My Life Runs in Quirks Mode

Bison Bluff Farm

2009-06-24T20:40:00.001-05:00

The twins' final kindergarten fieldtrip was a visit to Bison Bluff in Cobden. It was a miserably hot day, but we had a fun time. I think both of my girls have such great teachers--in another clever move, the entire kindergarten tie-dyed shirts in class colors to prepare for the trip, so they could easily tell which child belonged where. Most of these pics are on FB, but I thought I'd share a few more here.

CeCee wasn't in the mood for pictures,
but humored me a bit

Doodle kept asking for more pics and poses

Louie was hot and wanted my lap more than anything

Viva Mexico!

2009-06-20T20:14:00.004-05:00

I spent the last weekend in May on a girlfriends' trip to Maya Riveria. After all the storm drama, I definitely needed the break.

Thanks to the swine flu scare, the area was empty. Our resort closed up two thirds of the place, and we definitely had no trouble finding an empty chair beachside.

The weather was unseasonably hot, but luckily, the sea breezes were strong.

We spent pretty much the whole time on the beach, but I did take a little solo trip to Tulum the day before we flew back.

Tulum was beautiful, and the beach was incredible.

I have more pics on Facebook, if you want to see the collection. Unfortunately, I was forbidden to post pics of the girlfriends--apparently censorship is alive and well in Mexico.

Last Month's Storm

2009-06-17T14:58:00.000-05:00

On May 8th, we had the worst storm I hope never to experience again. The day started out with a tornado watch (hardly a big deal around here). I was in Louie's class attending a Mother's Day party when they announce the storm was coming and that they were going to lock down the school. I remembered I'd left the windows open, so I quickly decided to pick up all the girls and go home before the storm hit.

View down our street

The first wave of the storm was simply rain, rain, and rain. The news reports say we got between 4-5 inches of rain in about an hour. We had a break in the storm, for about an hour. Then the wind came. For more than 20 minutes, we had sustained winds between 70-100 MPH. When the power went out, I gave the girls flashlights and they played in the windowless, basement toy room, while I stupidly stood by the window to watch our trees snap or uproot entirely and debris fly about the back yard. At one point, our patio umbrella flew up about 3 feet from where I'd laid it on the table, and I tucked it under the metal table to keep it from smashing the french doors. I was soaking wet, but too panicked to care.

Our mailbox
As soon as the storm let up, James came home to check on the damage. We lost more than a dozen trees, but the only damage to our house was one screen flew off a window and ripped.

Our ponderosa pines completely uprooted

I piled the kids into the car and drove to town immediately--I knew we'd be without power for a while, and I had just stocked the freezer! I got to town and saw that all of Carbondale was a mess. Nobody had electricity. I got the second-to-last generator Lowes had in stock and a chainsaw that I figured would get lots of use. Unfortunately, I couldn't buy gas anywhere. The storm had hit all of the towns in our vicinity. Everywhere I went there were lines of cars hoping for gas, but without power, the pumps wouldn't work.

Powerlines were down everywhere

The next morning, I learned that Anna, a town about 30 minutes south of us, had power. There were gas lines, but it was nice to be able to fill up the gas cans and the kids learned that McDonald's has pancakes (so exciting!) as we ate breakfast out.

Altogether, we had no power for a week, and no cable-tv-internet for 2.5 weeks. We're still working to clean up the trees, but considering that other people lost entire houses, we got off easy.

The tree service originally wanted
$6k to remove this tree
James talked them down to $400 cash

"The Storm" is a part of everyday talk around here. The area is seeking federal disaster assistance and many still haven't recovered from it. This comma shaped storm is officially called a "derecho", Spanish for straight, but it had at least 8 documented tornadoes in it. Amazingly, only 2 people died from the storm.

For more information about "The Storm," including some amazing (admittedly geeky) satellite images, check this blog.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T05:53:00.000-05:00

To Mom--I'm glad you were mine.

I love you!

What's for Lunch

2009-04-28T13:08:00.003-05:00

After a nearly a year of kindergarten, CeCee and Doodle have come to love reading and words in every form. They've graduated from asking me how to spell everything to sounding out their words. This image is a school lunch menu Doodle wrote out while pretending to be the teacher.

I think my favorite thing about reading their creations is realizing how much I visualize words as I say them, and I find it interesting how they construct words. Who can argue that "wodr" isn't every bit as good as "water"?

No Wonder I Always Hate Photos of Myself

2009-04-15T12:17:00.000-05:00

When I can't help but compare them to this:

Rural King

2009-04-02T02:00:00.003-05:00

It's Ladies Discount Day at Rural King! It's also Senior Citizen day (perhaps they're synonyms at the farm store?) but since I have a few years to qualify for that discount (and they won't let me combine them), I'll take what I can get.

One of the downsides of living in a small town is the limited shopping. Our small mall is half full (the optimist's way of saying it's half empty--the food court has 2 vendors!) and Target is 30 minutes away. I do have 4 Super-Walmarts within 30 minutes of my house, but that hardly makes for fun shopping. Luckily, I also have 3 Rural Kings within 30 minutes of my house.

Rural King is a traditional farm/home store. They have live chicks, just about every kind of seed and feed imaginable (I first went in to buy 50 lb bags of pond fish food), hunting and fishing supplies, hardware, toys, clothes, food, appliances, lawn furniture, and all kinds of odd things, all a store the size of an average supermarket. They have free coffee and popcorn, both self-serve. I can easily kill an hour munching on popcorn and browsing the store with my cart loaded up with a giant bag of fish feed and whatever else I stumble upon and instantly need.

James bought a windmill from them last weekend. After he finds the time to install it, I'll post more on it and hopefully will have pictures of how it transforms our pond.

In the meantime, I think I need another 50 lbs of pond fish food.

Prize-Winning Recipe

2009-04-01T19:35:00.005-05:00

Unity Point School had a vegetable recipe contest yesterday. CeCee and Doodle each "submitted" recipes (I picked out a couple of my favorites and typed them up for each to bring to school). CeCee's recipe won second place, with a 10$ gift card and a printout of all the recipes submitted.

I like both of the recipes we sent. I'll let you guess which one won the prize :-)

Three Cheese Baked Ziti with Spinach

1 package (16 ounces) ziti
1 bag (6 ounces) spinach leaves (about 4 cups), washed
1 jar (25 ounces) red pasta sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 ounces)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Add the spinach during the last minute of the cooking time. Drain the pasta and spinach will in a colander, then return them to the sauce pot.

Stir the pasta sauce, ricotta, 1/2 cup of the mozarella, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, garlic powder, and black pepper into the pasta mixture. Spoon everything into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheeses.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Black Bean Lasagna

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (26 ounces) crushed tomatoes, undrained
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup salsa
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
10-12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded cojack or pepperjack cheese

In a large bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell pepper, salsa, chili powder, and cumin and mix well. In a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, and 1/2 cup Parmesan and beat until combined.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spread one third of the tomato and bean mix in the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 inch glass baking dish. Top with half of the noodles, overlapping slightly and breaking noodles as necessary to fit. Top with the second third of the tomato-bean mix. Spoon the ricotta mix over the top, spreading carefully. Sprinkle with 1/2 shredded cheese. Layer remaining noodles and tomato-bean mix over the casserole. Top with last of the shredded cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Spray a sheet of foil with cooking spray and cover the baking dish tightly with foil, sprayed side down.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-65 minutes, or until noodles are tender. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer, until casserole is bubbling and cheese begins to brown. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

You Can't Get to Heaven on Rollerskates, but They Sure are Fun!

2009-03-21T17:14:00.002-05:00

Doodle has wanted rollerskates since last fall, when she put them on her Christmas list. CeCee heard Doodle's wish list and added them to her must-have list, too. Unfortunately, the snow and ice of winter don't make for good skating, and since we traveled to Utah for the holidays, I needed the presents to be as compact as possible. I warned them that Santa probably wouldn't bring the skates, but that if they continuted to be patient, I would buy skates in the spring.

Two days before the official start of spring, the weather was perfect for learning to skate. The girls cheered when they found the skates on the front porch. Louie declared she was the luckiest of the bunch, because she hadn't even wanted skates, but got some anyway!

These pics are from their first time up on the skates. As you can see, they're natural skaters already.

Once, I Caught a Fish THIS BIG

2009-03-19T17:09:00.007-05:00

The other day, I saw these cute Barbie fishing poles and couldn't resist buying them. I stashed them in the garage, thinking that we could use them later this spring or summer. Of course, eagle-eyed Louie spied them as soon as we pulled in from school, and insisted we HAD to go fishing TODAY.

I am clearly NOT a fisherman, though I always wanted to learn. My Grandpa McBride used to go weekly but, even when I was in high school and living with him, he refused to take me along. His excuse? "The fish would get distracted by looking at such a cute girl and ignore the bait." Whatever. I guess he wanted to guard his "guy time" with his favorite fishing buddy.

As a result, I didn't have much of a clue what to do. My sole experiences fishing were two different times at stocked trout ponds where you pay by the pound for what you catch and the staff baits your hook and cleans your catch for you.

It turned out that fishing with three little cuties was both easier and harder than I thought it would be. The fishing poles already came with lightweight fishing line round onto the reel. I remembered using a bobber, and we obviously needed hooks, so I just adapted my Young Women Camp knots and tied them on at what appeared to be good lengths. We used thawed corn for bait. Our casts were terrible, but the fish didn't laugh too hard at us--in fact, they even liked the corn. I did have lots of tangled fishing lines to fix with little girls eager for me to hurry up so they could cast out again.

Doodle was the best fisher among us. She was very deliberate with her casts, and patient. She caught seven bluegill and one catfish, and hooked probably about that many more who managed to get away before we reeled them in. In this case, that's a good thing--less fish I had to handle and unhook to toss back.

CeCee was our most glamorous fisher. She took it personal when she was the last to catch a fish--tried to understand what the fish were thinking when they saw the corn floating in the water, and was satisfied with her one catch. After that, she was done with fishing.

Louie was the most animated fisher. She sang to the fish, and called for them to "come and eat some yummy corn." She even did a victory dance as we reeled in each of her 3 catches.

Despite our not-at-all careful fishing, we did manage to hook one of our catfish. Doodle said, "I think this one is a catfish--it's hard to bring in." I ended up pulling in the line by hand (which gave me a pile of tangled line to clean up--did I mention I'm not good at this fishing thing?), only to find the monster thrashing around on the line. Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared for releasing a catfish. They have sharp spines on their fins and I didn't bring any gloves out to the pond. Also, the line was too thin to handle pulling one of these suckers up. I dragged it to the side of the pond and it was so mad, it pulled itself free of the hook (ouch)! Before I could find something to help push it back into the pond (I really didn't want to touch it), it wiggled and squirmed itself back into the water.

The Educational Spring Break Trip

2009-03-09T16:21:00.003-05:00

Karen came to visit for a long weekend--it's so much fun having her here!

Since Carbondale isn't exactly a hotbed of activity, we decided to go to Springfield and check out the "new"(okay about 5 years old) Lincoln museum and his Springfield home. The girls loved Mrs. Lincoln's attic--the children's play area at the museum. Once they discovered it, they didn't want to leave. Karen and I took turns watching them play and exploring the exhibits solo.

Castle Park

2009-03-07T16:38:00.002-06:00

I posted these pics on Facebook, but some family members refuse to friend me (MOM!), so here are a subset.

This park is our favorite local place to spend a sunny afternoon. A wealthy family in the neighborhood built this park in memory of their sun who died after driving drunk some years back (at least that's what I heard from our realtor). It's such a lovely tribute to him, and you can tell he loved Dungeons and Dragons from the layout.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2009-03-02T21:57:00.005-06:00

This week, our elementary school is celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday with lots of fun activities.

Below are some of the Conder Girls' thoughts about Dr Seuss.

"He's turning 105, or 115, or 150, I can't remember. Or at least he would be, if he was still alive. He's not alive anymore."

"Grandma Draper is even older than Dr. Seuss, and she's still alive. She's older than everyone else alive."

"He's not alive anymore, but we can still read his books. He wrote lots of fun books. It's a good thing he wrote all that stuff while he was alive."

"I will still not eat green eggs and ham. That's just yucky! I will try some new foods, but not those."

"Those kids should not have let a strange cat into their house. That was a bad choice. But it was good that he picked up his mess."

"My favorite Dr Seuss book is 'One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.' And now we have lots of fish in our pond."

Needless to say, Dr. Seuss is a popular celebrity in our home.

Here's a link to some Dr. Seuss Parodies for your enjoyment.

We Need Some Noise Abatement!

2009-03-01T20:48:00.002-06:00

My road has a random assortment of falling-apart trailers, semi-mobile homes (trailers with additions built on or above them), permanent dwellings and light industrial use buildings. The concept of zoning may not yet have arrived in my neighborhood.

About two weeks ago, I noticed a new noise from the direction of some large sheds near the lake. It is louder on warmer days, starting around mid-afternoon, and increasing in volume into the night. I have not yet met the neighbors with the sheds down the road, and hadn't thought about the sheds until the noise started. It's a steady sound, with almost no break in it, like some high voltage electricity, or a strange broadcast--maybe they're trying to scare away migrating Canada geese or starlings?

One especially warm evening, I went to bed, only to realize I could still hear the noise...with all the windows shut! As I lay awake fuming at the inconsiderate nature of people who would keep their loud machinery going, I started wondering what I could do about it, and if so, how would I report these people without appearing un-neighborly. (This is the first place I've ever lived where people don't honk at each other driving down the road--even if they get cut off--so I definitely don't want to earn a reputation as that "jerk-from-the-city".) In the county, do we even HAVE a noise ordinance? Who would enforce it, and how would I report it? I imagined calling the county police department complaining of a noise down the street "somewhere," not being able to accurately describe it, or even predict when it would happen--good way to make friends with the local law enforcement.

Advil PM helped me fall asleep sometime after 2 am. I drifted off vowing to talk to the neighbors and see if they knew anything about the noise and what they might do about it. Perhaps Dottie, our wonderful realtor, or Fred, the former homeowner, might know something about the noise history and what to do about it.

The next morning, I took the girls to school and in chatting with one of the other parents about the weather, she asked if I've heard the frogs now that they're waking up. Frogs? Yes, I think maybe I have.

Good thing I didn't report any noise ordinance violation--though it might not be a bad idea to fine the inconsiderate frogs.

This sound is obviously frogs, unless you think it's coming from a semi-industrial shed in your neighborhood.

Arrears...

2009-02-27T13:33:00.006-06:00

Last month, I accidentally paid too much on the water bill--I looked at the wrong column and paid the "amount due after due date" instead of the "amount due on or before due date". Rather than fix the check, I figured it wouldn't hurt to loan them the $.95 for one month.

Yesterday, I received the bill in the mail. It took me a couple of minutes to remember the overpayment. Apparently the computer system didn't appreciate the my gesture. I now owe the water district -$.95 "immediately!"

I wonder how I could write that check.

My Island Adventure

2009-02-26T21:30:00.017-06:00

(the before pic)

My dad left last Sunday, after more than 3 weeks of remodeling/fixing things around my house. It was an exhausting marathon for both of us, but I am very happy with the results. I'm blessed to have such a great dad who would tolerate my pickiness and let me basically tell him what to do the whole time!

His crowning achievement was definitely the kitchen island and lighting. As you can see from the top picture, it was a nice kitchen before (certainly more kitchen than I've ever had before), but I have always wanted an island with an eating bar.

This was my first experience with a significant home improvement project, and being just a little bit of a control freak, it was hard to deal with wallboard dust (that stuff is evil) all over my house and all the other things that go with remodeling. During one low point, I came in to discover the spray paint Dad used to finish the wood had drifted all over the floor, well beyond the plastic tarp! (I'm still finding black paint in nooks and crannies--thank goodness it scrapes off without too much effort.) I broke out in hives on the day the installer told us they wouldn't install the quartz countertop they had already cut (and I had already paid for--nonrefundable!) due to "liability issues"--the island has wheels on it and isn't bolted to the floor. Dad told them to bring it anyway and he would install it himself. I so did not want my island to be his first experience installing countertop! After a sleepless night or two and lots of prayer and crossed fingers, the installers came, checked out the island (even complimented Dad on his workmanship), and installed it. I was doing a happy dance the entire day after that one.

The painting is my work. I have to give credit to my SIL Deri--her cupboards are the same color as mine, and over the holidays, I fell in love with her red kitchen. The dining area is still unfinished, but it took me 3 tries to find the perfect shade of yellow for it, so I have to show it off, too. In a year or so, I hope to replace the kitchen countertops with black quartz, install a tile backsplash, and I'm toying with the idea of painting my cabinets a cream color and then "aging" them with a dark stain.

My house is almost clean again, but we are still finding tools in odd places. Two days ago, CeCee brought me a miter saw she found in the closet, and last night Doodle found the missing flathead screwdriver wedged between the sofa cushions during bedtime stories. I'll be finding mementos of my dad's visit for a few more weeks, but we'll always be grateful for the help he gave me!

Lamest Interview Ever!

2009-02-12T17:22:00.005-06:00

I wonder what Joaquin was on last night!

Ok, they pulled it off of YouTube, but you can still watch it here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/11/joaquin-phoenixs-bizarre_n_166229.html

Understanding Parkinson's

2009-02-06T00:01:00.002-06:00

My dad has suffered Parkinson's symptoms since 2001 and was diagnosed in 2003. Tonight, we watched the Frontline Documentary, "My Father, My Brother, and Me" and I highly recommend it. It was certainly an hour well spent.

You can watch it online at their website.

I learned a few things relevant to us.

First, researchers have discovered mutations in the LRRK2 gene have been associated with both familial and sporadic late-onset Parkinson's disease, particularly with people from the coast of Norway (where some of Dad's ancestors are from).

Second, researchers found (through tainted heroin of all things), a link between exposure to herbicides and the onset of Parkinson's. My dad was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam; he's convinced that was his trigger. My maternal grandmother also suffered from mild Parkinson's; I imagine her years farming exposed her to plenty of herbicides.

Dave Iverson also interviewed with Terry Gross on Fresh Air . I know at least one podcast junkie will want to listen to it:-)

The Home Improvement Binge

2009-02-05T20:03:00.005-06:00

While James sails the Pacific between Tonga and Fiji, my dad is here for three whole weeks!

I've lots to keep him busy. First thing he did when he arrived was to finish shoveling my long driveway so I could easily drive up it. He rebuilt a hopelessly clogged toilet, replaced a blue toilet with a new, white one, fixed my back door deadbolt so it can actually lock, and rebuilt the closets in the master bedroom and the toy room. Also on his list are: installing new lighting in my kitchen, building a custom kitchen island and bar (I'm so very excited about this), and repairing the burst pipe in the barn. My house is a giant home improvement project right now, with tools scattered in various places, and lots of odds and ends to pick up. I keep shutting doors behind him, turning off lights, and am constantly interrupted to find a tool, hold this in place, make another trip to Lowes or Home Depot, etc. IT IS SO WORTH IT!

Snow Day #3

2009-01-29T19:49:00.005-06:00

School is canceled today and tomorrow.

I start the day with a nagging feeling; I should check the barn. A frozen pipe has burst, spraying a wall all the way up to the ceiling. The stuff stacked there, including all my boxes of canning jars, is soaking wet. The pegboard is warped beyond use; I don't know if the wallboard will need to be replaced. I found the shut-off valve; the mess will have to wait.

I spend three and a half hours chipping with the garden shovel to carve out one long, skinny, tire track up the hill and digging down the snow berm left by the plows. After about an hour, the poor shovel has lost its nice, pointy tip. It's also very dull, but it's still doing the job.

I see half a dozen earth movers drive down the road--I need to get me one of those! I dig down by the main road in hopes that one of them will have pity on me and stop to help. No dice.

Finally, I dig out enough and I hurt enough that I decide to give my track a try. I head into the house.

My house is a wreck. While I've been shoveling these past two days, Chaos, Entropy, and Disorder have been playing--using the whole house as their toyroom and kitchen. I'm too tired to care--let's go to McDonald's.

The driveway is still scary--the girls gasp each way as we inch and slide down the lane, and then a couple hours later when I gun the engine to clear the berm and slip into the track for the trip up, then gun it again to reach the flat stretch of ice at the top.

The van is safely back in the garage. I am already starting to ache all over. Advil PM will be my best friend tonight.

I can hardly wait for Snow Day #4.

How Can Something So Beautiful Be So Very Vile?

2009-01-28T18:39:00.018-06:00

Yesterday, school was canceled due to 3 inches of sleet. We had a snow day at home. We slept in, ate banana bread for breakfast, had hot chocolate with marshmallows and candy canes, watched too much television. We even played out in the sleet, but not for long as the stuff kept falling. It was messy and cold outside. I tried to shovel out the driveway, but it was rough going, and the sky kept dumping as much as I could clear up. The weather turned to rain around 10 pm, and then snow around 2 am.

School is canceled today, too. We wake to find beautiful, sunny skies, and 3 more inches of fluffy snow. Time to tackle driveway. We have pumpkin bread for breakfast (can you see I'm trying to conserve the milk here?), I ask the girls to get themselves dressed, and head out to start shoveling.

My cheap, plastic shovel can only tackle the top layer. Still, I figure, if I can get the top off, maybe I can work on the rest with salt. Besides, I have all day. I can chisel it out later this afternoon.

Two hours later, the girls decide they want to come outside and ~~hinder~~ join me. We make snow angels, sled down the hill, and play on the shoveled snow mountain (More pics on Facebook). They get cold and head inside. I keep shoveling. An hour later, they demand hot chocolate; I'm feeling overheated and starving, so I head inside.

I get sidetracked with tidying up and gabbing on the phone. Really, I just don't want to get out and shovel any more. It's depressing, it's slow, it's painful, and it's useless. Even after I get the layer of snow off, there's the thick layer of ice. It's like someone poured the contents of an entire sno-cone truck onto the driveway and then packed it down with an asphalt roller. Even if I can ski the van down this hill to the road, there's no way I'm going to make it back into the garage, or even over the foot-high snow berm the plows at the street.

Finally, I decide I need to at least get that snow layer off. Two more hours of shoveling and lots of thinking. Thinking how convenient it is that James is in the south Pacific, even if he's worried about a cyclone and getting very wet. Realizing that the only vehicles out and about are 4x4s. I'm very grumpy and my hip is starting to hurt. I take a break to hike down and check the mail, only to see that the mailman didn't deliver at all today, again. I chisel out a few token holes down to the pavement and sprinkle some ice, in hopes that somehow the patches will grow and make things easier tomorrow. Five hours of shoveling, and my lane looks like a mini version of the bunny hill at Sundance. All it needs is a tow rope. If I had a tow rope, maybe I could get the van up the lane, too.

James will be making a big purchase this fall. He will buy a snow blade for the tractor, or a Honda Pilot.

More Info on January's IBM Resource Action

2009-01-27T00:01:00.000-06:00

I've noticed a spike in folks coming here for information on the IBM resource action. That would probably be because there is so little out there. Somehow, IBM manages to keep layoffs under the radar. Below is the only national news story I've seen on it:

After Profits Grow, IBM Quietly Lays Off Workers: NPR

Hope this helps.

Talk about Convenience!

2009-01-26T00:53:00.001-06:00

Along the road I often take into town, a new convenience mart advertises its upcoming opening.

Every time I drive by, I wonder about the goats.

It doesn't have a name yet, but "Gas N Goats" has a nice ring to it. "Gass y Goats" would be good, if the owners want to do it in Spanglish.

"Maybe Goats"? I just don't see a lot of traffic coming in for the goats. Then again, I'm still new around here. If Sam's Club can sell mattresses, trampolines, groceries, fishing boats, and health/beauty products, maybe there is a market for a gas/convenience/livestock mart.

Is IBM Imploding?

2009-01-25T01:20:00.002-06:00

Last week my BFF and former coworker phoned me. "Guess what happened."

"So, what happened."

"What's the worst thing that could happen to me."

"Again?!"

Despite announcing better than expected earnings, IBM is having yet another resource action!

Laurisa had been laid off with me last quarter, but thanks to a super-human effort, she managed to squeak into a job at the absolute last minute. Now, her new department is part of the resource action--the whole group. She gets to go through the whole process again.

I'm learning this round is even bigger than before (rumors have it as high as 16k people, but I can't imagine it to be true); it feels like a war zone where I hear names of friends that have been hit. Most of my friends that lost jobs last fall haven't found new ones yet. I'm sick thinking about the many more who are adding to the highly talented job pool, not to mention how rough it is on the people who are left, happy to have a job, but overwhelmed by the workload and mourning their former coworkers.

I've spent these past few days thinking how very grateful I am that my husband has a steady job and that I don't have to go out and try to find something in this economy.

Fast Food

2009-01-24T00:07:00.000-06:00

With James out of the country, my only incentive for creative cooking (okay, for cooking at all) is gone. With my girls, there's an inverse ratio between the amount of effort put into a meal and the amount it will be eaten and appreciated. Macaroni and cheese from the blue box--no leftovers and a round of compliments. Beef curry stew with sticky rice--a meal with at least two encores, and scores of complaints.

Since Friday night is supposed to be date night around here (and I just don't feel like cooking), I let the girls pick where we go for dinner. Luckily, Moe's wins over Micky-D's this time. If we can leave around 6:00, we'll beat the dinner crowd.

Unfortunately, I get bogged down with IM'ing and phoning work friends due to yet another round of IBM layoffs and lose track of time. At 6:15, I call out, "Let's go to Moe's!" At 6:20, Doodle can't find her shoes, Louie can't find her coat, and CeCee insists she doesn't need to wear a coat and is on the verge of a tantrum because I won't let her come without one. At 6:30, we pull out of the garage.

At 6:44, after dodging a bale of hay in the middle of the road, one possum, three deer, and a black dog that I slam the brakes to miss (sending my purse flying off the seat and its contents all over the floor), we arrive at Moe's. As I put everything back in my purse, I realize that my wallet with my cash and credit cards is sitting back home on the kitchen counter! I explain that I don't have any money and we'll have to go home, and suggest I make quesadillas instead. The crew insist on Moe's, we turn back, and for the next fifteen minutes I get suggestions from Doodle and CeCee about how I should never take my wallet out of my purse, how I should get a leash for my wallet, perhaps use an old shoelace to tie it on, or a stapler to attach it to the purse. The conversation would be amusing, except that they want me to answer them every so often, and I'm steamed that this "easier than cooking" night out has become "not so easy". At least I don't have to dodge anything except the hay bale on the way back.

At 7:08, we arrive at Moe's again, with the wallet. Louie is fast asleep. I carry her in, lay her down at a booth, and she wakes up. I warn CeCee and Doodle that any fighting will mean we go home for dinner, and get into the long line.

As I peruse the menu on the wall, I hear them fighting already. I get out of line for damage control. They're fighting over who gets to sit by me. I'm so touched, I want to leave. I remind them not so gently, "Fighting means we go home. Let's get back into the car."

"No, we want to eat here!" they cry. "We'll be good." They're tired, they're hungry, it's 7:15. I really should've cooked dinner. I get back to the end of the line.

Luckily, the line moves fast. Amazingly, their mood improves. I bring one Joey Bag of Donuts (burrito) and three Mini Masterpieces (kiddy quesadilla meals) to the booth and they're making silly jokes. Louie eats EVERYTHING--she really was starving. CeCee eats three bites of her quesadilla and declares that she's full, except that she wants two refills of Sprite, and maybe she'll eat some chips and salsa (as in all her chips and salsa), but she's much to full to finish her quesadilla so she can have dessert. She gives me her cookie. Doodle takes a full thirty minutes to eat her meal, methodically dipping everything into sour cream and salsa.

As we're finishing up, a gentleman stops by and declares, "This is the Princess Booth! You have Three beautiful princesses. How wonderful! I bet they're a handful, too, sometimes."

They're smiling angelically at him, and giggling that he called them princesses. "Well, that depends on the night," I answer.

I'm Back

2009-01-23T21:55:00.003-06:00

Okay, so life bogged me down and I got out of the blogging habit. I'm starting up again; I plan to fill in a few blanks for December, so if you see "old" entries pop up that weren't there before, you'll understand.

Here's a quick summary of life between November and now. We went to Utah for a long Christmas holiday with little time/access to the internet. On our return, I had tons of laundry and cleaning up to do. I told myself that I couldn't blog until I caught up with life. I received a church assignment (or calling, as we call it) to serve in the Young Women's youth group for the 14 and 15 year olds. James flew to Tonga, where he's cruising around and dropping seismometers between Tonga and Fiji, to return in mid-March.

In talking with some friends they said they noticed that my blog is getting stale. I'm flattered that someone is actually reading this, so I suppose I should make it a site worth checking again.

Frozen Pond

2009-01-17T16:26:00.001-06:00

About the only nice thing I can say about the cold spell we've had is that the pond is finally frozen enough to walk on. Our Canadian neighbors are hockey fans and they went out to explore the ice today, and play a little hockey. Of course, as soon as the girls saw their friend outside, they had to bundle up and join him.

Photos from St Charles Santa Parade

2008-12-20T00:19:00.001-06:00

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is spending a December Saturday in St Charles MO. It's officially called "Christmas Traditions" but we call it the Santa Parade, as it's easier to explain. Basically, Christmas characters from different parts of the world roam the streets, passing out trading cards, and posing for photos. Then, there's a parade and performance later in the afternoon. Here are a few photos of our fun day. More are posted on Facebook.

Lights Fantastic

2008-12-06T23:47:00.003-06:00

Here are photos from Carbondale's annual Lights Fantastic Parade. It was a bitterly cold night--we'll be better prepared next year.

More Thanksgiving Weekend Fun

2008-11-28T17:05:00.012-06:00

We're enjoying our time away from our normal routine at Trout Lodge. Sadly, we leave tomorrow.

We started Thanksgiving Day with pony rides for the girls. CeCee and Doodle are already plotting their first trail ride once they turn seven.

Later, Princess the Clown visited the lodge for more face painting.

Dinner was the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing, cranberry sauces, rolls, and pumpkin pie. Each table had our own spread, and they even gave me ziplock freezer bags to take home the leftovers. (Yes, how I love leftover turkey sandwiches!)

This morning, we went to Mrs. Claus' tea party, and of course Santa visited us. These pics are just the highlights; you can find more on my Facebook album.

Over the River and Thru the Woods...

2008-11-27T03:00:00.001-06:00

Today, we crossed the Mississippi River and drove through the Ozarks to reach Trout Lodge in Potosi, MO, our family's traditional Thanksgiving hideout. Although we don't live much farther away than in St Louis, we had to snake through the backroads to get here, so it seemed to take twice as long!

We've been coming to Trout Lodge for Thanksgiving (and also Memorial Day weekend) ever since Louie was born. We eat the same foods and enjoy the same activities, but because we only come here twice a year, it's always exciting.

Today was pretty low key--pack, drive, and relax. The girls had their faces painted and played. We're resting up for the big day tomorrow.

Here are the girls modeling their face art. Doodle has a seahorse, CeCee a full butterfly face, and Louie has a dolphin.

Is it Really a Sale if You Have to Buy 8 of Them?

2008-11-26T00:01:00.006-06:00

In finishing up my Christmas shopping yesterday, I visited Bath & Body Works to get a couple of lotions to stuff inside another present. Now I admit that I'm an infrequent customer; I like their products, but their sales model annoys the (insert the hot place of your choice here) out of me. This visit only reinforced my opinion of them.

Like Kanani, I love coupons, and I have one for $10 off a $30 purchase. I figure I can buy my gifts and maybe a little something for me. But then I start looking at the prices. I remember pulling an $8 price sticker off a bottle of lotion to use as a gift I mailed off last month (I bought the lotion a while ago, on sale, but still). Now that same lotion is listed at $10.50. My favorite body butter used to be $9, and now it lists at $14! I know inflation is hurting everyone, but I fail to see how this improves business. Next to the overpriced signature collection, there is a promotional sign: "Sale! 7 for $35". I only need two or three bottles, but at $10.50 each, it's obviously "cheaper" to buy seven. I suppose I can stock up for future gifts and for the all of next year. I pick seven of my favorites.

At the register, the clerk informs me that the body butters and washes are not part of the promotion, even though they are on the same display :-(. I go back and have another look; the sign does say that, but in very small, faint print. Guess I'll stock up on still more lotion. I also find a cute, tinted lip gloss, so I add it to the armload and head back to the register.

When I reach the counter, I can't find my coupon! I see a stack of $10 off coupons sitting right next to the clerk at the register.

"I have a $10 off $30 purchase coupon, but I can't find it," I say. I drop my bags and dig through my purse full of receipts, gum wrappers, and tic tacs. I find some fruit snacks and an unopened sucker from Halloween, but no coupon. Maybe if I bribe her, she'll give me one from her stack.

She is just standing there, looking at me. I can't believe she isn't going to offer me one of her coupons sitting just inches from my hand!

"Guess I'll have to come back after I find my coupon," I say. I close my purse and gather up the other shopping bags.

She finally caves, "Actually, today, we're giving out $10 off coupons with every purchase. If you buy just the lip gloss, I can give you a coupon to use on the lotions."

"Okay." I smile and hand her the gloss. She rings it up, then hands me the coupon. I half expect her to ask me if I want a bag for that! As she rings up the seven bottles of lotion, she adds, "Would you like another bottle of lotion. With this promotion, it's buy 7, get 1 free."

Of course I want my free one. Now I have eight bottles of lotion for $27.70, including tax. If I get invited to a gift swap this holiday season, I'm ready. Oh, and I found another $10 off a $30 purchase coupon in the bottom of my shopping bag; I might have to go back for some Fredric Fekkai.

A Colbert Christmas -- A New Tradition?

2008-11-25T21:36:00.007-06:00

James and I watched this on Sunday night. It might not have been the best Sabbath activity, but it had us rolling with laughter. Here are a couple of our favorite songs; you can see the rest on Comedy Central's Website.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

A Colbert Christmas: Jon Stewart

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

A Colbert Christmas: Toby Keith Sings

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Deer Season

2008-11-23T17:03:00.009-06:00

I've seen a few SUVs with this "camo-wrap" driving around. I wonder if they make one for the Toyota Prius--what a great Christmas present for James :-)

It's the opening weekend of Deer Season in Illinois. On Friday, Walmart was full of small groups of men pushing shopping carts full of assortments of snacks, ammo and camo-style clothes. I've never seen anything like it. I overheard a discussion of whether anyone could open a can of soda quietly. ("Ain't no way I'm drinking water out there," one guy said. The consensus was he could drink "pop" if he brought a bottle and opened it before going out into the field so the fizz wouldn't make any noise.) Surprisingly, no one had any beer in their carts.

We've seen a lot of hunters around our "neighborhood," scoping out places to hunt. I'm a little glad it's freezing cold outside--I don't really want my kids playing outside this week. Some of these hunters were scoping land much too close to houses, IMO.

I'm learning just how widespread the hunting culture is. I saw a little of it growing up in Arizona and Idaho, but because my dad wasn't a hunter, I guess I didn't notice the excitement surrounding deer season beyond getting a four-day weekend off school for the opening weekend. The pic on the side came in a catalog addressed to the former owner of our home (the USPS doesn't forward catalogs, so we can peer into Fred's shopping habits). I can't imagine anyone wearing this in a thicket for 12 hours waiting for a buck, but who knows? Or maybe this is for the gal who is waiting for her man to bring home a 12-point rack and wants to have fun later--no idea.

Updates on the House

2008-11-21T07:44:00.001-06:00

I've meant to post photos of some of the work I've done on the house, but never seem to think about it until a room is too messy. Yesterday, CeCee was home with me being sick (Wednesday, she was genuinely sick with the stomach flu, this time it was the not-really-sick-but-not-quite-well-enough-to-go-to-school-until-the-bus-has already-left kind of sick), so her job was to clean the toy room. And luckily, I remembered to take a photo during the 5 minutes or so that it was tidy.

My biggest project this month has been window treatments. The previous owner built this house himself, and gave the house some lovely, large windows. Unfortunately, he was also a single guy and he loved vertical blinds. I HATE vertical blinds. They're ugly, they're flimsy, and they have no insulating value at all. When our recent cold spell (please tell me it's just a cold spell and not that will suffer through this all winter) hit, we learned that we need more than vertical blinds to keep the house comfortable, so I had the license I needed to drape the whole house. The big windows in the great room presented some challenges. There are two french doors flanking the fireplace, with no room for a panel in the middle. With decorator's fabric being so expensive, I chose to buy lined panels, then rip out the seams and customize them to fit the windows. It was about the same amount of work as sewing them from scratch, but I do like the end result. The pics below are the great room, but I've done the same process with the bedroom and basement windows--all are oversized.

Our New Baby

2008-11-20T19:20:00.001-06:00

One of the wonderful perks of my job has been that I've never been without a laptop computer. In fact, earlier this year, I had 4 Thinkpads and a MacBook Pro. Talk about spoiled, I know, but I really used them--okay most of them--for work. Even during my leave of absence (or LOA in IBM-speak), I have the use of a T-60, so that I can connect to work email, the intranet, and such.

With that ending, I had to buy my first personal computer ever. I wanted another laptop (because I have that bad habit of surfing in front of the television), but realistically I knew this purchase needs to be a family computer, and a laptop simply isn't sturdy enough for that.

The runner-up choice was the new Sony Vaio. The idea of an all-in-one TV and computer really appeals to me, and if this was going to be a kitchen computer, it would certainly have one. Unfortunately, my friend, Gene, warned me that the Vaio has a bad repair record, so it lost.

As a result, I want to introduct you the newest addition to our family, Daisy. She's a 24 inch iMac. Of course I maxed out everything in options, because who knows when we're going to splurge on another computer, and I won't get the IBM discount next time.

The girls are in love with Daisy. This is the first they've realized that you can play games on a home computer--before that they could only play at the library or school because the computers at home were for work only.

Unlike Swishy, I'm not having a rough time adjusting to the Mac, though I already miss a few things from my PC. I purchased VMWare Fusion; I just need to find time to install it and can switch between PC and Mac as needed (or so I hope).

The "Resource Action"

2008-11-19T15:59:00.002-06:00

On October 30, my manager, Pablo, called me at my house. I asked if I could phone him back, as I was on speaker and couldn't find a handset. He awkwardly said he was traveling and would call again in a couple of minutes. As I found the handset, I remembered ,"Pablo doesn't know my home phone number." Sure enough, he had tried calling the cell phone, but I hadn't heard it. I realized what was up just as the phone rang again. I answered and he started with the script, "Due to the need to rebalance skills, eliminate redundancies, and deliver greater efficiencies, the North America Sales and Distribution is announcing a resource action...including you."

Happy Halloween! Except, this scary thing was real. I tried to listen as he finished his script, but it really was a blur, and his reading was very monotone. I didn't have any questions, and the packet he overnighted me had all the details spelled out. It even has its own acronym: USRA (US Sales Resource Action), so it must be official.

In thinking about things, I can see why I was included in they layoffs. I hadn't been happy with my job ever since Pablo took over as my manager a year ago, and now as a non-contributing (although non-paid as well) employee, I would be the most logical choice to bump off the team. Sadly, I was one of three (from a team of eight) who were "resourced." The resource action includes 230 employees from Software Sales. We have 30 days to find a new position inside the company, or to accept the package of 2 weeks pay for every year with the company, to a maximum of 26 weeks.

In my situation, all the reasons I decided to take a leave of absence are still in place. I'm not at all ready to work full-time again, much less start a new position right now. I'll take the package and consider it a nice windfall, then look for a new job somewhere when I'm ready to enter the workforce again. Unfortunately, I keep learning of friends/coworkers who are also losing their jobs, and they aren't in as good a position.

My biggest loss is my identity as a Lotus/IBM employee. 12 years is a huge chunk of my life. I'm still a stockholder, but it's going to take a little while to get the Lotus Yellow out of my blood, if you know what I mean. If nothing else, my house is full of IBM gear I've accumulated. Without checking, I could only guarantee that the kids' bathrooms are free of stuff I've accumulated courtesy of work. On second thought, I do have hotel soaps and shampoos in there from business trips.

So, that's the news that I've needed to get out there. Unfortunately, it's prevented me from keeping up on postings, but I needed to muse on things a while before I could type this out.

My Worst Nightmare...

2008-10-27T22:21:00.006-05:00

I got this from a girlfriend today...at least I THINK she's still my friend :-)

Luckily, both James and I have already voted absentee, in MO. Next week, we can stoke up the fireplace, get out the popcorn, and watch CNN for the results.

Vulture Fest

2008-10-21T15:15:00.003-05:00

We attended Makanda's premier (meaning only) fall event, Vulture Fest, last weekend.

Today, I had my own vulture fest. I was driving along our road when I came across more than a dozen vutures (I"m not exaggerating), feasting on a deer by the side of the road. My first thought was of the Brown family's roadkill game, The second was that I needed my camera.

I drove back, but when I got out, those wily vultures flew into the trees. I hid about twenty yards away behind a neighbor's trees, but they knew I was nearby. (How could they smell me over the rank deer?) Most of them glared at me from the trees and wouldn't come back down, while a few circled angrily overhead. After about 5 minutes (poor Louie was waiting inside the van and even the Backyardigans CD can only entertain her for a so long), I got impatient and snapped what I could. The photos aren't gory because 1-- I wasn't interested in getting closer for a photo of a nasty, partially consumed carcass, and 2-- I couldn't get the vultures to flock over it again. It looked like something out of Animal Planet, but it was just down the street. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the black vultures and turkey vultures here have a wingspan of about 5-6 feet; they're very big birds.

Tooth-Be-Gone

2008-10-20T17:26:00.011-05:00

I believe in "hands off" parenting, but wonder if I use it to excuse neglecting my children sometimes.

Today, I arrived to pick up Louie from pre-k just as the kindergarten classes marched outside for recess. I lurked in the van and spied on my twins. CeCee skipped and happily bumped into her girlfriends, but Doodle was the last one, walking with her head downturned. I decided to surprise her with a hug and went out to "bump into" her on my way to the building. As I approached, I heard sobs and saw the playground monitor send her back inside.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"My tooth is bleeding," Doodle sobbed.

Unprepared me had left my purse in the van. Doodle didn't want to wait for a tissue and went back to her teacher for comfort. The monitor told me she had been bothered by the tooth all day. I vaguely remembered that she had been complaining that a tooth hurt last night and this morning when she brushed her teeth. I'd told her I couldn't do anything for hurt teeth (I didn't even pause to look at her mouth--I was more concerned about catching the bus). As loose as the tooth was, I probably could've extracted it last night and saved her from a miserable day, and she wanted her teacher to help her instead of me :-(

I have memories of the techniques my own dad used to remove our teeth. He was proud of his extraction skills. One time he pinned me down and used pliers on me, despite my worries of germs. Another time, he tied a string around the tooth and slammed a door to pull it out. He even reached in with his own fingers and yanked out a tooth before I could protest (and despite all this, I was never wise enough to keep my loose teeth a secret from him). I worried whether I would be able to even get my hands into her sore mouth, or if it was overkill to make a dentist appointment.

While waiting for the bus to bring Doodle and CeCee home, I Googled the best way to extract loose tooth, and found a handy home dentist kit. Unfortunately, I didn't find any method to easily remove the tooth myself--the best advice I found was the neglectful approach I'd already taken.

The bus brought home a very happy Doodle, minus one tooth. Her teacher (no doubt very experienced with loose teeth), looked in Doodle's mouth and asked her to wiggle it. Then, the teacher gave it a quick tug with a tissue and out it came.

As Doodle proudly showed me her mouth, the new tooth was already well on its way into the space--it's a wonder it hadn't pushed out the baby tooth sooner.

Guess the tooth fairy will be making her debut to our house tonight.

School Carnival

2008-10-19T17:17:00.001-05:00

Our next-door neighbors from St Louis came to visit for the weekend, and we had a great time. It was also the night of the school carnival, their first chance to wear their Halloween costumes.

At the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-11T16:55:00.006-05:00

James' parents are visiting, and we have a four-day weekend from school (woohoo!). We visited the local pumpkin patch today, and here are some pics for you to enjoy!

Having fun sitting on pumpkins.

They had these giant tubs of corn, similar to sand boxes, perfect for playing in.

And we even wandered through the corn maze.

Having a D'Oh Day.

2008-10-03T16:13:00.005-05:00

In preparing for our first house guests (James' parents), one of the most important and necessary repairs involved installing a hand rail on our open stairs. I read up about how to install, and went to the home improvement store to buy the parts. Unfortunately, I didn't think about how I would haul two 12 foot hand rails home. When I got to the van, I put them in at an angle, and they fit "perfectly", with no room to spare. Smugly I shut the back hatch and went to drive home. That was my first d'oh moment.

I drove home and made an appointment with the Glass Doctor (their real name) for a new windshield (sigh).

The second very needed item was a bed for them to sleep in. Because I waited until the last moment, that meant a trip to Sam's so I could haul the bed home myself rather than wait for a store to take their sweet time to deliver. I maneuvered through the store with my full mattress, box spring and other necessities and paid, then went out to the car and had my second d'oh moment. It didn't fit!

Mind you, I'm the sort of person who MAKES things fit. I fit a family of 5 in a 1080 square foot house for way too many years. I even carry a tape measure in my purse--fat lot of good it did me today since I didn't use it!

Luckily, the mattress bent into the bed of the van, but I had to tie the box spring on top using rope I keep in my emergency kit, and luckily I paid attention to the knot certificiation courses I took at girls' camp years ago, since the stock guys who "helped" me load this didn't know the first thing about how to tie it on.

The 20-mile drive home from Sam's took me nearly an hour. I had this horrible mental image of the box spring flying off the top of the van and striking the car behind me, so I didn't dare drive faster than 40 the whole way. I was probably a traffic menace--on the back roads here, even tractors would have passed me (luckily, I didn't encounter any).

Fortunately, the day ended well. My in-laws will have a place to sleep and won't fall down the stairs. I have to post a picture of my (not quite finished) stair well, as I'm so pleased with the way it turned out. It previously had the typical ugly fake wood paneling on the wall. I primed and applied knock-down texture to it, then painted it a dark orange. In this picture, you can see the primed, but not yet textured and painted wall below the stairs, where the kids have their "cave".

Fine Dining

2008-09-23T23:16:00.010-05:00

This is the closest "eating establishment" to our new home (about 4 miles north). It shares a parking lot with McDonalds and is attached to a gas station. That should've clued me in, but yesterday I was filling up the car and decided to go in to check the place out.

Swishy would be excited to know that the place has free Wifi, and there were even a couple of people sitting in booths with laptops. The place had the honest, greasy smell of a KFC or Popeyes.

Then I went to the counter and looked at the menu.

Chicken Livers and Gizzards? No thanks. I'll just have a Diet Coke. Unfortunately, the gal at the counter wasn't very excited that I snapped a picture of the menu and only purchased a drink. Like I'm going to send it to the competition! I didn't think she noticed the camera as there was a long line at the register.

Tangle

2008-09-22T22:14:00.031-05:00

On September 3rd, while we were still homeless and staying at the Hampton Inn, I took the girls and our cat, Cricket, to visit the new house for our walkthrough and to let the piano movers in.

I had hoped to let Cricket get some much needed fresh air while the maid cleaned our room, but as soon as we got out of the car, a black kitten was crying in the bushes. He ran out to greet us, and was rubbing our legs, just begging for love. He had flea bites all over his ears and looked very hungry.

Fred said, "I see you've met Dammit. I saw him just after the workers stepped through the attic floor and fell through the garage ceiling (He'd already fixed the ceiling, but we need to paint it.), so the name seemed appropriate." Fred thought someone had dumped the cat here, and as much as he didn't want a pet, he felt sorry for it and fed it. Once you feed a cat, well, it's not going to leave.

We moved in and the kitten stuck around. After a flea/tick treatment, I let the girls play with him. We named him Tangle, after the way he always manages to get underfoot (with my cast, it was nearly impossible to walk without kicking him). He's a sweet cat--unfortunately Cricket still hates him. She's become an inside cat; she pretty much refuses to go outside with him around, and hisses whenever she sees him.

Our girls absolutely love Tangle. He's the most tolerant cat I've ever seen. He lets them maul him and haul him around, and he always comes back for more. He even walks with them to the bus stop.

James isn't keen on our new pet (neither is Cricket--first time those two have agreed on anything), but like it or not, we have a new family member!

Pictures: 1- First day of school, when Tangle was still "that stray kitten." 2- Ready for a bike ride. 3- On the back deck.

Back to Blogging

2008-09-21T17:31:00.000-05:00

After a month away from my blog, I suppose I should get back to blogging, or I'll get so far behind I'll never catch up.

This move was more difficult than I expected it to be. Note to self--next time we are hiring movers! After 8 years in our old house, I just didn't realize how much STUFF we (more realistically, I) had accumulated. We rented a 24-foot truck (the largest truck available) and it didn't begin to hold everything. Most frustrating--we loaded it and misjudged the amount of room needed for our mattress. It had to stay in our neighbor's garage for two weeks until James rented another truck to retrieve the rest of our stuff from storage. We slept on an airmattress during that time.

For the most part, we're no longer living out of boxes, but there are still plenty of boxes of things I need to find homes for. Our living room furniture so far consists of our piano, coffee table, and rug. We've ordered a sofa and loveseat, which will hopefully arrive in a month or so.

The girls are all in school and having a great time. The best part of this is that it gives me a few hours of alone time to work on projects. Now I just need to carve out time to blog as well.

Last Day of Work...

2008-08-22T18:00:00.004-05:00

I've worked at the same IT company for 12+ years! I never thought I would stay anywhere for so long. I still remember when I went to Cambridge for my interview--they asked me what I saw myself doing 10 years from then, and what my goals where. I replied, "I don't know. I always just worked somewhere as long as I like it, then when I don't like it anymore, I find something else." Since James was going to grad school, I told them I expected to work there four years.

I did stay there four years, but when it came time to move, I didn't end up leaving the company. My hiring manager, Peter, had a fit when he found out I was planning to accept a job at MasterCard and he found me an internal job in St Louis. I remember having a phone interview, but I also remember the manager, Jacques, telling me he was going to hire me (during the interview!), so it was really a formality. I also remember Jacques asking would I working from home, as St Louis only had a mobility center?

For the past 8 years, I've been a mobile employee--the greatest blessing for a working mom, but a curse of its own making. I could fold laundry during team meetings and load the dishwasher while talking with a coworker. I could change a diaper between instant message chats. I could cook dinner and not sign off while I waited for someone in Asia to start their day and get updates from them. The flexibility to work at all hours sometimes meant I was finishing up work at 2 am. Our house is so small that the living room sofa has been my office, which meant that my Thinkpad would beckon me to log on and check email when I came home from the movies, or just before going to bed, which would crept into an extra hour or two online. My work-life balance was out of whack, and I was largely to blame. I would lie awake at night, unable to shut off work. I drew a line with the Blackberry; I couldn't avoid my cell phone and laptop so I knew with the Blackberry things would only be worse.

As my girls got older, they started to resent my job, particularly business trips. They learned about my telephone and headset and that it was useless to try and talk to me if I was typing or on the phone. They asked why other mommies watched their children at gymnastics and ballet lessons while they had a nanny and later attended full-day preschool, and I didn't have a good answer for them. I tried to explain how some other mommies have to work in an office all day, and they are lucky to have a mom that gets to be home with them (when she isn't leaving on an airplane to go on business trips). I don't think they felt very lucky.

When we learned that James was hired at SIUC last April, I knew this move and the resulting changes in our lifestyle over the next year would be too much for me to juggle with the load I already carry. The thought of leaving my 12 years of seniority (and the 5 weeks off each year) was daunting. I realistically need only 1 or 2 years off, and I don't want to start over here, or anywhere, but I thought I'd have to quit anyway. I was wrong.

I learned that my company has a personal leave of absence option. Several of my friends explained the process to me, and encouraged me to take this option. Basically, I take a period of unpaid time off from work, then when it's time to come back, I look for a new job inside the company and continue where I left off. I get to keep my email address and my intranet access, so I don't have to be completely out of the industry and anyone hiring me gets the benefits of an internal hire, rather than having to get approval to hire outside the company. I even get my health benefits while I'm out.

I explained to my kids about my not working after we move, and Doodle's response was "Then why are we going to kindergarten? We can just stay home with you!"

Fast forward to the title of this post. This was the big, last day before I take a week of vacation (yeah right--packing to move is NOT vacation), and slip off into the sunset. I thought about just going on leave without any announcement--so much easier than explaining why I'm leaving. I put a little post on our internal team blog, and then decided I should at least write a semi-personal "so long", just to my closer work friends so they don't wonder what's up when they get an out-of-office response to their emails. I started thinking of who needs a notice, and 63 names later, sent out the post. I'm sure I managed to forget someone.

Today has been a very emotional day--so many positive wishes from friends and coworkers. I even cried a little. This is a big, scary step for me, but I know it's the right decision, and I'm so grateful to have this option. I can take a year to be a good mom/wife and get my family in a good place. Plus, I'll have the luxury of taking the time to figure out what I really want to be when I "grow up", rather than just taking the next open position or flitting to the next project because I can do it. Then I'll come back a much happier, and productive employee.

Things are better...

2008-08-22T16:40:00.004-05:00

Fred read our ultimatum about the septic tank, and decided that if we give him the storage shed in the yard, he would pay the balance of the cost to replace the system.

Dee found out that James was living in a campground and kindly offered him a free place to stay in a rental house she's rehabbing (just in time as it's rained the past 3 days).

Things are moving along. We won't be homeless except for the one night I booked at the Hampton Inn.

I'm feeling much better now.

Our Septic System, a.k.a. The Pit of Disrepair

2008-08-19T18:51:00.002-05:00

I keep reminding myself; I'm excited for our upcoming move. Really. Just 15 days to go. Unfortunately, the stresses of work, broken foot, single parenthood (James has started working; he's living in a tent at a campground outside Carbondale and comes home on weekends), selling this home, packing, getting the kids ready for school in Carbondale, moving, and buying the new home are starting to wear on me. Amazingly, today was the first time I've been truly angry (okay, the second if you count PAH), and so far I've managed to not lose my temper.

Our realtor, Dee, has been great. This is our first full-blown homebuying/selling at the same time experience. (We rented our current home before we bought it from the landlord--so easy!) She was very reserved while we were shopping, but once we made an offer on this house, she has driven the whole process and we just couldn't have made it this far without her.

One new aspect of our impending rural life is having a septic tank, since we won't be living in an incorporated town, with a sewer system. No big deal, I thought. I was wrong.

We paid $175 for the Jackson County Health Department to do a septic inspection. Unfortunately, the system flunked completely. The septic system is 30 years old; not only did it fail the inspection, but we learned that this system was sized for a 4 bedroom house. It was even repaired to make it smaller than the standard 4 bedroom system. The home we offered money on was listed as a 6 bedroom house. The seller, Fred, had to have been stunned, as he built this house himself, and has kept it in very good condition. He's been living alone in the home, so one guy isn't going to tax the system to the extent that a family of 5 will. (As part of this whole buying/selling game, the owners and sellers don't talk to each other directly--we go through our realtors. It's silly, but I guess it keeps us from calling one another nasty names in person.) Of course, our lender won't let us buy a home where the septic has failed, so this has to be addressed before we can close on the house.

After some thinking and discussion, we realized we want a new system. We don't want to inherit an undersized, 30-year-old system that has been repaired, only to have the headache and expense of replacing it next time it fails.

The next stage of the game was waiting to hear what Fred was going to do about the septic system. Dee spoke to Fred's realtor, Lyn, and we learned that Fred planned to just repair the old system. He had recently spent $500 to fix the septic system, but he used an unlicensed contractor who had done sub-standard work. Dee said that we want a new system to comply with a 5 bedroom house (a compromise on our part, but we felt badly about the septic failing), and she reminded Lyn that this house was listed as a 6 bedroom house. "Well, a 4-6 bedroom house," Lyn replied. "No, a 6 bedroom house. We owe it to these buyers to deliver what was advertised" Dee answered.

In the meantime, we waited for estimates for the repair and replace options. The estimate we received for a 5 bedroom compliant system was $4875. We wrote a letter, rejecting Fred's repair offer, and countered that we want a new septic system that is the correct size. We even offered to pay $2500 of the replacement cost, to try and soften the blow.

Today we received two frustrating pieces of news. First, the estimate was incomplete--it didn't include removing and disposing of the old septic system (like we want to have that sitting around) or filling in the old hole (we don't want a giant hole in our yard--we already have one pond!). Dee asked what the full cost would be, and got another incomplete estimate of $5585; doing the math, we think it's going to be ~$6000. Second, Fred countered that he would only spend up to $2500 towards replacing the septic system.

We have to have this septic disaster fixed within two weeks, and during good weather (of course the forecast is 4 days of rain starting on Thursday), and we're wrangling over dollar amounts for something that is the seller's responsibility to begin with!

James and I wrote our last letter to Fred this afternoon. $2500 is our final offer, to get us a new, 5-bedroom-compliant septic system. In the letter, we asked him to let us know soon if he rejects this, as we will need to go home shopping again. It's scary to think that we may be homeless in two weeks. If we don't close on 9/3, our loan approval is invalid and we'll have to apply again for a loan. It's also sickening to think of the money we will have wasted on a house we didn't buy.

As for Fred, his septic system will still have failed; he'll have to fix it/replace it before he can put it on the market, AND he will have to (if he's ethical) relist the house as a 4 bedroom property, which will significantly lower the market value. His home has been on the market since March 1st, and he's had it off the market for a month while we've tried to buy the place. He has already built himself a new home, so right now he's paying two mortgages. Talk about a lose-lose situation if this septic system breaks our agreement.

The Pyscho Appraiser from Hades

2008-08-13T22:15:00.001-05:00

Ok, the psycho appraiser really lives in Marion, but he acts like he's from Hades...

One of the gazillion things that goes into buying a home is that it needs to be appraised so the lender knows the house is worth the amount they're loaning you (go figure).

We had the new house in Makanda appraised last week, and expect to hear the results today. So we were suprized to get a phone call at 7:20 am yesterday from an appraiser asking us how he could get into the house to appraise it. James told him he needed to call our realtor, (I'll call her Dee)--it's not like we have a key, and we live 2 hours away.

Later, Dee called to tell me we had a problem. It turns out that appraiser was not the one who appraised ths house last week, but a second one. Since each appraisal costs upwards of $300 and we have to pay for this, we certainly don't want to get another bill.

The first thing I did was call my lender, to see if they had ordered this second appraisal. They said no, that the first one was complete and was due tomorrow (now today).

Then, I used caller ID to call the appraiser directly (I'll call him PAH since"Pscyho Appraiser from Hades" and Mephistopheles take too long to type). What a rude shock. I identified myself as the home buyer and asked why he was trying to appraise the house, also telling him that our lender had not ordered a second appraisal. In short, he told me that there was nothing I could do about it, to not "take it personal", but he had an order and was going to appraise it, and I would pay for it regardless. "That's life." he told me.

He shouldn't have told me there was nothing I could do about it.

I called Dee again, and found out this appraiser has a history of causing problems for realtors in the area (in fact, he was the only realtor Dee specifically didn't want to deal with, and we had asked our lender to not use him. Regardless of the agreed on selling price, PAH wants to make a statement, and always assesses the home value as $15K less. This often creates problems in securing a loan on the house. He has a personal quest to lower the "inflated" property values in Carbondale.

I wasted a good portion of the day, hearing from Dee that PAH was repeatedly calling her and the seller's agent to get into the house. The seller's agent actually went to the house and removed the lock box so he couldn't get into the house, and all of Dee's agency were under strict orders to not give him a key to the place. PAH even phoned later that afternoon and pretended to be a buyer who wanted to tour the house (he fessed up when Dee told him it was under contract and not open for showings) while I tried to reach my lender to find out exactly what was going on, and to make sure I wasn't going to pay for a second appraisal.

Finally, the lender called me back. It turns out PAH had originally won the bid to assess our house, but when our loan agent found out about his history, she canceled his order and gave it to a different assesssor (this was back on 8/4). Why he had waited this long after the canceled order to try and assess the house is a mystery. I told the loan agent about his attitude with me, and how he was trying to trick my agent into letting him in, she said she was going to make sure he would never get any business from their company again. She wrote an email and told me that he had been contacted and told to stop.

I guess there was something I could do after all.

Relearning How to Walk

2008-08-12T10:48:00.012-05:00

Yesterday, I visited the doctor to have the purple cast removed. Unfortunately, the broken bone STILL hasn't healed, so I have ANOTHER six weeks in a walking boot.

This time, the nurse who removed my cast, actually managed to cut my skin! I told her it felt like the cutter was cutting me, and she stopped, but told me the cutter couldn't cut skin and not to worry. When she pried the cast apart, we discovered an inch-long razor-thin line on my calf. It stings about like a paper cut. She felt so bad, but I think more than anything, she was afraid that Bones would notice it. (I think he intimidates her too.) She said he'd give her a lot of grief if he found out. I told her he wasn't even going to be looking at my calf. I was right--he never noticed, and the nurse was so grateful that I didn't tell him.

I'll spare you the icky photo I took of my two feet together, but let me say that I simply don't recognize my broken foot anymore. I can't believe that it's possible for a foot to be both shrunken and swollen at the same time, but that's what has happened.

Now that I have the walking boot or Aircast, (here it is, looking like an off-color Stormtrooper boot) I'm supposed to begin walking. Problem is, after six weeks of not walking, I can't manage to let myself put any weight on the broken foot. I get all strapped up, and I can trust myself to stand on both feet, but as soon as I go to take a real step and put significant weight on the broken foot, I freeze up. My mind just won't let me walk and I end up doing a modified step-hop. As a compromise, I'm still using the crutches to hold half of my weight and "walking" while I crutch around. Eventually I'll get over this aversion, but especially knowing the bone is still fractured, I just can't bear it yet.

Another problem I have is the height of the walking boot sole. At the doctor's office, Bones said that ordinary sneakers would be fine, but that it's important for the heels to be the same height to avoid messing up my walking gait. Unfortunately, going through my closet, I've discovered that nothing is the right height. I have 3 pairs of sneakers--all are too low. I'm not about to try and wear heels, and my flip-flops won't work either. My sister, Karen, had a walking cast last winter, and she recommends Dansko clogs. (Clumsiness runs in my family--we have a total of 8 broken bones among us, although I have the others beat as this is my 3rd fracture.) Guess I get to go shoe shopping, but it's a bummer that it will have to be for "sensible" shoes.

First in Google

2008-08-08T15:04:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited--I just learned that Googling myself (it sounds obscene doesn't it?), finally lists this blog first!

It used to be that searching for my name gave a bunch of boring technical papers and presentations I gave for work. More recently, my Facebook profile came first.

Seeing this new change, I feel like my blog has finally "arrived". I heart Google. I don't understand the algorithms it uses, but it sure is smart.

Elec-Trak and the Mystery of the Missing Mail Box

2008-08-05T20:36:00.003-05:00

We're getting very excited about our upcoming move (just 28 more days), making all kinds of crazy plans for our new digs. My tree-hugging husband bought a non-working, 30 year old electric tractor off ebay (he's really sad that our current rechargeable electric mower can't handle 2 acres, and can't bear to go back to a gas-guzzling mover), so I guess I know what he'll be doing all winter--hanging out in the barn, pretending to fix his toy, and shopping online for the add-ons that go with it..

Here it is on the left. I can't wait til it runs, and I hope it doesn't give anyone tetanus in the meantime.

During our visits to the new place, I haven't found a mailbox--anywhere. No house numbers either. Perhaps the current owner has always used a PO box, but I needed to know if I could actually forward mail to the new address and put up a mailbox, or if not, I need to rent a PO Box so I can start the process of forwarding, etc.

I called the Makanda Post Office this morning, and explained that I'm moving to Makanda, to a house that doesn't currently have a mailbox. The woman on the other end of the phone asked "Where are you moving?" I gave her the address and she said, "Oh, Fred's house. I think he does have a mailbox, you probably just couldn't find it."

I thought, how could I have missed the mailbox--was it hiding in the grass, or in the trees somewhere? In the meantime, she was talking with someone at the post office, and she said, "Here, let me give you to the mail carrier for that route; he can explain." Wow. I call a phone number for a government building, immediately get a live person on the other end (no automated menu), who knows not only where I'm talking about, but the person who lives there, AND I get to talk to the mail carrier directly?

Then the mail carrier explained that the mailbox for our house is around the corner and down the street. "It's the one on the furthest left," he said. "If you go there, you'll be able to find it; it's labeled. If you want to move your mailbox to the street in front of your house, you can do that, but then you'll have to call the Carbondale post office and tell them to start delivering your mail, as your side of the street is a Carbondale rural route."

This is so strange--apparently we get to choose which town and which ZIP code to deliver our mail. The spot the mailman described is only about 50 feet from our driveway, so I think we'll survive the walk. Still, I'm entertained that we're moving to an area where everyone knows one another.

If you want something done right, ask a nurse

2008-08-04T16:10:00.007-05:00

A week ago, I told you the saga of my STD. First, here's the way NOT to get things fixed.

I called Bones's office and asked for him to call me back. 3 hours later he did and his answer was "I filled out the report according to my assessment of your injuries; it's not my problem if your employer decided you have to take disability."

When I talked with my manager, Pablo, he obviously didn't like this answer. He reminded me that going on disability means that the work I've done for the past month won't be able to officially count, meaning I will not get any quarterly bonus. He said I need to have Bones revise the report, and he acted skeptical that a doctor wouldn't want to fill out more paperwork. I really wanted to invite him to talk to Bones himself, but decided against it.

After that, I called the Employee Services Center nurse (the one who wrote me the letter about my STD :-) ), who assured me that this kind of mess happens all the time. If it happens all the time, that doesn't reassure me; it tells me there is a problem with the process. She advised me to go back and this time, talk to Bones's nurse--she could write up a note detailing that I'm okay to do basic office work, just no business-related travel. Then all Bones has to do is sign it.

Feeling very sneaky, I called the office back, and this time I asked to talk to the nurse. I explained the predicament to her, and feeling much less intimidated, asked if she could write up the letter, have Bones sign it and then fax it to corporate. She kindly agreed.

I haven't heard back from corporate, but it looks like my "recovery" is well underway.

UPDATE ON 8/5: I just got another note from corporate--apparently the note did NOT work. Now I have the worst of both scenarios--I am on STD until today, meaning my work for the past month didn't count AND I'm expected to be working from here on out. Of course both the doctor's office and the Employee Services Center are closed, so this will AGAIN have to wait until tomorrow.

UPDATE ON 8/6: I wrote a note to the corporate nurse, saying I have been working for the past month, so obviously I never took the STD that this letter indicates. The new end date seems completely arbitrary, since I still have a cast on my foot. Surely there's some way we can fix this on our end, rather than depend on a doctor who is uncooperative and doesn't know what to write to satisfy the small modification I need for work.

This morning I logged in to find a reply: "I have made a notation in your file indicating you have been working at home w/approval from management. Your case is closed."

Finally!

My MTR gave me a STD, and my ADD

2008-07-28T21:06:00.011-05:00

Exactly one month ago, I broke my foot (curse you, cute sandals!!!). The following workday, I send an email to my manager (I'll call him Pablo--the poor guy is on vacation), telling him of the broken foot and that I'd be OOO (out of the office) that day to see the orthopedic surgeon (I'll call him Bones). He calls me (from vacation--yes, he's a crackberry addict) with the appropriate shock and sympathy, but terrible timing; I am searching for a parking spot outside Bones's office. I promise to call him back after the appointment, when I have more news.

I come out of the Bones's office with a cast and a handicap parking permit (I have my priorities straight--you bet I'm milking this), and phone Pablo with the update--6 weeks in a hard cast followed by 4 weeks in a walking boot. After giving me the appropriate amount of sympathy, he asks what limitations this will have on my work. The obvious limitation is that I won't be going on business trips, but other than that, I really don't know. At this point, I'm still a new cripple. I say that I expect to be more tired than usual, and will likely be a little slower getting things done as I adjust. Pablo replies that I need to have my doctor fill out an MTR, "just to CYA, if a vice president starts wondering about your workload."

Most of my friends haven't discovered what many of my coworkers have long known; I suffer from ADD. Not the ADD you generally think of (though I'm probably guilty of that as well); in this case the diagnosis is Acronym Deficiency Disorder. And because I work for the largest computer company in the world (its common name is even an acronym), those acronyms fly fast and furiously around the workplace. We talk about TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) and FLAs (Four Letter Acronyms) and sadly, even our acronyms may have more than one meaning. I generally compensate for this by using a Sametime bot called "What is" that automatically lists all the possibilities for a given acronym (CYA spelled out = Cover Your Backside while "cya" in texting means goodbye; I won't tell you what I thought the first time someone ended a chat with BFN :-) ) Unfortunately, I am not a Blackberry user (despite many coworkers' and managers' attempts to assimilate me), and don't have a laptop available, so I just write down the acronym on my xray envelope so I can follow up later.

Back in my "office" (okay, it's really my livingroom sofa), I look up the MTR (Medical Treatment Report) I have to ask Bones to fill out. Unfortunately, it's not a well-written form. It's vague, and has large blank spaces where the Bones is supposed to describe my medical situation and work limitations. Bones's office is 40 minutes away with traffic (thanks to MoDot for closing the main freeway through town), and I don't feel very ambulatory, so I decide this can wait until my followup visit. Three weeks pass, I see the Bones for a new cast and give him the MTR to fill out and fax to corporate. Task complete.

Today, I get an email with my name, serial number and STD in the subject line. I don't THINK I have an STD. I open it to see that it's a CF (Certified Form) from from GWBS (Global Well Being Services) with notice that I have been approved for STD from 6/28/08 through 8/14/08. Trouble is, I don't WANT approval for an STD. Reading further, I see that STD means Short Term Disability. If I read this right, I haven't worked for the past month, and won't be returning to work for at least two weeks. Everyone knows that a broken leg wouldn't prevent me from stretching out on my sofa to type on my laptop and talk on the phone. I'm a mobile employee and work from home; it's just that I'm not very mobile right now. While I'm reading this and before I can process what it means, I get a ping from Pablo, "Can you talk?"

On the phone, I learn that this STD means I'm not only allowed to take time off, but not allowed to work until August 14th. Bones's recommendations are private (I'm not allowed to see what he wrote, and Pablo can't either). This can't be right. Can't I just say I'm happy to work even though Bones wrote otherwise? Aparently not. Pablo says that unless I have Bones revise the MTR, I'm on STD, and he will have to find someone to handle my work. He can't ask me to change that, but he knows this is ridiculous to think that I can't work.

But the problem is, well, Bones is ITSTL (Intimidating, To Say The Least). His examination rooms are full of degrees, certificates, and pictures of him operating on solders in Iraq. He has a handshake that can break your hand (and then he could set and cast that broken hand, if need be). Visits to Bones's office (I won't shorten that to BO, promise) consist of a friendly 15 minutes with a nurse, followed by 5 very efficient minutes with Bones. He can cast my whole foot and lower leg in less than 2 minutes! I come prepared with questions that seem important at the time I think of them, but in Bones's presence seem downright silly, and end up not getting asked. Shortly after getting my cast, I had an attack of CC (Cast Claustrophobia)--the cast was closing in on the foot, and I was feeling genuine panic; the toes were purple and cold and numb and I couldn't wiggle my foot into a comfortable position, and the itch was unbearable. After Googling my symptoms I worried that maybe I needed the cast refitted so I called the office. Bones response (with a large sigh): "You have a broken foot--what did you expect? If you have a problem with the cast, make an appointment and I'll cut you out and refit it." I haven't called back since. When I gave Bones the MTR, I nervously said that even though I know I can work, I need this to verify that I have a broken leg and can't go on business trips. It was sooo hard to get the guts together to ask him to fill out the MTR the first time, I just can't bear to ask him to revise it. I imagine him asking me what was wrong with it--since I didn't see it, I don't even know what was wrong with the report. I just know that I don't need an STD. What if Bones decides to revise the MTR to say that I made up the whole broken foot thing, or to say that I've become an excellent one-footed hopper (would that be an OFH?) and could fly to customer meetings on demand?

I ping my BFF coworker and tell her about my problem. She says I should suddenly decide I don't feel well, and that it has been a terrible struggle to try to work this past month. She does have a point--normally, I would love to have any extra time off. It's just the illegitimate time off thing that bugs me. I try calling the ESC (Employee Services Center--sadly, I'm not making these acronyms up, well, except for the ITSTL one). It's after hours and I'm stuck in a loop of recordings and menus. Like most things involving corporate, this isn't going to be resolved today.

PS: one fun thing about tagging this post is that anyone who Googles STD just might stumble across my blog :-)

New House

2008-07-27T17:34:00.010-05:00

Now that we have a signed offer on our house in St Louis, James and I finally feel ready to buy a house. On Friday, we made an offer on a house in Makanda, just about 5 miles south of the SIUC campus.

Here are some realtor images of the place:

Front of the house

Back Yard

Kitchen

Great Room

Basement family room.

If all goes according to plan, we'll close on this house on September 3rd (the twins' birthday). There are a bunch of things we'll need/want to fix in the house, but we're excited to have found a good house and to get started on our next adventure.

Caprice and Darcy have already started asking about their birthday; we told them they get new bedrooms and personal toilets for their presents this year (this house has 3 1/2 baths where our current home has just 1 tiny one).

Under Contract

2008-07-24T10:24:00.003-05:00

We have an offer on our house! The guy who originally low-balled us, came back with a full price offer, minus a 4% concession. We countered by upping the price of the house by $3k, giving him the concession and covering half of that cost in the higher price. If all goes well, we'll close on September 2nd.

The downside of this is that classes in Carbondale start August 19th. My twins will miss their first two weeks of school.

At least the waiting game is almost over.

"But Dad Said We Could"

2008-07-23T09:15:00.008-05:00

When I pick up the girls from preschool yesterday, I see that Louie has drawn all over her legs in marker, from the kneecaps down to her toes. I look closer and see that Doodle and CeCee have also drawn all over their legs in marker. After telling them we'll have to scrub well at bath time that night, I say to Doodle, "You know better than to draw on yourself."

She counters, "It was an accident."

"You're telling me that the flowers and butterflies on your shins and feet are an accident?"

I have a trio of technicolor children, looking down at their artwork. At first they look repentant, then they start laughing.

Doodle adds, "But Dad said we could!"

"Really?"

"Yes!" Louie and CeCee agree. Three heads bob in unison.

I don't know what to say to that. It seems wrong, but they aren't very good at lying yet, and they are sticking to their story.

"How long have you had marker on your legs?"

"Only two days at school." This means they did this on Sunday, while I was in Idaho. I didn't notice when they picked me up Monday night because they were already wearing nightgowns. Suddenly, I'm a little suspicious of James getting them ready for school by himself on Tuesday morning to let me sleep in.

After dinner, I tell James, "The girls tell me you said they could draw on their legs."

Long pause. Funny face while James decides how to answer.

"I didn't say they could draw on themselves. I found them already drawing on themselves. They wouldn't stop, so I said, 'Fine, draw on yourselves.' "

And then he let them go to school tattooed with their marker artwork for two days.

My Grafitti Artists, scrubbed up

'88 was Great

2008-07-22T13:31:00.010-05:00

I just returned from my 20-year high school reunion, in Kuna Idaho. My wonderful husband thought nothing of sending me off and taking care of the family while I went and played with my old friends. But, there was no way I would have been able to handle flying with the kids and with my cast. The trips there and back were both exhausting.

We had an adults-only evening on Saturday and a families picnic on Sunday. This picture was taken on Saturday, so some of those who attended on Sunday are missing. In total, I think we had a little over a third of our 140 alumni there. I was a little nervous about going--first, embarrassed about the whole broken foot issue and having to repeatedly answer questions about it and hobble about, but also just worried about how our old high-school personalities would interact after 20 years. I'm glad I went. It was great to catch up with people and to see how nice everyone turned out to be. I wouldn't want to do high school over again, but I do wish I had relaxed more, worried less about what people might think of me, and reached out to make more friends outside my immediate circle. (Probably a lesson for me about my life in general!) The cliques that were so strong have largely faded, and it was fun to see how some had hung onto their friendships over the years.

Two Tamaras (Tammy and Tami)

With Tracy and Julie, two best friends that I have managed to hold onto after high school. (My eyes were all watery, and I could barely keep them open)

St. Joe and the Low Ball Offer

2008-07-16T13:56:00.008-05:00

As most of you already know, we put our house on the market last month. It's such an adorable little cottage--looking at it right here, don't you think you'd just love to make an offer on it right now?

Unfortunately, this is a terrible time to be selling a house (luckily, it will be a great time for us to buy a house after we close on this one). Despite being the "best bargain in Ladue School District," we had very little traffic until last week.

Now here's where I have to confess that I got desperate. St Louis has a tradition of using St Joseph to help sell your home. The idea is that you bury a St Joseph statue in your front yard, upside down facing the realtor sign, and "he" helps your house sell quickly, in exchange for getting a place of honor in your new home. So I moseyed over to Catholic Supply (conveniently located across the street from Ted Drewes ) and bought my own little statue for $1.25. It had been sitting on a shelf waiting for some action (Caprice insisted it was lost from the "baby Jesus set" and needed to be put away) until last week when I finally asked James bury it. Before we buried the statue last Friday, we had 3 showings. Since then, we've had 4 showings, and a very well attended open house.

And yesterday, we got our first offer on the place. Unfortunately, it was a low-ball offer. The guy wanted us to pay him a 4% concession to cover his closing costs, and he wanted too large of a price cut as well. The more we read his offer, the more we realized we didn't even want to counter it. We refused his offer and hope he's serious enough about buying to muster up something better.

Today, we had another showing scheduled for 9:30-10:30. I arrived home at 10:30 and wondered if anyone had even been here, because no one had signed the guest list, and nothing had been moved at all. No sooner did I sit down and start working than the realtor and buyer showed up! They were running late from another house, but saw my cast and told me to stay. The best part is that this was a second showing from Friday--a single woman who had been browsing our neighborhood when James invited her in for a look around. This time she came back with her realtor. I hope this means she's seriously interested. If so, we may have another, more promising offer to look at soon.

I hope St Joe is doing whatever magic he does--he's going to have to work hard to earn that most honored spot in the toybox of our next home.

Walk like a Flamingo

2008-07-15T10:43:00.003-05:00

Of all the dumb luck, I managed to break my foot a couple of weeks ago. (Oh, the evils of cute shoes--I twisted my left foot and sustained a Jones fracture.) Here's the xray image taken on June 27--It's such a tiny little line, you can barely see it (you may have to click on the image to enlarge it). It's hard to imagine this tiny crack could cause so much trouble.

For 6 weeks (hopefully not more), I get to experience life on crutches. I have new respect for Didi, the one-legged girl on My Name is Earl, as I try to hop around the house. Actually, I tend to wheel around more than hop--inside the house, I've found that wheeling around on a desk chair is so much easier than maneuvering with crutches.

On the plus side, I have an easy time picking myself out in the drawings my girls make of our family. Usually their drawings are a group of people in crowns--4 wearing dresses (us) and one in pants with glasses (James). Now one of the princess crown people wearing dresses has ski poles and a leg sticking out sideways.

The other day, my daughters all agreed that I "walk like a flamingo", and they demonstrated by standing on one leg and hopping about. They have customized my pink cast with their artwork, and love demonstrating how hard it is to their friends by thumping on it. We get out ace bandages and wrap them up, so they can practice having a broken limb and use my crutches to thump around the house.

The biggest downside to this broken foot is that we're selling our house, so we can move to Carbondale, IL where James starts his new job at SIUC in just 4 weeks. I get phone calls with as little as thirty minutes' notice that someone is coming by to show our house to a potential buyer. Tasks like vacuuming, sweeping, and mopping are pretty near impossible on crutches and very slow on a wheeled chair.