an all-day meeting and needed to make sure I wasn't late. M. dropped the kids off, and since I was up early, he and the kids were up and ready early, too. He dropped them off right around 7 am. My meeting, which was supposed to end by 4:30, was still going strong when I snuck out the door at 5:20 in order to make it to school by its 6:00 p.m. closing time. I barely made it. This meant the kids were at daycare for just about 11 hours yesterday.
In an effort to distract the kids from our abbreviated evening, I got them Burger King for dinner. Kind of like bribery, but they didn't know why I was bribing them.
Today I picked the kids up on the early side, to make up for the extra long day at daycare yesterday. I offered to play with the kids before starting dinner, since it was still pretty early - spend some unrushed, quality time together that we don't usually get. They decided to watch TV instead.
__________________________
It drives me nuts that as soon as I get home each night with the kids, I am bombarded with demands. Help me get my coat/shoes off (Lucy, who is actually perfectly capable of doing those tasks herself), turn on the TV (both kids), put on a different show (usually Finn), get me a snack (both kids), feed me (cat, accompanied by annoying ankle-rubbing and other trip-causing behavior), cook dinner STAT (me/the "schedule"), make something healthy (also me), make soemthing kid-friendly (kids again), get me another snack (kids, accompanied by the inevitable whining when I say no), start emptying the dishwasher so M. doesn't have to do it later (M.), clean as I go (just nice to do, and I don't always do it, as I'm not very nice). All this happens in the roughly 45 minutes I have before M. gets home from work.
I wish that I could be left alone to cook [food I like] in peace.
Also, I need more "pleases" in my life.
____________________________
My Weight Watchers weigh-in for the week is tomorrow morning. I ate tacos for dinner tonight. Even though I did use the 40% less sodium seasoning, this was probably not a smart dinner choice.
____________________________
There are 5 loads of laundry sitting in a mountain on the floor of my basement, waiting to be folded.
____________________________
Last Sunday I baked all afternoon with Finn. First we made Buttermilk Oatmeal muffins, mostly so I could use up the rest of the container of buttermilk I had in my fridge. To finish off the milk, I had to make a double batch - 36 muffins. I figured this was OK, as I could give them to the kids each morning as a pre-school snack, and also freeze some. Finn and Lucy ate one bite each, and declared they don't like them.
*I* like them, and M. likes them. However, I hadn't planned on eating 34 of them.
We also made zucchini cookies, as Finn was curious how you could make a cookie with a vegetable. It took us an ungodly amount of time to shred up the zucchini with the brand new food mill my mom gave me for Christmas. Should have gone low-tech and used a shredder, I guess, but at least it was a good upper body workout.
The kids *kind of* like the cookies, but still prefer other dessert foods.
There are far too many delicious baked goods in this house for my liking (and my diet's existence), and too few people to eat them.
I wish I could eat anything I wanted to, and still be healthy.
________________________________
I have been good about getting back on track with exercise, jogging three times this week. I have not been so good about not eating all the things.
This is directly related to the plethora of baked goods in my house. And also the container of Two-Bite Brownies that sustained me throughout my all-day meeting yesterday. Two-Bite Brownies are a weakness of mine. There's just something about the slightly crispy outer layer, and gooey soft inner layer, that makes my soul happy. But not my scale, of course.
_________________________________
Lucy is completely potty trained, even at night. This family? Is done with diapers. In Memoriam: October 2006 - January 2012. They lived a short (yet too long), filled (if not exactly fulfilling) life. May they rest in peace.
_________________________________
Lucy sometimes hisses at us. She loves chapstick, princesses, Tinker Bell, Hello Kitty, Luke Skywalker, Annakin Skywalker, and Darth Vader. She does not like Emperor Palpatine. She has been getting in trouble for hitting at school lately. She wears 3T, will be 3 years old in just a few months. She looks adorable in a pony tail, and despises having her hair brushed. Her favorite song right now is "Moonshadow" by Cat Stevens. She won't wear a hat or mittens most days, and is a pretty picky eater. Her favorite food at the moment is macaroni and cheese, or so she claims - she occasionally goes rogue and turns her nose up at it. Her favorite TV show is Super Why. She still sleeps in a crib. She likes to tell her father that he's handsome, but she still asks for me to be the one to put her to bed most nights (and brush her teeth, and get her out of bed, and take her to the bathroom...).
_________________________________
Finn has also been getting in trouble at school for hitting lately. We really know how to raise them, eh? He has now watched all 6 of the Star Wars movies, and is officially obsessed. He is capable of asking 3,472 questions about Star Wars on any given day. He plays with Star Wars toys, reads Star Wars books, and likely dreams about Star Wars. He is starting to get the hang of reading simple words, and whips through his math homework with little to no help. He is sweet and sensitive, always trying to make sure that the people he loves don't feel bad. He wants to win at games, but doesn't want us to lose, at least not too badly. He is taking swim lessons right now. His favorite food is still pizza, and his favorite TV show is The Wild Kratts. He whines A LOT (seriously, when does that end??). He is stubborn and frustrating and funny and loving. He still gives us spontaneous hugs and kisses. One of his latest tics involves a droning, constant humming while he's zoned out, which is about as annoying as it sounds. He now sleeps until at least 7 am on the weekends, and is damn hard to get out of bed on the weekdays.
____________________________________
That's life, lately. Just wanted to get something down, to get back to writing something, ANYTHING, here. To keep a record of life, for the days to come when we look back and try to remember how it all was.
It's better than it sounds, though. Writing out the details, it can seem miserable. On a day-to-day basis, life can BE miserable. But over all, we are fortunate and happy and decidedly NOT miserable. These kids, they are work. They are frustration in a short package. But they bring so much to our lives, and I know it's all worth it. These two little beings, that turn their noses up at my cooking and beat the crap out of each other, they are awesome. I recognize it every day, and make mental note of it. I'm just not that good at capturing it here, to share with all of you (and my future, memory-addled self). I need to get better at that, at putting down here all the good details. I hope I do.
In an effort to distract the kids from our abbreviated evening, I got them Burger King for dinner. Kind of like bribery, but they didn't know why I was bribing them.
Today I picked the kids up on the early side, to make up for the extra long day at daycare yesterday. I offered to play with the kids before starting dinner, since it was still pretty early - spend some unrushed, quality time together that we don't usually get. They decided to watch TV instead.
__________________________
It drives me nuts that as soon as I get home each night with the kids, I am bombarded with demands. Help me get my coat/shoes off (Lucy, who is actually perfectly capable of doing those tasks herself), turn on the TV (both kids), put on a different show (usually Finn), get me a snack (both kids), feed me (cat, accompanied by annoying ankle-rubbing and other trip-causing behavior), cook dinner STAT (me/the "schedule"), make something healthy (also me), make soemthing kid-friendly (kids again), get me another snack (kids, accompanied by the inevitable whining when I say no), start emptying the dishwasher so M. doesn't have to do it later (M.), clean as I go (just nice to do, and I don't always do it, as I'm not very nice). All this happens in the roughly 45 minutes I have before M. gets home from work.
I wish that I could be left alone to cook [food I like] in peace.
Also, I need more "pleases" in my life.
____________________________
My Weight Watchers weigh-in for the week is tomorrow morning. I ate tacos for dinner tonight. Even though I did use the 40% less sodium seasoning, this was probably not a smart dinner choice.
____________________________
There are 5 loads of laundry sitting in a mountain on the floor of my basement, waiting to be folded.
____________________________
Last Sunday I baked all afternoon with Finn. First we made Buttermilk Oatmeal muffins, mostly so I could use up the rest of the container of buttermilk I had in my fridge. To finish off the milk, I had to make a double batch - 36 muffins. I figured this was OK, as I could give them to the kids each morning as a pre-school snack, and also freeze some. Finn and Lucy ate one bite each, and declared they don't like them.
*I* like them, and M. likes them. However, I hadn't planned on eating 34 of them.
We also made zucchini cookies, as Finn was curious how you could make a cookie with a vegetable. It took us an ungodly amount of time to shred up the zucchini with the brand new food mill my mom gave me for Christmas. Should have gone low-tech and used a shredder, I guess, but at least it was a good upper body workout.
The kids *kind of* like the cookies, but still prefer other dessert foods.
There are far too many delicious baked goods in this house for my liking (and my diet's existence), and too few people to eat them.
I wish I could eat anything I wanted to, and still be healthy.
________________________________
I have been good about getting back on track with exercise, jogging three times this week. I have not been so good about not eating all the things.
This is directly related to the plethora of baked goods in my house. And also the container of Two-Bite Brownies that sustained me throughout my all-day meeting yesterday. Two-Bite Brownies are a weakness of mine. There's just something about the slightly crispy outer layer, and gooey soft inner layer, that makes my soul happy. But not my scale, of course.
_________________________________
Lucy is completely potty trained, even at night. This family? Is done with diapers. In Memoriam: October 2006 - January 2012. They lived a short (yet too long), filled (if not exactly fulfilling) life. May they rest in peace.
_________________________________
Lucy sometimes hisses at us. She loves chapstick, princesses, Tinker Bell, Hello Kitty, Luke Skywalker, Annakin Skywalker, and Darth Vader. She does not like Emperor Palpatine. She has been getting in trouble for hitting at school lately. She wears 3T, will be 3 years old in just a few months. She looks adorable in a pony tail, and despises having her hair brushed. Her favorite song right now is "Moonshadow" by Cat Stevens. She won't wear a hat or mittens most days, and is a pretty picky eater. Her favorite food at the moment is macaroni and cheese, or so she claims - she occasionally goes rogue and turns her nose up at it. Her favorite TV show is Super Why. She still sleeps in a crib. She likes to tell her father that he's handsome, but she still asks for me to be the one to put her to bed most nights (and brush her teeth, and get her out of bed, and take her to the bathroom...).
_________________________________
Finn has also been getting in trouble at school for hitting lately. We really know how to raise them, eh? He has now watched all 6 of the Star Wars movies, and is officially obsessed. He is capable of asking 3,472 questions about Star Wars on any given day. He plays with Star Wars toys, reads Star Wars books, and likely dreams about Star Wars. He is starting to get the hang of reading simple words, and whips through his math homework with little to no help. He is sweet and sensitive, always trying to make sure that the people he loves don't feel bad. He wants to win at games, but doesn't want us to lose, at least not too badly. He is taking swim lessons right now. His favorite food is still pizza, and his favorite TV show is The Wild Kratts. He whines A LOT (seriously, when does that end??). He is stubborn and frustrating and funny and loving. He still gives us spontaneous hugs and kisses. One of his latest tics involves a droning, constant humming while he's zoned out, which is about as annoying as it sounds. He now sleeps until at least 7 am on the weekends, and is damn hard to get out of bed on the weekdays.
____________________________________
That's life, lately. Just wanted to get something down, to get back to writing something, ANYTHING, here. To keep a record of life, for the days to come when we look back and try to remember how it all was.
It's better than it sounds, though. Writing out the details, it can seem miserable. On a day-to-day basis, life can BE miserable. But over all, we are fortunate and happy and decidedly NOT miserable. These kids, they are work. They are frustration in a short package. But they bring so much to our lives, and I know it's all worth it. These two little beings, that turn their noses up at my cooking and beat the crap out of each other, they are awesome. I recognize it every day, and make mental note of it. I'm just not that good at capturing it here, to share with all of you (and my future, memory-addled self). I need to get better at that, at putting down here all the good details. I hope I do.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Show Me The Mommy
My sister sent me a few photos from my visit with her last weekend, so I thought I'd play along with LauraC's Show Me The Mommy Friday theme.
Here I am with my adorable 6 month old neice, Josephine. In the background you can see my nephew Ned in his spica cast:
This was before I drank nearly a bottle of wine (nearly?) - I won't show you the "after" picture! In my defense, three kids are exhausting, even when they aren't your own :-).
And to update you on my holiday party dilemma, the statements I sent in for our "team building event" were:
1) My relatives were part of the Underground Railroad.
2) I hitchhiked in the Pyrenees mountains.
3) I had my first car accident the day I got my driver's license.
4) I've met two justices of the Supreme Court.
Can you tell which is the lie? Family members (especially sisters!) are not allowed to answer.
Here I am with my adorable 6 month old neice, Josephine. In the background you can see my nephew Ned in his spica cast:
This was before I drank nearly a bottle of wine (nearly?) - I won't show you the "after" picture! In my defense, three kids are exhausting, even when they aren't your own :-).
And to update you on my holiday party dilemma, the statements I sent in for our "team building event" were:
1) My relatives were part of the Underground Railroad.
2) I hitchhiked in the Pyrenees mountains.
3) I had my first car accident the day I got my driver's license.
4) I've met two justices of the Supreme Court.
Can you tell which is the lie? Family members (especially sisters!) are not allowed to answer.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Fact or Fiction or Just Plain Boring?
My work holiday party, ahem "Team Building Event" is this Friday. Is it strange that it is sending me into a "woe is me" spiral?
No, this is not a Bah Humbug moment, my hesitation has nothing to do with a reluctance to celebrate the holidays. Rather, the source of my angst is the "Team Building" portion of the event. As was done last year, we are all supposed to participate in a game whereby we e-mail three true statements and one lie about ourselves to the game coordinator. Then, during the party, handouts of all the compiled statements are given out without associated names, and we are supposed to ask our fellow guests questions in order to determine who belongs to each group of statements, and which statement is the lie.
Last year I didn't hesitate much, just picked three true statements and a lie and sent them away. I believe they were: "I am the oldest of four children" (I thought this might throw some people off because they might know I am a triplet, but may not know that I have a younger brother), "I was born in Vermont", "My favorite beverage is tea" (the lie - it's either coffee or wine, but definitely NOT tea), and one other similarly veined statement that I can't remember because, like the other three, it was BORING.
And then I got to the party, and everyone else's statements were like "I'm a certified scuba instructor" and "I sat in Ricky Martin's lap" and "I speak four languages" and "I did some awesome thing that you didn't do." OK, so the last one isn't a direct quote, but basically, everyone else seemed really interesting and/or accomplished. While I... did not.
And now we are doing it again. I clearly feel the pressure to put some really awesome facts out there, things no one would ever guess about me, things that show how crazy or daring or smart or accomplished or awesome I am. But I'm drawing a blank here, folks. The most remarkable things about me are not really my doing, or they are way too embarrassing or work inappropriate to admit. Yeah, so I once bonged a beer in just a few seconds and then chased it with a flaming shot of 151 rum (and in the process kind of set the table on fire), but do I really want my co-workers to know that? Pretty sure that belongs firmly in the "no" category. Plus it's lame to clame college drinking experiences as something remarkable when in your mid-thirties. I can't really use the fact that I'm a triplet - thought it's usually a crowd pleaser, it would too easily identify me, and I had no part in making that happen. I wasn't valedictorian, I haven't met anyone particularly famous, I'm not particularly accomplished, I don't even play any musical instruments.
What would you say, if you were in this situation? What are three truths and a lie that people might not expect from you? Maybe they'll give me inspiration.
I'm probably the only staff member who's blogged about the party, maybe I can use that...
Nah, don't want them all headed to this site :-).
No, this is not a Bah Humbug moment, my hesitation has nothing to do with a reluctance to celebrate the holidays. Rather, the source of my angst is the "Team Building" portion of the event. As was done last year, we are all supposed to participate in a game whereby we e-mail three true statements and one lie about ourselves to the game coordinator. Then, during the party, handouts of all the compiled statements are given out without associated names, and we are supposed to ask our fellow guests questions in order to determine who belongs to each group of statements, and which statement is the lie.
Last year I didn't hesitate much, just picked three true statements and a lie and sent them away. I believe they were: "I am the oldest of four children" (I thought this might throw some people off because they might know I am a triplet, but may not know that I have a younger brother), "I was born in Vermont", "My favorite beverage is tea" (the lie - it's either coffee or wine, but definitely NOT tea), and one other similarly veined statement that I can't remember because, like the other three, it was BORING.
And then I got to the party, and everyone else's statements were like "I'm a certified scuba instructor" and "I sat in Ricky Martin's lap" and "I speak four languages" and "I did some awesome thing that you didn't do." OK, so the last one isn't a direct quote, but basically, everyone else seemed really interesting and/or accomplished. While I... did not.
And now we are doing it again. I clearly feel the pressure to put some really awesome facts out there, things no one would ever guess about me, things that show how crazy or daring or smart or accomplished or awesome I am. But I'm drawing a blank here, folks. The most remarkable things about me are not really my doing, or they are way too embarrassing or work inappropriate to admit. Yeah, so I once bonged a beer in just a few seconds and then chased it with a flaming shot of 151 rum (and in the process kind of set the table on fire), but do I really want my co-workers to know that? Pretty sure that belongs firmly in the "no" category. Plus it's lame to clame college drinking experiences as something remarkable when in your mid-thirties. I can't really use the fact that I'm a triplet - thought it's usually a crowd pleaser, it would too easily identify me, and I had no part in making that happen. I wasn't valedictorian, I haven't met anyone particularly famous, I'm not particularly accomplished, I don't even play any musical instruments.
What would you say, if you were in this situation? What are three truths and a lie that people might not expect from you? Maybe they'll give me inspiration.
I'm probably the only staff member who's blogged about the party, maybe I can use that...
Nah, don't want them all headed to this site :-).
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
I Swear I Don't Always Complain
1. I am coming to the realization that I'm going to have to say an early goodbye to a pair of my work shoes. They are Aerosoles' Envy shoes in black croco leather. Style- and comfort-wise, these shoes may indeed invoke Envy in others (OK, not the highly fashionable, perhaps, but some?). What won't, though, is the aroma that is currently wafting up from inside of them. Any tips on how to rescue stinky, stinky shoes? I have tried baby powder, but that just makes for a nauseating and confusing combination of baby powder and stink that is not the slightest bit masked. I am quite sad, because I've only had the shoes for several months, and even for my admittedly stink-prone feet, this seems like a rapid demise. Likely hastened by my predilection for wearing nice shoes without stockings in the summer because really, who wants to wear knee-highs in August?
2. I am currently sitting in a hotel room in Virginia, quite close to Dulles Airport, for a brief overnight work meeting. I have been looking forward to this for the last several days, as sleep has been hard to come by and oft interrupted lately. Tired does not begin to describe how I feel. However, I have been blessed with a neighbor who relishes in TV watching and phone conversations, and a room with little to no sound proofing between the "adjoining doors" feature of the room. Lest there be any confusion, I do not know my neighbor, and have no love for the standard hotel feature of room adjoinment. In addition to paranoia that someone will be able to break in to my hotel room through the door, I can now add "sound so unfiltered it provides one with the virtual experience of having a roommate" to my reasons for dislike of the room adjoinment set up.
3. I tried taking a bath to get a respite from neighbor noise, a treat I pretty much never, ever get at home. I was also hoping that it would keep me warm while I waited for the room to adjust to the thermostat temperature I set. Unfortunately, the tub is not a deep one, and rather than being warmed by it, I just became super conscious of each part of my body that was sticking up out of the warm water - my knees, my shoulders, my wrists and hands - I tried fitting as much of my body underwater as possible, but even for this shorty it was not possible to actually get warm. The bath was a short one.
4. Then I realized that I had forgotten to pack any pajamas. And I'm just not comfortable sleeping in the altogether, home, hotel room, or other. So, I'll be sleeping in the workout clothes that I've been lugging around with me to and from work for the last week and a half, but FORTUNATELY (though not for my health and physique) have not actually used yet.
The potential for a good night of rest is still unknown, but it's not looking good. Between stinky shoe smells (I may need to lock them up in my suitcase because I swear that I can smell them right now and they are like 15 feet away from me), noisy neighbors, adjusting room temperatures (I'm sure I will wake up - if I sleep - to find myself in an 80 degree room and a sweaty mess, though I shiver now), and the rustling that will happen every time I roll over in my high performance material workout clothes, I may have been better off staying at home and taking my chances with two kids, a cat, and an occasionally-snoring husband to interrupt my sleep.
By the way, did you know that there is apparently a key that you can press on a keyboard that will instantly publish your Blogger post when you are no where near done with it, forcing you to scramble to complete and edit the post that you meant to spend much more time perfecting? I should know, I've done it at least twice now. Sadly, I have no idea which key it is that performs this magic trick, I just know that it is somewhere on the righthand side of the keyboard. Bloggers, beware! Or at least, be better typers than I am!
2. I am currently sitting in a hotel room in Virginia, quite close to Dulles Airport, for a brief overnight work meeting. I have been looking forward to this for the last several days, as sleep has been hard to come by and oft interrupted lately. Tired does not begin to describe how I feel. However, I have been blessed with a neighbor who relishes in TV watching and phone conversations, and a room with little to no sound proofing between the "adjoining doors" feature of the room. Lest there be any confusion, I do not know my neighbor, and have no love for the standard hotel feature of room adjoinment. In addition to paranoia that someone will be able to break in to my hotel room through the door, I can now add "sound so unfiltered it provides one with the virtual experience of having a roommate" to my reasons for dislike of the room adjoinment set up.
3. I tried taking a bath to get a respite from neighbor noise, a treat I pretty much never, ever get at home. I was also hoping that it would keep me warm while I waited for the room to adjust to the thermostat temperature I set. Unfortunately, the tub is not a deep one, and rather than being warmed by it, I just became super conscious of each part of my body that was sticking up out of the warm water - my knees, my shoulders, my wrists and hands - I tried fitting as much of my body underwater as possible, but even for this shorty it was not possible to actually get warm. The bath was a short one.
4. Then I realized that I had forgotten to pack any pajamas. And I'm just not comfortable sleeping in the altogether, home, hotel room, or other. So, I'll be sleeping in the workout clothes that I've been lugging around with me to and from work for the last week and a half, but FORTUNATELY (though not for my health and physique) have not actually used yet.
The potential for a good night of rest is still unknown, but it's not looking good. Between stinky shoe smells (I may need to lock them up in my suitcase because I swear that I can smell them right now and they are like 15 feet away from me), noisy neighbors, adjusting room temperatures (I'm sure I will wake up - if I sleep - to find myself in an 80 degree room and a sweaty mess, though I shiver now), and the rustling that will happen every time I roll over in my high performance material workout clothes, I may have been better off staying at home and taking my chances with two kids, a cat, and an occasionally-snoring husband to interrupt my sleep.
By the way, did you know that there is apparently a key that you can press on a keyboard that will instantly publish your Blogger post when you are no where near done with it, forcing you to scramble to complete and edit the post that you meant to spend much more time perfecting? I should know, I've done it at least twice now. Sadly, I have no idea which key it is that performs this magic trick, I just know that it is somewhere on the righthand side of the keyboard. Bloggers, beware! Or at least, be better typers than I am!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
European Vacation...er, Work trip
M. here. As A. alluded to, I'm currently in Brussels, Belgium. The rationale for the trip is a workshop that I'll be attending on Thursday and Friday to help the European Commission think through the process of establishing a couple of large research programs. I wrote a report detailing some historical examples, mostly from the US, which will factor into the discussion, so it should be interesting. Since I didn't want to be totally jet-lagged for the meeting, I decided to fly into Brussels a day early and let my body adjust a bit through the healing powers of chocolate, beer, waffles, mussels, and bad Jan-Claude Van Damme movies (of which there are none; Bloodsport remains to this day one of the finest revenge/karate movies ever made.) So far, I've managed beer and chocolate. I passed on a couple of tourist-trap waffle places today and fear that mussels may be out of season. I haven't turned on the hotel TV yet, but assume that there is a Belgian station dedicated to their patron son of the martial arts, the Muscles from Brussels.
Before providing you with a pictorial of my five hour walking tour of Brussels, let me note a few observations:
1) Having spent my entire life in a "new" country, I've totally under appreciated parallel and perpendicular roads. US urban planners have it easy, with their blank sheets of land to develop. Try modernizing a city that's been around for half a millennium.
2) Cobble stone, while quite lovely to look at, is a bit tough on the ol' feet after a couple of hours.
3) Thank God the majority of the world grows-up learning English. I noticed this first in Vietnam, but it wasn't such a big deal because I was traveling with co-workers. This trip, however, I'm completely on my own. So, while I can piece together some French (thank you Grandpa Milo for sharing your college adventures in French class during fishing trips), it's reassuring to know that I can fall-back on English if needed, which is every time I'm saying something other than Thank You. Basically, I've specialized in Merci!
So, without further ado, my day in pics (guided by my faithful Frommer's):
We begin with my home-base for this trip, the NH Hotel du Grande Sablon, conveniently located near most of the touristy interests.
Next up is an example of the juxtaposition I guess you expect from cities that have been around for 500+ years. Yes, that's a fairly modern bowling alley tucked behind a really, really, really old brick wall that's been preserved.
We move now to Le Sablon, where a beautiful garden is best seen from an elevated vantage point. The really big spire in this picture...
...belongs to one of the amazing building surrounding Grand' Place. Protected by crowded medieval streets bustling with tourists, restaurants, and chic shops, Grand' Place definitely has a Wow factor. According to Frommer's, this used to be the administrative hub of Brussels in the 1600's, with each of the buildings housing the all-important guilds. The Gothic architecture is overflowing with details that depict the guilds crafts. Now, it's a great place to people-watch and take in the "how do they keep it so shiny?" gold accents on the buildings.
More Grand' Place.
Yet more Grand' Place.
God, please no more Grand' Place.
On second thought, maybe Grand' Place pictures weren't so bad! Those in the know will recognize this little fella' as Mannekin-Pis, who apparently has become something of an icon for Brussels. As one of a million different legends goes, Brussels was being invaded by (insert any number of groups that have sacked Brussels). As the soldiers marched on the city, a boy took up residence in a tree and "showered" them with insults. The rest, as they say, is history. It's now one of the largest tourist traps in the world. I've been to Wall Drug. I've seen the World's Largest Ball of Twine. I've toured the Corn Palace. This beat those hands down.
If you leave the Grand' Place in a certain direction, you wind through some very cool cobblestone corridors. If you're lucky, you'll stumble on the the Galeries St. Hubart, which has to be the original mall. Basically, it's a really long glass roof over a narrow street, with cool shops all along the way.
Next stop is the Cathedrale des St. Michel et Ste. Gudele, a 16th century Gothic church where members of the Belgium royal family are married and crowned. I was amazed by the fact that much of the outer edge of the floor is actually comprised of the top of crypts (I'm sure there's a more accurate description). In this picture, you're looking down the main aisle of the church. The statues depicted on each column are the 12 disciples.
This picture is for you, mom. Pretty awesome organ pipes, don't you think?
Finally, what trip would be complete without a trip to Palais Royal to see the current royal family. What? Oh, they prefer a different home in the 'burbs. So, this one just pretty much sits empty then? Huh. Not a bad second home, I'd say.
Finally, after all of my walking around, I decided to treat myself to a late lunch (or early breakfast since my internal clock is all screwed up). Thank you, waiter at L'entree des Artistes, for allowing me to order by pointing at a random entree on the French menu. I now know that Boulettes are meatballs, which is nice. Lunch was accompanied by a cold glass of Belle Vue Kriek, a cherry beer. Delightful!
Before providing you with a pictorial of my five hour walking tour of Brussels, let me note a few observations:
1) Having spent my entire life in a "new" country, I've totally under appreciated parallel and perpendicular roads. US urban planners have it easy, with their blank sheets of land to develop. Try modernizing a city that's been around for half a millennium.
2) Cobble stone, while quite lovely to look at, is a bit tough on the ol' feet after a couple of hours.
3) Thank God the majority of the world grows-up learning English. I noticed this first in Vietnam, but it wasn't such a big deal because I was traveling with co-workers. This trip, however, I'm completely on my own. So, while I can piece together some French (thank you Grandpa Milo for sharing your college adventures in French class during fishing trips), it's reassuring to know that I can fall-back on English if needed, which is every time I'm saying something other than Thank You. Basically, I've specialized in Merci!
So, without further ado, my day in pics (guided by my faithful Frommer's):
We begin with my home-base for this trip, the NH Hotel du Grande Sablon, conveniently located near most of the touristy interests.
Next up is an example of the juxtaposition I guess you expect from cities that have been around for 500+ years. Yes, that's a fairly modern bowling alley tucked behind a really, really, really old brick wall that's been preserved.
We move now to Le Sablon, where a beautiful garden is best seen from an elevated vantage point. The really big spire in this picture...
...belongs to one of the amazing building surrounding Grand' Place. Protected by crowded medieval streets bustling with tourists, restaurants, and chic shops, Grand' Place definitely has a Wow factor. According to Frommer's, this used to be the administrative hub of Brussels in the 1600's, with each of the buildings housing the all-important guilds. The Gothic architecture is overflowing with details that depict the guilds crafts. Now, it's a great place to people-watch and take in the "how do they keep it so shiny?" gold accents on the buildings.
More Grand' Place.
Yet more Grand' Place.
God, please no more Grand' Place.
On second thought, maybe Grand' Place pictures weren't so bad! Those in the know will recognize this little fella' as Mannekin-Pis, who apparently has become something of an icon for Brussels. As one of a million different legends goes, Brussels was being invaded by (insert any number of groups that have sacked Brussels). As the soldiers marched on the city, a boy took up residence in a tree and "showered" them with insults. The rest, as they say, is history. It's now one of the largest tourist traps in the world. I've been to Wall Drug. I've seen the World's Largest Ball of Twine. I've toured the Corn Palace. This beat those hands down.
If you leave the Grand' Place in a certain direction, you wind through some very cool cobblestone corridors. If you're lucky, you'll stumble on the the Galeries St. Hubart, which has to be the original mall. Basically, it's a really long glass roof over a narrow street, with cool shops all along the way.
Next stop is the Cathedrale des St. Michel et Ste. Gudele, a 16th century Gothic church where members of the Belgium royal family are married and crowned. I was amazed by the fact that much of the outer edge of the floor is actually comprised of the top of crypts (I'm sure there's a more accurate description). In this picture, you're looking down the main aisle of the church. The statues depicted on each column are the 12 disciples.
This picture is for you, mom. Pretty awesome organ pipes, don't you think?
Finally, what trip would be complete without a trip to Palais Royal to see the current royal family. What? Oh, they prefer a different home in the 'burbs. So, this one just pretty much sits empty then? Huh. Not a bad second home, I'd say.
Finally, after all of my walking around, I decided to treat myself to a late lunch (or early breakfast since my internal clock is all screwed up). Thank you, waiter at L'entree des Artistes, for allowing me to order by pointing at a random entree on the French menu. I now know that Boulettes are meatballs, which is nice. Lunch was accompanied by a cold glass of Belle Vue Kriek, a cherry beer. Delightful!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Frustration and Photos
(Notice, by the way, my refusal to utilize a cutesy alliteration like "Frustration and Fotos" in the post title. "Cute" alliterations that misspell words are a pet peeve of mine, and if Dunkin Donuts wasn't so darn convenient to my workplace, I would probably boycott the entire chain. Please, family of mine, do not gasp - I know those words are sacrilege for a native New Englander, as Bostonian diets are about 50% reliant on D&D.)
Today I feel like I'm not doing anything right. Mostly in the parenting arena - it's completely one of those days where I'm wondering if I'm doing the right thing parking my kids in daycare for 9+ hours a day. I'm having some issues with our daycare, some trivial, some maybe not trivial, but it's making me question our choices. I'm sure I'm over-reacting to some degree. I mean, is it necessary to have a mini anxiety attack about about WHO WILL HELP FINN DO HIS HOMEWORK??? AFTER SCHOOL???? IN THREE YEARS???????
I'm having some doubts in the working arena, too, as it's one of those days where I'm losing sight of why my job is important/good and feeling mired in politics and bureaucratic crap. Put the two together (working and parenting doubt), and it's hard to feel upbeat. I would vent, but I think it would be coming from the wrong place and be too reflective of my bad mood. The good news is that we are just a few hours away from tomorrow, and tomorrow is my birthday, so I HAVE to feel better then, right?
In the meantime, I thought I'd share some recent photos of Finn and Lucy, documenting some of our outdoor fun and weekend activities. Outdoor photos are so much better than anything you (or I, at least) can take inside - it should be a rule that all school photos need to be taken outside. By the way, remind me to close the loop on my post about school photos. Lucy's pictures this past round were, in fact, WORSE than the ones last November, and I am sadly not purchasing them again. I'll try to scan the proofs in to share the awfulness one of these days.
Sorry for the overload, but I love too many of these to narrow them down. I'd provide legends, but I'm lazy. Also, it's almost past my bedtime, and taking the time to write 15 figure legends would seriously cut into my "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" reading time (BTW, as a diehard P&P fan, I can avow that P&P&Z is not as good as the original, but I feel obligated to see the book through. Elizabeth is just not meant to graphically contemplate ripping Darcy's heart out of his chest to avenge Jane's dashed hopes of love with Bingley, no matter how much she loves her sister).
Couldn't resist one note here - M. likes to title this one "Finn as Scott Stapp, With Arms Wide Open"
I threw this photo in not because I'm being all vain and saying I love it, but because it completes the triad of "M. as photojournalist during our post-swim class lunch at Pandini's." Also, I thought my grandmother would appreciate it on this, my birthday eve. Love you, Mimi! And you, too, Mom!
Today I feel like I'm not doing anything right. Mostly in the parenting arena - it's completely one of those days where I'm wondering if I'm doing the right thing parking my kids in daycare for 9+ hours a day. I'm having some issues with our daycare, some trivial, some maybe not trivial, but it's making me question our choices. I'm sure I'm over-reacting to some degree. I mean, is it necessary to have a mini anxiety attack about about WHO WILL HELP FINN DO HIS HOMEWORK??? AFTER SCHOOL???? IN THREE YEARS???????
I'm having some doubts in the working arena, too, as it's one of those days where I'm losing sight of why my job is important/good and feeling mired in politics and bureaucratic crap. Put the two together (working and parenting doubt), and it's hard to feel upbeat. I would vent, but I think it would be coming from the wrong place and be too reflective of my bad mood. The good news is that we are just a few hours away from tomorrow, and tomorrow is my birthday, so I HAVE to feel better then, right?
In the meantime, I thought I'd share some recent photos of Finn and Lucy, documenting some of our outdoor fun and weekend activities. Outdoor photos are so much better than anything you (or I, at least) can take inside - it should be a rule that all school photos need to be taken outside. By the way, remind me to close the loop on my post about school photos. Lucy's pictures this past round were, in fact, WORSE than the ones last November, and I am sadly not purchasing them again. I'll try to scan the proofs in to share the awfulness one of these days.
Sorry for the overload, but I love too many of these to narrow them down. I'd provide legends, but I'm lazy. Also, it's almost past my bedtime, and taking the time to write 15 figure legends would seriously cut into my "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" reading time (BTW, as a diehard P&P fan, I can avow that P&P&Z is not as good as the original, but I feel obligated to see the book through. Elizabeth is just not meant to graphically contemplate ripping Darcy's heart out of his chest to avenge Jane's dashed hopes of love with Bingley, no matter how much she loves her sister).
Couldn't resist one note here - M. likes to title this one "Finn as Scott Stapp, With Arms Wide Open"
I threw this photo in not because I'm being all vain and saying I love it, but because it completes the triad of "M. as photojournalist during our post-swim class lunch at Pandini's." Also, I thought my grandmother would appreciate it on this, my birthday eve. Love you, Mimi! And you, too, Mom!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
A Funeral, Family, and First Foods
Things have been hectic in the M. household over the last two weeks. My Grandpa passed away, and I flew home for his funeral. A sad time, but it did give me the chance to see my family and that's always nice. The funeral was sweet, lots of kind things said about Grandpa. It brought back lots of fun memories that I have of swimming and fishing with him at my grandparents' house on the Cape, visiting him at the bank where he worked when I was little, and swimming at their house in Andover. Because Grandpa served in the military, Army representatives presented a flag to my dad and played Taps at the burial - there was not a dry eye around, it was very touching.
I flew solo, and left M. at home with the kids. It would have been nice to bring them, especially Lucy, whom most of my family hasn't met yet. But there is no such thing as traveling "light" when you travel with kids, and it just didn't make sense to bring them for such a last-minute trip.
I came home from Massachusetts, spent 4 hours at work, then had to rush home and take Finn to the doctors. Diagnosis: ear infection. The remaining ear tube in his right ear is finally working it's way out, and that's the ear that got infected. We're not sure exactly how, as he wasn't showing signs of a cold before then. He's doing much better now, but we'll be watching him like a hawk the next few months to see how he does with cold/flu season. Fingers are double and triple crossed that he won't need a new set of ear tubes.
Two days later we had a visit from my maternal grandparents, Mimi and Papa. I think they are still recovering from their exposure to the massive amounts of traffic around here, but other than that, a fun time was had by all. We ventured out to dinner the second night, and a tasty meal was capped off by the worst diaper blow-out I've ever had to deal with. I won't bore you with all the details, but it did involve a very loud rendition of Cotton Eyed Joe and a lackluster dance performance by the wait staff. I think Lucy was just showing her disapproval of the effort in the only way she really knew how.
Work has been beyond hectic for the last month, which is stressing me a bit as I haven't been able to be as "present" for the kids as I'd like. A couple of days a week I end up leaving work a little later than I'd like, and I constantly have work issues on my mind. I'm hoping things slow down a bit in a couple of weeks, but I'm not going to count on it. Oh well, at least it's not boring!
I risked killing my computer completely by uploading some more pictures on it, just so I could share them with you. Not sure how many more it will take before it just quits on me, so here goes!
Mimi and Papa came bearing gifts, including a book for Lucy about a dog named... Lucy
And matching pumpkin hats for both kids
Lucy's lunch time!
We brought the Exersaucer out of retirement, as I feared Lucy was becoming bored with just her playmat and bouncer chair to entertain her. As you can see, she is a fan.
Much of her awake time is now spent putting things in her mouth, especially her fingers.
Lucy decided to stop sleeping through the night, and has been awakening at the awkward time of ~4:30 am. We fear she is not long for being swaddled, as she has been masterfully escaping from the Miracle Blanket, a feat I thought not possible. Regardless, in an effort to try to get her to sleep a bit longer and not consume as much formula, we decided to try introducing cereal a couple of weeks earlier than planned. This is a picture from her first taste. So far, as you can see from the mess, we have not really managed to get her to eat much of it. Oh well, we'll keep practicing about once a day, she'll get there eventually. We're in no real hurry for it to become sustenance.
Finn supervised the feeding effort
As you can, Lucy was not too impressed and was pretty suspicious of this non-bottle, non-pacifier stuff we were trying to put in her mouth
Getting ready for Halloween, Grammy sent me back home with a pair of skeleton pajamas for Finn. He was a bit nervous to wear them at first, but is now loving them. I imagine we'll still be wearing them by oh, next Easter or so at least
I flew solo, and left M. at home with the kids. It would have been nice to bring them, especially Lucy, whom most of my family hasn't met yet. But there is no such thing as traveling "light" when you travel with kids, and it just didn't make sense to bring them for such a last-minute trip.
I came home from Massachusetts, spent 4 hours at work, then had to rush home and take Finn to the doctors. Diagnosis: ear infection. The remaining ear tube in his right ear is finally working it's way out, and that's the ear that got infected. We're not sure exactly how, as he wasn't showing signs of a cold before then. He's doing much better now, but we'll be watching him like a hawk the next few months to see how he does with cold/flu season. Fingers are double and triple crossed that he won't need a new set of ear tubes.
Two days later we had a visit from my maternal grandparents, Mimi and Papa. I think they are still recovering from their exposure to the massive amounts of traffic around here, but other than that, a fun time was had by all. We ventured out to dinner the second night, and a tasty meal was capped off by the worst diaper blow-out I've ever had to deal with. I won't bore you with all the details, but it did involve a very loud rendition of Cotton Eyed Joe and a lackluster dance performance by the wait staff. I think Lucy was just showing her disapproval of the effort in the only way she really knew how.
Work has been beyond hectic for the last month, which is stressing me a bit as I haven't been able to be as "present" for the kids as I'd like. A couple of days a week I end up leaving work a little later than I'd like, and I constantly have work issues on my mind. I'm hoping things slow down a bit in a couple of weeks, but I'm not going to count on it. Oh well, at least it's not boring!
I risked killing my computer completely by uploading some more pictures on it, just so I could share them with you. Not sure how many more it will take before it just quits on me, so here goes!
Mimi and Papa came bearing gifts, including a book for Lucy about a dog named... Lucy
And matching pumpkin hats for both kids
Lucy's lunch time!
We brought the Exersaucer out of retirement, as I feared Lucy was becoming bored with just her playmat and bouncer chair to entertain her. As you can see, she is a fan.
Much of her awake time is now spent putting things in her mouth, especially her fingers.
Lucy decided to stop sleeping through the night, and has been awakening at the awkward time of ~4:30 am. We fear she is not long for being swaddled, as she has been masterfully escaping from the Miracle Blanket, a feat I thought not possible. Regardless, in an effort to try to get her to sleep a bit longer and not consume as much formula, we decided to try introducing cereal a couple of weeks earlier than planned. This is a picture from her first taste. So far, as you can see from the mess, we have not really managed to get her to eat much of it. Oh well, we'll keep practicing about once a day, she'll get there eventually. We're in no real hurry for it to become sustenance.
Finn supervised the feeding effort
As you can, Lucy was not too impressed and was pretty suspicious of this non-bottle, non-pacifier stuff we were trying to put in her mouth
Getting ready for Halloween, Grammy sent me back home with a pair of skeleton pajamas for Finn. He was a bit nervous to wear them at first, but is now loving them. I imagine we'll still be wearing them by oh, next Easter or so at least
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