Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Vote for Us!

I'm so over the presidential primaries! Let's vote on something that really matters - like cute kids!

Go here to vote for MG and here to vote for Claire!

I don't ask for much, but winning a trip to NYC sure would be nice. Vote early and often! Pretend you're a Chicagoan and vote multiple times!

(you can enter your kids in the cover model contest at Parents.com, but they don't stand a chance against mine!!)



Edited to add: You have to click the stars (5, of course!) and the up arrow (recommend) on each photo to make it count. The kid in the lead only has 31 votes, 16 "recommends," and 2 stars. We can totally take him!

No, I'm not at all competitive, why do you ask?

Stu... Stu... Studious! Woah-oh!




PS - Happy late b-day Uncle Stu!
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Music

For about 20 minutes in 1992, I was cool. And I had another 15 minutes in 1994 when I wasn't a complete dork. I used to like bands like Barenaked Ladies, They Might Be Giants, and artists like Sarah McLachlan. I still do. Fortunately, these bands' members have become parents along the way, too, and they're doing children's albums.

Exhibit A: Sarah McLachlan

1990s - Songs About Heroin



Today - Songs By Frogs



Exhibit B: They Might Be Giants

1990s - Songs about Science that could Only be Appreciated and Understood by People on Mind-Altering Substances



Today - Songs about Geography, No Chemicals Required



And, perhaps most shocking, Exhibit C - Barenaked Ladies.

1990s - Songs about Shoplifting



1990s - Songs about Love



1990s - Songs about Money



Today - Songs about Letters



Today - Songs about Numbers



Today - Songs about Snacks



On second thought, maybe things aren't as different now as I thought.

BJ is waiting for Nine Inch Nails to come out with a bedtime album. Heeeee...

A Pocket Full of Snot

Both of the girlies are drippy. Drippy noses, drippy eyes. I have mopped both of them off more times than I care to think about, and then I stick the dirty Kleenexes in my pocket (where else am I going to put them? I don't want to wear a path in the floor between here and the trash!), so now I have a pocket full of disease.

Doesn't that sound appetizing?

We are on our third or fourth viewing of Cinderella for the day. I figure if I can't take them out and run them around, at least I can placate them with Disney. They're not just in there vegging, they're playing with their toys, too. So it's not bad, right? Right??

If I look only at the laptop screen, I can't see the disaster area that is my house. It's all a matter of focus.

Claire is running around babbling, and I swear she just said, "Toga! Toga! Toga!!" I'd better go.

Any flooring contractors want to come bail us out for some free advertising on my blog?

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Home Away From Home

Saint BJ decided to lay the new tile in our kitchen (remember, the tile we bought like 2000 years ago? I'm sure I blogged about it when it happened, that BJ tried to change a lightbulb and found that the fixture was rusting inside so we called a plumber because we thought the upstairs faucet was leaking but he said that the ticking noise was just the hot water pipe expanding so then we figured it rusted because our dryer vent was leaking and our friend Jim came over and helped us knock a bunch of holes in the wall to find the place where the vent was busted, fix the vent, replace the fixture, and eat Mexican food, and then we had to repaint to cover the drywall patches, and oh did I mention that when BJ moved the fridge out to get to the part of the wall the dryer vent calls home he put giant gouges into the linoleum/vinyl/whatever ugly floor that I've hated since we moved in? Hence how a lightbulb change became a kitchen remodel.)

So, since you're not allowed to walk on the kitchen floor while it is covered with wet self-leveling concrete (which, it turns out, does not level itself), nor while it is covered with new tile, I decided to take the girlies to Grammaland so he could work on the floor without little footprints getting all over it.

That was Friday. We spent Friday night at Gramma Denna's, then Saturday night at Mimi's, and Sunday night at Aunt Kathryn's. We started to feel a little homeless, especially when my cell phone battery died and I didn't have enough car charger juice to get it going again. No, of course I didn't take my charger for my phone, or my iPod, or my camera, so there were no tunes and no photographic evidence of our trip north. I have learned that I would suck at being a pioneer, because 24 hours without my gadgets and I start to get a little twitchy. It wasn't pretty, so in spite of the fact that my kitchen is currently in my dining room, and my new tile floor is currently made of self-unleveling concrete, we had to come home. We were also out of diapers and clean clothes. And MG has a cold. And Claire's teething. And I am never leaving home without my laptop again. All three of us were uncomfortable.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad trip. We scammed several excellent meals, lots of hand me down toys and books, and got to visit with lots of the fam. But it's really exhausting to have two small kids out of their own environment and their schedule. I didn't realize how much of a routine we're actually in, until I got out of it. Everyone gets cranky when the routine gets hosed up. Especially me.

I came home to more than a little chaos. My stove is in the dining room, along with my fridge. However, I have a new dishwasher! I'm not sure what BJ did to the old one, but I didn't ask. Our anniversary is the 26th, so it is our anniversary gift! Yay!

Speaking of anniversaries, I've been blogging for one year today. Since only five of you entered my giveaway, I think I'll go ahead and make a silhouette for each of you. Please give me a few days to get my act together. E-mail me a digital picture of your kid(s) in profile, and I'll get to work on them ASAP.

Claire's screaming, I have to go figure out why. More later!