When the barn door is open

Work is picking up as we get closer to our publication date. I feel like I’m slowly sinking behind as I juggle new tasks and fail to complete my little to-do list…and this morning my boss came up and gave me a new project to start. A couple months ago I signed up for this training class that takes up 2 days a week too. Oy. What bad timing.

Yesterday morning I hit some unexpected traffic on the way in so was 10 minutes late getting into class. I hit the restroom because well coffee turns me into a funnel and I dashed into class. All the seats by the door were taken and the back was blocked so I had to walk in front of the class ducking in front of the instructor to get to my seat. I hear a little clink as I sat down and thought what’s that? I look down and I forgot to buckle my belt. Oh. My. God. The zipper would have been less noticeable. I tried to subtly buckle and gave a little ha ha what are you gonna do grin and went deep into note taking. Oy.


(I had no idea how often I said Oy before until I overhead E playing. He was trying to stack some blocks and as they tumbled over he said “Oy.” ha ha!)

Oy.

B

The Day He Became a Man

Last night E ripped a very audible fart, looked at me and started laughing. His surprised look, the giggle, all got me laughing right along. It took me a few beats to realize, oh wait I'm the parent now.

This proves I think that fart jokes are genetic.

Coincidence?

Prince Harry to be sent to Iraq

LONDON - Prince Harry, the third-in-line to the British throne, will be deployed to Iraq, the Ministry of Defense said Thursday.


***


Blair announces Iraq troops cut

Some 1,600 British troops will return from Iraq within the next few months, Prime Minister Tony Blair has told MPs. He said the 7,100 serving troops would be cut to 5,500 soon, with hopes that 500 more will leave by late summer.

Happy Accidents

Headlines you never expected to see:

Mexico City gets gay wedding fever

The Commencement Address of Boo Boo

You hear that sound? It’s a distant ticking, like a clock in another room at 2 am, but it’s getting louder every day. It’s marking the days as I approach my 40th birthday. How did that happen? Some random thing on tv got me thinking about how old I’ll be when E graduates from high school and it’s very old. It’s distressingly old.

I have a good friend at work who has two boys one is three and the other is just over one. The difference is that he’s 11 years younger than me. Time is marked differently with little kids… you notice the passing of months much more keenly as they develop in language or physical skills. I used to look at my goals with getting this degree, changing jobs, getting another degree, getting this training and such and now I think about what school will E go to, what country will be open for adoption, what summer camps will be offered, will this job let me leave early to pick up kids.

It’s an odd feeling. I used to scan the 9:30 club, the Birchmere and other clubs looking for new artists to drag L too, now I’m ordering Sesame Street Fiesta Songs. When I caught E sucking on the drawer pulls again I found myself saying to L “I’m so tired of him putting his mouth on ….” Oh my god, I’m sick and tired of it…. I’ve become my mother. Ah well, the final stage is Acceptance. Does this velour track suit come in my size?

At least I get moments like E deciding to call us Boo Boo, running around the house saying “Hi Boo Boo.” I don’t know where it came from but it’s freakin hysterical. When I'm carrying his boxes up to his dorm room maybe I'll slip in a Boo Boo when a roommate is nearby and they'll laugh at my dark socks and shorts. It'll be fabulous.

Connectivity

Saturday, we had scheduled a 2-5 window for RCN to come and reconnect our DSL line. You may recall that we had to call them because our contractor seemed unable to give us a time as to when he would reconnect our computer line. We were clear at the start that the upstairs plans included moving this line but I guess it got lost in the wall shifts and such. So 4 weeks later and we still have no connections.

We got our errands out of the way so we would be home at that time. 4:30 rolls around and I call to say what’s up and the they tell us the tech stopped by and no one was home. What a complete fabrication. The guy just got rid of us and invented some bogus excuse. So now we have to wait another week for internet.

E and I had a nice snow day yesterday. We watched some Elmo, played with stickers and play-do, built and destroyed several impressive Lego towers. It’s a shame the weather was icy tundra or we would have gone outside.

We put new drawer pulls on the kitchen cabinets and I guess the silver pulls are too tasty looking. We keep catching E sucking on the lower knobs. It’s disgusting. I can’t imagine what might be appealing about them. They can't taste good and if the metal were to hit your teeth that's got to be unpleasant. Oy and Ew.

little e, Big E

It’s been amazing watching E become a little boy. He’s gotten taller and his face is lengthening, losing some of that baby roundness. We're starting to hear little 2 word sentences now and then.

We’re starting to see preferences for music and for tv shows. He asks for Elmo now and just loves the Bob the Builder theme song. We could rewind and watch the opening for Bob all afternoon if he had the powers. America’s Funniest Home Videos is another one he likes. I think it’s the falling and the animals that hold his attention. It’s basically slapstick if you think about it. The pediatrician recommended against any tv but to be honest I couldn’t do it. I’m home alone with him more than L and I need a little background noise now and then. I try to discourage him from watching and limit the amount that he does watch.

He’s also really digging these Sara Hickman cd’s that I bought. I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time and when I discovered her kid’s music I ordered all of them. E’s favorite right now is the Toddler disc: http://www.sarahickman.com/music/toddler/ especially the Walking, Walking song and the I Like My Boots song. If anyone else has any favorite kids’ albums let me know. I can also put the seal of approval on the For the Kids compilations: http://www.amazon.com/Kids/dp/B00006L7QX (not sure if that link will work or not) and Lisa Loeb’s Catch the Moon book and cd
http://www.amazon.com/Catch-Moon-Book-Lisa-Loeb/dp/B0001DMVM6/sr=1-1/qid=1171051363/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-0419800-2706559?ie=UTF8&s=music


His reach is getting quite well lengthy. The little hand is up on the kitchen counter and the island of objects is getting smaller and smaller on the dining room table. Thankfully he hasn’t yet figured out doorknobs but every other latch or lever is fair game. We went through 3 different cabinet locks before we had to use good old rubber bands to secure them.

Two weeks ago we had quite the shocker in our house. I was laying E down to change him into his pajamas, interrupting his play and as I put him down he says to me “No, no, Daddy!” I did a cartoon double-take and was like “Wha?” You did not just tell me no. So I went “Yes, yes, yes” and he “No, no, no’d” and it became quite a little game.

Sigh

So the No’s have started already. Ah well the Era of Yes was a glorious and golden time.

Transitioning

It’s been crazy busy on my end. The first phase of the renovation is finished and now we’re waiting for the counters to be delivered so the kitchen work can complete. We have about half a counter right at the moment but hey at least its something. It’s also nice to see a break in the dust generation. Everything was getting this fine layer of dust that was overwhelming. (We had plastic sheeting up on the doors but still it managed to sneak through.) One evening I smelled something burning and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, wonderful feeling that. Finally we narrowed it down to the TV. The dust must have gotten inside and was burning off of some component within. Very nice.

Also, my division here at work is getting re-orged. This has a lot of potential. It means that soon we’ll be under new management and I’m excited about the possibilities. I think it’s going to allow my workgroup to get involved in a lot more projects. I’m going to keep in a job hunting scan just to be aware of opportunities that might come up but a bit of the stress has been lifted.

Also also, my office is physically moving next month so I’m starting the whole purge cycle. It’s frightening how quickly the paper can pile up when you are in one desk for a while.

So that’s what’s been going down. Hope everyone is in a more peaceful place. Heh.

This meeting of the DC-based Waylon Payne fan club is now in session!

So, it appears that Waylon Payne left a message on my post from a few days back. We’re talking about the tattoo on his abs at the end of the comments and he wrote:


waylon said...

they were a former boyfriends initials. he left me and went back to nashville...i've tried like hell but i can't wash him off! seriously, thank you aLL for the support i've been given for telling a bit of truth. you guys rock.
thanks
waylon


Seems to be him and it definitely has his voice so I’ll assume it is true. I giggled like a Japanese school girl when I read it. Drawing little hearts around his post.

Seriously, it is quite good. It’s definitely a voice with experience and soul. I don’t think you can be a good singer unless you’ve had your heart broken at least once. The song Pretender is probably my favorite and should have been a big hit. That’s a killer chorus, you can’t argue with that. Jesus on a Greyhound is a great song and has the hint of based upon some real life experience would love hear the backstory on that one.

I know that you’ve bookmarked my site and will be checking back any day now so are there plans to tour? It looks like you’ve gone Hollywood with your Walk the Line part hopefully that won’t mean that your songwriting and music won’t get attention. Be sure to include the East Coast if you do decide to tour.

Rock on brother!

Step back everyone! He's got a magical light for making fun!

The nation has been gripped by terror ads. Apparently in a guerrilla marketing stunt (guerilla meaning screwing up your afternoon commute), Aqua Fresh Hunger Strike and its plaque-fighting minions placed flashing electronic signs under a bridge in Boston.

Twenty-two-year-old Todd Venderlin, a design student at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, saw one of the devices two weeks ago as he left a lounge in south Boston, according to The Boston Globe. He said he was stunned when he saw bomb squads removing them.

"It's so not threatening -- it's a Lite Brite, I don't understand how they could be terrified. I would if it was a bunch of circuits blinking, but it wasn't.”


So, an entire city was shut down over a Lite Brite. The president has raised the Terror threat level to Magical Shining Light.

While there’s been much focus on the 2 dudes who placed the terror lights, I haven’t yet heard much talk about why is it so easy for a couple of dudes to place dangerous electronics on bridges? Obviously we have to be cautious but perhaps we’re entering into hysteria land. I expect the TSA to ban on all lights or electronics with flashing lights on flights. Airport screeners are seen hawking gameboys in the parking lots of major airports.

Let’s take a deep breath and calm down.