thankful for a fun week:)

Today is my anniversary and the day we are celebrating my son’s birthday.  Actually, we are celebrating it about three times, but this is the day we are celebrating it here at home.  He has already received his gifts (thus my free moment to use the computer).  I think he is very happy with what he got.  The funny thing is that the kid is sort of not into birthdays and on top of that thought that when we were telling him about ‘presents’ we were pushing ‘presidents’ and he informed me that he did not want ‘more Barack Obama’.  The poor kid was more burned out by the election than anyone for some reason.  He was happy to see that he got toys and books and a Pingu ™ dvd for some reason.  He is very funny about getting stuff.  Sometimes he would rather not!  When we are in shops and I ask him if he wants something he says ‘no’ 100% of the time.  He is very wary of gifts unless they are eased on him.  I am saying this now sure that I will be made a fool of for saying anything about this down the road as he begs for everything he has ever heard about.  For now I get to feel good about my parenting, right?

When given his choice of birthday celebrating venue the child chose a local cheap pizza place over a party or any place with bells and whistles.  WHATEVER, KID!! I guess we shouldn’t be too unhappy about that since it won’t really set us back financially and he has not become very ‘wanty’ yet.

He has, however, informed me that he will not be turning four.  He will remain three because ‘four is not a very good one’.  I suppose I can let him retain his age for a little while without being harassed.  So, if you ask my kid how old he is expect anything at this point- just not four.

As for our anniversary?  Well, we didn’t get a sitter.  Oddly enough the cheap date we had envisioned could not be anyhow as the place we planned to walk to and drink beer and listen to 90s music at for a couple of hours BURNED DOWN on Sunday.  We have decided that  bad weather (like blowing rain!), tight finances, and the fact that the place is no longer have pointed us to happily accept a quiet evening at home.  We intend to drink wine and watch a funny movie.  We haven’t seen an honest-to-goodness funny movie in a long time.  Any suggestions?  We would like tips.  We don’t watch a lot of movies these days.

So birthday, anniversary… oh yeah! Thanksgiving!  We are doing it 2x.  Once with turkey, one with chinese.  Once with Joe’s fam, once with mine.  I think we will leave tomorrow.  The planning has been a little difficult because my husband (and I will call this attribute cute because it is our anniversary today) can’t figure out his schedule- or remember from day to day which days he is working.  He was quite certain this morning that he is not working tomorrow. I will pack today but not be shocked if for some reason we are not leaving town tomorrow morning.  See how we have grown in this marriage?  We have learned to anticipate each others quirks without being caused any stress.  He has taught me a lot in this department.  I am a little type A when it comes to plans.  I am about where, when, how, how much it will cost… days in advance.  He is one of those people who sort of stumbles through plans from minute to minute and it used to make me crazy!  Not so anymore.  Now I sort of buffer his actions with extra preparedness that he is not aware of so anything can happen and might be okay.

This is one sided, of course.  He has had to put up with a lot (I suppose).  He has had to learn that if we have any plans at all I will nag him on the details persistently until he has to just tell me that ‘its taken care of!’.  He has also learned that in a lot of situations it is good to give me a couple of drinks.  This makes me my more warm and jovial self, rather than the self- conscious, detail-oriented, paranoid person who changes her outfits and covers her face with her collar when people are looking at her.

It has been a good trade-off.  I have learned that it is okay to be perceived as slightly uncool for a little while in order to have a good time.  He has learned that it is better to not be sick for three days after having a good time?  I don’t know.  It all works these days.  I am thankful for it.

I think it will be a good week.  I have a day off from work!  The child will have a crazy-fun cousin day.  WE WILL EAT.  Did I mention that I have starved my husband and myself in anticipation of this week?  Not quite starved, but we have had pretty much nothing but green salad and lentil soup for two weeks.  I cut costs and calories that way.  We all operate pretty well on a mostly vegetable matter diet but to be honest, I am dying for a little cheese and grease AND SUGAR.

So- I am going to go watch Pingu with my son and race cars on his new activity rug.  I hope every reader has a happy Thanksgiving.

Here is a video of a song my husband and I have placed in the top five of our MUTUALLY favorite songs of all time.  We consider these things a lot, you know.  Maybe listing mutually enjoyed things is a secret to a good marriage?  Try it out!

moannnnn

I am not going to annoy my son and hubby anymore so I am taking it here.  OOOOOOOWWWWW.  I feel like I have been kicked repeatedly in the lower abdomen.  ICK.

I would like to say the following:

So, I hear that one of the biggest expenses that American auto industries has had to pay out (in terms of its workforce) is the VIAGRA covered by its healthplan.

This morning as I am crunched in half munching on Motrin I would like to also mention that (supposedly) Viagra will be handed out FREE OF CHARGE in Mexico City?

So… uhm… if anyone feels that all things are equal these days… Women still have to pay for all of the things related to their reproductive health AND SUFFER A LOT MORE IN THE PROCESS.  Meanwhile… men have coverage (and innovative pharmaceuticals, I should add… I mean, we get ibuprofen and sodium naproxin, things used for headaches and joint aches…) for their RECREATIONAL reproductive health issues?

I am not an easy person to deal with today- unless you are a member of my immediate family (I make huge efforts).  I have purple bags under my eyes.  The smell of food makes me want to hit people.  I think I will stay in my pajamas (well, actually my yoga pants and my husband’s law school tee-shirt) and act like I got dressed already and maybe turn off my phone to protect people from me.
I am, however, enjoying my participation in a conversation about Voltron with some highschool friends on Facebook.  Its very complicated to explain (and seriously, I am not into transformative robot warfare- I don think the lion episodes were the best though) but its making me laugh.

TMI, oversharing, whatever… I need a place to put it.  I feel less like kicking my cupboards already!

do like we do.

I am drained! Well, I haven’t made up my sleep yet and I had a strange weekend.  I won’t get into it but it was a little draining (thus I am drained).

But- this morning, before we embark on any sort of day adventure the child and I have been under a quilt watching this:

as we listen to this:

over and over and over and over.

Such is life sometimes when one works nights and spends a lot of nippy mornings with a three year old.

For the full experience I suggest adding some sort of toasty-oat-o’s into the equation.

Have a nice Monday!

i hope mango is not toxic in large amounts

My son just polished off his third mango of the day.  I told him that we have no more mango.

Lack of posts?  It has been a hectic week.  I am not even sure why.  We got a lot of things done but none of them would be very interesting to read about (unless you really want to know about donating Joseph’s old clothes or how I had to buy new pillows, etc.) (if you do you can leave me your email address and I will fill you in, sicko.).

If there is anything worth telling about this week???? hmm……… Uhm, I have been listening to M.I.A. almost exclusively.  I am reading a pile of books I bought second hand- like a book a day.  Its that sort of week, too.  I bought jeans and sweaters at a thrift store so I feel like I have tons of new stuff (new stuff all acquired for under 30.00 total).

Yup.  Nothing to tell!

I am officially out of words.

We are officially out of mangoes.

not quite blog-a-versary post

One is coming.  I just have to think of a way to commemorate.  I am not very bloggy these days.  I take half of my posts down an hour after I post them because I seem to do more reactionary writing here than anything else… and I don’t end up standing behind the crap that I write a few hours later. 

What I did write about (and later delete) yesterday was how damn much I wish certain people hadn’t moved away.  A few key people have left the area over the past year leaving me… well, I don’t know… with another gap I need to feel.  I decided to be pro-active about it and invited a few people out with me on Wednesday night.  Still, hm.  I guess it is human to miss people. 

Did I blog about the Marcel Proust thing?  How I decided to start a book club and only a Proust fanatic replied?  Well, bless him, to be sure- but see, I have gaps to fill, as I mentioned earlier, and it just isn’t working out.  I want to be clear: I like Marcel Proust. 

Hmmm…. what have I been up to?

1.  Wishing for a night out with my husband.  We have no sitter.  I can’t bring myself to entrust my dearest little schmooper to a stranger and our usual (and superb) arrangement fell through when a certain beloved family moved to Germany…  Anyway- I need to get out!  It needs to be in the evening.  It needs to be with my husband.  I get jealous when I am driving home from the gym and I see couples walking around, hand in hand, maybe going to a retaurant or a movie or a gallery or just out for drinks….

2. My mom seems to be feeling worse all of the time. 

3. I don’t think I have many interesting things to share.  I realized that I filled spaces left by the absence of a few people with so much election lead up.  It was easy to do.  Now that it is all over I feel like I have this sort of blank bit in my life.  I am dedicating it to causes, right? 

4. BARACK OBAMA WAS ELECTED!  I still get overwhelmed from time-to-time.  2008 is such a landmark year in so many ways (good and bad) (personally as well, I guess).

I need to think of a poll now.  Polls are the new end of post YouTube videos, btw.

the sun is shining!

The birds are singing.  People are stopping to let my son and I cross the road and giving us a peace sign instead of dirty looks.  EVERYONE that I have encountered today has been in a great mood.  I assume that many, like myself, stayed up way too late or drank too many intoxicating beverages, or waged through a nervous stomach… but managed to wake up happy and excited this morning!
Not happy about that prop 8 mess.  Also not thrilled that Susan Collins beat out Allen… but still.  So much to be happy about!

My son and I split as soon as “Da” left for work and spent a great spell out and about.  We bought papers, went to the farmer’s market, stopped at a local bookstore and talked to a lot of suddenly very open people (all in a great mood), we got breakfast and ate it outside the cafe with our books and our paper, we went to the park and met some new children… we didn’t even need our jackets.  Nice day!

I am sort of exhausted but really happy today!

VOTE (and please, take my poll!)

It feels like I filled out my ballot AGES ago.  In actuality it was a couple of weeks ago, still- I AM SO GLAD I DID.  My son and I played at the school where our neighborhood is doing its voting and I took him inside to use the potty… I came in through an unmarked side door and wandered around the empty building seeking out a bathroom.  Finally I opened a door and was standing in a SEA OF PEOPLE.  Hundreds of people lined up!  Exciting!  I was almost a little sad that I was not a part of the crowd but later very happy that I wasn’t trying to convince my son to wait in line with me for hours.  I think the decision to get my ballot in early was good for quite a few reasons.

So… what’s up for election day?  We were out and around all morning just to sort of have the feel of what was going on.  We returned home so I could ‘plug in’ and pace around trying to find out where this is all going.  I don’t know if I will make it through today!! Luckily people have called and kept me distracted.  It has been fun!  I have heard from so many people I know as they waited on line at their respective polling places- feels like a sort of command center here.  The news?  Almost everyone I know has voted either today or earlier (a few are still waiting in line).  Almost all of them have voted for Obama.  I know a couple of folks who voted for McKinney or Nader…. Anyway- that is where things sit from where I am.

When the husband comes home we are eating pizza- yes, I ordered a pizza.  That NEVER happens around here.  After eating we will go for another walk to see what is going on towards the end of the day.   The husband and I will be watching returns all evening while enjoying pomegranate and chocolate and a (hopefully) celebratory bottle of champagne?  Yes?  Celebration?  Yes?

We will be working on getting a little video of ourselves doing just that for this.

Let’s all hope for the best!!!