Isn't it funny how in certain situations or places there seems to be unspoken rules that you should follow? Kinda like etiquette, only I don't think anyone would actually send you to the fire and damnation of etiquette hell.
There are 5 stalls in the bathroom at work. It's common knowledge that if you have to stink up the place, you do it in the last stall to minimize the stinkage for others who may need to use the restroom. I for one do not like to do anything but pee in any public restrooms, but I make the occasional exception if I have to at work. And I ALWAYS go to the last stall. And I always wait until no one else is there. And if anyone comes in, I wait until they are gone before I come out, lest they see me and know what I did.
So, why is it then when I am happily tinkling away in stall #2 all by myself in the bathroom do you, Ms. bathroom-stinker-upper-co-worker, have to come in to the FIRST stall, RIGHT next to me? Not only do you make me gag, it creeps me out to hear you splashing right next door.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Hard Boiled Egg Day!
Happy Easter! To those that celebrate Easter... and happy... first Sunday of spring to those that don't.
Growing up, Easter was never a huge church holiday for us... we weren't really involved with church, which is ok by me, but we ALWAYS colored eggs and had a hunt and got treats from the Easter Bunny. Sometimes, we even found eggs from last year.. how we didn't find them by smell in August is beyond me but there you go.
Now that we have Sugarplum, we have carried on the tradition in our own home... but just how many egg salad sandwiches can you eat in a week? So what else do you do with the eggs? If you're anything like me, you draw a total blank and can't think of anything else to do with Hard Boiled Eggs. Until now.
Here are some recipes I found for good 'ole hard boiled eggs:
Dandelions With Hard Boiled Eggs (I don't think I could ever really eat this...)
Hard Boiled Eggs with Celery and Oysters (In case you wanna get down to bidness?)
Hard Boiled Eggs with Finnan Haddie (too bad Hubby doesn't like fish)
Hard Boiled Eggs with Creamed Onions (So I can summon my mighty wind)
Asparagus Mimosa (Where's the Champagne and Orange Juice?)
Maybe I'll just stick with Egg Salad sandwiches and Potato Salad.
Growing up, Easter was never a huge church holiday for us... we weren't really involved with church, which is ok by me, but we ALWAYS colored eggs and had a hunt and got treats from the Easter Bunny. Sometimes, we even found eggs from last year.. how we didn't find them by smell in August is beyond me but there you go.
Now that we have Sugarplum, we have carried on the tradition in our own home... but just how many egg salad sandwiches can you eat in a week? So what else do you do with the eggs? If you're anything like me, you draw a total blank and can't think of anything else to do with Hard Boiled Eggs. Until now.
Here are some recipes I found for good 'ole hard boiled eggs:
Dandelions With Hard Boiled Eggs (I don't think I could ever really eat this...)
Hard Boiled Eggs with Celery and Oysters (In case you wanna get down to bidness?)
Hard Boiled Eggs with Finnan Haddie (too bad Hubby doesn't like fish)
Hard Boiled Eggs with Creamed Onions (So I can summon my mighty wind)
Asparagus Mimosa (Where's the Champagne and Orange Juice?)
Maybe I'll just stick with Egg Salad sandwiches and Potato Salad.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Reality of Lies
Human beings have an amazing capacity to lie to themselves. Or rather, tell themselves all sorts of things to make themselves feel better.
When Sugarplum was born, her pediatrician heard a slight heart murmur. No big deal. Most babies are born with heart murmurs that close on their own within a couple weeks. At her 6 week check-up, it was still there. So, just to make sure it was nothing, and catch it early if it was something, she referred us to a pediatric cardiologist.
So we went... and our lives changed.
Her cardiologist is great and took a pretty thorough echo-cardiogram. He told us we were lucky - we'd get to come back.
Turns out, Sugarplum has an ASD which is a small hole between the upper chambers of her heart that a small amount of blood flows through rather than circulating through the entire heart. She also has a small kink in the valve that passes blood from the lungs to the heart that causes is it to not close completely tight and some blood leaks through. Not a huge problem, but one that requires open heart surgery.
Open. Heart. Surgery. On my baby. We both burst into tears in the parking lot. As parents, we never wanted to hear that there was something wrong with our baby.
So when we went home we turned to the great and powerful Google to answer all our questions. We found that of all the possible congenital heart defects she could have, this is probably the best. It's relatively common and operated on all the time.
We are also blessed to have some of the best pediatric medical professionals close by at Lucile-Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.
For nearly three years, we have taken her for check-ups every few months. Her weight gain has been steady, she's hit all the right developmental milestones at all the right times, and has been an absolute joy and the light of our lives. Her heart hasn't slowed her down one bit and you'd never suspect a medical issue looking at her.
Now the time has come to actually have her surgery. She's scheduled for mid-May and hubby and I will be spending our 4th wedding anniversary in the hospital with our precious baby girl. Even though we've known this was coming. Even though we've been preparing for it for the last couple years, it still came as a shock to find that she is actually on the calendar for surgery. It's really going to happen.
Somehow, as long as it was in the undefined future, and something that "would have to happen eventually" it was never quite the same as it is now. It's certainly no surprise, but in some way, the reality is just now beginning to set in.
When Sugarplum was born, her pediatrician heard a slight heart murmur. No big deal. Most babies are born with heart murmurs that close on their own within a couple weeks. At her 6 week check-up, it was still there. So, just to make sure it was nothing, and catch it early if it was something, she referred us to a pediatric cardiologist.
So we went... and our lives changed.
Her cardiologist is great and took a pretty thorough echo-cardiogram. He told us we were lucky - we'd get to come back.
Turns out, Sugarplum has an ASD which is a small hole between the upper chambers of her heart that a small amount of blood flows through rather than circulating through the entire heart. She also has a small kink in the valve that passes blood from the lungs to the heart that causes is it to not close completely tight and some blood leaks through. Not a huge problem, but one that requires open heart surgery.
Open. Heart. Surgery. On my baby. We both burst into tears in the parking lot. As parents, we never wanted to hear that there was something wrong with our baby.
So when we went home we turned to the great and powerful Google to answer all our questions. We found that of all the possible congenital heart defects she could have, this is probably the best. It's relatively common and operated on all the time.
We are also blessed to have some of the best pediatric medical professionals close by at Lucile-Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.
For nearly three years, we have taken her for check-ups every few months. Her weight gain has been steady, she's hit all the right developmental milestones at all the right times, and has been an absolute joy and the light of our lives. Her heart hasn't slowed her down one bit and you'd never suspect a medical issue looking at her.
Now the time has come to actually have her surgery. She's scheduled for mid-May and hubby and I will be spending our 4th wedding anniversary in the hospital with our precious baby girl. Even though we've known this was coming. Even though we've been preparing for it for the last couple years, it still came as a shock to find that she is actually on the calendar for surgery. It's really going to happen.
Somehow, as long as it was in the undefined future, and something that "would have to happen eventually" it was never quite the same as it is now. It's certainly no surprise, but in some way, the reality is just now beginning to set in.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Sugar Van Winkle
Doodaddy created a fun post about where his munchkin will be in 20 years and a day.. and decided to turn it into a meme. Then he went a tagged me for it. So here it is: my fantasy for Sugarplum in 20 years:
It is just a couple months before her 23rd birthday. She's looking forward to finishing college and already has a great job lined up. It's even near home so she'll be able to have Sunday dinners with her dear 'ole Dad and me once in awhile. If we're lucky she'll bring her new beau over soon. They've only been dating a couple weeks so it's a little scary to meet the parents. He's been accepted to grad school near by so things are looking up for the both of them and they've already found a great apartment to rent that comes available in a few months.
Her life is just getting off the ground and she's got a great start. She's happy with where she is and looking forward to a bright future. She's doing what she loves and gets to spend lots of time with various volunteer efforts that are important to her, including Angel Flight, an organization where private pilots donate their time and energy to flying sick people around for treatments with specialists they wouldn't otherwise get to see. Her daddy was a great inspiration to her in that venture, teaching her to fly when she was just a teenager and letting her use the plane whenever she needs. You know, the one we bought when we won the lottery?
Sugarplum has the world at her fingertips and the luxury to do anything she wants with it.. and best of all, the courage to take the chance.
************************
For this meme, I tag Liv, Rimarama, Avery and Amy. Where will your kids be in 20 years and a day?
It is just a couple months before her 23rd birthday. She's looking forward to finishing college and already has a great job lined up. It's even near home so she'll be able to have Sunday dinners with her dear 'ole Dad and me once in awhile. If we're lucky she'll bring her new beau over soon. They've only been dating a couple weeks so it's a little scary to meet the parents. He's been accepted to grad school near by so things are looking up for the both of them and they've already found a great apartment to rent that comes available in a few months.
Her life is just getting off the ground and she's got a great start. She's happy with where she is and looking forward to a bright future. She's doing what she loves and gets to spend lots of time with various volunteer efforts that are important to her, including Angel Flight, an organization where private pilots donate their time and energy to flying sick people around for treatments with specialists they wouldn't otherwise get to see. Her daddy was a great inspiration to her in that venture, teaching her to fly when she was just a teenager and letting her use the plane whenever she needs. You know, the one we bought when we won the lottery?
Sugarplum has the world at her fingertips and the luxury to do anything she wants with it.. and best of all, the courage to take the chance.
************************
For this meme, I tag Liv, Rimarama, Avery and Amy. Where will your kids be in 20 years and a day?
Monday, March 10, 2008
Falling Pants
Last winter Sugarplum slept soundly through the night easily until 6:30. This was just about perfect because it gave me time to get up and get ready to leave, and then get her up and ready and out the door around 7.
Somewhere around the Daylight Saving time change, she started waking up around 5. This simply will not do, so we would bring her into our room for some extra cuddles. She asks for a hot baba and then settles back down to a good sleep while I keep hitting the snooze button.
Now... occasionally, married people will, at some point after their children go to bed, get down to bidness. Mom, you can stop reading now.
Last night, our bedroom was rather warm following the great turn in the weather, and I went back to sleep (ahem) with just my t-shirt and underwear. So this morning, when Nicole asked for her baba, she stopped me walking out the room.
"Mommy! You're pants fell down!"
My but she does have keen powers of observation, even at 5 am in the dark.
Somewhere around the Daylight Saving time change, she started waking up around 5. This simply will not do, so we would bring her into our room for some extra cuddles. She asks for a hot baba and then settles back down to a good sleep while I keep hitting the snooze button.
Now... occasionally, married people will, at some point after their children go to bed, get down to bidness. Mom, you can stop reading now.
Last night, our bedroom was rather warm following the great turn in the weather, and I went back to sleep (ahem) with just my t-shirt and underwear. So this morning, when Nicole asked for her baba, she stopped me walking out the room.
"Mommy! You're pants fell down!"
My but she does have keen powers of observation, even at 5 am in the dark.
Friday, March 7, 2008
School Already?
Ok.. so Sugarplum is only going to be 3 in May and we have plenty of time, but I'm starting to take a look at the school programs in our area. I found a program for K-6 (which is working on becoming a K-8) which is a parent participation program. More like a charter or co-op but in a traditional elementary setting. So the classrooms are portable buildings on the campus of one of the elementary schools in our area.
Here's the things I really like:
Low ratio of adults to students - 20 kids per class, 2 parents and the teacher are in the class at all times
8-10 field trips a year
Weekly music and art
Physical Education
Other enrichment activities like cooking, gardening, sewing etc.
Hands-on and group learning rather than traditional "answer the questions at the end of the chapter" type study
Relatively low cost (They're asking $350 this year)
Full day Kindergarten
We went to an open house last night - which seemed fantastic. My hubsand is a little concerned about Sugarplum being able to transition out of this style of learning to a more traditional "book study" philosophy. I wonder about that too.
So I'm turning to you in blogland for opinions.
Have you participated in a parent co-op or charter program?
What did you like about it?
What didn't you like about it?
Would you do it again?
How well did your child succeed or not succeed?
How well did your child transition to a more "traditional" teaching style in higher grades?
Here's the things I really like:
Low ratio of adults to students - 20 kids per class, 2 parents and the teacher are in the class at all times
8-10 field trips a year
Weekly music and art
Physical Education
Other enrichment activities like cooking, gardening, sewing etc.
Hands-on and group learning rather than traditional "answer the questions at the end of the chapter" type study
Relatively low cost (They're asking $350 this year)
Full day Kindergarten
We went to an open house last night - which seemed fantastic. My hubsand is a little concerned about Sugarplum being able to transition out of this style of learning to a more traditional "book study" philosophy. I wonder about that too.
So I'm turning to you in blogland for opinions.
Have you participated in a parent co-op or charter program?
What did you like about it?
What didn't you like about it?
Would you do it again?
How well did your child succeed or not succeed?
How well did your child transition to a more "traditional" teaching style in higher grades?
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Not Born Yet
My husband's cousin is having a baby. Next weekend is her baby shower and I will be taking Sugarplum with me. So of course, we had to go buy a gift for the new little bundle. Since we were going into BRU and Sugarplum ALWAYS asks for toys... I explained we had to get a gift for A's baby. She looked perplexed. She had no idea who this baby was. I explained that he's not born yet, he's groing in his mommy's tummy. And she grew in mommy's tummy before she was born too. She seemed to accept this... but decided the baby must be groing in MY tummy. No No... I explained, I'm not his mommy. A is. That was the end of that. I figured that was enough of the "Where do Babies Come From?" topic for now..
Fast Foward to Monday morning on our way to daycare.
SP: (from the back seat) "Mommy, I two."
Me: "Yes Baby, you are two. When is your birthday?"
SP: "No... I not born yet."
Me: "Honey, you were born almost three years ago."
SP: "NOOO! I NOT born yet!"
That is one long pregnancy.
Fast Foward to Monday morning on our way to daycare.
SP: (from the back seat) "Mommy, I two."
Me: "Yes Baby, you are two. When is your birthday?"
SP: "No... I not born yet."
Me: "Honey, you were born almost three years ago."
SP: "NOOO! I NOT born yet!"
That is one long pregnancy.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The First of Many
BUSTED! The daycare lady's husband is B-U-S-T-E-D.
The other day we're sitting on the couch and Sugarplum reaches her arm over and lays it across my chest and says "butt-head". Only, I've never heard this word escape from her lips... so that can't possibly be what she said.
Me: "Did you say bed time?"
SP: "Noooo"
Me: "Did you say Bologna?"
SP" "Noooo"
Me: (disbelieving) "Did you say butt-head?"
SP: "Uh-huh"
Me: "That's not a very nice word Sugarplum. You shouldn't say that. Who taught you that word?"
SP: "Bob!"
Hubby and I laughed... he was busted; and I'm sure there will be much more colorful words to come home, this was just the first of many.
The other day we're sitting on the couch and Sugarplum reaches her arm over and lays it across my chest and says "butt-head". Only, I've never heard this word escape from her lips... so that can't possibly be what she said.
Me: "Did you say bed time?"
SP: "Noooo"
Me: "Did you say Bologna?"
SP" "Noooo"
Me: (disbelieving) "Did you say butt-head?"
SP: "Uh-huh"
Me: "That's not a very nice word Sugarplum. You shouldn't say that. Who taught you that word?"
SP: "Bob!"
Hubby and I laughed... he was busted; and I'm sure there will be much more colorful words to come home, this was just the first of many.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
I like you SO much
"I like you so much, that I didn't have ANY"
I heard those words from a co-worker today who brought me a whole bag of my favorite See's Candies - Scotchmallows.
We just completed a fiscal quarter at work and I helped her straighten out some last minute budget stuff... she asked what my favorite See's candy was. Ironically enough, it's her favorite too. And today she brought me a whole bag to myself. And she likes me so much, she gave them ALL to me and didn't have any herself.
These are the days I like my job most. Not because anyone gives me anything, it's not necessary to bring me candy, but because someone cared enough to make the effort to give me a little thank you that they knew I'd enjoy. Thanks K!
I heard those words from a co-worker today who brought me a whole bag of my favorite See's Candies - Scotchmallows.
We just completed a fiscal quarter at work and I helped her straighten out some last minute budget stuff... she asked what my favorite See's candy was. Ironically enough, it's her favorite too. And today she brought me a whole bag to myself. And she likes me so much, she gave them ALL to me and didn't have any herself.
These are the days I like my job most. Not because anyone gives me anything, it's not necessary to bring me candy, but because someone cared enough to make the effort to give me a little thank you that they knew I'd enjoy. Thanks K!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Little Gymboree Punk
Saturdays are Sugarplum's day to play at Gymboree. This means we go to the mall and this means that periodically we get discounts to their clothing store. Which has the cutest clothes at the most astronomical prices so I only buy them when I have a discount.
One of the nice things about this store is that they understand mostly moms will be in their with their small children so they have a television set up with a kids video and a couple small chairs. When we were there today all the chairs were taken. That's ok, Sugarplum is doing alright with her sharing so I reminded her to share and not get right in front of the TV.
Well... three-year-olds (almost) need to be told things more than once. And sometimes they need to physically be moved when they won't get out of the way. Ok, fair enough. But in between all this, what do I hear one of the kids saying to my Sugarplum? Who is a boy about the age of 7 or 8? "I could slap you in the face." I turned around again, moved her again, and told him "No, you can NOT slap her in the face." He just stared at me.
Mom didn't even notice, she was trying to pile up clothes at the counter and pay for them. I briefly thought about tattling to her, but really, what would it have done? She probably would have thought some crazy woman was picking on her son for no reason. The little punk. If he has learned that it's ok to slap other people in the face for any reason, I hope he gets knocked on his butt before he's too old and learns it's not ok. And I hope it's by a girl who's smaller than him.
One of the nice things about this store is that they understand mostly moms will be in their with their small children so they have a television set up with a kids video and a couple small chairs. When we were there today all the chairs were taken. That's ok, Sugarplum is doing alright with her sharing so I reminded her to share and not get right in front of the TV.
Well... three-year-olds (almost) need to be told things more than once. And sometimes they need to physically be moved when they won't get out of the way. Ok, fair enough. But in between all this, what do I hear one of the kids saying to my Sugarplum? Who is a boy about the age of 7 or 8? "I could slap you in the face." I turned around again, moved her again, and told him "No, you can NOT slap her in the face." He just stared at me.
Mom didn't even notice, she was trying to pile up clothes at the counter and pay for them. I briefly thought about tattling to her, but really, what would it have done? She probably would have thought some crazy woman was picking on her son for no reason. The little punk. If he has learned that it's ok to slap other people in the face for any reason, I hope he gets knocked on his butt before he's too old and learns it's not ok. And I hope it's by a girl who's smaller than him.
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