Monthly Archives: February 2010

02.19.10
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Well Below Average

Several times this past week, my husband had to attend rehearsal for his change of command ceremony. Day One, he told me how he forgot his “snivel gear.” Snivel gear is that which you wear to keep from sniveling at the weather: long underwear, ear muffs, rabbit-fur lined hats, battery-heated socks. Day Two, he told me how the snivel gear he wore was insufficient and he needed to wear more (ear muffs are not Army-approved, just so you know).

This information churned in my head for several hours before something finally occurred to me:

“Hey, are you saying that the change of command is outside?”

Apparently, changes of command are almost always outside. My husband sometimes forgets that I’m not in the Army, too.

Yesterday, I dug out gloves and hats for all the kids (OK, honestly, I had Fritz do this while I patiently and calmly removed tangles from my daughters’ hair…OK, honestly, I had Fritz do this while I not so patiently and calmly removed tangles from my daughters’ hair). I made sure everybody had their winter coats ready. One argumentative child felt that his fleece jacket was sufficient.

“I’ll be fine, Mom,” he said. “It’s nice outside.” And it was nice: nearly 50 degrees and sunny.

“Yes, it’s nice for running around and playing. It’s not so nice for sitting still on metal bleachers for an hour. Wear your coat, ditch the ball cap, and bring your gloves and knit hat.”

He argued; I insisted. He argued, and I said he wasn’t coming if he didn’t dress the way I told him to, end of story. I’m all for having children learn life’s lessons naturally, but this was not an occasion to deal with a sniveling child. Snivel gear (anti-snivel gear?) was mandatory. I even brought a blanket for Mary.

I left early to make sure we were early, and I had enough time to run into the grocery store for a few things. As I dashed in the warm sunshine, I thought surely we were overdressed. It was so pleasant in that parking lot. The sun was bright, and there was no wind. It was a beautiful day.

Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the field for the ceremony. I left my own gloves in the car, because it was so nice. We walked around the covered seating area to find my husband, and then IT hit me: the wind.

I swear there was a special wind making machine facing the bleachers. The windless parking lot of the grocery store felt wonderful. But this place was frigid. I couldn’t believe we were in the same zip code (and we were perhaps 4 blocks away). I immediately sent Fritz back to the car for my gloves (I guess he was glove boy yesterday, poor thing). Oh, and the bleachers were in the shade, too.

And that argumentative son? Right away, he said, “You were right, Mom.” But not totally right. “You should have had me wear BOTH the fleece and the coat.” He was right about that.

Average temperatures for this area in February are in the mid-sixties. So far, we’ve not been anywhere near that. I’m not complaining, really, I’m not. I’m just thankful I don’t have to sit in shady, windy bleachers every day. Keep me on the leeward side of buildings in the sun.

02.18.10
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Learning New Tricks

I’m reading the local, quarterly magazine for this small town in which I live. I think the content is interesting, and I’m happy to see the ads of local businesses because I like to support local businesses. But I’m not impressed with the writing. Every article has exclamation points. Wow! I didn’t know how exciting the material was! I’m so glad they are helping me!

*****

Although I like to shop locally, I’ve made a few trips to the shopping centers that are a half hour or more away. Have you ever been to a World Market? Please don’t tell me that this stuff is made with slave labor.

A few days ago, I combined a trip there to buy a coffee table with a drop off at the Salvation Army. Now, if you were to guess which part of a small city had a Salvation Army, would you think it would be in the ritzy section? Of course not. I found myself locking the doors and being thankful it was a sunny day. The kids kept asking me questions and I kept thinking, “Please stop distracting me. I don’t want to get lost!” (Exclamation point added so you know how urgent my thoughts were.)

Later I told Bill if we had any more drops offs, he could do the errand. But this morning I saw an ad in the poorly written local magazine that a thrift store was coming soon. Thank goodness.

*****

Last weekend, Bill was driving us on one of the long stretches of straight, flat roads with a strictly maintained speed limit. We are so used to areas where the speed limits are considered “guidelines.” Here, though, either the people are very obedient, or the police are very active. Either way, we are driving much slower than normal.

“It’s a good thing we have cruise control,” said my husband.

“My car has cruise control?” I asked. We have owned this van for four years.

“You mean you drove all the way to Georgia without using the cruise control?!” (Exclamation point included so you know how incredulous he was.)

Georgia? GEORGIA? How about: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, KANSAS…

“My car has cruise control, too,” he added.

“Really?” We’ve owned that car since 1997.

So I’ve been learning how to drive, again. It’s fun to learn new stuff! (Really!)

02.16.10
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Urgent Care, here we come, again

Is it possible that the toddler who…

…at 8 PM is begging to have some of her brother’s liquid children’s ibuprofen and liquid antibiotic for an ear infection and who is sucking the last little drops out of the dispensers is the same toddler who…

…at 11 PM is screaming that her ear hurts but is refusing all medicine and who is even gagging and spitting out the little amounts her mother attempts to sneak into her mouth?

I think this week is a good week to sign up for a new pediatrician.

02.15.10
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What do small families do when they entertain?

Bill and I were browsing online different outdoor dining sets. The vast majority seat a maximum of 6 people. The ones that seat 8 are pretty expensive.

“Here’s the cheap solution,” says Bill, pointing to an inexpensive wooden table with two benches meant for two people per bench. “Buy two: 2, 4, 6, 8…then you and I can sit at the ends.”

“OK,” I said. “But we only have 6 kids…”

He keeps telling me that we don’t have to fill completely that 12 passenger van. But vans, dining room sets and houses all seem similar in that you expand to fill the space you have. We like to save room for friends, and families of 8 tend to hang out with families of 6 or 8 or 10…
So, I’m proposing this expanding Amish table. It seats 22. It should accommodate us for a while.
02.14.10
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Valentine’s Day

My sister’s children sent us inexpensive pre-done valentines – the kind you get at any drug store. One of them came with a small tattoo. My girls have placed their tattoos on their ankles.

Oh, how I long for the days of my youth when the only tattoos I knew about were on the biceps of brawny sailors or scary motorcycle men, and my knowledge of them was gained through TV and movies and not real life.

*****

For the first time ever, my husband took the early shift with Mary and let me stay in bed. She was most unhappy. “Daddy, go back to bed,” she ordered. In his defense, he was deployed for 6 months and our last house had a master bedroom right off the living area. Since I’m naturally an early riser, sleeping while people are talking (or babies are screaming) right outside my door is impossible. Last night I made sure my iTouch was charged and in my room. Not only did I get an extra 90 minutes of sleep, I got to check email and headlines without interruption. That’s a lovely Valentine’s Day gift.

*****

Yesterday, my husband anchored our living room bookcases to the wall, and we unpacked the boxes of books and the knick-knacks that were on the bookshelves. When I saw that the packer had wrapped a small porcelain rose in a single piece of paper, I knew things didn’t look good for my larger porcelain rose grouping. Sure enough, a single piece of paper was used to protect this one as well. The small rose survived; the larger grouping was destroyed.

Other victims included my statue of St. Nicholas, now with an amputated arm, and my favorite statue of Mary, armless, handless, and decapitated. I’ve googled and been unable to find statues like these, so if you have any clues, let me know. The bodies are wood, the capes are metal and the arms and head are porcelain. Not only do I want to replace them, I want to claim their cost with the moving company.

While every move incurs some damage, this is over the top. I had more paper around inexpensive drinking glasses than I did around those flowers. It makes me mad. It’s not the attachment to the things as much as it is the complete disregard for my belongings. The flowers are irreplaceable. Bill gave them to me in the early 90’s when we were dating, and they aren’t made any more. I don’t want to replace them anyway. Bill has learned: you don’t give knick-knacks to an Army wife, especially not ones that break. I’ll take the money we get for them and buy a cookbook. Hardback. Useful and sturdy.

*****

Speaking of cookbooks, with Lent approaching, I’m planning a menu and heading to the grocery store today. I like to go meatless for Lent, which doesn’t really fly in this house. I tend to make meals like tacos where everyone can have meat, but I use beans. This year, though, I’m determined to subject them to more meatless meals. I don’t know why, but they don’t like soup. Too bad. I’ll make bread or rolls, so they can fill up on that if they don’t want what I’m serving. For inspiration, I’m digging into two of Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila–Latourrette’s books: From a Monastery Kitchen: The Classic Natural Foods Cookbook and Simplicity from a Monastery Kitchen. I do not own his Twelve Months of Monastery Soups, but maybe I’ll take the St. Nicholas and Blessed Virgin blood money and buy it. Most of the recipes in these books are simple. All are meatless.
02.13.10
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A cold day at the beach…

…is still a fun day at the beach.


Digging.

Building.

Digging.

Building.


Digging.

Building.

Getting covered in sand.

Learning that sand has more friction than pavement.

The kids all wanted to take off their shoes and socks. The air temperature was about 50 degrees; I have no idea what the water was. I warned them that frostbitten toes would require amputation, but they were undeterred. The girls quickly changed their minds about wading in. My boys are not as smart. I let them play ankle deep in the frigid Atlantic for about 10 minutes before ordering them to get out. Later, I took Mary back for a nap, and they returned to their foolishness, this time going even deeper. When Bill finally made them get out to come home, Billy reluctantly complied despite being wet to his waist. Of course, as soon as the cold air hit him, he was moaning. I’d like to think the the half mile walk home cured them all of future polar dips, but I doubt it. Bill called ahead and I had readied a steaming shower for Billy and a hot bath for Jenny who had tripped and fallen in. The fifteen minutes of discomfort were long forgotten by the time lunch was finished.
02.12.10
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Today’s forecast: an afternoon nap

My husband, my hero. I’m using my computer again!

*******

Mary still craves skin-to-skin contact with me, particularly between the hours of 1 and 5 AM. She was unhappy with weaning, especially that early morning session. To compensate, she would try to snuggle on my chest and seemed content with my summer weight pajamas and nightgowns. Once I switched to winter wear, she revolted. She especially despised my fleece bathrobe and would pry apart the front to place her sleepy head on my chest.

Eventually she figured out she could lift my pajama top to access my flabby soft, warm abdomen. She likes to put her feet and hands on my stomach while she falls back asleep in her other bed, which would be my bed. Most of the time, I don’t mind this. She’s getting bigger, and this is temporary. As long as I can get back to sleep and she’s not kicking her dad, it’s fine. And now that she is out of the crib and can get herself over to my bed, I might barely notice her presence.

Then there are mornings, like today, where she was wide awake at 4 AM and wanted a drink. We went downstairs to get a drink, and went back upstairs to return to sleep. But she was wide awake and not settling down. Hands and feet were not enough, and she tried sleeping with her head on my stomach. Round and round she went, like a dog trying to find a comfortable spot on a rug. When she started trying to push my shirt all the way off, I decided it was time to get up.

430 AM and I’m brewing coffee. While I waited, I tried sleeping on the sofa. Leather sofas are very cold in the winter time, but they do warm up after a few minutes. Just don’t change position. Mary snuggled next to me with her sippy cup, and I had a glimmer of hope that perhaps we may get a little more snooze time this morning.

Then she started grinding her teeth.

It’s a good thing I like these early morning hours.

*******

Now that my computer is up and running I have two weeks worth of receipts and bills to enter and pay. The two lampshades are officially lost, and we worry that a box or two of books might be with them. If you could ask St. Anthony to inspire someone to be proactive and attempt to return those boxes to us, I would appreciate it. Our name is on the boxes and they have to be somewhere. Somebody just needs to notice that they have boxes that aren’t theirs and call the trucking company who has to call us and redeliver. I know that’s asking a lot of the common man, but I have hope. Surely there are people who will do the right thing, right?

02.11.10
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Are we done yet?

We made it until February before getting sick this winter, so I can’t complain. Everybody seems to have stuffy noses and scratchy throats today. And we’re cranky. And tired. I lay down with Mary to take a nap and only got up because the older kids were fighting over who got to pick the next video. I’ve been trying hard to get the house in order this week, so we can get back to school next week. Lack of routine generates bickering and complaints of boredom.

We’ve been here less than a week and we’ve already attended baseball tryouts for the boys, Little Flowers for the girls, and hosted friends returning home to Virginia from vacationing in Florida. No, the friends were not too eager to head into the Snow Capital. I think what I miss most about our own vacation is the lack of commitments. But then again, that simple lifestyle might get old after a while, too. We do enjoy doing things.

My hope is that hubby can set up my computer for me soon (today?). It’s unpacked, and I suppose I could hook it up myself. But I enjoy letting him spoil me. Besides, I have a garage to sort and two missing lampshades to locate. And I have to figure out what to do about storing all these toys. I think the Salvation Army may have room…

02.09.10
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Back to work

There is currently a 69 degree difference in temperature between where I live in GA and where my sister lives in AK. Of course, she will be comfortable this summer while I am wilting.

Northern VA is expecting another 10 to 20 inches on top of the 30 they got last weekend. I can not claim sadness at missing out on that disaster.

Unpacking is my life right now. The kitchen is almost done, although I cannot find a few key items, and I am waiting for a door mounted spice rack I ordered from The Container Store.

The school books are still boxed, as is my computer. Today I must focus on my bedroom and unpacking clothes. The recycling center is open today, so I can unload one huge stack of cardboard. I have about 8 loads in my garage after that, plus what I add today. Once I empty the garage of flattened boxes I can try to sort the garage which is one huge dumping ground.

Unpacking is the hardest part of moving.

Amazingly, nothing from the kitchen was broken, but the packer did not tape items shut, so I had things like cornstarch everywhere. They did break one table, which was broken on our move to Kansas as well. I need to Google furniture restoration. The restorers in KS did a great job, so I only moan over the inconvenience of doing it and the hassle of getting reimbursed.

All in all, things are going well. Bill has started work, so we missed having him around. Jenny fell off her scooter twice yesterday and scraped herself pretty badly. She was crying for Daddy. I am now chopped liver.