Every Warhol Momma's Dream Pic

First Day of School

Watch out, Kindergarten! Here I come!!!

I've been waiting for this day all summer long!!

Beautiful Backpacks from Auntie Heidi!

Here's to the first day of Kindergarten & First Grade - Do you think everyone is ready for us?????

we're at the pool so mom can post

Summer has been flying by! This picture is from a month ago at Juliette's lollipop meet. She had a fever of 101.5, but her mother convinced her to swim anyway. Only one week of summer left-we will be sad to see it go!

What about me???????

The summer of 2009 will officially go down as the "What about ME?" summer.

These girls are lovely (slightly indulged) delightful and fun. One huge glaring flaw-thanks to human nature-is a focus on themselves when it comes to praise. Lately, no complement can be paid to either without the other piping up "What about me?"

Now, this is where it gets tricky.

Both are special in their own way and as a parent you want to be fair but you also want to recognize their uniqueness. The "what about me?"s plays the fair against the unique.

Is it a play for equality?

Is it the green eyed monster longing for attention?

Is it simply sin nature wanting a focus on what is good about them not the other?

My gut tells me it could be any of the three depending on the situation.

Regardless, as a parent it is challenging to combat! My gut also tells me it isn't going to get any easier.

We are back!

We're back from NH.

Everyone had a good time w/Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Heidi and Uncle Howard. This week we've been hosting NH and Indiana friends and next week will be friends from Georgia. Who ever knew this summer would be so busy!

The first full day of summer has begun!

We've put on a little crazy and are ready to go!!!

With thanks to Auntie Heidi, who supplied our hats to hide our bed heads!!

Random quotes from the first afternoon of summer

"Moooommm!!

I told her nicely that I was using that room and she needed to get out, but she won't leave!!!"


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"Are you taking us out to lunch? It IS the last day of school!"

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"I won't see ANYONE ALL SUMMER." (I counter with a name) "Besides them" (I offer another name, "Besides them too!"

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"Now that school is over, what are we doing tomorrow??"

Zooming to the end

Life has been going at breakneck speed lately. It is the last week of preschool forever and it is unsettling to reflect that Evie's first days there were barrelling down the hall into Juliette's 2 1/2 year old class not content to drop her off but wanting to stay too.

Juliette's teacher nicknamed Evie "Snowball" back then, because that is what Juliette called her one day. So, almost four years later, Snowball is barrelling into LW excited about what Kindergarten will bring her and saying goodbye to her friends from the past three classes.

So far, she has received 2 declarations of intentions. There are two boys in her class who've decided she is good life-partner material. It is understandable they would consider her, because she is as good at sports as they are, and really what more could you ask for?

She's participated in about 6 billion art projects, including building and painting a 4 foot Tyrannosaurus Rex this year, and yet she is always ready for the next project.

She's climbed to the top of the jungle gym, learned how to pump her swing, learned to do the balance beam backward, and most importantly exhibited great compassion on those who may have had mishaps attempting the same.

She's learned the alphabet, how to kind of count to 100, sung in concerts, and participated in art shows.

Goodbye preschool.

These were some good times, but Snowball is ready to move on and conquer new things.

What do I do with this?

There are two things in my life that I love more than my husband or children. They are, in order of importance:
- Georgetown Cupcake
- Hellburger

Imagine I have a rare moment to myself in the car this evening and am listening to Marketplace on NPR (never tolerated w/my regular companions) and hear that the President and the Vice President went out for their weekly lunch to a (unnamed) northern Virginia burger place.

My heart drops. I know that if it is northern VA it has to be 1. Arlington or Alexandria and 2. there is a reason they aren't naming it.

I know it is Hellburger. I had Bruce confirm it when I walked through the door.

You ask - why is this a problem? Well, because Hellburger is special. Hellburger is busy from the minute it opens and has lines out the door. The burgers are spectacular - this is from someone who prefers to eat little to no red meat. I can't imagine a choice where Hellburger would be offered and I would turn it down, unless I'd been there two times a week for a month straight. Considering my life circumstances-this clearly doesn't happen.

Now, on the one hand, I'm glad for Hellburger. The chef is passionate about his food and it shows in every element of everything he makes. The President and Vice President deserve to eat food that good, and Hellburger deserves the press.
But I am sad for me! And really, isn't it all about me???

Mom, this means we'll need to get there a half hour prior to opening from here on.

And if we can't get in, we'll console ourselves w/a chocolate coconut cupcake from you know where!!!

thank goodness for glue guns

We read the Lauren Child Princess and the Pea book and were inspired to make beds and comforters and pillows for our friends.

About an hour in we whipped out the glue gun. Much much better.

Cherry Blossoms and Easter Eggs

Went w/o batteries in the camera for a month.
Here are some shots that have been trapped in the camera from March.

Internet - Friend or Foe?

Back in the olden days before the web, when I had poison ivy I'd go to the drug store and get something somebody recommended.

Now I have poison ivy and I go to google and check home remedies.

Here is what I found.

1. Rub straight bleach on it.
2. Rub salt on it
3. Rub vicks vapo rub on it.

Tried the first two. No difference. If anything, I've ended up with bleach in my body (having been absorbed by the sores) in pain, and my poison ivy is spreading.

At what point does one become an idiot for using the internet as a resource? I fear I might have just crossed that line....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Get a little green in your life!

I want to be a doctor

Conversation in the car last night with Evie.

Evie: "Mommy, I want to be a doctor. That is a good job and I know how to do it.

I don't want to be a teacher. Being a teacher wears you out."

Me: "Is that what Mrs. Gracia says?"

Evie: "No, but I can tell."

Thank you for reporting this problem

It is 5:49 am. I don't want to be up right now, but I am.

So why not get some work done, right?

So I spent the last half hour of reviewing and sorting staff into org charts and had just begun re-orienting a work flow chart.

Microsoft has experienced an error and must shut down. Would you like to send an error report?

NO! I want my work back. DON'T Shut down. Live just five more seconds for me to save my (admittedly mindnumbing) work.

White screen.

Message: This program is not responding.

Would you like to report this error to Microsoft?

Thank you for reporting this problem....

Feel my pain.

FOF

Dear Readers-

Please accept this as an official apology for my tone toward Facebook in my last post.
It is nice to hear from so many of you!

In order to promote a more tolerant world, I retract my hostile facebook rant. Please consider me a Friend of Facebook (FOF).

Sincerely yours.

Jennifer

(But I still won't join!)

Prosthelytizing

Leave me alone you Facebook freaks.

It is bad enough you track down your college freshman roommate from 20 years ago and want to tell me the details, but now you are tracking down mutual friends and making me go out on family dates with them.

Another friend used facebook to track down an Australian tourist who left his camera in a cab. Camera and owner were successfully reunited in Melbourne via third party.

These are wonderful stories of human connections.

But, don't you know I just want to be left alone?

Everyone I want to keep in touch with - I ALREADY KEEP IN TOUCH WITH.

Yes, there are exceptions. They are minimal and don't keep me from leading a happy life.

Probably all of the people who've fallen out of contact have made the choice to do so and I'm too clueless to realize it. It would be lovely to run into the friend, but unless I happen to run into them on the street it really doesn't need to happen. I prefer to give dear friends and acquaintances their space if they want it. I know I want mine.

My choice is final. Facebook is not for me.

Feel free to share your anecdotes about how you are best friends again with that girl from kindergarten, but leave me alone about joining.

Please let me live in my blissful "unfriended" anonymity.

Sincerely,

Jennifer
(no last names please! Someone might find me!!!!)

Snow

We got the suprise snow storm on Sunday/Monday. Here is Juliette getting ready for her out door recess today (18 degrees - shiver!) Julie Christie anyone?

Evie is also ready to go, but can't because she is sick. Cough, fever, but you'd never know by this picture!

Art

We hosted the first annual Juliette and Evie 's Art (Ot) Gallery here yesterday afternoon. Since it happened on such short notice, we determined it would be nice to give you the opportunity to participate virtually.

All items will be up for bid next Monday during the contemporary art auction at Sotheby's.

Clear directions to the facilities are a critical component for many guests.

We live in a label-conscious culture.

This contributor enjoys the performing arts as well.

The elusive artist.

OT - Pop Culture Notes

What with the subscription to Entertainment Weekly, why not talk books? It is one of the list of seven things I can do with my leg elevated. (What are the other six? Movies, Eating, Painting, Pearls, Puzzles, Games). I can't clean, cook, do laundry. At least that is what I am claiming while Mom is here. Once a youngest child, always a youngest child...

Books I've read since breaking my leg-I've averaged three a week, but I can't think of them all. If I can't think of it, it doesn't mean they are bad, it just means I'm forgetful.

Outliers, Sense and Sensibility, Love the One You are With, Better, Gilead, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, The Painted Veil, Time Traveler's Wife, If Today Be Sweet, and The Beach House.
Some of these are not worth mentioning. Others are definitely worth a mention. When you read books, do you think about whether the author would make a good dinner guest? I do.

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell. Such an intellectually curious man. I love reading his stuff and watching him in interviews. Definitely on the short list for who to have over for dinner for a good conversation.

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen. Addicted to Jane right now. You can always be assured of a happy outcome. This IS cheating knowing the ending will be happy, but with a broken leg that has to be elevated, I don't care. Jane is not on the list for interesting dinner guests. Don't know why, might have something to do with shyness and or pretention.

Love the One You are With - Emily somebody. Skip. Not invited to dinner or even coffee.

Better - Atul Gawande. A follow up to his first book, Complications (which I really liked). I liked Better. Not at first, but it grew on me. Atul is also on the short list for interesting dinner guests. His intellectual curiousity applied to his profession gives the reader tons of insight into the complicated world of medicine today.

Gilead - Marilynn Robinson. This was THE book two years ago. I tried to read it then and was too tired with the chicklets to not fall asleep. This time I made it through. Beautifully written. It is not for everyone. Marilynn doesn't get to come to dinner. I know this doesn't seem fair but it has to do with her prose, it is complicated and requires a great deal of concentration. I really don't feel like concentrating that hard right now.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - author?. This was another reattempt. I have a really bright friend whose wife is an aspiring author. I had trouble the first time, but now that I have hours, I was able to focus. FASCINATING story about a Hmong family with a severely epileptic daughter navigating the U.S. medical system. Hopeful and tragic both. Alternate dinner guest.

The Beach House - author?. Skip unless you are at the beach. No other reason to read, except it makes you want to move to the beach. Only invited to dinner if my invitation will get me an invitation to nantucket. Yes, this is shallow - it comes with the Entertainment Weekly subscription.

Time Traveler's Wife - author? Title says it all. Really liked elements of this book. Other elements seemed strange and out of character. Anyone this creative gets to come to dinner.

If Today Be Sweet - author? Good story about a women trying to decide whether to leave her life in India after the death of her husband and start over with her son and dil in Ohio. Compassionate look at grief and family. Invited to dinner. Asked to bring appetizer.

The Painted Veil - Somerset Maugham. Maugham is the author of one of my favorite books. It is easy to love his work. A fascinating, gifted author - this book has the same effect on me as War and Peace - during which I constantly say, " just one more chapter, and then I'll put it down." Definitely invited to dinner.

Next up - River of Doubt - another one I failed to finish the first time. So Brave, So Young, So Handsome, The Zookeepers Wife, The Story of Marriage, and The Reason for God. Stay tuned for more dinner invitations.

In 2009 / Out 2008

Out - Sprout PBS Kids
In - Boomerang (Pink Panther reruns from the 1970s - how could it be better??)

Out - Blockus
In - Rat a Tat Cat

Out - Mad Men (only until Season 2 becomes available on Netflix)
In - Damages - it is back not as crisp, but still better than most on television

Out - Trader Joes
In - just kidding!! Trader Joes never goes out

Out - Ice Skating
In - Ballet (I can't skate with a broken leg)

Out - Dora the Explorer
In - Max and Ruby

Out - Laura Ingalls Wilder
In - Missionary Biographies (the missionaries of the 1800's lead amazing lives!)

Out - Health
In - all communicable diseases. Evie's been out of school all week with high fevers - we're a inhale away from a MRSA infection in this house

Out - Bikes
In - Scooters

Out - Ice Cream
In - Georgetown Cupcake

Out - Mommy
In - Gramma

Out - Brio
In - Pietanza

Out - The Wall Street Journal
In - Entertainment Weekly - go ahead and judge me

Out - coloring
In - painting

Out - NFL Football
In - Spring Training!!

Out - multiple applications and interviews to private schools
In - sibling preference - HOORAY!!!

Out - freewheeling dinners out and weekends away
In - tuition payments

Out - beef stew
In - Pot Roast!!

Out - seconds
In - licking our dessert plates

Out - pony tails
In - headbands

I know about rocks

A conversation I just had with Evie:

I know about Rocks.
What do you know?
They are round.
They are hard.
You can't throw them at people.
I know important things.
Like no throwing rocks at other people.

Do I even want to know HOW she knows this and why she brings it up today?
I don't think so.

40 is old and decrepit

So, on the second day of the new year I broke my leg doing yard work. Pathetic, I know. Even more pathetic was me crawling along like a crab in the dark calling to my neighbor for help while my well-lit house contained the spouse and chitlin's. Think Little Match Girl....

So the fibula is shot. Which is good news, the tibia is the weight bearing one. Maybe no surgery. I have my fingers crossed. I've sat down more in the past four days than I can recall outside of airplane travel.

Bruce has been a saint. He helps without complaining. I think he is enjoying the new junked up Jenn who is less caustic and pretty happy thanks to the little white pills.

Juliette and Evie are exceptionally helpful and curious. They are using the hockey sticks procured at Christmas as their "crunches."

Here is what I've discovered.
1. Keeping your leg elevated means elevated above your heart. Sitting up does not count.
2. Crutches means no multitasking - you can't even carry a drink with you to the living room. You must rely on the kindness and patience of everyone around you. CRAZY!!!
3. People are incredibly kind to the gimpy. We've had meals brought three days in a row - none of which we asked for all of which were delicious.
4. I am really clutzy. Scarily so. We already knew this, but it has been proven twice in just over 365 days.
5. My former most significant relationship - the Starbucks staff at the West End Plaza, has been replaced with my new most significant relationship - the orthopedic staff. Who have set my bones twice now. I know people by their first names, kids etc. Completely scary.
6. Netflix online is a great time killer.
7. There is still a great deal to enjoy even if you are limited to one floor of your house. We've been playing games, doing puzzles, reading books and enjoying each other. All of which we do regularly, but I've been more focused on what is at hand (see no multitasking above) which has been nice.
In short, I'm thankful for this being only as limiting as it is and for the many friends and family who've rushed to support us. Expect more blogs in the next few weeks.
I've got the time!