Hark! What Ails You?

Sayonara 2008

2008-12-31T20:24:00.005-05:00

The boy is ready for the New Year. We thought we'd have a fun New Year's Eve-eve in NYC. Of course, when in Times Square with an 8 year old, you are obligated to buy this kind of thing, even if you consider yourself a local. We also had fun watching the ball take a test run:

Happy New Year wherever you are and remember, it's got to get better - there are babies waiting to be born (shout-out to Dana & Debbie & Luca & Baby New Year, as well as the Satran Family) new friends to be made (that would be YOU Nicole), new opportunities to be had (can we get a huzzah for full-time employment WITHIN your field for BOTH adults in the household?), and above all, life to live.

I wouldn't have it any other way -

The Omnivore's 100

2008-08-29T23:39:00.003-04:00

I saw this on a blog I read and thought it would be fun to list :-) I'm such a sucker for lists!

The rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Score: Them-3 , Me -0

2008-08-24T22:50:00.002-04:00

It's been a while, and I know there's an awful lot of updating needed, but here are today's gems:

Griffin: "mumble, mumble, abaho"
Me "What did you say?"
Daniel "He said 'abaho'"
Me: "Griffin, what does that mean in Spanish?"
Griffin: "down"
Me: "Very good! Now how do you say "I want to get down" in Spanish?"
Griffin: " 'Please?' "

That's what you get for trying to egg on a 3 year old.

Also, to explain the title, my left hand is fearing for its safety right now. Last week I thought I broke my left foot after smashing it into the metal safety gate at the top of the stairs (just a bad sprain, thankyouverymuch). Last night I was noticing that now my right foot is feeling funny and noticed that two of my middle toes are doing something wonky - to be revisited when health insurance becomes effective Sept 1. And today, while running a reluctant 3 year old to the bathroom in Kohls (which proved to be futile, as said child pooped his pants 3 hours later in the Asian bistro), I wacked my free hand against a metal display rack and now my right thumb has an unusual lump and I can't bend it. Again, hopefully this can wait until the health insurance kicks in.

So, I get home, bathe my 2 filthy offspring and read them a book, as all nice mothers do. Aforementioned 3 year old menace doesn't approve of my second selection (Diary of a Worm) and lets me know it by clocking me in the face with the first selection (In the Night Kitchen aka "look - he's nakey!")

So, if you are keeping score, you know I am not bringing home the gold anytime soon...

Just in case you were wondering...

2008-05-03T23:10:00.002-04:00

Daniel found this under the sofa cushions while looking for the remote. How can you punish something this funny?

Daylight Savings is Costing Me...

2008-03-09T23:08:00.003-04:00

TIME - um, maybe not
MONEY - true, I did have extra time to shop today
SLEEP - that's it!

Thank goodness this madness begins on a weekend, because I seriously needed some extra sleep this morning!! I've been trying all day to get my schedule on this phony-baloney time change and all I can say is that tomorrow had better go smoother than today!

Griffin went down for his nap around 1:20, but in all fairness, he was on time for his 12:30 nap - I think - I'm so tired I forget if we spring forward or back. It could also be the cruel and lasting trickery of my stepfather Al, who wickedly convinced a co-worker who was responsible for resetting clocks throughout the office that we "sping back" and "fall forward". Needless to say, no one was on time that Monday...

But what I really DON'T like about having Daylight Savings so early is that I am cheated. Now I will think spring is just around the corner and feel like I have to buy all sorts of things like capri pants and jellybeans and garden tools - oh wait, I DO need the jellybeans! Turns out, while they were at it with Daylight Savings, the person in charge of Easter pulled a fast one on me too!

This is going to be the longest winter ever...

Summertime...

2007-08-12T00:15:00.000-04:00

is here - and I've done diddley-squat.
Have I planned any activities for my wards?
Have I done anything to ensure chaos does not reign now that camp is over?
...
Isn't there something like a three strikes rule in parenting?
What I really desire is for someone to entertain ME!
I want to be my kids for just one day.

I'll get up and whine for waffles or sausages or say "MILK MILK MILK MILK" over and over in a monotone until I get what I want. (Dear Griffin, I do appreciate that you say "tank yoo mommy" when you finally do get what you want, but do you really need to torture me along the way? Love, Mommy)
Then I'll run away, as fast as my legs will carry me and leave my mess behind. Maybe I'll use the couch as a napkin, but then again, the rug is just fine too.

I'll make someone play my shows over and over, and then jump on top of them when they have the NERVE to try to read a magazine or the newspaper with the arm I am not laying on top of. Then, when they think I'm finally watching, I will start playing with something else, preferably with small, choke able pieces! Yeah!

I will whine "when can I get something?" whenever I get within 100 yards of an insitution of consumerism. If my adult DARES look at an item of clothing, I will shriek "NO NO NO!" or else dive under the clothing racks, ripping down a good quantity of merchandise with me - and totally ignoring that it's happened.

I will refuse to nap, even though I am irrational and rubbing my eyes...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I'll eat 2 bites of my meticulously (ah, who am I kidding - microwaved) dinner and say "can I have dessert?"

Then I will insist on "GLUE" for my art projects and ask over and over "can I go on the computer?" until the adults cave in. Then I'll play the loudest, most advertising filled games on the internet, surely loaded with all sorts of malicious programs (and we wonder why the computer makes so many weird noises these days). I'll also attempt to answer registration questions that I can't really read, and will spell inventively when answering.

Finally, I can be carried up to my bed, and man, the heck with bladder control! Just slap that diaper on and I'll be laying in my cage, living the good life. Or, if I am more like Griffin, trying to stall with 4 or 5 books, then "WATER WATER WATER WATER" and "BINKYBINKYBINKYBINKY" until I get both of those.

What a day - it's 8:30 PM, and the day is done. I'm so glad I am getting 10 hours of sleep! It allows me to bound out of bed, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to great the day at 6:30 AM!! Rise and shine for another FUN DAY!!

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE!!!!!!!

Be glad your name is not Tom Riddle...

2007-08-01T16:07:00.000-04:00

Real Harry Potter weathers Pottermania

Wed Aug 1, 10:14 AM ET

Sometimes it's a hassle being Harry Potter.

Especially when you're a 78-year-old man who happens to share the name of a certain fictional boy wizard who is famous the world over.

Each time a new Harry Potter book or movie comes out, Bradenton resident Harry Potter starts getting phone calls from children, interview requests from the TV networks and autograph requests.

"The kids want to know if I'm Harry Potter," he said with a chuckle. "I tell them I've been Harry Potter for darn near 80 years!"

The real Harry Potter said he hasn't had time to read any of the J.K. Rowling books or see the five hit movies. But late night crank calls aside, the retired Defense Department employee from Zaleski, Ohio, gets his mileage out of Pottermania.

"When Harry talks to the kids, they'll ask about the owl and he'll say, 'Oh, he came by and brought the mail,'" said his wife, Jan. "Then, when they're done, the mothers come on and say thank you for talking to the kids. He gets a big kick out of it."

But meeting a real Harry Potter can be a little puzzling for the kids.

"They look at you, give you the once-over," he said, laughing. "They can't relate the one in the book to the one they see here. I guess I could buy me a pair of Harry Potter glasses."

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Mae Mae MeMe

2007-07-08T23:59:00.000-04:00

Shameful meme copying - but I have to give Mim all the credit for this one!

Scattergories

Instructions: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following…They MUST be real places, names, things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Mae

Famous Artist/Band/Musician: .... Marley, Bob?

4 letter word: Muck

Vehicle: Motorcycle

TV Show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (sad, I know)

City: Memphis

Boy Name: Marcus

Girl Name: Marlie

Alcoholic drink: Margarita

Occupation: Milkman

Flower: Moon flower

Something you wear: Mittens

Celebrity: Martha Stewart

Something found in a kitchen: milk

Cartoon Character: Mickey Mouse

Something You Shout: Move it! - For sure!

Shameless CTRL + C...

2007-04-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

My friend Laura had a great list on her website - thought I should see what I can claim to have read... All I can say is I'm definatly up to date on my Harry Potter :-)

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

STOP GROWING - RIGHT THIS INSTANT, YOUNG MAN!

2007-02-01T23:27:00.000-05:00

Bittersweet - that's my word of the day.
Griffin is so stinkin' cute right now - he chatters away in this babble only he can understand - and I occasionally figure out a word here and there, which he emphatically says "yah!" to. Today, we had a nice conversation over a late lunch that consisted of honey roasted Peanut Butter and grape jelly sandwiches on whole wheat bread (doesn't the whole wheat bread redeem me?) He was munching away, shaking his head yes and no, and calling "Bob-oh!" which is his version of "Cozmo".
I actually got a video of it, I'll have to post it later. Why can't they stay at this cute stage? I know it will be gone in a flash, and we'll be back to civil disobedience mode soon enough. But, if I could freeze this moment I would...

Hudson is a at a great stage too. All of a sudden he is writing up a storm - and I love all the inventive spelling. He has a few words he knows, and he also has a "word book" we made of all the words he wants to know how to spell - we write them in there for him to refer too. We get great letters on a daily basis, and his schoolwork comes home with translation. I love the fact he is trying to express himself independently. That feeling of motherly pride just wells up behind my eyes and in my throat - my baby is on his way to becoming a reader. I can't wait - I have so much I want to share with him.

We are also waiting for 2 teeth to come out - they are so wobbly, it's time for the sting and doorknob trick. I've even appealed to his greedy side and told him if they come out by Dad's birthday (this Sunday) I will give him 10 bucks for his Nintendo fund... you should have seen his eyes - a dollar is miraculous, but 10 sent him over the edge! I am hoping they come out soon - the adult teeth have already come through behind and are pushing the baby teeth all over the place. Any tips on getting the baby teeth out, I would definitely appreciate it!

I'll add photos later...

It was bound to happen....

2007-01-02T20:35:00.000-05:00

I'm surprised that it wasn't sooner!!

CNN apologizes for mistaken headline

Tue Jan 2, 4:10 PM ET

NEW YORK - CNN apologized Tuesday for mistakenly promoting a story on the search for Osama bin Laden with the headline "Where's Obama?"

A spokesman for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said the apology was accepted.

The blunder came Monday evening on Wolf Blitzer's news show "The Situation Room." Both Soledad O'Brien and Blitzer offered separate apologies during CNN's morning show Tuesday.

CNN called it a "bad typographical error" by its graphics department.

"We want to apologize for that bad typo," Blitzer said. "We also want to apologize personally to Sen. Barack Obama. I'm going to be making a call to him later this morning to offer my personal apology."

Tommy Vieto, Obama's press secretary, said he appreciated the bloggers and activists who brought the error to light so quickly and helped make sure it was corrected.

"Though I'd note that the `s' and `b' keys aren't all that close to each other, I assume it was just an unfortunate mistake, and don't think there was any truly malicious intent," Vieto said.

To Lower Your Stress, Get a Cat

2006-12-28T14:34:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is the fortune I received while sitting in the 7th ring of Hell with my two children tearing up a Chinese restaurant like they were on a mission. All I could do was look at Daniel and laugh...

Another Day, Another Phone Call to Poison Control...

2006-12-28T14:26:00.000-05:00

Griffin is certainly getting a reputation. In under 1 minute last night he got into the kitchen, opened the dishwasher, unscrewed the rinse agent dispenser and starting sucking on the insert! I saw Jet Dry Green Apple dribbled to and fro on the dishwasher lid and FREAKED out. We called our friends at the Mr. Yuk number (1-800-336-6997 for those in the Hudson Valley Area) and they assured us it was just detergent and that he should be fine, give him some water and keep him up for at least 30 minutes. Well, now you know.

How big is Griffin? SO BIG!!!!!!!

2006-05-10T00:29:00.000-04:00

Man, that first birthday is coming right at me like a ..... I don't know what. One of the famous man-goring bulls of Pamplona? An Amtrak train ready to derail? Giant boulder rolling down large hill? Anway you slice it, it's coming and nothing is going to stop it. I can't belive my sweet babu is a whole year old! Things have gotten much better since my last recorded rant - he is sleeping for longer stretches in his crib, but I do tend to cave when he wakes up around 4:30 AM - I just don't have the alertness required to get him back to sleep at that hour.

He has 7 teeth (number 8 is right around the corner) and does all sorts of cute parlor tricks, like waving, clapping hands, shaking his head "no" when you nod "yes" and as of today, had added "so big!" to his repetoire.

Can I just press pause on this age for a little while? Pretty please??

The Crying Game - no, not THAT one!

2006-02-20T22:50:00.000-05:00

I have a child who refuses to sleep.

I guess it's karma, payback or whatever they call it. I was a little insomniac, up to all hours of the night, but I sure as heck wasn't wailing like someone was sticking me with a pin.

I can honestly say I have been a pushover with Griffin, much more than with Hudson. I think this time it's all about the fact that they share a room and I don't want him to wake Hudson up. So I really don't let him cry too much, I run in there and rescue him and bring him into our bed - and now he expects it. I guess I made my own monster here - and I really don't have a terrible problem with it, most of the time. But when I want to be on the computer or just doing my own thing once I've finally got both kids in bed, I am just fed up to here with the crying!! As a matter of fact, he's screaming right now as I write this. I've been upstairs about 5 times in the last half hour and all he will do is writhe around in his crib and hold my hand/push it away/ hold it close / push it away - you get the picture. And is he tenacious - oh yes, that is a good word to describe my little Gemini with the lungs of steel. He can - and will - cry for what he wants. He WANTS to be in my bed, laying on the body pillow down the middle with my boob in his mouth. I am trying to convince him otherwise - anybody want to bet on what time I will cave?
12 AM?
1 AM?

ugh - I feel like such a freakin' pushover. I want to let him "cry it out" but it breaks my heart to hear him cry. On the other hand, I am with him 24-7 - I get about 30 minutes of "me" time a day it feels like, and now he's decided to cry hysterically through it because I am not holding him in my arms and wrapping my body around him - I feel like John Lennon in that famous Annie Lebovitz photo. I've developed carpal tunnel from holding/nursing/feeding him and wake up with numb hands every morning. I can't wear my braces when he's in bed with me, as I fear I'll clock him good in my sleep. So, I spoon with him and wake up stiff and with club-like hands that I whack against the bed to get a bit of feelig back again.

It's amazing how the words flow when you are sleep deprived...

What a difference 18 months can make...

2006-02-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

Fast forward to February 2006.

Add one more child to the mix (Griffin, born June 2005) and make me a now stay at home mom.
It's a different life, for sure, but a great one. I love being home with my kids - I think I knew I needed a break from corporate America, and it sure was true. Don't get me wrong, it's not all bon bons and champagne - the house looks like a cyclone has blown through, the laundry and dishes are my constant companions, but I wouldn't trade this right now. Hudson is at a great age (5 years) and Griffin is now 8 months. I am enjoying both of them for exactly who they are at the moment - and trying to occasionally enjoy being *me* (Fridays only from 8:30 - 9:00 PM).

Bottom line - the pay stinks, but the benefits are amazing!!

Groped by Col. Sanders

2004-09-01T11:39:00.000-04:00

What a way to start out a week, eh?

The Republicans have landed and yet we go into NYC- are we crazy!
But Holly had some free tickets to an off-Broadway show her friend is in (Menapause, the Musical - it was a hoot!) and you can't beat that!

At the show, we are markedly the youngest in the audience (everyone else appears to relate to the subject matter very well). But hey, it's a good show - I never knew you could write so many song parodies about menopause, but they pulled it off! I jokingly recommended "Pregnancy - the Musical" as a follow-up; having experienced *that* first hand, it sounds a lot like the big change, but at least there is an end in site!

After the show, we head two blocks over (89th ?) and stop in some bar to have a drink.
Mind you, we are 3 moms from Westchester out on a Tuesday night - one drink is probably it for us! I sit down, order my yummy Mojito and lo and behold - Schwarzenegger is on the telly. Great - just give me alcohol and fodder for ranting and raving....
On my right is an older gent in a white suit - a Col. Sanders, sans the facial hair (heck, the only similarities are the white suit and age - don't know why I named him C.S. in retrospect) agreeing with all my ranting and raving about the Bush twins and their dumb, scripted remarks, trying to pat my back as often as he can. Recognizing a potential Johnny FeelGood, I ease out of conversation distance and go back to my friends, who imform me that he spent the rest of the evening staring, trying to make eye contact. Lucky me, I get all the crazy ones!

As we get up to pile in the minivan for the ride home, I wave goodbye - but too late! He's already over and HUGGING me like a long-lost uncle! Hmm, his hands appear to wander around to the front of my chest - good lord!!!!! I shove him away, smile and run! So much for a quiet Tuesday night - of course my friends caught it all and now we can have a good laugh thinking of that KFC patriarch!

Lesson Learned: Just because they *LOOK* old and sweet, doesn't mean they are!