Monday, September 30, 2013

Happy Government Shut Down, little dude!

I should have named Robin "Cliff" in honor of his birthday that falls on October 1st.

A little bureaucratic humor.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Where Did the Baby Go?


I've been tagging items for an upcoming consignment sale which is not an easy thing to do if one is a sentimental pack rat, such as myself.  I've forced myself to be unemotional and unsparing in my tagging, to get these boxes of stuff out of my basement and into the basement of someone else.  (That doesn't mean I don't have a box or two of things set aside.)  My weakness is footy pajamas.  As I put them on hangers and attach the tags (Priced to sell!), I have flashes of this kid or that in them.

How can I sell the footy pajamas that my babies wore after their baths - when they were sweet smelling, clean, soft, drowsy?  How can The Spouse expect me to say goodbye to those worn, nubby, stained, long outgrown pajamas?  Doesn't he remember me nursing those babies?  Reading them stories? Putting them in their cribs or Big Boy Beds? I see babies with gummy smiles kicking in delight when I find them in their cribs in the morning. I can still see those drunken sailors with potbellies staggering around the living room.

 I hug the pjs close to me, and my arms ache to feel those sturdy chubby babies again or to smell the tops of their sweet baby heads.

When I was a child, I had a Little Golden book entitled, Where Did the Baby GoThe little girls searches her house for the baby in the picture until she finally figures out the answer (spoiler alert: she's the baby, grown up.)

Where did the baby go?


Where did the other one go?



I'm glad they are growing and healthy, and I look forward to watching them grow, but I miss my babies, and I know I will miss my little boys when they are gone.  Why did my childhood last years (especially in junior high pre-algebra class) but their childhoods are going by in the blink of an eye?

Friday, September 20, 2013

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack

This week has been physically and emotionally exhausting - but hey, the weather has been great!

Monday started with the shooting at the Navy Yard.  After work, I went directly to baseball practice and hugged the snot out of The Spouse.  Then battled Batman to do his homework and eat his dinner.

Tuesday I had a not fun call with the bank, informing me that the loan needed to finance my takeover of Wayne Enterprises was unlikely to be approved.  Great, dreams dashed.  The Money Pit does not have enough equity in it to serve as collateral for the loan.

Wednesday was a pretty amazing day, but still exhausting.  A friend gave us her mother's tickets to see the Washington Nationals play the Atlanta Braves - and included a parking pass.  I met the rest of the family at the stadium where the Dynamic Duo was hard at play on in the play area.  The Spouse and I were so excited that is was $5 beer night.  We considered getting two each! We didn't commit to food - though the kids were begging - until we found our seats and got settled.  We wandered around and finally asked the bouncer at the doors of the super fancy club because we were lost.  Except we weren't, we were in the right place.   The seats were behind home plate and included access to the super fancy club where EVERYTHING WAS FREE!!!  It was Robin's first ever MLB game, and Batman told him over and over again that he would never have seats like this, or waitress service, or free all-you-can-eat food.  Wow.  And the club had private restrooms that never had a line.  Y'all, it was as if I were in Baseball Heaven.  Despite the Nats 2-5 loss, it was the best game I had ever been to.  Ever.  (I wondered if it was worth it to buy fancy tickets, if we would save money on food/drinks/etc.  No, no it wasn't.  We will never have seats like this again.  It was a once in a lifetime experience, but a wonderful family memory.)




After not getting home until 11pm on Wednesday (yes, we are crap parents.  What?  They were GREAT seats!) I had to be at work early on Thursday.  Groan.  But I rallied and made it.  That evening brought about more baseball (Little League this time, Batman's team lost and Robin broke my PNS camera) and another homework battle.  I'm so tired of homework and it's only the third week of school.  


Monday, September 16, 2013

Another day in DC, another shooting.

I'll be the first to admit that today's event is different from an ordinary shooting.  However, when I heard there was a shooting in DC near the Navy Yard, my first thought was that it must be drug related.  The Spouse worked at the Navy Yard a decade ago.  I would take metro there to meet him after work and was afraid.  There used to be a liquor store across the street from his building where drug dealers and hookers would peddle their wares.  Marines with large guns guarded The Spouse's building and would tell me to cross the street.  I would say that I needed to stayrightherepleasedon'tshootbutI'mnotgoingoverthere.  The neighborhood has gentrified by leaps and bounds since that time, with the Nats stadium, Department of Transportation hub, and many new upscale condominiums.  But, still, there are elements of drug trade around there.

When I heard the shooter was inside a Navy building, I decided it must be a disgruntled employee.  Sucks, but it's a reasonable assumption.

Now, with 12 dead and a potential shooter on the loose (? - we honestly don't know) I have no idea what to think, except that life is too short to live without cards* and I could really use a cupcake but I don't want to go get one because a potential shooter is on the loose.

Ah, DC, way to keep it interesting.

*Four days later - I'm re-reading this post and I have absolutely no idea what point I was trying to make here.  

Yes, please

I am obsessed with this ad right now.  I'm not a huge Michelle Williams fan, but the ad pops.



I'd also like to have the bag, but that's not going to happen.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Thank you Lord for thinking about me, I'm alive and doing fine.

I have come to the conclusion that 9/11 is a different experience for those who were in DC than for those in NYC - and a VERY different experience from those in the rest of the country.

While my Facebook feed is filled with photos of candles that have a message like "We will never forget" in a fancy scrolling script, I would love to forget.  Please, please, let the images get out of my brain.  Let us not talk about where we were, how close we were, what we saw.  Can't we just let it go?  Obviously, the answer is no, lest we be accused of siding with the terrorists who started this thing in the first place.

So, today, I am celebrating my own personal Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful for the squirmy wiggly boy who woke me up this morning by cuddling up to me and rubbing my belly (oh, and no, no baby in there, just something Robin likes to do.)  I'm grateful for his older brother, who came along when we were convinced we would never have our own child.  I'm thankful for the amazing man in my life who continues to go to work everyday, pick up the kids after school, and who is probably often tempted to "go out for milk and bread" but stays anyway.  I'm thankful for Sally, she of the chronic kidney failure and expensive dental visits, who keeps my floors spotless - except for the giant gobs of hair she leaves all over.  I'm thankful for Leo, who turns 9 today, who has the best temperament of any dog I've ever owned despite his terrible allergies.

Thank you Lord for thinking about me, I'm alive and doing fine.

It's like this and like that and like this and uh

I know that you all miss me when I'm away, but absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Our first day of school was delayed when Batman awoke with a rash, the school nurse wouldn't let him start school on time, and I had to run around town dropping off Robin at his first day, visiting Urgent Care, filling prescriptions, running back across town, then finally in to work.  It was exhausting.  When The Spouse told me that he was exhausted that evening, I gave him my best cutting glare and put an end to that conversation.

I've been painting furniture and trying to reclaim my garage.  It would be better if I would stop buying stuff, but I just purchased 28' of wrought iron fence ($100) that needs to be cleaned and painted before put to (temporary) use keeping the dogs from the pool. We can't put up the permanent kid-proof fence until we rebuild the retaining walls and deck stairs, and we can't do that until our ship comes in/we win the Powerball/the money tree finally grows in the backyard.  We will need to hire a welder to cut and fit it into the space, but it will still be a substantial savings over a new fence.  Now, I need to find wrought iron gates...

Wrought iron gates

I also bought a suit of armor that I'm hoping will be a great Halloween decoration ($20).

suit of armor


The hostile takeover of Wayne Enterprises has reached critical mass.  We are hoping to close next month.  It takes considerable energy and attention to detail - neither of which I possess in excess.  Considering that Birthdaypalooza starts at the end of this month, I have no idea how I am going to buy/operate a business in the middle of it, but I'll manage.  I hope.