Who Do I Call?

TV shows I would like to see available on DVD:
Any Day Now (Lifetime) - one of the best shows to ever air on TV. Realistic and not afraid to address touchy subjects - race, teenage pregnancy, etc.
State of Grace (ABC Family Channel) - heartwarming and fun, but given the boot by Disney anyway.
Homefront (originally on ABC, I believe) - great cast and wonderful continuing storylines for this period show.
American Dreams (get on the ball, NBC) - I usually cry every week during this show, sometimes just when I hear the theme song.
Relativity (also aired on ABC) - one of the most romantic shows ever. It took me a while to realize Michael on "Miss Match" was the hunky "Leo" from this show.
Higher Ground - post-Dr. Quinn Joe Lando guilty pleasure series (aired on Fox/ABC Family Channel or USA, can't remember)
Wings - one of my all-time favorite comedies that I can't seem to find in reruns very often after it was on USA Network all the time.

Coincidentally, all of these shows, except for American Dreams and Wings, were critically acclaimed and had a strong fan base, but were canceled way too soon. I would love to watch them over and over again on DVD.

Edited to add "Life Goes On" so I'll remember to check for it periodically.

Channeling Larry King

It's been a few weeks since I last updated, so I'll jump back in with thoughts that have been tumbling around in my head recently instead of a long entry about what I've been doing the month of April.

Sleeping with the windows open is overrated. As is drying clothes on the line..."Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is the new "Queen for a Day"...I know I'm a latecomer, but Chappelle's Show is the funniest thing on TV right now...My latest crush is Eric the carpenter on "Clean Sweep"...I really should be reading George Pelecanos...When did "publically" become a word? I've seen it used in two places recently. Shouldn't it be publicly?...Judging from the tans at the CMT Flameworthy Video Awards, no one spends winters in Nashville. And thank you, CMT, for having Joe Nichols and John Corbett present an award together. What more could a girl ask for?...For George Canyon to win Nashville Star, of course. I actually called in and voted this week and last week, the first time I've ever done anything like that before...It amazes me how this show started after AI and is about to pick the final winner, yet AI is limping into sweeps with six contestants still standing.

Breakthrough

WARNING - Graphic Baby Talk Ahead!

We had a breakthrough last night at bathtime - H. used the potty for the first time!! We bought the potty seat awhile back, when she first started showing signs of being ready (which mostly consisted of her pulling her pants off, unsnapping her onesie and taking off her diaper at nap time). I've been slowly introducing her to the seat, just sitting her on it and making sure she knows it's there. My mom kept saying she was ready to start, and maybe she was, but I sure wasn't!

On Sunday, she told me every time her diaper was wet and she wanted to be changed, another good sign that she was ready. So last night, after I underdressed H. for her bath, I sat her on the potty chair with the bath water running. And she peed on the potty! I, of course, was jumping up and down and clapping and yelling, I was so proud of her. She didn't know what to think of it and started crying at all of the commotion.

I tried again this morning when she first woke up, but it was a no-go. I'm trying not to get too excited yet, because I know this is going to be a long process, and I certainly don't want to traumatize her. Perhaps TMI, but I'll notify you of H's progress as it comes.

Trilogy

I'm trying to find the words to express how much I loved both Big Stone Gap and Big Cherry Holler, the first two novels in the Big Stone Gap trilogy by Adriana Trigiani. I finished Big Stone Gap Monday night and practically ran to the library Tuesday afternoon to check out Big Cherry Holler, which I finished last night. Big Stone Gap was funny and endearing, with a happy ending. But Big Cherry Holler really touched me. It was more serious, with very real situations and dialogue. Some of the topics hit very close to home and on so many levels I identify with Ave Maria. I cried in the middle and I cried at the end. Unlike most books I read, I wasn't really sure how it was going to end.

I'm anxious to read Milk Glass Moon, the final book in the series, but I'm also hesitant, because I don't want to lose these characters. That is why I read so many series - fiction, mystery or otherwise. I crave the character development you can't always get from just one novel and I love to follow the characters' lives through the years.

Housing

This article in today's Baltimore Sun describes the exact situation Mark and I faced five years ago when looking for a home. We both grew up in Baltimore County and would have liked to buy a home in Northern Baltimore County after we got married, but unless we wanted a townhouse, which we didn't, we were pretty much priced out of the market. And we weren't kids in our early twenties just out of college working entry-level jobs. We were both making decent money and had been working for quite a while.

So, like some of the people mentioned in the article, we jumped the border and bought a house in Pennsylvania just over the Maryland line. We have a three-bedroom house with a detached 2-car garage on just over an acre of land that we bought for under $140K. The same house in most areas of Baltimore County would have been atleast $200K five years ago. The decision meant I was left with an hour and a half commute each way into Baltimore City. After a year, I found a new job in Pennsylvania only 15 minutes from home. Mark still has the commute, depending on his current job site, which is now even worse with the price of gas. And everyone in my family is about an hour away, "breaking up the family unit" as the one woman in the article lamented.

But we love where we live. The sacrifice is worth it. The houses are more than five feet apart, we can't see into our neighbors' windows and traffic is practically non-existent. Whenever I visit my parents in Carroll County, Maryland, I feel claustrophobic. There's a red light at every intersection and the houses are built on top of one another. There's a new development near them and every time I drive buy it, the starting price goes up - houses starting in the mid-$150s, $200s, $250s, etc...

Maryland is pricing itself out of the housing market for young homeowners and middle-class homeowners. And in the process, it is losing its citizens (and their dollars) to neighboring states.

Cropping and Shopping

I've been taking a break from cross-stitch for awhile and instead, have been focusing more on reading and scrapbooking. Friday night, Nadine & Wendy and I went to a four-hour "crop" that was a fundraiser for the Leukemia Society. For $10, we got four uninterrupted hours of scrapbooking. There were about 30 people there, some of them major scrapbookers - the big travel suitcases with all of their supplies and scrapbooks that were 4 and 5 inches thick. One woman even had this whole stacked tray set-up for her work area that blew us all away. There was also a representative from Creative Memories on hand and we could use any of her tools, as well as purchase any additional supplies.

It was a very productive evening for me. I finished three pages and started a fourth, which I managed to finish Saturday afternoon. I've been focusing on all of the vacations M. and I have taken together over the past nine years. I only need to finish the trip I'm working on now - our 2000 trip to Kentucky, plus our 2001 trip to GSMNP, then the scrapbook of our "pre-baby" vacations will be complete and I can start a new one of family vacations. I also have about 5 pages of a baby scrapbook complete so far. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

On Saturday, H. and I went shopping and it was extremely stressful. I thought things were supposed to get easier as she got older! First, I tried to have her picture taken at Sears, just on the spur of the moment, but they were completely booked - I guess everyone was having their Spring/Easter pictures taken. Then we went to Penney's to shop for shoes. I did manage to find two pairs of shoes for H. - dress shoes for Easter and a pair of white sandals for summer. I was in search of both black and brown shoes. Most of what was out was spring and summer shoes, so there wasn't much to choose from for standard wear-to-the-office shoes. I bought a pair of brown shoes in the same style of black that I already have. The one pair of black shoes I tried on were way to small and when I asked for a 10 1/2, the male clerk smuggly told me they don't carry anything larger than a 10. Great! Thanks Al Bundy.

Then it was off to shop for jeans, second only to bathing suits on the shopping experience spectrum for me. The only jeans that I have recently worn have been Sears' "Crossroads' brand. Well, since they took over Land's End, they discontinued that line. So I tried on Penney's St. John's Bay brand and I actually liked them and found two pair to buy. I also bought a rather stylish, hip pair of faded, striped stretchy jeans. My sister would be so proud that I bought these all on my own!

But while I was looking through the table of jeans for my size, I sat my purse down on the table. Then we walked away. I didn't realize until 10 or 15 minutes later that I had forgotten my purse. I retraced my steps and when I got back to the jeans, my purse was gone. I asked the clerk in the shoe dept (a different clerk) if anyone had turned in a purse and she said no, but they have a lost and found upstairs. Just as she said that, I hear my name being called on the paging system. I running all over the store trying to find the elevator since H. was in the stroller. I can't find it (nor can I find anyone to ask), so I risk life and limb and take the stroller up the escalator. Customer service has my purse, completely intact. Thank you to the anonymous customer out there who so kindly and honestly turned my purse in! Before they called my name, I was thinking how stranded I was. My wallet, car keys and phone were all in my purse. I didn't even have any change on me to use a pay phone.

At this point, I'm completely exhausted, sweaty and thirsty from our trek through Penney's, so I go to get us both some lunch. When I take H. out of her stroller, she is soaked through. She was so wet I thought she had spilled her cup, but no, it was definitely a diaper leak. And she never said a word or fussed at all. So I inhaled my lunch, spilling ketchup all over the front of my shirt in the process, then hurried back toward Sears to use their dressing room to change H. I changed her head to toe, thinking that I need to start packing an extra outfit for myself, too, in the diaper bag. And I must say, the dressing rooms in Sears are ten-times cleaner than the ones in Penney's, atleast at this particular mall. The ones in Penney's looked like that hadn't been vacuumed in days (or weeks) and there were leftover clothes in every one we went in. And this is the norm whenever I shop there. In Sears, the carpet was very clean, a bonus since I had to change Hayley, and there weren't discarded clothes lying all over the place.

Anyhoo, after all of this, I was ready to go home, but I really wanted to stop by Michael's and get some scrapbook supplies, especially since I had some momentum going from the night before. So we breezed through Michael's and went home. H. fell asleep in the car about 10 minutes before we got there, but miraculously, stayed asleep for her regular nap when I carried her into the house and put her in her crib. I crashed on the couch and watched "Hollywood Baby Boom" on E!. I didn't have the energy to do anything else. I was so tired that night I couldn't even make it through Nashville Star - I fell asleep right after George Canyon sang. I was surprised when they didn't eliminate anyone because of a "technical glitch" - it was a very low-key announcement and no one seemed to mind. I tried to imagine the same situation on American Idol and decided the reaction would be the total opposite.

So Sunday was a day of rest, spent outside with H. running around the yard for most of the day. It looks like spring is truly here now and I'm very thankful for that. All that fresh air for H. and she falls asleep in an instant!

Big Stone Gap

I started reading BIG STONE GAP by Adriana Trigiani earlier this week. I've been wanting to read this trilogy forever and finally checked the first title out of the library. The librarian, who now knows my name, promised I would "really love it." And I have, from the very first sentence. "This will be a good weekend for reading." How can you not love a book with an opening sentence like that?

Weekend Round-Up

Work has been so busy lately, I haven't had time to update. I took a vacation day on Friday. Both H. and I had doctor's appointments. H. weighed just over 24 lbs. and measured 33 inches tall at 18 months. The doctor said her vocabulary is that of a 2-year old, which is typical for girls. She didn't need any shots this visit, which was a blessing. I, on the other hand, had to get a tetanus shot from my doctor. She gave me a full physical and since I hadn't had a tetanus shot since 1990, she felt it was better just to get one. I liked this new doctor very much. She didn't launch into a diatribe about dieting and losing weight and exercising to control my blood pressure. She was very reasonable and felt we should take things one step at a time. Even just exercising without dieting (vs. control of salt intake, etc.) would help high blood pressure because exercise gets more oxygen flowing through the blood. To that end, I did finally decide to join Curves once I ran it past the doctor, so I'm officially a member.

After our doctor appointments, H. and I went to my parents' house to see my aunt, who was visiting from Philly. She hadn't seen H. since last May. Her grandkids are the ones who are close in age to H. - 4 days and 2 weeks apart. My cousin and his wife, who have Luke (the one that's 2 weeks younger than H.), are expecting another baby and are due in October again. A friend of mine from college is also expecting a baby in October, her first.

H. spent the night with my parents, so I was finally able to sleep in on a Saturday! M. and I hadn't spent the night away from her since May, so it was long overdue. I slept in, then cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom, and also cleaned H's room, which is hard to do when she's awake or asleep. My parents brought her back Saturday night and stayed for dinner and to watch the Maryland game (which they lost).

M. and I stuck with Nashville Star again this week. I was disappointed to see Stacy Michelle voted off by the viewers in the beginning - I thought she was the strongest of the females. I didn't think any of the other women performed that well Saturday night, as the judges repeatedly said. I was slightly surprised that the Irish guy Mal was eliminated at the end by the judges, not that he's all that great, but a lot of people seemed to want diversity. George Canyon still blows me away with the first few notes of any song he sings - how can he not win? And Brent Keith is growing on me. I thought he did a great job with the Rodney Crowell song he performed.

Sunday was quiet - it was sunny all day, but so windy and cold it was impossible to go outside. H. kept going to the living room and getting her coat, she wanted to go outside so bad. I finally gave in and we bundled up and went out for about 15 minutes, until our cheeks were red and our noses were running.

Stars Over Nashville

Haven't seen much bloggage yet this morning about Episode 2 of Nashville Star, so I'll add my two cents worth. To prove how useless the Warren Brothers are as judges, their comment to Sheila Marshall about the "Alan Jackson" song was completely wrong. They said that at first they were wary of a woman singing an Alan Jackson song - "Who's Cheating Who?" - but that she did a good job with it. That just shows you how much they know. The Alan Jackson version of that song was a remake of a hit by Charley McClain - a woman - in the '80's.

I can't get over how far superior this show is to American Idol. The level of talent is much higher, along with a level of maturity missing from the Idol bunch. I think the judges made the right choice this week by dismissing Gregory DeLang. But I don't know why they are all so high on Jennifer Hicks - she just doesn't do anything for me. I'd like to predict right now that George Canyon will be the next Nashville Star. Even though part of me thinks the judges will choose a woman since a man won last year, I still think he is the strongest vocalist, as well as the one who has the best country personality so far. Even if he doesn't win, I think it will be an Idol-like situation from last year, with the last two finalists fairing equally as well a la Clay and Reuben.

Crazy Morning

The stomach flu is still dogging us. The babysitter called this morning just after I got out of the shower - she was up all night with the bug. (This is the first time she's called us sick in over a year - amazing!) So I called my sister-in-law and she said, "I don't know if you want to bring her here." Both of her kids have it now, too. That made me feel bad, because I'm sure it was probably H. who gave it to them while she was there and not quite fully recovered last week. So my last chance was the back-up sitter, who is usually full on Fridays, but I thought I'd take a chance before I had to call work. What luck! The 9-month-old she usually watches is spending the day with her grandmother, so there was room for H. What a lifesaver!

Blur

Last week is a bit of a blur and I'm just catching up now. Following the Princess Birthday Party, H. came down with the stomach flu. She threw up once and was running a fever as high as 103.2 on Sunday afternoon (a quick call to the on-call pediatrician made us all feel better). Her fever broke Sunday night, but she had messy diapers all week and was generally cranky. On top of all this, the regular babysitter was on vacation this past week, so H. was being shuttled between a couple of different locations and wasn't on her regular routine. I worked out Monday night, had a waste of time computer class for work on Tuesday night, then I finally broke down and took her to the doctor on Wednesday night. I was convinced she had an ear infection, but she didn't, just the lingering effects of the stomach flu. Thursday night was my first night to relax all week and there wasn't even a new episode of Friends on to watch!

I would say she wasn't really herself again until Saturday, so it was a whole week until she was really feeling better. We were so glad to see Miss W. the babysitter yesterday morning! I worked out again at Curves last night (my third trip) and have to make the decision whether or not to join by the end of the week. Can I really commit to it?

We spent a lot of time outside this weekend, enjoying the nice weather, which has since turned cold again. H. loves being outside and cries when we have to go in.

Mark and I watched One Hour Photo Friday night, which was definitely creepy. And I decided I like Michael Vartan better with lighter hair than the dark brown color he had in the movie. I watched Frequency on ABC Saturday night, since I hadn't seen it. It wasn't quite what I thought it would be, but overall I thought it was pretty good. I'll watch anything with Dennis Quaid in it. Then I had to dig out my Garth Brooks' "Scarecrow" CD and listen to "When You Come Back to Me Again" over and over on Sunday.

Princesses

This article in today's edition of USA TODAY is very timely. H. and I attended our first Disney Princesses birthday party on Saturday for my friend Wendy's daughter, Meghan, who turned 3. H. dressed as Snow White for the occasion (I'll upload a photo tonight from home). In my mom's neighborhood, the little girls have been having various types of Princess parties for a couple of years. They all dress to the nines for the event, complete with jewelry, make-up and pretty dresses. And they're all under the age of 5 or 6.

I find myself getting sucked into the marketing ploys for the Disney Princesses and others and there are days I want to buy H. everything I see. THE LITTLE MERMAID and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST are two of my favorite Disney moves. At the tender age of 15 months, H. received the "My First Disney Princesses Spinning Surprise Castle," a Disney Princesses tea set with a million pieces and a "Princess & Pony" for Christmas from Mark and me (although I also bought her the Little Peoples' Gas and Go Station to balance things out and we're already eyeing up Craftsman kiddie tool benches for next year).

As a former (still?) tomboy and a "girls can do anything boys can do" feminist, I sometimes wrestle with my conscious when buying these kinds of toys. I feel even stronger about toy vacuum cleaners and cleaning carts marketed toward little girls. (And don't get me started on other toys marketed (in-your-face) to very young kids like McDonald's - that's a rant for another day.) I don't know how I'm ever going to buy her a Little Dirt Devil and I've already seen her playing with one at daycare. I definitely don't want it engrained in her from an early age that women are the only ones responsible for all of the cleaning in the household. I purposefully painted her nursery red and blue instead of pink and white. But maybe it's all genetic anyway - who knows? All of her toys are spread out around the family room and, other than her Elmo toys, she plays with that Disney tea set the most. Is it too early to enroll her for girls' softball?

Random Thoughts on the Oscars

I didn't take any notes while watching last night, so this is all from memory, but I did manage to stay up for the whole telecast, even though I could predict all the winners. I only stayed up until the end to see if there would be one upset winner - Johnny Depp over Sean Penn. Oh well, he'll always be Tom Hanson to me. And who woulda thunk it - Jeff Spicoli won an Oscar.

**

I flipped back and forth between Joan Rivers and Barbara Walters. I love the Red Carpet, but my tolerance for JR and her inane questions is low. However, I believe that Maria Menounos (I always want to say "Menudo") now wins the prize for being even more annoying than Joan or Melissa Rivers. Is it possible for her to talk without screaming? And who is Billy Bush? Just a Ryan Seacrest wannabe (speaking of annoying).

**

The only hideously horrible outfit I saw was Uma Thurman. Peter Jackson was just sloppy. I loved pregnant Marcia Gay Harden in blue, but not her throwback 'do. I imagine I'll read some bad things about Sandra Bullock's "wedding cake" dress, but I loved it. Diane Lane looked stunning.

**

I liked that the Academy used some different presenters than they have in the past - Oprah, Jamie Lee Curtis, The Pinkett-Smiths.

**

After watching the tribute to Bob Hope and hearing him repeat the same tired jokes and lines year after year as host, I fear Billy Crystal is falling into the same pattern, even after taking a break for a few years.

**

Apparently, I missed the funniest part of the whole show - Will Ferrell and Jack Black. Damn, just like I missed the Janet Jackson incident. I really need to get Tivo.

**

Was the William Zabka nominated for Live Action Short Film the same Billy Zabka from THE KARATE KID?

**

I really didn't want Sofia Coppola to win because I didn't think I could stand listening to her acceptance speech. I haven't seen LOST IN TRANSLATION yet, but I hope she's one hell of a writer, because she has the personality and screen presence of a wet mop.

**

Some strange music choices when presenters walked onto the stage - HAIL TO THE CHIEF for Tom Hanks, LOUIE, LOUIE for Angelina Jolie?

**
I was so happy for Renee Zellweger, my beloved Bridget! I haven't seen this movie yet, either, but I'm just happy that she won. And maybe she'll win Lead Actress next year for BJ2.

Nowhere Else on Earth

Last week, I finished reading NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH by Josephine Humphreys, a historical fiction novel about the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina and how they survived the Civil War. It was a fascinating story that, even though it was based on a true story, I didn't know anything about before I read it. And I'm glad for that because it made me enjoy the book even more. The story is told from the point-of-view of Rhoda Strong, daughter of a Lumbee mother and a Scottish father. Her brothers, along with other young men from the community, go into hiding during the Civil War to avoid being conscripted as laborers at a nearby fort or worse, killed by the Confederate Home Guard. The leader of the gang in hiding is Henry Berry Lowrie, son of a prominent Lumbee businessman, whom Rhoda is destined to marry. Henry and Rhoda dream of a life together after the war when tragedy strikes in more ways than one. Surrounding the tale of the colorful cast of characters that make up the "Scuffletown" settlement is the history of the Lumbees and the theory that the tribe may be the lost descendants of Sir Walter Raleigh's first Roanoke colony.

After I finished reading, I did a couple of quick searches online and that’s when I found out the book was based on historical accounts of the real Henry Berry Lowrie, who is a folk hero to the Lumbees, and his wife, Rhoda. A few websites even had photos or paintings believed to be of Henry and Rhoda. The most useful website is the official Lumbee Indian website, which documents the Lumbee’s attempts to be recognized as an official Native American tribe by the federal government.

Coincidentally, the subject of the Lumbee Indians came up just this week during the performance of American Idol semi-finalist Charly Lowry, who is a Lumbee Indian.

"And yeah, my heart's not in trouble anymore..."

I finally went to Curves Monday night with my sister-in-law. I loved it! It was everything everyone said it would be. The exercises were challenging, but not overly so. I was never so out of breath that I was huffing and puffing, but my heart rate was up. I actually enjoyed myself. I'm going to go back as a guest again Friday night, then I have three free passes from a promotion at the grocery store to use, then I'll decide if I want to join permanently. You don't have to sign up and pay for a whole year - they also offer a month-to-month option.

I guess this happened at the right time because I went to the doctor yesterday evening and my blood pressure was still high (actually a little bit higher than it was in November), so my ob/gyn wants me to stop taking the pill after I finish the current pack. I'm devastated! She's hoping that stopping the pill will correct the problem immediately, then I could try the Depo shot. But I still need to see my primary care physician and that appointment isn't until March 20. I'm going to try and see her before I finish this pack of pills. I know I need to lose weight, and that will help some, but I'm also cursed by genetics. My dad started taking blood pressure medication when he was about my age, early thirties, and my mom started taking it around the time she turned 50. I cut back on my salt intake while I was pregnant and have stuck with it - not buying a lot of pre-packaged, salty foods like those dinners-in-a-box - and I stayed off the caffeine, too. I guess we'll wait and see what happens over the next few months.

Working Mothers' Debate

The Internet is swirling this week with discussions of Caitlin Flanagan's article in the most recent issue of The Atlantic Monthly, "How Serfdom Saved the Women’s Movement," about professional working women oppressing the nannies they hire. I first heard about this article by reading a column written by Susan Reimer in the Baltimore Sun on February 10. Then, yesterday morning, author Jennifer Weiner linked to an interview with Ms. Flanagan, also in The Atlantic Monthly, about the article. I spent most of yesterday reading both the interview and the article, then fuming so much I couldn't put my words down on paper until today. I'm writing this now after reading this week's diary/e-mail exchanges on Slate.com. My problem with what was written, and it's mainly the interview Ms. Flanagan gave, is not the issue of hiring a nanny, but Ms. Flanagan's contradictory remarks about working mothers in general.

First, some background about me. My daughter was born in September 2002. I took my allotted 12 weeks maternity leave – 6 weeks paid, 6 weeks unpaid – after she was born. Upon returning to work in late December, my daughter was placed in daycare. I consider myself a professional woman, but not one who is able to afford a nanny. My daughter is in an in-home daycare run by a white, thirty-something woman with an upper-middle-class, suburban background much the same as mine. In addition to my daughter, she also watches two other children, ages 2 and 1 1/2, as well as her own 3-year old daughter. She watches Hayley from 7:30am-5:30pm, feeds her two snacks and a lunch, changes her diapers, and interacts and plays with her and the other children. For this, I pay her $170 a week, which she claims as income. I pay her even if we do not use her services for a week while we’re on vacation, but I do not pay her when she is on vacation.

I work because I have to work, and maybe part of me wants to work, but, as the saying goes, I would give my eyeteeth to stay home with my daughter full-time. But I work so we can live in a good neighborhood with solid public schools. I work so we can take a nice vacation every year to experience different things, which I view as a valuable part of growing up. I work to save money so H. will be able to go to college. I work so I don’t feel like my parents wasted almost $100,000 on my college education. I work because my husband said he felt it would be a lot of pressure for him to be the sole breadwinner and supporter of H. and me. There are other reasons, too, but I think I’ve hit the high points.

That being said, let me address what I felt were the inconsistencies in some of Ms. Flanagan’s writing and remarks. I've tried to be concise and logical, but forgive me if this jumps around a bit.

First and foremost, Ms. Flanagan thinks of herself as an at-home mother, when she is, in fact, a working mother, albeit one that works from the home. She is a writer. Even though she's done away with the nanny because the kids are now in school, I find it hard to believe that she only writes while they are at school. Does she write in the evenings? When the mood strikes her? So when she chastises or belittles working mothers, she’s really talking about herself. And when she analyzes things from the point-of-view of an at-home mom, it's misleading. I think Barbara Ehrenreich sums it up nicely it the Slate article: "Caitlin… took the odd and astoundingly privileged course of staying home with the nanny…," then kept the nanny on so she could work as a writer for The Atlantic from home.

In the interview, Ms. Flanagan confesses, "I'd rather sit next to the working mom at a dinner party than the at-home mom. The working mom would have more to say that would be of interest to me." I found this statement incredibly insulting and I’m not even an at-home mom. I know there are lots of at-home moms who would be insulted as well. Natalie, how about you? Natalie is creative, witty and well read. Anyone who reads her website knows she has more to talk about than Legos or changing diapers. I would love to sit next to her at a dinner party.

Along those same lines, Ms. Flanagan comments on a conversation she overheard in the parent’s lounge from a group of at-home mom's discussing a holiday party. "…It certainly wasn’t the kind of conversation you hear at important places of business or in hospitals or universities." Well, we can't all be doctors or lawyers or self-important writers! But guess what? Most parents like to talk about their kids and their activities! Especially when they're very young and doing new things every day. I'll talk to strangers in the grocery store about whatever cute thing H. did or said that day. But that doesn't mean I don't have other interesting things to talk about, too.

At the end of that same paragraph, she puts in parentheses, "Although, if the moms in the parent lounge had asked me to make some of the sandwiches, I would have been on it in a heartbeat!" I’m not even sure what to make of that statement. She'll hang out with them and help with the party, as long as they can talk about politics or the economy while doing it?

Further along in her interview, Ms. Flanagan answers the question if she would have just stayed at home if she hadn't been able to have a nanny in order to pursue her second career as a writer. "Yes! They're the only children I have…However, I must tender a caveat to this: I was not trained for a glamorous career; I was a schoolteacher. Perhaps I would have felt differently if I'd been an attorney or a physician." Not only is this statement insulting to teachers, but I interpreted it to mean that Ms. Flanagan feels it's only acceptable for moms with glamorous careers to work. I find that an inexcusable statement to make and demeaning to every working mother who works to try and make a better life for her family, regardless of what type of job she has.

In continuing her response to the same question, Ms. Flanagan also said, "If I ever said [to my husband] I was going to take some big job outside of the home, he'd say, 'Wait just a minute, here; that's not going to work for our family.' And I’m glad about that: he fully believes that my work here at home with the children is important." Ugh, I don’t even know how to respond to that it's so exasperating! Talk about oppressed!

Moving on to the actual article, Flanagan writes quite a bit about how having a nanny has saved her and her husband from arguing over housework, a typical argument when both parents have careers and want to divide work equally. "I have never once argued with my husband about which of us was going to change the sheets of the marriage bed, but then—to my certain knowledge —neither one of us ever has changed the sheets. Or scrubbed the bathtubs, or dusted the cobwebs off the top of the living-room bookcase, or used the special mop and the special non-corrosive cleanser on the hardwood floors. Two years ago our little boys got stomach flu, one right after the other, and there were ever so many loads of wash to do, but we did not do them. The nanny did." Once again, Barbara Ehrenreich hits the nail on the head with her response to this, which is part of her own reason for never having a nanny: "Caitlin...reports that this personage [the nanny] washes the sheets and generally cleans up after the kids go through a bout of stomach flu. You think the kids don't notice that mommy is available for reading stories but only nanny deals with actual diapers and shit-stained sheets? You think this division of labor doesn't make a lasting imprint on them?"

Finally, Ms. Flanagan sums it all up herself at the end of the article with the statement, "It’s easy enough to dismiss the dilemma of the professional-class working mother as the whining of the elite." I think I will. But I will not dismiss it as a dilemma of all professional-class working mothers, but only the dilemma of Ms. Flanagan the working mother who is a snob who fancies herself as an at-home mother while disparaging other working mothers. In addition to the other online comments about how Ms. Flanagan never mentions the role of the fathers in this "dilemma," I think she also missed the mark by not mentioning other factors – more flex-time or telecommuting options, full-time pay for part-time work, - that could improve the lot of working mothers with or without nannies. As Ms. Ehrenreich concludes, and I wholeheartedly agree, "So, in addition to fighting for childcare, I want to see a battle to salvage the eight-hour day and, beyond that, to win the flex-time options we used to talk about. All parents (and grandparents, if they're as besotted as I am) should be able to enjoy a few unpressured hours a day with the tiny people in their lives."

Book Quiz

Natalie was right! I took the book quiz and it was dead on. Well, the title was dead on. I'm not so sure about the description that goes along with it. But this is one of my all-time favorite books. I have loved it since elementary school (mostly due to the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn series that used to air on Showtime) and have read it many times since then.

I like to think I have an adventurous spirit and I'm definitely more drawn to rivers and mountains than oceans and beaches. But I don't speak with an accent (unless a Baltimore accent counts) and I think most people take me seriously (except when wearing a straw hat).

You're Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!

by Mark Twain

With an affinity for floating down the river, you see things in black
and white. The world is strange and new to you and the more you learn about it, the less
it makes sense. You probably speak with an accent and others have a hard time
understanding you and an even harder time taking you seriously. Nevertheless, your
adventurous spirit is admirable. You really like straw hats.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

H.

I realized it's been a little while since I've posted any new pictures of H. Since I just had a roll of film developed, now is the perfect time! She's changing so much every day. She's already lost a lot of her baby fat now that she's walking. And she never sits still - it's always go, go, go. She's learning a new word almost every day and has a vocabulary of about 20 words right now. Of course, mommy and dada (not daddy yet), hi and bye-bye, plus Pop-Pop. Mimi, Melmo for Elmo (her favorite!), bear, Pooh, peek-a-boo or sometimes just boo, Wiggles, ball, car, cup and ninny (what we call her pacifier - and believe me, that one comes through loud and clear). It amazes me how much she is absorbing right now. She follows directions really well (most of the time) and is developing her own personality.

In her snowsuit


Fresh from the bathtub just before bed

V-Day Weekend

Happy Belated Valentine's Day weekend, readers! I wanted to update on Saturday, but the day got away from me, even though I didn't do much of anything but relax. M. and I exchanged gifts and it was a very comical scene. I gave him a stuffed Boyd's gorilla carrying a heart that said "Love Bug" and he gave me a Laser Level. I typed that correctly, not the other way around. It just made me laugh! The Laser Level was exactly what I wanted, since I'm the one who does all the picture-hanging in our house. In fact, I wanted the combined Laser Level/Stud Finder, but M. said the home improvement store hasn't been able to keep them in stock they're so popular. I joked he could get me a stud finder for Mother's Day. We just had a nice dinner at home Saturday night. I didn't feel good all day, so I wasn't in the mood for going out anyway. It took me until late afternoon until I was feeling better and I'm not even sure what it was, just kind of run down and tired, maybe because H. was up some on Thursday and Friday nights.

Sunday, we watched the Daytona 500 together (what a great race!) while I caught up on the laundry I didn't get done on Saturday. The washing machine is still acting weird - after a load of towels, they were so sopping wet I had to run them through another spin cycle before I could put them in the dryer.

My mom came over around 4pm, then off the two of us went to see Toby Keith in Baltimore. We were in almost the exact same seats as when we went to see Martina McBride, so we had an excellent view of everything. Blake Shelton was the opening act, which we didn't know about, so that was a pleasant surprise. In addition to his few hits, he also sang a couple of Conway Twitty songs (SLOW HAND and TIGHT-FITTIN' JEANS) and a version of the Bellamy Brothers' REDNECK GIRL, all of which I felt he did justice to with his deep voice.

The show started at 7:30pm and Blake Shelton was finished by 8:20, but for some reason Toby Keith didn't take the stage until 9pm. The most bizarre part of the evening was that G. Gordon Liddy came out to introduce him. I kid you not! I guess they're friends, but I really couldn't make sense out of it. The show itself was a high-energy rock show, with only two of Toby's slower songs played. I loved his horn section - three guys who danced and rocked throughout the entire show. He played for two solid hours, with the grand finale of AMERICAN SOLDIER and COURTESY OF THE RED, WHITE & BLUE, complete with fireworks and confetti. He did a one-song encore, which hardly seemed worth it. The finale was a hard act to follow.

The only downer for the night was trying to leave. We sat in a nearby parking garage for an hour. And by sitting I mean, we sat in our parking space for that hour, not even inching along toward the exit. Terribly frustrating for several reasons - paying on the way out instead of paying on the way in, no traffic control at the light right outside the garage exit, etc... And downtown Baltimore wonders why it has trouble attacting people from the suburbs.

So we didn't get home until 1am. When the alarm went off at 5:45am this morning, it felt like the middle of the night. I'm going to be dragging all day today.

Small World

Small World

I just had a "small world" experience over lunch. I usually eat at the same bagel shop on Friday's after going to the bank and my officemate usually comes along, too. She couldn't come today, but asked me to bring something back, so I was just going to get both lunches to go. While I was standing off to the side waiting for my order, a woman I used to work with when I worked in downtown Baltimore came in. She still lives in Maryland, so she was one of the last people I expected to see.

Turns out she was dropping off her cat to be boarded for the week nearby and stopped in for some lunch. So instead of getting my lunch to go, I sat down with her for some catching up and reminiscing. It was so great to see her and hear how mutual acquaintances were doing! At the end of this month, I will have been at this job for four years, so that's about how long it's been since I've seen her. My poor officemate had to wait until 1:30 for her lunch.

This is the second "small world" experience I've had in the past year. Last May, just before I started this journal, I went to pick up H. at the babysitter's, just like any other day. Also at the sitter's are a brother and sister who, at the time, were 1 and 4, respectively. I had met both of the parents at various drop-offs or pick-ups and chatted for a couple of minutes and that was that. That day, their mother came in shortly after I arrived. I knew her name was Wendy because the sitter's name is Wendy, too, and she always calls her "the other Wendy."

Well, that particular day, for some reason, she looked really familiar to me and the planets aligned and something just clicked. I asked her, "Wendy, what’s your maiden name?” She probably thought I was insane. "F.," she said and I started laughing. "Do you know who I am?" I asked her, and then it clicked for her, too. We had grown up together on the same street in the suburbs of Maryland. She was older than me, but our older sisters were friends, so we hung out together, too. For a couple of years, we were really close until the age difference separated us as she went off to junior high. I hadn’t seen her for fifteen years and there we were, in a different state, using the same babysitter for our kids. I was just blown away for the rest of the evening.

A small world, indeed.

Clean Sweep

TLC's Clean Sweep is my new favorite decorating/home improvement show. I watch it almost every day when I get home from work. On the one hand, it is inspiring, more so than just a decorating show, in that getting organized and learning how to let go of some of my belongings is more my problem than how to decorate a room. On the other hand, it also makes me feel better about my pack rat-ness because most of the people featured on the show are much worse than me! But I can see elements of myself in some of those people and know I need help in this area. (Did you see the "Friends Don't Let Friends Keep Leisure Suits" episode? Stacie has all these pens that she can't seem to get rid of. I have a mini-crate full of pens of every shape, size and color. I could never use that many pens in my lifetime, but I continue to save them.)

So this weekend I went on a big cleaning binge. Our "guestroom" could be featured on Clean Sweep, since it essentially serves as my walk-in closet slash miscellaneous storage area. You usually can't see the bed because I have clothes piled on top of it. In the dresser drawers are a ton of work papers I need to sort through, with saved craft magazines on top (but organized very nicely in magazine racks by date). My craft supplies and photos are stored in plastic bins under the bed, although some are spilling over.

I ended up with two big bags of trash and that's just the beginning. But you can now see the bed and I can acually close the closet door all the way. I was finally able to part with the pair of Nike high-top sneakers I wore when I played basketball in high school. I threw away a whole drawer full of belts - I'm not kidding, there must have been about 20 or 30 belts in this drawer and I couldn't even tell you the last time I actually wore (or needed) a belt. I organized some other things into piles for storing in various other places around the house, including a big pile of papers that needs to filed in the filing cabinet. I started a clothes pile for Goodwill and even have a few things I want to sell on eBay (something I've never tried to do before). After payday this week, I'm heading to Walmart to buy some plastic storage bins to continue my organization quest.

***

I didn't watch the Grammy's last night. I didn't have the energy to commit to it. We watched some of the Pro Bowl instead.

***

Saturday I dropped off all the paperwork to have our taxes done. The sooner the refund, the better!

***

My sister-in-law is trying to talk me into joining Curves with her. Anyone out there have an experience they'd like to share - please e-mail me. She loves it and her membership includes guest passes, so I think I might try it a couple of times next week.

***

I think after we have finished paying off our dryer, we're going to buy a new washer the next time 0% for a year is available at Sears. Our washer is still working, but it's old and doesn't seem to be working very well. Hayley's clothes are hard to get clean, even after treating them with Spray 'n Wash and OxyClean. I'd also like a washer with a much bigger capacity, especially for Hayley's clothes and Mark's work/garage clothes. This is definitely next on my house wish list...

Quiznos

Can someone please explain the new Quiznos commercials to me? I really don't get them. Is that a mouse or a rat or a hamster? Or something else? Either way, I'm not so sure it's the right mascot for a place that sells FOOD. They're very bizarre commercials.

God Bless Fr. Lerch

I usually don't read the obituaries in the newspaper, but Monday night, when I was finally getting around to reading Sunday's paper, I happened to glance through them. To my surprise, I saw a name that I recognized - I guess I was meant to read them by chance on Monday. The priest who married Mark and me back in 1998, Fr. Lerch, died last week and his funeral was yesterday.

I believe we were the last couple he married. Our wedding was Dec. 12, then he was retiring from the parish at the end of the year. Obviously, as a priest, he was never married, but he was very close to his family and his obituary listed that he had 10 nieces & nephews and 27 great-nieces & nephews. A more detailed obituary about his life appeared in today's paper. I had just assumed he died of old age, but he was diagnosed with colon cancer last year and was only 77. How wonderful to have such a rich and full life and to have people say wonderful things about you in the end. God Bless Fr. Lerch.

Monday, Monday

I think the winter doldrums are setting in. I honestly have nothing to write about. It was -2 degrees when I woke up this morning. Who wants to leave the house when it's that cold?

M. and I watched the game by ourselves yesterday - we usually do. H. went to bed at half time, so I missed the whole Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake stunt, which I am now thoroughly sick of hearing about, so I have no further comment. Other than that the streaker guy at the start of the second half is getting no air time because of it.

We hardly did anything this weekend - we didn't even rent a movie. I think it's time to plan a weekend getaway or atleast some sort of activity to break out of this rut.

Is this a depressing entry or what? Sorry it's so lame. Hopefully I'll be more cheerful tomorrow.

Crafty Girl

There was a great article in the Sunday Baltimore Sun on the revival of knitting and other crafts among young people, both women and men - check it out. There was one quote from the article that describes me perfectly:

"They may keep long lists of "things to make," but sneer at the impossible quest for perfection implicit in craft queen Martha Stewart's approach, and revel in the irony of creating while dirty dishes pile sky high."

One look at the state of my kitchen floor will tell you this is true. I stayed home sick yesterday and spent most of the day working on my cross stitch project instead of doing any sort of cleaning. I did manage to get a couple of loads of laundry done, though.

'80's Lyrics Quiz

This has probably been around the block a few times, but I just stumbled across it (via Old Hag) and killed a few minutes at work. I scored an 88, but it should have been better - spelling counts! Let me know your score and if you thought #94 was a trick question.

Weekend Update

A very busy weekend this weekend. We had to go to the bank Friday night since I left M's paycheck sitting on the kitchen counter Friday morning and couldn't deposit it over lunch (why oh why won't his company do direct deposit?) and the bank now closes at 7pm instead of 8pm, so I felt very rushed to get up there after feeding H. her dinner. We then went and picked up pizza from a new place and it was absolutley delicious! (God Bless Aldo's!) Ever since we moved here (almost 5 years ago), we've struggled with finding a place with decent pizza. There are no chains (Domino's, Papa John's) close by and we've tried all of the local places with moderate success. And I can't exactly pinpoint what's not so great about these pizzas (too greasy, too much sauce, crust too thin), just that I don't want to eat them every Friday night (I don't cook on Friday nights). For awhile, we switched to getting subs instead of pizza, and eventually, I was buying DiGiorno frozen pizzas, which were better than the pizzas we were getting. So we discovered Aldo's and it's a little bit of a drive to pick it up, but well worth it!!

On Saturday, my friend S. came down and we went to visit some friends from college, one of whom is expecting a baby in a few weeks, so we met at her house. We left pretty early, around 10am, since it was a two-hour drive. We had a wonderful time catching up with everyone, since the last time we were all together was last February, and we all brought presents for the mom-to-be. M. babysat H. for the whole day, probably the longest amount of time he's ever watched her. I only called home once and everything was fine. She had just woken up from her nap and M. was going to take her to his mom's for a visit. As S. and I were driving home, it started snowing. It was coming down pretty good by the time we got back to my house and S. still had another 2+ hour drive ahead of her. She called home and it wasn't snowing there yet, and since the storm was moving west to east and she was headed east, she decided to tough it out and drive home. She called us around 10pm and she had just gotten home - it snowed the whole way, but she made it safe and sound.

We ended up with more snow than predicted, between three and four inches. My friend Na was supposed to come over for lunch on Sunday. I called her in the morning to see what she wanted to do and she said she would still come since it was just raining. I ran up to the grocery store and on the way back, the snow turned to sleet and finally snow - big fat snowflakes. Na arrived about a half hour later - she was closer to my house than to home so she just kept going. We had a nice lunch and she stayed for quite a few hours. H. napped most of the time she was there, so we had a good visit, just talking and relaxing. And she brought me my birthday present - some of the Christmas accessories I wanted from Yankee Candle.

A wonderful weekend with friends, food and presents!

Chick Lit Question

To answer Jennifer Weiner's question, the first "chick lit" book I ever read was The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank. I read it in 2000 and didn't know it was "chick lit" at the time. I read a couple of other books that would be considered "chick lit" in 2000, then read Bridget Jones's Diary the following year. But I didn't really jump on the "chick lit" bandwagon until 2003 (I know, woefully behind the times) after reading both of Jennifer Weiner's books (which I wouldn't necessarily consider "chick lit," but that's another discussion) and did some research on the genre. I've been a mystery/legal thriller gal for the past several years, but I surprised myself by not picking up on the "chick lit" trend sooner, especially since all I read as a pre-teen and young teen were Sweet Dreams and First Love from Silhouette romances. I have a lot of catching up to do!

Friends

It may sound corny, but I'm getting very sad about the end of Friends. Last night's episode was very much the beginning of the end, with Monica and Chandler planning to move away. I can remember the final farewells of many shows that I loved - Cheers, Family Ties, Mad About You, etc., but this one seems much more personal, I guess because Friends came on the year I graduated from college and was about ME - working in "the real world," dating and being on my own. At the same time, we all found jobs, got married and had babies. Rachel and I were pregnant at the same time! Then I stayed up to watch the Prime Time interview with Jennifer Aniston and that made me even more sad. She is so charming (and beautiful, needless to say) and had such wonderful things to say about the rest of the cast. I really will miss my pretend "Friends."

Aye, Aye Mateys

I finally got around to watching Pirates of the Carribbean last night and I've wanted to talk like a pirate all day. I thought the movie was quite excellent - it lived up to everything I read and heard about it, especially regarding Johnny Depp's performance. I would rank it right up there with The Princess Bride - who doesn't love a storybook movie with a good swordfight scene? And does anyone else think Keira Knightley looks a lot like Natalie Portman?

First Book of 2004

I'm off to a slow start for reading in 2004. I just finished my first book of the year - Bigfoot Dreams by Francine Prose (which I never even got around to posting on the sidebar). This is an older book, originally published in 1986, and is from my "What to Read" personal required reading list. It was an "okay" book, for lack of a better work, not quite what I expected, and a bit dated - lots of references to aging hippies and NYC in the '80s. But it got me out of my comfort zone to read something from a different genre, which is what my reading list is supposed to do.

Christmas Pics

This has been a long week so far - the first full week of work in quite a while. To help you get through it, here are some holiday photos:

Christmas Eve at Mimi's House


Opening Presents Christmas Morning


Brand New Slide
(note the TV on the floor in the background pre-new entertainment center)


Disney Princesses Teapot


Later Christmas Day at Honey & Pop Pop's House in the Elmo Car from Aunt Jenn

Year in Review

I tried to do my Year in Review on Wednesday, but Blogger wasn't cooperating, so I'm a couple of days late. I apologize in advance if this sounds like "Baby's First Year," but it was, and those achievements will always be memorable to me.

January 2003

I returned to work full-time after my 12-week maternity leave, just before turning 31. It was a big adjustment, one I'm not sure I've fully made yet, a year later. I had a wonderful birthday celebration surrounded by all my family and friends.

February 2003

The latest "Storm of the Century" gave us close to 18 inches of snow Presidents' Day Weekend and an extra day off from work. This was also the weekend H. chose to cut her first tooth. She also started drinking from a cup.

March 2003

Somewhat of a blur, coming out of the big meltdown after so much snow all winter long. Nothing too memorable seems to have happened. In like a lion...

April 2003

We hosted Easter dinner at our house, complete with an egg hunt in the slightly muddy backyard. My sister J. used to host this holiday, but she passed it on to me since they were getting new carpet installed and it rains every year on Easter. I think it will be the holiday we host from now on. It works for me since I do get Good Friday as a work holiday.

May 2003

M. and I went away for the weekend by ourselves for the first time, leaving H. with my mom and dad. We only called home three times to check on her, but we arrived at my parents' doorstep bright and early Sunday morning, we missed her so much. It was also Mother's Day, so I thought I should be with her as much as possible. H. also mastered the art of rolling over, a little bit later than average. Given her roly-poly shape, you would think it would be easier.

June 2003

Several big milestones. Thanks to inspiration from other journalers/bloggers - such as Amy, Eliza and Jen - I started this online journal. H. also started crawling - a major accomplishment. And the three of us took a day trip to Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site - very much the family outing.

July 2003

Cousin Bubble (otherwise known as Brooke, but the kids like this nickname better) came to stay with us for a week before leaving for Japan for a year at the end of August. She also served as babysitter while ours was on vacation. H. went swimming for the first time on the 4th and really enjoyed it.

August 2003

The good/bad girls-only trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. Looking back on it, we did have a great time together, with or without all the little nuisances, like traffic.

September 2003

After celebrating H's 1st birthday, September turned into a very bad month - first Hurricane Isabel, then the fire, from which my sister and BIL are still recovering. Most of it is a blur of worrying about my sister and trying to be helpful is some way. We were thankful to see October.

October 2003

We went back to Luray, VA for the weekend, taking H. with us this time. I think M. and I did pretty good on our first family trip and we couldn't have asked for better fall weather. We definitely hope to go back to the cabin again in 2004.

November 2003

The 2nd of the month brought the biggest milestone of all (to date) - H. took her first official steps by herself. We had a lot to be thankful for at Thanksgiving and had an extremely enjoyable holiday.

December 2003

The month flew by in the usual flurry of holiday activity, not helped by two snowstorms early in the month. H. was a joy at Christmas and we're already looking forward to next year.

Wait, it is next year. B-day #32 is right around the corner and I'll have the whole year on record here. Happy New Year, readers! I'm looking forward to sharing 2004 with you.

Lottery Coinky-dink

Those of you in states with the PowerBall drawing may have already heard about this, but this week's drawing was a big one with lots of media coverage and two people won on New Year's Eve. One of the winning tickets was sold in York County, Pennsylvania, where I live, but alas, I was not the winner. Stories surrounding the chances of winning the lottery are always interesting, but this one was even more so by the fact that the second winning ticket was also sold in York County - York County, South Carolina, that is. What are the chances?

Happy New Year

Now for a proper New Year's post. Happy New Year everyone! M. and I spent New Year's Eve as we have for the past few years, even pre-baby - crabcake dinner and a movie and asleep before midnight. We watched Bruce Almighty, which had some funny parts, but wasn't exactly what I thought it would be from the trailer. I made it to 11pm, then fell asleep. Coincidentally, H. woke up at 12:04, so I got to officially wish M. a Happy New Year as I crawled back into bed after giving her back her pacifier.

Today was spent relaxing. We went to Toys R Us to return a couple of duplicate gifts and bought a more useful ear therometer instead. Toys R Us has a wonderful return policy - no receipt needed if you only want store credit. Not a problem for me!

We came home to watch Maryland stomp all over WVU in the Gator Bowl. My sister J. and BIL went to the game. They were going to drive halfway home after the game was over and should be home some time on Friday. Announcers on TV said Maryland fans were outnumbered by WVU fans 15 to 1, which is an interesting statistic.

Back to work tomorrow - what a messed-up week. I wish my company would have just given us off tomorrow as a bonus because of how the holiday fell during the week. It seems silly to go in for just one day. It feels more like a Sunday than a Thursday night.

Christmas Party Update

A little belated, but I finally fixed the photos from the Christmas party and updated the Dec. 14 entry. I figured out the resize feature as it relates to my scanner and the scanning program, and the digital camera, too, so hopefully I can avoid the overly large photos that bump out the sidebar in the future.

Cross Stitch Gallery

One of the things I wanted to accomplish while I was on "vacation" was to set up a gallery of my completed cross stitch projects at Cyberstitchers.com. Mission accomplished! If you're so interested, you can view my Gallery here. I'll also add a permanent link to the sidebar. I'm still adding a few more photos to the gallery - some pics that I took at my mom's last week with the digital camera didn't turn out, so I need to reshoot the next time I'm over there. Check in for updates somewhat frequently, including updates on my current Work in Progress (WIP) - a birth announcement for H. (no, I'm not behind or anything).

Christmas Wrap-Up

No, I didn't get stuck at Walmart on Christmas Eve, it's just been very busy since then. Walmart was surprisingly un-crowded on Wednesday, so much so that after going to the bank I did some last minute shopping. Then I came home and made one more batch of cookies - oatmeal raisin for M., since he always complains that I never make any cookies he likes.

We had a wonderful holiday - we really enjoyed ourselves. We spent Christmas Eve at my in-laws and all of the children were very good. H. received so many nice presents and only one duplicate. Christmas morning was so much fun. H. did a great job opening presents. I was amazed at how into it she was. She tore the paper and looked for the present without getting distracted by the box or paper. We videotaped the whole thing, of course. She absolutely loved the sliding board from my parents. She got the hang of it really fast. Then it was on to my parents' house Christmas Day afternoon for more food and present opening. H. received more wonderful presents, including an Elmo car from my sister that she can't get enough of. Same sister bought M. and me this cool pine tree with bears on it for our family room. It's almost six feet tall and lights up.

The day after Christmas was supposed to be dedicated to putting the entertainment center together, since we were having company Saturday. M. and I worked on it for about an hour and it was a monster. My parents called around noon and I begged them to come help us. They got here around 2pm and M. and my dad worked on it pretty much straight through until 9pm! But it looks really good now! I got all of my knicknacks set back up and the family room looking half decent in time for company. But we definitely need a bigger TV with this new unit. Our 25" looks lost in the center cabinet.

Saturday we had friends over for dinner and more presents (more!). I cooked a whole turkey, the first time I had ever done that. I've only ever cooked a turkey breast before. But it turned out good, I thought, along with mashed potatoes and peas, plus lots of dessert, including cookies. There aren't that many left from the almost 12 dozen we started out with.

So today I'm just relaxing before going back to work tomorrow. The only chore I'm going to do is laundry. We're going to watch football and eat leftovers and play with H's new toys. And wait for the long-awaited Ravens-Steelers game at 8:30pm tonight. I wanted to get to bed early tonight for going back to work, but unless the game is a blowout, that won't be happening. Go RAVENS!!!

Bah, Humbug

Okay, I'm not in a very Christmas-y mood right now. My vacation is going by very fast and I'm not getting anything accomplished. Or, I should say, I'm not doing any relaxing and working on projects I want to work on.

Sunday we visited friends in the outer reaches of northeast PA. They bought a new townhouse back in April and this was our first chance to see it. We had a great time and it's wonderful to spend time with college friends I don't get to see very often, but man, was it a long drive - close to three hours. Especially with a one-year-old and a cranky husband. We took the turnpike home and chopped almost a half hour off the drive time.

Monday was crazy busy. H. had her 15-month appointment at 8:30am - she's 23 lbs, 13 oz and 31 and 1/2 inches long - plus she had to get four shots, including a flu shot, which was still available. Then we stopped into my work to visit a few people who didn't get to see her at the Christmas party. Then, it was off to my parents' house. My mom and I took H. and K&K to Sears for a late Christmas portrait. I thought the girl that helped us was very rude as it pertains to the coupon we were using, but that's a rant for another day. After lunch, we all played outside for a little while, since it was in the 50s for the first day of winter. We got home around 4pm and that's when my real adventure began.

My IP at home is MSN and there was a disc in the mail on Monday to upgrade to MSN 9. When I tried to install it, I kept getting an error message that the .NET Passport system that verifies e-mail addresses and passwords was unavailable, making me assume it was a problem on the part of MSN. So I tried to get online several times last night and at various times throughout the day today. I still kept getting the same message and was starting to get annoyed. So I finally called MSN support. Turns out I didn't have enough memory to install the new version, which is why I was getting the error message. Wouldn't an error message telling me what the real problem was been more helpful? So I reinstalled MSN 9 and it appeared that the installation was a success. But when I went to log on, the sign-in screen was scrambled and I couldn't log in. I tried re-installing and re-starting, but nothing worked. So at 10pm, I called back with my new problem. I was on the phone for over an hour and still couldn't get the problem corrected. Microsoft didn't want to admit that I could have received a bad disc, which I suggested since this was the second problem that I had with it. Finally, after much back and forth and a whole wasted evening, I found my old MSN 8 upgrade disc and loaded that back onto my computer and voila, I'm finally back online!

So after braving the grocery store the day before Christmas Eve and baking two batches of chocolate chip cookies, I'm finally catching up on my journal/blog reading and writing what I thought was a quick entry. (I'm rambling now, but it's after midnight.) And I just realized after dinner that I actually have to go inside Walmart tomorrow! I never withdrew the money I needed for four cash gifts, so I have to do that tomorrow and my bank is inside Walmart. If you don't hear from me by the end of the week, I'm still trying to get out of the parking lot.

Christmas Miscellany

I have eaten enough food in the past two days to last until the New Year. And it's not even Christmas yet! Yesterday we had our department holiday lunch at a local Italian restaurant and eveything was delicious. Then today, everyone on the floor brought in a dish and we ate all day long. I just ate one of the tiramisu brownies I made (a Pampered Chef recipe) and if I do say so myself, they were yummie. There's a few left to take home for Mark.

I'm off work all of next week - YEAH! I'm so looking forward to it, not that it's going to be particularly relaxing - doctor's appt. on Monday, cookie baking on Tuesday, then Christmas Eve at the in-laws and Christmas Day at my parents'. Maybe I'll get to relax on Friday. But being at home also means I'll be on my slow computer, but I'll try to post a few updates and finally fix the Santa pictures. I tried to fix them again last night and I couldn't get them to load. In addition to my scanner saving everything at 100%, it also defaults to bitmap instead of jpeg or tif. Maybe I'll add "read the scanner manual" to my list of things to do while I'm on vacation!

Very Happy Holidays to everyone!

Rest of Weekend

In addition to the Christmas party, we had a pretty busy weekend. As planned, we bought the new entertainment center Friday night, which needs to be put together. There are currently four giant boxes sitting in my family room. Who knows when we'll get to that! Then we had a very nice dinner at the Outback. When we first got there, I went to use the restroom and who was standing there but H's babysitter and her little girl. They were there with some neigbors of theirs. K&K and my younger sister all spent the night. Before leaving for the party on Saturday, M. and I squeezed in a quick trip to get a tree while H. was napping. Then M. stayed home to put up the Christmas lights before the next round of bad weather while we went to the party.

After the party, we headed for my parents' house. We got there around 4pm and my mom said my other sister was coming over around 6pm, so why didn't we all stay and have dinner, then we would have cake for Vanessa's birthday, which was Sunday (the big 3-0)? I hadn't planned on staying there all night. And my sister didn't show up until 6:30, so we didn't get home until 9pm.

Sunday we stayed in since it was snowing/sleeting/raining. We did bring the tree in the house and get it in the stand, but that's it. It needed to fall out some, so I'm going to try to get the lights on it tonight, then decorate it tomorrow. I did finish wrapping most of the presents I had, in addition to getting all of the laundry done and keeping H. entertained all day. I hate it when we can't even go outside for a little while. We all get a little stir crazy.

This week is going to be a busy week. Work is hectic, since most people will be out next week (including me!), and I have errands to run every day at lunch, plus trying to finish up all the decorating and such at home.

Christmas Party

The children's Christmas party through my work on Saturday was fun, if not a little hectic. There were over 130 kids in attendance, not counting the various parents, grandparents, etc. who also attended. The entertainment kept the kids well occupied and the gifts they each received were very nice - definitely not just from the dollar store. H. received the Little People school bus, which she doesn't have, Little K got a Daphne Scooby Doo Barbie and Big K's present was a PDA/radio, which she thought was the coolest thing around.

H. had the typical one-year old reaction to Santa - she screamed her head off as soon as we got near him. But luckily, there was also a Mrs. Claus in attendance and she was fine with her. We weren't able to get a picture of all three of them together, so below are the photos of H. with Mrs. Claus. and K&K with Santa.





Edited 1/1/04 to add photos.

Mouse in the House

I forgot to tell you my mouse story from last night. We usually get a mouse in the house every year when the weather first turns cold. Earlier last week, I thought I heard one and said something to Mark about buying bait. Then, last Saturday when I moved one of the Christmas boxes down in the basement, there was an empty nest made out of insulation (of which Mark quickly disposed). Last night, I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and Mark was in the basement working out. I heard banging, but thought it was just his weights. When he came upstairs he says, "I saw the mouse and tried to catch him, but I lost him."

Around 9pm, I was sitting on the floor in the family room wrapping presents when I saw IT run across the baseboard! My reaction was so stereotypical it almost made me laugh. I actually let out a little squeal and had an overwhelming urge to jump up on the sofa. I called Mark down and we spent a half an hour chasing this thing around the family room (I did more pointing than chasing and tried to stay on the opposite side of the room). After much moving of furniture, including a bookcase, Mark finally caught him by the cellar door. The whole thing just creeped me out. I went back to wrapping presents, buy my eyes kept darting around the room looking for the tiniest bit of movement. I hope this little fella didn't have any friends.

Happy Anniversary

Today is our fifth wedding anniversary. I can hardly believe it's been five years already! So much has happened - a house, a baby. And I don't know how I managed to plan a wedding, get married and go on a honeymoon all right before Christmas. I can barely plan just for Christmas now. I remember getting back from our honeymoon on Dec. 20 and opening all of our wedding gifts, then opening more gifts just a few days later. It all seemed like so much!

So we're going out to dinner tonight, probably to the Outback, but first we're going to purchase my anniversary-slash-Christmas gift - a new entertainment center for the family room. The one we have now is very cheap looking (maybe that's because it was cheap), so I'm excited to have this much nicer piece of real furniture. I guess it's a good thing we didn't get a tree last weekend, since it goes right next to the existing entertainment center and this one is much bigger. Now I can get this set up and decorated, then we can put up the tree sometime this weekend as well. Before or after dinner, we also have to squeeze in a quick trip to Target for my last Angel Tree gift and I want to stop at the Verizon store in the mall and change cellphone plans, since I'm not getting my money's worth right now. Then tomorrow is the children's Christmas party at work and I'm taking H., K&K. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics on Sunday.

Christmas Songs

I thought I'd steal an idea from Melissa and write about some of my favorite Christmas songs. I don't think I can call them Christmas carols, since most of them aren't very traditional. Last year, I stupidly packed all of my Christmas CDs in with the Christmas decorations because I didn't have any room left in my CD rack. Right after Thanksgiving, I was in the mood for Christmas music, but I had no idea which box the CDs were in. I finally found them last weekend when I was decorating.

One of my all-time favorites is Clint Black's "'Til Santa's Gone (Milk and Cookies)." I just think it is the cutest song and very catchy. I get excited every time I hear it on the radio and finally broke down and bought his Christmas CD two years ago.

Keeping with the cookie theme, George Strait and Asleep at the Wheel have a song that I only first heard last year called "Christmas Cookies." I found it on a MCA compilation CD last year and bought it. Another "cute" song (sorry if I sound like Jessica Simpson.)

Another fun song is Alan Jackson's "I Only Want You For Christmas," which is on the "Honky Tonk Christmas" CD. I don't have his newer "Let it Be Christmas" album. I also love Ricochet's version of "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!" Great harmonies - I wish they were still together as a group.

This year, I asked for both the Jackson 5 Christmas album and the Muppets Christmas with John Denver on CD. I have both of these albums as records and Mark makes fun of me every year when I play them, scratches and all. I started my own tradition that I play the Jackson 5 album while we're decorating the tree. I love every song on that CD. And no one can top Miss Piggy singing "5 Golden Riiiiings!"

No list would be complete without Elvis' "Blue Christmas," as well as another one of his that's a favorite of mine - "Santa Claus is Back in Town."

On the more traditional side, Martina McBride's version of "O Holy Night" will blow you away. John Berry's version isn't bad, either. I also like both Kathy Mattea's and Trisha Yearwood's versions of "New Kid in Town," which I would consider a "New Classic" Christmas song. Then, of course, there are the non-country favorites - Bing Crosby's "White Christmas," Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song," and Johnny Mathis' "Sleigh Ride." And as a child of the '80's, no Christmas is complete without hearing "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Finally, I must include what I consider to be the two most depressing Christmas songs ever and I usually turn the radio station when I hear them - Toby Keith's "Santa I'm Right Here" and Elvis' "Mama Loved the Roses."

E-mail me some of your favorites, ones I might be missing out on.

Just in Time

Looks like we bought that 4WD truck just in the nick of time! We were hit with about 4 inches of snow Thursday night into Friday, then another 4 or 5 inches Friday night into Saturday. The drive to and from work Friday was not fun, taking about an hour each way instead of the usual 30 minutes. We were somewhat unprepared, as I realized now that H. is walking, she would need a pair of snow boots. We didn't go anywhere Friday night, but by early Saturday afternoon, our street was plowed and the mail had been delivered. H. took a 3-hour nap Saturday afternoon (and I took a 2-hour one), then we went to the bank and to Walmart for a pair of snow boots (see how long I managed to stay away from Walmart?).

The weather foiled our plans for getting a tree on Saturday and for M. to put up the Christmas lights on Sunday. I finally started decorating the house on Saturday before my nap (I never should have stopped to rest), but it's only about halfway finished. I did get to go shopping on Sunday with BFs Na and Wendy. We went to the outlets in Gettysburg, a trip we take every year for Christmas shopping. I showed amazing constraint in the Old Navy outlet, only buying a red turtleneck, which I planned on buying ahead of time, and a new pair of gloves. The rest of my purchases were Christmas gifts. I now only have one family gift left to buy, plus two gifts for the "Angel Tree" at work and a couple of little things for M. And I need to payoff H's toy layaway some time soon. I'm feeling somewhat caught up after this weekend, but I definitely need to start wrapping the gifts I have and get that out of the way. I off to make a new to-do list.

Abu el Banat

I thought last night's episode of The West Wing was better than others from this season, although no Christmas episode can top Season One's. The episodes are better when the writers work in elements of the characters' personal lives - CJ's dad's illness, Bartlet's relationship with his daughters, etc. - instead of just focusing all on issues. What's going on with Toby's twins and Andi? I'd like to know more about that. It's unrealistic that being a new father would not affect his work in some way.

I think I'm going to start calling my dad "Abu el Banat" - as the father of three daughters and three granddaughters, I'm sure he identified with this episode.

Big, Bad Walmart

I'll admit, I have a love/hate relationship with Walmart. Before we moved into our house 4+ years ago, I never shopped there. Now, I shop there all the time because we live in a small town and it's the only major retailer around without driving 20-30 minutes. They can't be beat on price when buying everyday essentials like toilet paper and diapers, and our local Walmart is a Super Walmart with groceries, too, that are often much cheaper. As much as I shop there, I am also big on supporting local businesses. I do most of my grocery shopping at the family-owned regional grocery chain, especially meat, fruit and other perishables, which I have not found to be of good quality at the Super Walmart. I rent videos from the mom-and-pop store instead of Hollywood Video and we order pizza every weekend from a local shop instead of Domino's or Papa John's.

The whole union labor issue aside, there have been times when I think Walmart is taking advantage of the American public and we all just go along with it. Case-in-point is the cost of baby formula. Hayley used the Infamil Lipil with DHA/AHA, a fairly new formula a year ago. It cost $3.82 a can at my local Walmart. At the Walmart near my parents, about 30 miles away, it cost $3.60/can. We're not talking a nickel here - that's a $0.22 difference. And when, at one point, I was buying up to eight cans a week, that can quickly add up. I finally approached someone in Customer Service at my Walmart with a receipt from the other Walmart about the difference in price. The response was some song-and-dance about how they set prices based on other area stores are charging, etc, etc. Well, two of the local grocery stores in the area didn't even carry this type of Infamil - they were only carrying the "regular" Infamil since the Lipil was still so new. There really wasn't anywhere else I could buy it, and I felt that they were charging as much as they could get away with because they knew that. Still, whenever I went to my parents' house, I would stock up on formula from that Walmart. Either way, they still got over $3 out of me. Like I said, love/hate.

And now, this latest news. I am a big fan of the debit card. It keeps me from charging things on a credit card and helps with budgeting. However, about a year ago, my bank started charging $0.25 for every debit card transaction where you used your pin number, but not on transactions processed as "credit" with your signature. Fine, no problem, I just transact everything as a credit function and it doesn't effect me either way. But now Walmart, where I use my debit card at least two times a week, is going to stop accepting signature-based debit transactions and only accept PIN-based transactions. The company that broke the record less than a week ago with single day sales of $1.52 billion on Black Friday says it's too expensive to process these transactions. Instead, they're going to push that cost back on the consumer.

I wish I could say I would stop shopping at Walmart, but I know that's not true. It's just not possible where we live - they have the monopoly right now and as a family on a budget, it can't be denied. But let Walmart be forewarned that I'll be the gal holding up the check-out line by writing a check instead of using my debit card. Also, it will be interesting to see how this plays out at my local Walmart because my bank is located inside the Walmart, the very same bank that has issued the MasterCard debit card.

Blogging

Please read Evany's entry entitled "the weighting game." It's a wonderful essay on society's perception of what women weigh and what they should weigh. It nice to know I'm not alone out here! I, too, am sick of the coverage of Renee Zellweger and how she has to "beef up" to 135 to play "pudgy" Bridget Jones, who is always struggling with her weight. I couldn't agree more with everything Evany says!

Reading Update

You can add #53 Dead Ringer by Lisa Scottoline (who has a great author's website) and #54 Emma by Jane Austen (from my required reading list) to my list of books read in 2003. Although now I think I'm going to take a little break. I have to return my books to the library this afternoon and I don't think I'm going to check out any new ones, not that I don't have plenty of books on my to-read list sitting on shelves at home. But I'm working on a couple of cross-stitch projects (another hobby), one of which I need to finish before Christmas, plus I need to do all of our Christmas decorating, finish shopping, wrap presents, etc. When am I supposed to have time to read?

Holiday Weekend

Welcome back from the long holiday weekend! Actually, I had to work on Friday and I thought it would be a quiet, slow day, but I never found the time to post. We had a great family Thanksgiving. I did pretty good in the not-overeating-department until dessert, when I had a piece of pumpkin roll and two pieces of pumpkin pie. Hayley ate quite a bit, too, with my dad feeding her cheese and pretzels, then dinner, then she ate a whole piece of pumpkin roll all by herself. She also did all her tricks for everyone and they were all so excited to see her walking.

On Saturday, we bought a new truck. As Mark said, "Our first new vehicle together." We'll probably have to repeat this process next summer by purchasing a minivan. How did we both end up needing new cars at the same time? Mark got a white Silverado 2500 HD with 4WD, which we've been needing for a couple of winters. We live at the bottom of a big hill that was hell last year. So now I'm getting a few new car insurance quotes. I've been wanting to switch companies for awhile since our rates keep increasing every six months, so I figured this was a good excuse for some research.

Sunday was a nice quiet day at home. Hayley took a three-hour nap (and I took one for about a half hour) and we watched the Ravens beat up on San Francisco. It's great that we finally have an offense that's fun to watch. I can't believe they scored 44 points in back-to-back games. Next week's game vs. Cincinnati for first place in the division should be awesome!