I'm going to a swanky, hip party in the city tonight. I will try to look cool and not so suburban-baseball-soccer momish...but it is getting harder and harder these days to do that. I have a grown up babysitter so I don't have to bug out early. I just hope I don't get too tired and have my yawning give me away.
It should be good people watching and great food...which really, are 2 of the only reasons I bother schlepping my butt downtown these days. The lack of parking, horrid traffic and crowds generally make me cranky. Then I feel old...and that defeats the whole purpose of a new dress and a swanky party, right?
Stay tuned...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
LOL....advertising...
I love how everytime I mention something it pops up in one of my ad banners below or on the side bar: schooling stuff, OCD ads, McDonald's, Oreos...too funny. Let's try something:
dinosaurs
puppy chow
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
Crocs
Q-Tips
mint leaves and thyme
Let's see what happens now!!.
dinosaurs
puppy chow
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
Crocs
Q-Tips
mint leaves and thyme
Let's see what happens now!!
Stuff I Can't Get Rid of and Why:
As I may have mentioned before I do not like change. Blah, blah, blah...yes, some people LOVE it and clearly I'm a narrow minded, repressed ninny since I don't believe in a lot of change. Whatever...But there are reasons I keep some things around, really!!
1. I might need it...I have a lot of old paperwork and notes and files. But I might need to look something up at some point. Plus, a lot of that stuff is union information from work. What if I need to look up a precedent or something? And as the years go on I am almost the keeper of the history...people keep retiring, or dying or going insane and stuff...
2. Let's Make a Deal syndrome...I am the one at baseball games who has the school buzz book, or a bandaid or a safety pin or a 15 inch length piece of woolen yarn. If I made a habit out of cleaning out my purse I might miss out on some McGyver life-saving moment.
3. Some clothes....You might need it! I mean, I got rid of my black leggings from college about 2 years ago and guess what? LEGGINGS ARE BACK IN! WTF? And I am not kidding, in one of my fashion magazines last week I saw that acid washed jeans are back in. See? If I hadn't have listened to serial closet cleaners I'd be all over the fashion scene to this day!
4. Pictures...I think it is some religious doctrine, right? You can't throw away an image or someone loses their soul? I might not be religious, but I ain't stupid either!
5. Books...I HATE getting rid of books. I sold a bunch on Amazon a couple of years ago, big pain. Now there is this second hand place near me (actually it is called "Second Hand Books"...how original) where I sold some books. The double bind here being that when I sold mine I bought more...for OUTRAGEOUSLY low prices. Who can pass that up??
6.Bills...This goes back up to #1. I might need to know how much I paid each month for electricity in 1998...really. I don't know why, but I might. Stranger things have happened.
7. Kids' work from school...I'm a teacher, it takes time and effort to plan meaningful activities that teach. And as a parent, when the boys are older and they will barely grunt mono-syllabic answers in my general direction I can look at their cute stories from grade school and remember when they loved me and weren't afraid to say so!!
8. For the future...One day, when I become famous (see former lists) I will need all of this documentation and crap for my biographer to get a good picture of who I am. Because you know, talking about myself is really hard for me to do. ;-)
I know that some of you are shaking your heads and thinking, "Oh, she's making excuses, she's rationalizing her hoarding and obsessive behavior." Well, no I am not! You can think what you want but next time you are on a scavenger hunt and you need a 6 year old water bill and a Polaroid photo of my sister when she was 6 crossing her eyes, you know where to come.So there!
1. I might need it...I have a lot of old paperwork and notes and files. But I might need to look something up at some point. Plus, a lot of that stuff is union information from work. What if I need to look up a precedent or something? And as the years go on I am almost the keeper of the history...people keep retiring, or dying or going insane and stuff...
2. Let's Make a Deal syndrome...I am the one at baseball games who has the school buzz book, or a bandaid or a safety pin or a 15 inch length piece of woolen yarn. If I made a habit out of cleaning out my purse I might miss out on some McGyver life-saving moment.
3. Some clothes....You might need it! I mean, I got rid of my black leggings from college about 2 years ago and guess what? LEGGINGS ARE BACK IN! WTF? And I am not kidding, in one of my fashion magazines last week I saw that acid washed jeans are back in. See? If I hadn't have listened to serial closet cleaners I'd be all over the fashion scene to this day!
4. Pictures...I think it is some religious doctrine, right? You can't throw away an image or someone loses their soul? I might not be religious, but I ain't stupid either!
5. Books...I HATE getting rid of books. I sold a bunch on Amazon a couple of years ago, big pain. Now there is this second hand place near me (actually it is called "Second Hand Books"...how original) where I sold some books. The double bind here being that when I sold mine I bought more...for OUTRAGEOUSLY low prices. Who can pass that up??
6.Bills...This goes back up to #1. I might need to know how much I paid each month for electricity in 1998...really. I don't know why, but I might. Stranger things have happened.
7. Kids' work from school...I'm a teacher, it takes time and effort to plan meaningful activities that teach. And as a parent, when the boys are older and they will barely grunt mono-syllabic answers in my general direction I can look at their cute stories from grade school and remember when they loved me and weren't afraid to say so!!
8. For the future...One day, when I become famous (see former lists) I will need all of this documentation and crap for my biographer to get a good picture of who I am. Because you know, talking about myself is really hard for me to do. ;-)
I know that some of you are shaking your heads and thinking, "Oh, she's making excuses, she's rationalizing her hoarding and obsessive behavior." Well, no I am not! You can think what you want but next time you are on a scavenger hunt and you need a 6 year old water bill and a Polaroid photo of my sister when she was 6 crossing her eyes, you know where to come.So there!
Swine Flu...
So bird flu had me upset enough in the past. I hate birds (perhaps I've mentioned that). And the idea that not only can they swoop down at any given moment and peck my eyes out, but now they could transfer some deadly virus to me or my progeny...well, forget it! All birds are evil!!
But now we have pigs to fear as well? And yes, I know that at this point it is human-human transfer that is the issue, but still...This is stressing me out. Who even knew we had a pandemic alert system (which apparently we are on some level that is scary and higher than normal)?
I'm feeling like I used to right after my first child was born. Parents know this feeling, right? The feeling that, "I have brought this new person into the world and now look at all the things I have to worry about protecting him from!!" The list is endless and terrifying. It is enough to make anyone OCD...or at least a heavy drinker and peruser of new reports and updates late into the night.
Hmmm...let's list all the bizarre things I can't control that could kill me or the kids at any time:
1. SARs
2. Bird flu
3. Swine flu
4. Tornadoes/earthquakes and other natural disasters (although the chance of a tidal wave in Chicago is pretty slim...phew!!)
5. E coli
6. various other horrid diseases, contagious or not
7. And of course, terrorists and car accidents....of course these 2 are not necessarily related but both are on the news all the time.
Why do I watch the news? It just stresses me out...But more importantly, can I still have bacon on my baked potato at lunch today??
But now we have pigs to fear as well? And yes, I know that at this point it is human-human transfer that is the issue, but still...This is stressing me out. Who even knew we had a pandemic alert system (which apparently we are on some level that is scary and higher than normal)?
I'm feeling like I used to right after my first child was born. Parents know this feeling, right? The feeling that, "I have brought this new person into the world and now look at all the things I have to worry about protecting him from!!" The list is endless and terrifying. It is enough to make anyone OCD...or at least a heavy drinker and peruser of new reports and updates late into the night.
Hmmm...let's list all the bizarre things I can't control that could kill me or the kids at any time:
1. SARs
2. Bird flu
3. Swine flu
4. Tornadoes/earthquakes and other natural disasters (although the chance of a tidal wave in Chicago is pretty slim...phew!!)
5. E coli
6. various other horrid diseases, contagious or not
7. And of course, terrorists and car accidents....of course these 2 are not necessarily related but both are on the news all the time.
Why do I watch the news? It just stresses me out...But more importantly, can I still have bacon on my baked potato at lunch today??
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Breaking my baby's heart...(maybe)
So, my younger son tried out for "travel" baseball last night. Gossiply speaking, baseball in my very upper middle class 'burb is QUITE political. We don't play that "game", my husband and I and my wonderful son is an average athlete. But there was no dissuading him from trying out. And I DO admire him for going for it, but will that be enough if he gets his heart broken?
Oy, I don't like this part of parenting. It is hard enough to be the "little brother". (To a brother who plays travel soccer and does it very well.) This younger boy of mine (aka "The Ryder") has a heart of gold and makes me laugh everday. All my most quotable quotes are from this boy! ("Wheelchairs can kill you!"; "Rich kids usually wear glasses."; "Jesus died on the potty.") I can't stop him from perhaps being disappointed on Friday when the teams are named...but I don't have to like it, right?
The bright spot being that a new video game will most likely stop any tears (his, not mine)...and of course if he does make a team I will have 15,000 new things to write about.
Oy, I don't like this part of parenting. It is hard enough to be the "little brother". (To a brother who plays travel soccer and does it very well.) This younger boy of mine (aka "The Ryder") has a heart of gold and makes me laugh everday. All my most quotable quotes are from this boy! ("Wheelchairs can kill you!"; "Rich kids usually wear glasses."; "Jesus died on the potty.") I can't stop him from perhaps being disappointed on Friday when the teams are named...but I don't have to like it, right?
The bright spot being that a new video game will most likely stop any tears (his, not mine)...and of course if he does make a team I will have 15,000 new things to write about.
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