I don't know if you know this or not, but talk radio is pretty right wing. Today I was listening to them say that being "green" does nothing for the earth. There are some studies to support the fact that some people do a little green to appease their consciences and have a "larger footprint" than people who do nothing. This is akin to the dieter who walks around the block to make up for two bags of M&M's. But to say that it is better to do nothing is a little crazy, and again normal doesn't sell ad time.
Their main contention this morning was compact fluorescent bulbs. They contain mercury, and in ten years when we all start throwing those bulbs into the landfill the mercury will leech out and kill us all. Turns out they do contain mercury. Turns out there are special disposal instructions, but rather than spending our energies educating let's whine and cry that the hippies are ruining our lives.
You may or may not remember twenty years ago the whole "recycling" of plastic shopping bags was nothing more than a warehouse in Wisconsin that was storing them until an affordable technology became available. Now they make everything out of plastic shopping bags, even decks. Warehouse guy is probably making some good money these days.....
I don't even use plastic bags anymore, not a matter of greenness or not, it was that they were taking over my life. I'm quite certain our shopping habits generated 50 or so shopping bags per week. Bags which I could not bear to throw out, because I'd like to be green, 100's of bags that hung out in my laundry room waiting for a better idea. We use them for liners in our little trash cans, for stinky diapers, in the shredder and whatever else we can come up with, but there came a point, where we would never overcome the deficit unless we just plain stopped. I in my former residence would use my own shopping bags, but when we moved here "green" was not big, it wasn't born or even conceived, it didn't exist. Even the whole food store gave us the option of plastic or plastic. I tried several times to bring my own bags, I got one of three results....
1: they'd ask for a price check
2: they'd put my groceries into a plastic bag before placing it in my own bag.
3: they'd wad my bags up and put them in plastic bags.
For the sake of my criminal record, I chose to use plastic rather than strangle those who lacked sufficient gray matter. Until my laundry room looked like a warehouse in Wisconsin.
So, late last year I bought one of those rolling file carts at Office Depot and leave it in the back of my car, throughout the day I take my cute little bags to the stores I visit, put in my one or two items, and deposit them into the file box in the bag of my car. When I'm done shopping at ten different places, I have one box to take in, and zero plastic. I may not single handedly save the planet, but I've saved the laundry room 500 bags.
I doubt my family will ever get to the point that we are so green we're "freegans" but we're trying to have tiny little footprints. We buy high quality stuff that won't need to be replaced next week, we recycle what we can, when we can. We use reusable products rather than disposable, we use plastic containers rather than plastic bags. Our furniture is at best second hand. And when the day comes that our compact fluorescents should die, unless the hippies have taken our computers, I will Google "proper disposal of compact fluorescents" and have faith that someone has come up with a money making solution to the problem by them. They always do.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
...my new favorite picture.
It is not my favorite because it is me and hubby still holding hands after eleven years, although that is very nice. I'm very blessed. It's my favorite because it was taken by my daughter. It gives some insight into her world. Until I saw this photo I figured she only saw us as the annoying people paying her bills. It's nice to see that she appreciates us being us, even thought she'd totally deny it and hates being around us.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
..I was amused, proud, scared.
OK. Every parent has gone through the whole negotiating with a toddler thing. It actually doesn't end when they hit school, it just becomes different. If you've watched even one episode of Supernanny or a Dr. Phil parenting tip show you know that there are no exceptions to the rule....Never negotiate with a toddler.
So, as a parent of many, for almost eighteen years I had thought I'd heard it all.
I need a drink.
I need to pee.
I need to poop.
I need some extra love.
I'm going to barf.
I need to do laundry.
I need something signed.
I forgot......
That is until today. I am not a morning person. It has never been a stated rule, but people have figured out that you don't talk to mom until she's had a hot shower and a cold coke. Well, along with a broken water heater, I was just in a lousy mood this morning. We were on our way to church and a song that was annoying me came on and I turned off the radio. This did not sit well with the maestros in the back seat. I told them, no we were not turning it on. Period.
Of course little middle boy decided that he would argue the point. And what came out of his mouth amused me, I took great pride in his thought process and I became frightened for my future. Thankfully, his criminal genius is currently limited by his three year old brain. But if he can negotiate like this as a three year old, what is in store for us?
Before I go on, let me tell you. There is very little negotiating in our house. The offers are lobbied but are not often received. I will give thought to poop and barf. Other than that, you must deal with whatever it is on your own. Now little middle is still not our "real boy" so there are special exceptions that we must consider or face consequences from the state. So, if you hear about us on the news it is because we ignored this cry for help.
....but my heart stopped beeping.
So, as a parent of many, for almost eighteen years I had thought I'd heard it all.
I need a drink.
I need to pee.
I need to poop.
I need some extra love.
I'm going to barf.
I need to do laundry.
I need something signed.
I forgot......
That is until today. I am not a morning person. It has never been a stated rule, but people have figured out that you don't talk to mom until she's had a hot shower and a cold coke. Well, along with a broken water heater, I was just in a lousy mood this morning. We were on our way to church and a song that was annoying me came on and I turned off the radio. This did not sit well with the maestros in the back seat. I told them, no we were not turning it on. Period.
Of course little middle boy decided that he would argue the point. And what came out of his mouth amused me, I took great pride in his thought process and I became frightened for my future. Thankfully, his criminal genius is currently limited by his three year old brain. But if he can negotiate like this as a three year old, what is in store for us?
Before I go on, let me tell you. There is very little negotiating in our house. The offers are lobbied but are not often received. I will give thought to poop and barf. Other than that, you must deal with whatever it is on your own. Now little middle is still not our "real boy" so there are special exceptions that we must consider or face consequences from the state. So, if you hear about us on the news it is because we ignored this cry for help.
....but my heart stopped beeping.
Monday, January 21, 2008
...uh duh
So, it was the twins birthday yesterday, they turned three, guess how many candles I put on the cake. Two. Luckily they will not be scarred for life, from that anyway. There is no photographic evidence. More proof that I'm a horrible parent all the way around.
Yesterday our pastor encouraged us to look for the good in things. So, the good is that age is only a number. I have the mental image, and the fruit was a major component of the cake. I'm awesome.
I'm hoping the terrible two's are but a memory. And that that season of my life is over. If the past three years haven't cured my baby fever, then there is no cure. I'm looking forward to doing stuff with them. We can almost make it through a meal out, they are pretty good in the car. Booger, (baby boy) was watching Ocean's 11 with us today and wants to go see the fountains at the Bellagio, (he always was my favorite). Pretty, pretty princess does an awesome rendition of "Newark, Newark" you know, "I want to be a part of it".
So, HAPPY DURPAY, babies. Next year, I'll do better.
Yesterday our pastor encouraged us to look for the good in things. So, the good is that age is only a number. I have the mental image, and the fruit was a major component of the cake. I'm awesome.
I'm hoping the terrible two's are but a memory. And that that season of my life is over. If the past three years haven't cured my baby fever, then there is no cure. I'm looking forward to doing stuff with them. We can almost make it through a meal out, they are pretty good in the car. Booger, (baby boy) was watching Ocean's 11 with us today and wants to go see the fountains at the Bellagio, (he always was my favorite). Pretty, pretty princess does an awesome rendition of "Newark, Newark" you know, "I want to be a part of it".
So, HAPPY DURPAY, babies. Next year, I'll do better.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
I Could Be More Diplomatic
So the fam was at the pool the other day, like always. We are big swimmers. It's a cheap rain or shine activity for three active toddlers. Most of the regulars know that we swim at the same time each week and avoid the pool like a plague. This being a new year there are a bunch of new year resolutioners out there and they are in awe of our baby swimmers.
The one thing I can count on with little middle boy is he is in on everything. On Sunday one lil ol' lady was chatting me up about how precious our babies were and so amazed that they were swimming so well at such a young age. Well little middle saw and stashed away that information for later use.
I was not in the pool, but on the side observing closely. Hubby was in the pool, the new lifeguard came and asked me how well the babies could swim. I told her they could each swim at least the width of the pool if they had to. She went back to her post, but again lil middle noticed.
It was not too long before the attention had turned away from lil middle. He does not like not being noticed. I was focused mainly on him, the lifeguard and the little ol' lady turned their attentions elsewhere. So what does lil middle do? He swims to the middle of the pool and starts screaming. Well I'd never seen clothes fly off so fast as that lifeguards did. I yelled at the lifeguard that he was ok and to not go in after him, lil ol lady got him and I had a few unpleasant words with her, thus the title of this entry. Ok, now that you think I'm the worst parent ever let me explain.
Lil middle is not your normal three year old. He has an attachment disorder. He feels the need to control all situations, but it conflicts with his need to know his parents are in charge. He was unable to trust his primary adults in his life. Not once, not twice, but six times before he came to us he had adults who could be manipulated by him, and who gave up on him when they were tired of not being in charge.
He cannot (usually) manipulate us. He is smart and we are human so occasionally he gets away with stuff, but not when we are on our game.
The pool situation bothered me in several ways. First, we are pretty darned good parents. We have evidence by having pretty darned good teens. It bothered me that a stranger would think otherwise. Of course they only saw a dad goofing off with his other kids and a mom not even bothering to get in the pool. They could not see our hearts. Secondly, a total stranger was able to undermine our authority with this child. I doubt that lil middle now thinks of us as incompetent, but if these things continue to happen it might give him pause one day.
So you'll be happy to know that while Ma & Pa were being lectured on water safety, lil middle was off diving for rocks in the deep end. The responsibility for educating the public on my child's psychological disorders falls mainly on me. I need to come up with something better than "get your hands off my child".
We love this child as our own. We have more to lose than anyone else should something happen to him. Know that we will not put him in danger, but also know we expect him to know his limits and will let him experience some pain and hardship should he choose to go beyond them. We know how amazing he is and we only have fourteen more years to teach him to see it in himself. He can do it on his own so please let him, even if it's hard to watch.
The one thing I can count on with little middle boy is he is in on everything. On Sunday one lil ol' lady was chatting me up about how precious our babies were and so amazed that they were swimming so well at such a young age. Well little middle saw and stashed away that information for later use.
I was not in the pool, but on the side observing closely. Hubby was in the pool, the new lifeguard came and asked me how well the babies could swim. I told her they could each swim at least the width of the pool if they had to. She went back to her post, but again lil middle noticed.
It was not too long before the attention had turned away from lil middle. He does not like not being noticed. I was focused mainly on him, the lifeguard and the little ol' lady turned their attentions elsewhere. So what does lil middle do? He swims to the middle of the pool and starts screaming. Well I'd never seen clothes fly off so fast as that lifeguards did. I yelled at the lifeguard that he was ok and to not go in after him, lil ol lady got him and I had a few unpleasant words with her, thus the title of this entry. Ok, now that you think I'm the worst parent ever let me explain.
Lil middle is not your normal three year old. He has an attachment disorder. He feels the need to control all situations, but it conflicts with his need to know his parents are in charge. He was unable to trust his primary adults in his life. Not once, not twice, but six times before he came to us he had adults who could be manipulated by him, and who gave up on him when they were tired of not being in charge.
He cannot (usually) manipulate us. He is smart and we are human so occasionally he gets away with stuff, but not when we are on our game.
The pool situation bothered me in several ways. First, we are pretty darned good parents. We have evidence by having pretty darned good teens. It bothered me that a stranger would think otherwise. Of course they only saw a dad goofing off with his other kids and a mom not even bothering to get in the pool. They could not see our hearts. Secondly, a total stranger was able to undermine our authority with this child. I doubt that lil middle now thinks of us as incompetent, but if these things continue to happen it might give him pause one day.
So you'll be happy to know that while Ma & Pa were being lectured on water safety, lil middle was off diving for rocks in the deep end. The responsibility for educating the public on my child's psychological disorders falls mainly on me. I need to come up with something better than "get your hands off my child".
We love this child as our own. We have more to lose than anyone else should something happen to him. Know that we will not put him in danger, but also know we expect him to know his limits and will let him experience some pain and hardship should he choose to go beyond them. We know how amazing he is and we only have fourteen more years to teach him to see it in himself. He can do it on his own so please let him, even if it's hard to watch.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
My 2 and a Half Cents Worth
I wish I were making this up....
Today I received a cancellation notice from my insurance company. They have no record of receiving a payment from me and if I don't pay my bill in full by next week, they are going to kick me to the curb. I owe them $0.34 - lock me up and throw away the key. It cost them 31.5 cents to mail this notice to me. How much does paper, envelope to send it and a printed envelope for me to send back cost? Stickin' it to the man.
Today I received a cancellation notice from my insurance company. They have no record of receiving a payment from me and if I don't pay my bill in full by next week, they are going to kick me to the curb. I owe them $0.34 - lock me up and throw away the key. It cost them 31.5 cents to mail this notice to me. How much does paper, envelope to send it and a printed envelope for me to send back cost? Stickin' it to the man.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
...I am not the worst parent in the world.
OK, I'd probably watch a train wreck, but I like to watch "reality" shows. I watch several and realize that "it's the editing", but this week in reality has been quite entertaining.
First was Wife Swap. I originally did not want to watch this solely based on title, but I do watch it. These women are idiots, they apparently think they have some special power that will make them different from the other 100 women who have been on this show. Each and every one of them spend two miserable weeks living with another family. This week was a feminazi vs. beauty pageant mom. I had issue with the faminazi but the beauty pageant mom, YIKES!!! She does her daughter's school work. The family spends $100,000 PER YEAR, beauty pageanting. They eat out every meal, because dear old daughter doesn't like food at home. They even show a clip of mom trying to make daughter breakfast, it was cereal and milk and she didn't do it to her daughter's high standards. It was cereal and milk. They keep a Christmas tree up year round so that they can leave a present under it EVERY DAY for darling daughter. They show dad airbrush tanning the daughter, that might be inappropriate. After rule change they kicked the feminazi out for suggesting that it was cheating for the daughter to turn in someone else's work. Look out world this girl wants to be a dentist, mom will probably do all of her work then too.
Secondly, two episodes of Supernanny. First up was a family with three kids, all preschool aged. Two of them TWINS. I empathize. This family wouldn't let the kids leave the room without a parent. Despite having 100's of acres they wouldn't let the kids walk twenty feet in front of them. They held the kids down three times a day to brush their teeth and wondered why the kids never wanted to brush their teeth. I'm old school, the first set is for practice, you're going to lose them anyway.
Second Supernanny family, the parents were so clueless they didn't know they needed the Supernanny. It was the teenagers who called in. The family consisted of Mom, Dad, 17 year old girl, 14 year old girl, four year old boy and two year old TWINS, I see a pattern, again I feel your pain. Mom and Dad had the brilliant idea that despite having five kids they needed a life, and they didn't need childcare because they had two teenagers. So instead of sending the babies to daycare, they "homeschooled" the teens. And since the girls were home all day they might as well, cook clean and watch the kiddos. Mom could not be bothered with her own babies when she got home from work either. Now I do admit to slacking in the evening at times, but I at least do the majority of the home making, I don't clean often though.
The insanity cake taker had to be My Super Sweet Sixteen. The Blingest. Brat number one wanted a rapper to perform at her party, couldn't get rapper management company to take her seriously. Daddy flies her and her friends to the recording studio to let her beg them to come to her party. The rapper asked her who was going to pay for it, she said "Daddy", rapper was like, whatever as long as we get our $85,000 we'll come. Unfortunately that was the least lame thing she did. She had her boyfriend compete with her crush to see who could take her to her party. Despite the fact that the boyfriend won the bowling, won the arm wrestling, won the who can hold two bowling balls up the longest contests, she still picked her crush. Chickadee please have the guts to break up with someone, and Dude, don't demean yourself. All told this party cost not 1, not 2, not 3, but over 4 HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. And she only came in third for costliest party.
Other outlandish Super Sweet Sixteen moments, a Moulin Rouge themed party. Hello mom, it's a whore house. $295,000 for jewelry for the evening. A stretch Hummer for an everyday car for a girl who can't drive, complete with vending machine so she can make money off of her friends. And a seamstress who had the audacity to want to be paid $1200 before she handed over the costume she'd worked hard on and been abused for.
So, I'm happy to say that I can't and won't get my kids everything they ever want. Maybe one day they'll actually be able to get married and be happy.
First was Wife Swap. I originally did not want to watch this solely based on title, but I do watch it. These women are idiots, they apparently think they have some special power that will make them different from the other 100 women who have been on this show. Each and every one of them spend two miserable weeks living with another family. This week was a feminazi vs. beauty pageant mom. I had issue with the faminazi but the beauty pageant mom, YIKES!!! She does her daughter's school work. The family spends $100,000 PER YEAR, beauty pageanting. They eat out every meal, because dear old daughter doesn't like food at home. They even show a clip of mom trying to make daughter breakfast, it was cereal and milk and she didn't do it to her daughter's high standards. It was cereal and milk. They keep a Christmas tree up year round so that they can leave a present under it EVERY DAY for darling daughter. They show dad airbrush tanning the daughter, that might be inappropriate. After rule change they kicked the feminazi out for suggesting that it was cheating for the daughter to turn in someone else's work. Look out world this girl wants to be a dentist, mom will probably do all of her work then too.
Secondly, two episodes of Supernanny. First up was a family with three kids, all preschool aged. Two of them TWINS. I empathize. This family wouldn't let the kids leave the room without a parent. Despite having 100's of acres they wouldn't let the kids walk twenty feet in front of them. They held the kids down three times a day to brush their teeth and wondered why the kids never wanted to brush their teeth. I'm old school, the first set is for practice, you're going to lose them anyway.
Second Supernanny family, the parents were so clueless they didn't know they needed the Supernanny. It was the teenagers who called in. The family consisted of Mom, Dad, 17 year old girl, 14 year old girl, four year old boy and two year old TWINS, I see a pattern, again I feel your pain. Mom and Dad had the brilliant idea that despite having five kids they needed a life, and they didn't need childcare because they had two teenagers. So instead of sending the babies to daycare, they "homeschooled" the teens. And since the girls were home all day they might as well, cook clean and watch the kiddos. Mom could not be bothered with her own babies when she got home from work either. Now I do admit to slacking in the evening at times, but I at least do the majority of the home making, I don't clean often though.
The insanity cake taker had to be My Super Sweet Sixteen. The Blingest. Brat number one wanted a rapper to perform at her party, couldn't get rapper management company to take her seriously. Daddy flies her and her friends to the recording studio to let her beg them to come to her party. The rapper asked her who was going to pay for it, she said "Daddy", rapper was like, whatever as long as we get our $85,000 we'll come. Unfortunately that was the least lame thing she did. She had her boyfriend compete with her crush to see who could take her to her party. Despite the fact that the boyfriend won the bowling, won the arm wrestling, won the who can hold two bowling balls up the longest contests, she still picked her crush. Chickadee please have the guts to break up with someone, and Dude, don't demean yourself. All told this party cost not 1, not 2, not 3, but over 4 HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. And she only came in third for costliest party.
Other outlandish Super Sweet Sixteen moments, a Moulin Rouge themed party. Hello mom, it's a whore house. $295,000 for jewelry for the evening. A stretch Hummer for an everyday car for a girl who can't drive, complete with vending machine so she can make money off of her friends. And a seamstress who had the audacity to want to be paid $1200 before she handed over the costume she'd worked hard on and been abused for.
So, I'm happy to say that I can't and won't get my kids everything they ever want. Maybe one day they'll actually be able to get married and be happy.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Funny Stuff
I love tv/news/drama shows, like 20/20 and dateline. One of them last week made me laugh soooo much. Not that the subject matter was funny at all, but it was the way the tv show was produced.
They had some reporter, whom I'd never seen or even heard of, interviewing the police officer whose third wife has been missing for several months. The commercials for the show had her asking him "did you kill your wife?" then the announcer asks us to tune in Friday. This story has been everywhere for months, don't you think if he'd confessed THAT WOULD BE NEWS, and we'd have heard about it. Without even watching the show I already know his answer.
I watched just to laugh at the show and the guy. Every word out of his mouth screams "I'm a scary stalker." Then we get to the point where she has to ask and it goes something like this...
"So I have to ask, and I want you to tell me the truth, did you kill your wife?"
Oh gosh, I didn't know I was going to have to tell the truth. I wish you hadn't asked me to tell the truth. The FBI has been questioning me for months, I've been lieing to them only because they didn't ask me to tell the truth. But yes, yes I did kill her, and the one before her too. I just want the world to know that I am not a liar. Murderer yes, but not a liar. And gee I feel so much better. Thank you for allowing me to get that off my chest.
They wish. He said "No." ...but if I did, she deserved it and this is how I did it.
They had some reporter, whom I'd never seen or even heard of, interviewing the police officer whose third wife has been missing for several months. The commercials for the show had her asking him "did you kill your wife?" then the announcer asks us to tune in Friday. This story has been everywhere for months, don't you think if he'd confessed THAT WOULD BE NEWS, and we'd have heard about it. Without even watching the show I already know his answer.
I watched just to laugh at the show and the guy. Every word out of his mouth screams "I'm a scary stalker." Then we get to the point where she has to ask and it goes something like this...
"So I have to ask, and I want you to tell me the truth, did you kill your wife?"
Oh gosh, I didn't know I was going to have to tell the truth. I wish you hadn't asked me to tell the truth. The FBI has been questioning me for months, I've been lieing to them only because they didn't ask me to tell the truth. But yes, yes I did kill her, and the one before her too. I just want the world to know that I am not a liar. Murderer yes, but not a liar. And gee I feel so much better. Thank you for allowing me to get that off my chest.
They wish. He said "No." ...but if I did, she deserved it and this is how I did it.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
...maybe I'm a bitch
Maybe I am, but sometimes people are stupid. Today I took my nearly fifteen year old to get his eyes checked. Last week when I made the appointment I asked if there would be any paperwork for me to sign. I also made an appointment for my seventten year old.
She went on Friday with no problem, and I needn't sign anything.
Today as I dropped the boy off I asked again about needing to sign anything. Nope. He was waiting in the car with the three three year olds. I sent him in and went to the bank. About the time I sent the vacutube through, my phone rings, I need to sign something before they can see him. So back I go.
Please send out anything I need to sign, I requested very nicely, as I have three three year olds. They sent out one page. Signed and off to another errand.
This time I got about a mile away, they called. More stuff to sign. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT I NEED TO SIGN? Don't make me bring in my babies, cause I'll do it.
As you might guess, midway through my Sonic order my phone rings. We need your signature, he's a minor, "usually parents stay with their children". OK you want me there, I'm coming.
Me and the three and my gallon of Sonic go in to sign yet another paper. It only took about five minutes for someone to inform me that they could call me when my son was finished. I looked up briefly from my pda and told her "usually parents stay with their children".
She went on Friday with no problem, and I needn't sign anything.
Today as I dropped the boy off I asked again about needing to sign anything. Nope. He was waiting in the car with the three three year olds. I sent him in and went to the bank. About the time I sent the vacutube through, my phone rings, I need to sign something before they can see him. So back I go.
Please send out anything I need to sign, I requested very nicely, as I have three three year olds. They sent out one page. Signed and off to another errand.
This time I got about a mile away, they called. More stuff to sign. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT I NEED TO SIGN? Don't make me bring in my babies, cause I'll do it.
As you might guess, midway through my Sonic order my phone rings. We need your signature, he's a minor, "usually parents stay with their children". OK you want me there, I'm coming.
Me and the three and my gallon of Sonic go in to sign yet another paper. It only took about five minutes for someone to inform me that they could call me when my son was finished. I looked up briefly from my pda and told her "usually parents stay with their children".
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Vacation pictures
Saturday, December 22, 2007
...I have enough
I'm hiding out at home today. Going nowhere near any retail
establishment. Today is one of the biggest shopping days of the year.
In close proximity are the day after Thanksgiving and the day after
Christmas. Seems like we as a nation can't get enough. We want so
much we can't take a day to enjoy the things that have been given us,
we're right back out there the next day.
I spend a lot of parenting lately on the concept of we have enough. I
would even say we have too much, but that is post grad parenting. To
be fair, I have to spend a lot of time on reminding myself that I
have enough. My husband is worried I won't have anything under the
tree. I have enough, and I've already had my Christmas. I got my
trip, and I got a phone, which is allowing me blog mobility, of course
I want more. I want lots, but I have enough.
As I was reminiscing about Christmas past, I tried to remember gifts
I'd gotten as a kid. I remember when I got my first watch, my grandma
got us all one when we were in second grade. My sophomore year I got,
not one, but two puppies. The only other vivid Christmas memory is
the year it didn't happen. I was in the fourth grade and my dad spent
Christmas in the hospital after being burned in an oil field accident.
My mom had to deal with six kids and hospital visits and probably
wanted to have her husband enjoy it with us. Us older kids were old
enough to understand, the younger ones too young to know the day. I
don' remember what I got that year, other than more time with Dad.
If I never got another thing in my life, I'd still have more than
billions of others on this planet. It seems wrong and selfish of me
to want more when three hundred dollars could build a house for a
family in some parts of our world. I've been trying for a couple of
years to limit the kids to three gifts, my friend gave me the idea
that the kids shouldn't get more than baby Jesus. I failed again this
year.
So as the new year approaches I'm going to resolve to do more and get
less. Shopping will no longer be a hobby. I will try not to buy
anything on a Sunday, as to observe a Sabbath. I will make do with what I have. I will do this because I have enough.
establishment. Today is one of the biggest shopping days of the year.
In close proximity are the day after Thanksgiving and the day after
Christmas. Seems like we as a nation can't get enough. We want so
much we can't take a day to enjoy the things that have been given us,
we're right back out there the next day.
I spend a lot of parenting lately on the concept of we have enough. I
would even say we have too much, but that is post grad parenting. To
be fair, I have to spend a lot of time on reminding myself that I
have enough. My husband is worried I won't have anything under the
tree. I have enough, and I've already had my Christmas. I got my
trip, and I got a phone, which is allowing me blog mobility, of course
I want more. I want lots, but I have enough.
As I was reminiscing about Christmas past, I tried to remember gifts
I'd gotten as a kid. I remember when I got my first watch, my grandma
got us all one when we were in second grade. My sophomore year I got,
not one, but two puppies. The only other vivid Christmas memory is
the year it didn't happen. I was in the fourth grade and my dad spent
Christmas in the hospital after being burned in an oil field accident.
My mom had to deal with six kids and hospital visits and probably
wanted to have her husband enjoy it with us. Us older kids were old
enough to understand, the younger ones too young to know the day. I
don' remember what I got that year, other than more time with Dad.
If I never got another thing in my life, I'd still have more than
billions of others on this planet. It seems wrong and selfish of me
to want more when three hundred dollars could build a house for a
family in some parts of our world. I've been trying for a couple of
years to limit the kids to three gifts, my friend gave me the idea
that the kids shouldn't get more than baby Jesus. I failed again this
year.
So as the new year approaches I'm going to resolve to do more and get
less. Shopping will no longer be a hobby. I will try not to buy
anything on a Sunday, as to observe a Sabbath. I will make do with what I have. I will do this because I have enough.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
hmmmm?
Tagless tags: you can't call them tagless if you put a tag on the side seam where it bugs me all day.
...of happy ever after.
Apparently little girls sit around and dream of their happy ever after and their prince charming. I was not one of those girls, I didn't have fake weddings, or anything like that. Supposing that I had, I don't think that my life is what the other little girls are dreaming of. Had we ended our story at the wedding, maybe, but we'd miss out on most of what is good about my life.
I would like to say that I loved my husband when I said "I do", fact of the matter is, I had no clue. Any old married couple laughs at the pre-wedding counseling. We didn't need to resolve fights, we never had any. We of course said "we talk it out" puleeze. We agreed on how to raise kids we didn't have, the role our extended families would play in our life, money, yadda, yadda, yadda. It may as well been an arranged marriage for all we knew of each other. Just as long as my parents weren't the arrangers.
I also suppose the barf/poop factor doesn't factor into the girlish fantasy. If you've been a parent for longer than an hour, you know it ain't all smiles and giggles. And then there is the maniacal screaming, but I'm working on using my words. It just seems that it's more comedy/drama than romance. To be clear there is plenty of romance, but still more dramedy, and when factoring in the barf/poop it pretty much negates romance.
All in all I can say I'm happily married, will be 'til one of us dies. I can say this because I've chosen it. Since divorce is taken off of the table, I'm only left with two choices. Happy or unhappy ever after. Seems like a no brainer.
I would like to say that I loved my husband when I said "I do", fact of the matter is, I had no clue. Any old married couple laughs at the pre-wedding counseling. We didn't need to resolve fights, we never had any. We of course said "we talk it out" puleeze. We agreed on how to raise kids we didn't have, the role our extended families would play in our life, money, yadda, yadda, yadda. It may as well been an arranged marriage for all we knew of each other. Just as long as my parents weren't the arrangers.
I also suppose the barf/poop factor doesn't factor into the girlish fantasy. If you've been a parent for longer than an hour, you know it ain't all smiles and giggles. And then there is the maniacal screaming, but I'm working on using my words. It just seems that it's more comedy/drama than romance. To be clear there is plenty of romance, but still more dramedy, and when factoring in the barf/poop it pretty much negates romance.
All in all I can say I'm happily married, will be 'til one of us dies. I can say this because I've chosen it. Since divorce is taken off of the table, I'm only left with two choices. Happy or unhappy ever after. Seems like a no brainer.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Vacation again
When we last left our band of travelers they were in the Arizona Painted Desert. Their born of the heart babies were safe and sound, and most importantly, they were out of western New Mexico.
We were in a very beautiful old hotel overlooking the painted desert. It had never been used as a hotel, seems like in the olden days when a war happened it affected us back home. They closed the hotel because people vacationed less, and they turned it into a ranger station. It was very beautiful.
After that we wandered around the park. We saw petroglyphs that looked like a stork carrying a baby. See it's true. We saw petrified logs all over the place. Creation side note. They were left over from THE flood, Grand Canyon was made by THE flood, not a billion, trillion years, and all the logs ended up down stream and turned into rock. Pretty cool huh?
It was a very windy day, very, very windy. I cannot stress the windiness enough. There were several little side treks we could have made, but our eight year old fell over more than once from the wind, so we looked from the car.
The day ended much better than it began, we contemplated staying in Gallup again and seeing if they'd do any ballooning on Sunday, we chose not too. It was snowing and we just wanted to get as close to ABQ as possible, at this point I could have cared less about Gallup and balloons. We ended up in Grants, we went the Route 66 way into town. As my dad would have said, they'd already rolled up the sidewalks. It looked like a ghost town. Still we could have stayed in a "hotel" for $25, and chose not to. We went to the newer, more evil, Super Walmart end of town. Found a hotel for $65. Wondering, but not caring how they were making money, we enjoyed a semi quiet evening in. The boys swam for two hours or so, the big middle boy really enjoyed hanging with his big brother. Big brother had nothing cooler to do, so it turned into a nice moment.
Sunday morning we woke up and high tailed it back to ABQ. We were planning on going to church. We'd found a megachurch listing website, and found a couple in ABQ we thought might be interesting. One was far away, the other, we couldn't find the service times on their website. We did see the building from the road on our way to an Albertson's with a bakery, and we saw the cops directing traffic after one service, we were however too late to be fashionably late, (after we got donuts), and decided that God would be ok with us hangin as a family.
We called my home away from home and they let us check in three hours early. Dale was happy to see me again. He called me by name and gave me my extra blankets, without my asking. I don't mind computer profiles when they are helpful and useful to me. I can't say enough nice things about the Residence Inn, and Albuquerque in general. We finished out the day going to a rock wall and the Outback. I was very proud of myself, getting all the way up several walls. I am terrible at trying new things. Turns out I actually like trying new things, and may do it more in the future. Of course new things can also be bad, but as I learned they don't last forever.
Monday morning we flew out, but not before we went to the rental car place twice. We forgot to fill 'er up, and had to go do that, but still made it in plenty of time. No lengthy airport delays, no missed connections, no drama to speak of.
We got home, got the babies, baby boy cried, they pointed out every Christmas light on the way home. Our little middle boy promised to behave, (how sad) and life got back to normal. I'm already looking forward to my next trip to Albuquerque.
We were in a very beautiful old hotel overlooking the painted desert. It had never been used as a hotel, seems like in the olden days when a war happened it affected us back home. They closed the hotel because people vacationed less, and they turned it into a ranger station. It was very beautiful.
After that we wandered around the park. We saw petroglyphs that looked like a stork carrying a baby. See it's true. We saw petrified logs all over the place. Creation side note. They were left over from THE flood, Grand Canyon was made by THE flood, not a billion, trillion years, and all the logs ended up down stream and turned into rock. Pretty cool huh?
It was a very windy day, very, very windy. I cannot stress the windiness enough. There were several little side treks we could have made, but our eight year old fell over more than once from the wind, so we looked from the car.
The day ended much better than it began, we contemplated staying in Gallup again and seeing if they'd do any ballooning on Sunday, we chose not too. It was snowing and we just wanted to get as close to ABQ as possible, at this point I could have cared less about Gallup and balloons. We ended up in Grants, we went the Route 66 way into town. As my dad would have said, they'd already rolled up the sidewalks. It looked like a ghost town. Still we could have stayed in a "hotel" for $25, and chose not to. We went to the newer, more evil, Super Walmart end of town. Found a hotel for $65. Wondering, but not caring how they were making money, we enjoyed a semi quiet evening in. The boys swam for two hours or so, the big middle boy really enjoyed hanging with his big brother. Big brother had nothing cooler to do, so it turned into a nice moment.
Sunday morning we woke up and high tailed it back to ABQ. We were planning on going to church. We'd found a megachurch listing website, and found a couple in ABQ we thought might be interesting. One was far away, the other, we couldn't find the service times on their website. We did see the building from the road on our way to an Albertson's with a bakery, and we saw the cops directing traffic after one service, we were however too late to be fashionably late, (after we got donuts), and decided that God would be ok with us hangin as a family.
We called my home away from home and they let us check in three hours early. Dale was happy to see me again. He called me by name and gave me my extra blankets, without my asking. I don't mind computer profiles when they are helpful and useful to me. I can't say enough nice things about the Residence Inn, and Albuquerque in general. We finished out the day going to a rock wall and the Outback. I was very proud of myself, getting all the way up several walls. I am terrible at trying new things. Turns out I actually like trying new things, and may do it more in the future. Of course new things can also be bad, but as I learned they don't last forever.
Monday morning we flew out, but not before we went to the rental car place twice. We forgot to fill 'er up, and had to go do that, but still made it in plenty of time. No lengthy airport delays, no missed connections, no drama to speak of.
We got home, got the babies, baby boy cried, they pointed out every Christmas light on the way home. Our little middle boy promised to behave, (how sad) and life got back to normal. I'm already looking forward to my next trip to Albuquerque.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
...morning three, and the 24 hours.
This is the day I have been looking forward to all my fall. I have skipped the mall and peppermint pedicures for this very day. Yes, this day was very important and I clued the kids, they packed and we were ready in family record time.
Our biggest dilemma was whether to take Route 66 and get there early, or a detour and go to the ice caves. We chose annoyingly touristy 66, I of course was planning on stopping at every historical marker, every landmark, every cool thing that marked a nearly dead history. Oh and look an Albertson's they have great donuts. (of course I notice the Albertson's but miss the mega church we ended up wanting to go to).
So, annoying landmark number one the Rio Puerco Bridge, thank God it was closed, it was barely a lane wide, but we took pictures anyway, and also realized that it might be incredible annoying to stop at every thing, so aside from road side rock shops that was it. I'm so ADD.
In no time we were in Gallup, I will guestimate that it's about 10 miles long and one
mile wide. Surviving solely off of idiots like us, and the scenery was awesome. What was annoyingly absent. Lots and lots of signs regarding the balloon rally. This is supposedly the second largest balloon rally in the WORLD. We assumed there was no mention of it in ABQ because they host the largest, but figured as we neared the site, we'd be inundated with ads. Nope. No signs, nothing on the radio.
So we find the BEST WESTERN, we go to check in, nobody, but there was a sign instructing us to ring bell for service. Guess what? NO BELL. I offered a friendly "Hello?" and was abruptly greeted with "it's not 3", fine, but where exactly is the festival being held? "Canceled, No Balloons last night, everybody gone, lots of people canceled." AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH "you come back at 3". I'm so ticked, I'm am not one who wants a lot, but this is something that I wanted to see.
So, we go to the aforementioned website. You remember websites from 1995. Name. Rank. Serial Number. Basically a date and two phone numbers, first one had no clue, she "wasn't really who you need to talk to". Then why is your number on the website? The second number assured us there would still be plenty to do, even without balloons, there was a Native American market, and Native American dancers, and a parade and this was their 27th year and it would be cool......hindsight would have us leave immediately and head to Arizona, but no, I wanted to see if the weather would clear, maybe the other stuff would be fun.
NOPE. The market, two vendors charging white tourist prices on ebay items. Ok some of them were Native Americanish, but I can buy plastic Christmas ornaments with reindeer in them lots of places. I got a tshirt and hubby got some fry bread. While we waited for the dancing to begin we contemplated our "no smoking" room. It could only be classified as such because it was not currently smoldering. But they masked it rather nicely with dead flower scented freshener.
Ok, dancing, but first a lot of history. The following is in no way anything other than a description of this woman, it is not making fun of her race, only her. "my name is (we'll call her Pat), I've been doing this for twenty five years, when I first started this twenty five years ago I remember so much, and you will hear a retelling of every moment of the last twenty five years while I cut into the time the dancers have. First there is something about two and four, and two is half of four,and if it were four it would be twice as long as two. My nephew here started doing this when he could barely walk, now he does it every day. And he dances to the beat. You'll notice how all of our dancers dance to the beat, I remember when our other dancers would come with their moms when their mom's would dance, they too danced with the beat. And don't let me get started with the drummers, sometimes the girls can be around the drum, sometimes the boys only, it depends on what tribe they are from, or what tribe they are visiting or the color of the sunset, but they do a good job just like the boys. OK, let's dance, but before we do, sometimes you can join, other times you can't join. If you can join I will tell you, if you cannot join I will also tell you, sometimes you have to be asked, but I will tell you whether it's a dance that you need to be asked or whether you can just join. OK, so this first dance is a traditional Indian dance and these are the people who are dancing and here is a little history of each and every dancer dancing this, how they know each other, how I know their mom, their dad, oh and by the way, we have some tall girls and some short girls and the tall girls have a tall father, that's why they are tall. WILL YOU JUST FREAKIN LET THEM DANCE. I'D LEAVE BUT IT WOULD BE RUDE, SO I'LL JUST PLAY TETRIS ON MY PHONE. But do you think at any point in the whole thing any official person speculated on the weather? NO. They've got guys on Everest who can put people on the summit at the perfect weather moment after 45 days of planning and plotting weather, but no one can tell me if it looks good for Sunday? You people are idiots.
So, that part of the nightmare over, we head back to the pool. You'll be surprised to hear that the chemicals were off and they were eating my leg. But let's not let this ruin a perfectly good vacation. Out of the pool and into the shower. So, you know on scary movies where the wall bleed? There was a brown yuckiness running down the wall. OOOOOHHHHHH. And there were only four towels, which were already wet from swimming. My darling hubby went to get some more from the desk, I'd called earlier, but hadn't gotten them. This request was insane. Extra towels. Pool towels, what are these you speak of? So they had to go room to room to get more. I'm hungry.
Hubby wanted to go to Pizza Hut. He usually doesn't, but wanted a salad bar. So, we get there, no salad bar. Would we like to order, no thanks but we'll take a pitcher of Pepsi, oh we don't do pitchers. Pizza Hut always does pitchers, ok some of us will take Mountain Dew, some of us will take Pepsi. We don't have Mountain Dew. Or orange, only off brand Root Beer, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper. Isn't Dr. Pepper made by Coke? Just get our drinks while we figure out our order. We go the drinks, but no order. No order, no order. So hubby goes and asks. Oh yeah. So, we'll take this, this and that. Big boy orders cinistix. We got 400, still waiting for pizza. We end up finally getting 3/4 of our order, and an offer for a salad to tide daughter over until her pizza arrives. What there was no salad. Now there is salad. Apparently the look on hubby's face drew me out of my eight hour funk. Service was horrible, and we weren't much better, but I tipped him well so he'd feel bad about spitting in our food.
So, to bed, at least there was an Albertson's and I could get yummy donuts in the morning. But I couldn't, there was no bakery. The final added hotel surprise??? The doors do not actually lock. As I was checking out the Amtrak rumbled by, I really wanted to be on that train, I supposed I could be home in 8 hours had I made that train. And before this day can't get any worse, I start getting texted from my friend who is watching the babies. My agency wants to come and get the kids, because CPS never verified that she was a certified respite provider and they never issued her a certificate, and she told them she had never had a certificate, but CPS always brought over kids, but my agency didn't know my friend, and apparently didn't trust that I would leave three kids (whom I REALLY want to adopt, but the state can't get their act together,) in a safe place. Yes, I just left them with someone I don't know, so argue back and forth back and forth with the agency. Do we head to Arizona and continue our vacation or do we head back to ABQ so that I can fly back? We head to Arizona, hoping for the best. I can't believe that anyone would believe that I would leave my kids in a place where they weren't safe. I also can't believe that they expect me to accept the fact that they would place my kids in a certified home, but only until we got back. I don't want my kids some place that I don't know, with people that I don't know for one second, let alone three days. Somewhere in the painted desert I finally get it all figured out. Seems they need me to cooperate just as much as I need them to cooperate. I finally can get back to some fun.
Our biggest dilemma was whether to take Route 66 and get there early, or a detour and go to the ice caves. We chose annoyingly touristy 66, I of course was planning on stopping at every historical marker, every landmark, every cool thing that marked a nearly dead history. Oh and look an Albertson's they have great donuts. (of course I notice the Albertson's but miss the mega church we ended up wanting to go to).
So, annoying landmark number one the Rio Puerco Bridge, thank God it was closed, it was barely a lane wide, but we took pictures anyway, and also realized that it might be incredible annoying to stop at every thing, so aside from road side rock shops that was it. I'm so ADD.
In no time we were in Gallup, I will guestimate that it's about 10 miles long and one
mile wide. Surviving solely off of idiots like us, and the scenery was awesome. What was annoyingly absent. Lots and lots of signs regarding the balloon rally. This is supposedly the second largest balloon rally in the WORLD. We assumed there was no mention of it in ABQ because they host the largest, but figured as we neared the site, we'd be inundated with ads. Nope. No signs, nothing on the radio.
So we find the BEST WESTERN, we go to check in, nobody, but there was a sign instructing us to ring bell for service. Guess what? NO BELL. I offered a friendly "Hello?" and was abruptly greeted with "it's not 3", fine, but where exactly is the festival being held? "Canceled, No Balloons last night, everybody gone, lots of people canceled." AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH "you come back at 3". I'm so ticked, I'm am not one who wants a lot, but this is something that I wanted to see.
So, we go to the aforementioned website. You remember websites from 1995. Name. Rank. Serial Number. Basically a date and two phone numbers, first one had no clue, she "wasn't really who you need to talk to". Then why is your number on the website? The second number assured us there would still be plenty to do, even without balloons, there was a Native American market, and Native American dancers, and a parade and this was their 27th year and it would be cool......hindsight would have us leave immediately and head to Arizona, but no, I wanted to see if the weather would clear, maybe the other stuff would be fun.
NOPE. The market, two vendors charging white tourist prices on ebay items. Ok some of them were Native Americanish, but I can buy plastic Christmas ornaments with reindeer in them lots of places. I got a tshirt and hubby got some fry bread. While we waited for the dancing to begin we contemplated our "no smoking" room. It could only be classified as such because it was not currently smoldering. But they masked it rather nicely with dead flower scented freshener.
Ok, dancing, but first a lot of history. The following is in no way anything other than a description of this woman, it is not making fun of her race, only her. "my name is (we'll call her Pat), I've been doing this for twenty five years, when I first started this twenty five years ago I remember so much, and you will hear a retelling of every moment of the last twenty five years while I cut into the time the dancers have. First there is something about two and four, and two is half of four,and if it were four it would be twice as long as two. My nephew here started doing this when he could barely walk, now he does it every day. And he dances to the beat. You'll notice how all of our dancers dance to the beat, I remember when our other dancers would come with their moms when their mom's would dance, they too danced with the beat. And don't let me get started with the drummers, sometimes the girls can be around the drum, sometimes the boys only, it depends on what tribe they are from, or what tribe they are visiting or the color of the sunset, but they do a good job just like the boys. OK, let's dance, but before we do, sometimes you can join, other times you can't join. If you can join I will tell you, if you cannot join I will also tell you, sometimes you have to be asked, but I will tell you whether it's a dance that you need to be asked or whether you can just join. OK, so this first dance is a traditional Indian dance and these are the people who are dancing and here is a little history of each and every dancer dancing this, how they know each other, how I know their mom, their dad, oh and by the way, we have some tall girls and some short girls and the tall girls have a tall father, that's why they are tall. WILL YOU JUST FREAKIN LET THEM DANCE. I'D LEAVE BUT IT WOULD BE RUDE, SO I'LL JUST PLAY TETRIS ON MY PHONE. But do you think at any point in the whole thing any official person speculated on the weather? NO. They've got guys on Everest who can put people on the summit at the perfect weather moment after 45 days of planning and plotting weather, but no one can tell me if it looks good for Sunday? You people are idiots.
So, that part of the nightmare over, we head back to the pool. You'll be surprised to hear that the chemicals were off and they were eating my leg. But let's not let this ruin a perfectly good vacation. Out of the pool and into the shower. So, you know on scary movies where the wall bleed? There was a brown yuckiness running down the wall. OOOOOHHHHHH. And there were only four towels, which were already wet from swimming. My darling hubby went to get some more from the desk, I'd called earlier, but hadn't gotten them. This request was insane. Extra towels. Pool towels, what are these you speak of? So they had to go room to room to get more. I'm hungry.
Hubby wanted to go to Pizza Hut. He usually doesn't, but wanted a salad bar. So, we get there, no salad bar. Would we like to order, no thanks but we'll take a pitcher of Pepsi, oh we don't do pitchers. Pizza Hut always does pitchers, ok some of us will take Mountain Dew, some of us will take Pepsi. We don't have Mountain Dew. Or orange, only off brand Root Beer, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper. Isn't Dr. Pepper made by Coke? Just get our drinks while we figure out our order. We go the drinks, but no order. No order, no order. So hubby goes and asks. Oh yeah. So, we'll take this, this and that. Big boy orders cinistix. We got 400, still waiting for pizza. We end up finally getting 3/4 of our order, and an offer for a salad to tide daughter over until her pizza arrives. What there was no salad. Now there is salad. Apparently the look on hubby's face drew me out of my eight hour funk. Service was horrible, and we weren't much better, but I tipped him well so he'd feel bad about spitting in our food.
So, to bed, at least there was an Albertson's and I could get yummy donuts in the morning. But I couldn't, there was no bakery. The final added hotel surprise??? The doors do not actually lock. As I was checking out the Amtrak rumbled by, I really wanted to be on that train, I supposed I could be home in 8 hours had I made that train. And before this day can't get any worse, I start getting texted from my friend who is watching the babies. My agency wants to come and get the kids, because CPS never verified that she was a certified respite provider and they never issued her a certificate, and she told them she had never had a certificate, but CPS always brought over kids, but my agency didn't know my friend, and apparently didn't trust that I would leave three kids (whom I REALLY want to adopt, but the state can't get their act together,) in a safe place. Yes, I just left them with someone I don't know, so argue back and forth back and forth with the agency. Do we head to Arizona and continue our vacation or do we head back to ABQ so that I can fly back? We head to Arizona, hoping for the best. I can't believe that anyone would believe that I would leave my kids in a place where they weren't safe. I also can't believe that they expect me to accept the fact that they would place my kids in a certified home, but only until we got back. I don't want my kids some place that I don't know, with people that I don't know for one second, let alone three days. Somewhere in the painted desert I finally get it all figured out. Seems they need me to cooperate just as much as I need them to cooperate. I finally can get back to some fun.
Monday, December 10, 2007
...Vacation: Day Two
For the first time in months/maybe years we were able to sleep until we woke up, we had no place to go. That is truly a vacation. We were up in time for breakfast, and the way our loft was arranged our bedroom overlooked the kids sleeping area and we were able to throw their clues down to them and go back to sleep.
Their clue for the day included more money, and instructed them to get breakfast and pick up some vacation brochures for stuff they wanted to do that day. We caught up with them in the Guest House, and had several proposals for the days activities. After a very good breakfast we decided on the Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History.
When we arrived at the just in time for the Planetarium show. They were running fractals, it made me a little woozy. Everyone enjoyed the show, I enjoyed my nap. The museum was very nice. Had lots of dinosaurs, lots and lots of rocks, we even got to watch, what I presume to be, geologists looking for fossils.
After that we went to Old Town Albuquerque, lots of cute little shops with touristy type things. Hot air balloon souvenirs everywhere. Then it was back to the hotel until dinner time. Which was Florida retirement village early.
We were eating on top of Sandia Peak, we were riding the Worlds Longest Aeriel Tram to a restaurant at 10,000+ feet. Little altitude sickness trivia. For every 4,000 feet in elevation you are changing upwards, you need to rest 24 hours before attempting the change. We were coming from sea level, we'd spend a day at 6,400 feet, going up another 4,000 feet, we were a little winded and light headed by the end of dinner.
On the tram ride up we saw the setting sun, and the city of Albuquerque, and the mountains in the distance, actually old volcanoes, but all very beautiful. With the sun setting at 4:50 dinner was early. We wanted to go up in daylight and come down in darkness, so we could see it both ways. Most of the ride up was visible, but there was a cloud sitting on Sandia Peak, and it would remain there for the evening. We did get our annual fill of snow though, just about 10 minutes worth. Plenty for me. The restaurant was very nice, not as salty as the national chains, the desserts were very good. When we were done we headed back down the mountain. Unfortunately that cloud was still sitting there, and we were almost down to the ground before we could see the city lights. It was still very much worth it. The kids were texting their friends like mad, guess where we are, and it's snowing.
After dinner we went to the Botanical Gardens and looked at their Christmas lights. It was a lot of fun, there were carolers, and lots of lights, and a fun kids maze area, we got lost, then we figured it was a maze. We're bright, intelligent adults.
So all in all, day two was a lot of fun, I was really looking forward to day three. I had been waiting for the hot air balloon festival for a couple of months, and I was sooooo excited.
Their clue for the day included more money, and instructed them to get breakfast and pick up some vacation brochures for stuff they wanted to do that day. We caught up with them in the Guest House, and had several proposals for the days activities. After a very good breakfast we decided on the Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History.
When we arrived at the just in time for the Planetarium show. They were running fractals, it made me a little woozy. Everyone enjoyed the show, I enjoyed my nap. The museum was very nice. Had lots of dinosaurs, lots and lots of rocks, we even got to watch, what I presume to be, geologists looking for fossils.
After that we went to Old Town Albuquerque, lots of cute little shops with touristy type things. Hot air balloon souvenirs everywhere. Then it was back to the hotel until dinner time. Which was Florida retirement village early.
We were eating on top of Sandia Peak, we were riding the Worlds Longest Aeriel Tram to a restaurant at 10,000+ feet. Little altitude sickness trivia. For every 4,000 feet in elevation you are changing upwards, you need to rest 24 hours before attempting the change. We were coming from sea level, we'd spend a day at 6,400 feet, going up another 4,000 feet, we were a little winded and light headed by the end of dinner.
On the tram ride up we saw the setting sun, and the city of Albuquerque, and the mountains in the distance, actually old volcanoes, but all very beautiful. With the sun setting at 4:50 dinner was early. We wanted to go up in daylight and come down in darkness, so we could see it both ways. Most of the ride up was visible, but there was a cloud sitting on Sandia Peak, and it would remain there for the evening. We did get our annual fill of snow though, just about 10 minutes worth. Plenty for me. The restaurant was very nice, not as salty as the national chains, the desserts were very good. When we were done we headed back down the mountain. Unfortunately that cloud was still sitting there, and we were almost down to the ground before we could see the city lights. It was still very much worth it. The kids were texting their friends like mad, guess where we are, and it's snowing.
After dinner we went to the Botanical Gardens and looked at their Christmas lights. It was a lot of fun, there were carolers, and lots of lights, and a fun kids maze area, we got lost, then we figured it was a maze. We're bright, intelligent adults.
So all in all, day two was a lot of fun, I was really looking forward to day three. I had been waiting for the hot air balloon festival for a couple of months, and I was sooooo excited.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
...Vacation: Day One
...but before we get there, the night before. It was truly like Christmas for me. Even better because I got to be Santa Mommy. I was thinking that the kids would like the adventure, if not, I was going to have fun. Hubby was going to have fun.
I had settled on the Amazing Race theme for the vacation. So had to limit myself to one backpack. This is hard for me, I take three pair of shoes on an overnight trip, but it was five days not five weeks, I was going to have to be a big girl, with limited shoe choice.
The night before we left, I had all the arrangements made:
House Sitter: Check
Dog Sitter: Check
Baby Sitter: Check
Online check-in/exit row plane seating: Check
Roaming Gnome: Check (What is an Amazing Race without a gnome) ((it is really an Amelie thing, rent Amelie, it is my favorite movie))
House return from vacation ready: Needed checking
So, clue number one read:
DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL. Shower, eat, do these chores and meet me on the couch at 8:45
Afterthought: waking kids with a lengthy chore list and a note stating nothing more than don't go to school and do these chores generates questions.
While they readied the house, I readied the babies for school for the day. At 8:45 we met on the couch and I handed the three older kids green envelopes. Inside was $20 and instructions for them to pack one bag, a coat, and be plane (liquids in a ziplock) ready in an hour. Then hubby and I took the babies to school.
Afterthought: Six kids. Six envelopes.
Little middle boy had to be at school at 9:00, twins had to be at school at 9:30. Perfect opportunity to let older kids stew. When we returned at 9:45 our 8 year old was packed, the older kids...doing laundry.
Parenting note: Always build in an extra 45 minutes in your schedule for laundry.
So our big boy was complaining that he didn't have a coat. He had a coat that he BEGGED for, but couldn't wear it because it was too "South Park". It was fine, and he is a big boy, if he didn't want to wear the coat, I wasn't going to make him.
We headed off to the airport, the kids finally got the clue that we were going to Albuquerque, and we were off. Our airport, not a hub, easy in, easy out. We landed at the hub at gate B84, our departure gate, B83. Not adjacent, clear across the airport. But we get there, I was even impressed that our eight year old was oohing and aahing when we did the final turn into the airport, that usually causes him to tense up a little. So proud of my little frequent flier.
Travel tip: I will always travel backpack. I love it.
Once we are in ABQ, we headed off to rent our car. For those cities that haven't caught on yet, car rental centers ROCK. One shuttle, one area, thank you. Also, kiosk check in, TOTALLY ROCKS. We wouldn't even have had to talk to anyone if the mini-vans weren't a mile out. So, we're off on our adventure, and our phone map doesn't work. (Do they ever when you are out of familiar territory?)
Afterthought: Paper maps.
After a mildly lengthy tour of ABQ, we find our home away from home, the Residence Inn, and the nicest hotel guy ever, John. In the middle of my rave of John, my husband asks if He should be worried about Me, I replied that it was I that should be worried about Him. Then we walk into our Suite. It was Sweet. It was their two story loft. I love it, can't get enough of the Residence Inn, and it was $150 a night, for a king bed, a queen murphy bed, a hide-a-bed, full kitchen, hot breakfast, two full baths, and John got me extra blankets.
Afterthought: ALWAYS STAY AT THE RESIDENCE INN
After dinner our eight year old was giving the gnome a tour of our suite, (rolling him down the stairs). Well, a $20 gnome is not up for such adventure, he brought me the gnome pieces with tears in his eyes, (first thought: Why do we have to break everything?????? second thought: It's a choice between my son's spirit and a twenty dollar gnome.) "It's ok, I know you didn't mean to break him, next time be more careful."
Important reminder to me: Broken gnomes not broken homes.
So, dad played cards with the kids downstairs, I vegged in front of the tv upstairs. (Again, loving the Residence Inn). ((Do you think they'll let me stay there free if I mention them enough?))
I CAN'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW.
I had settled on the Amazing Race theme for the vacation. So had to limit myself to one backpack. This is hard for me, I take three pair of shoes on an overnight trip, but it was five days not five weeks, I was going to have to be a big girl, with limited shoe choice.
The night before we left, I had all the arrangements made:
House Sitter: Check
Dog Sitter: Check
Baby Sitter: Check
Online check-in/exit row plane seating: Check
Roaming Gnome: Check (What is an Amazing Race without a gnome) ((it is really an Amelie thing, rent Amelie, it is my favorite movie))
House return from vacation ready: Needed checking
So, clue number one read:
DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL. Shower, eat, do these chores and meet me on the couch at 8:45
Afterthought: waking kids with a lengthy chore list and a note stating nothing more than don't go to school and do these chores generates questions.
While they readied the house, I readied the babies for school for the day. At 8:45 we met on the couch and I handed the three older kids green envelopes. Inside was $20 and instructions for them to pack one bag, a coat, and be plane (liquids in a ziplock) ready in an hour. Then hubby and I took the babies to school.
Afterthought: Six kids. Six envelopes.
Little middle boy had to be at school at 9:00, twins had to be at school at 9:30. Perfect opportunity to let older kids stew. When we returned at 9:45 our 8 year old was packed, the older kids...doing laundry.
Parenting note: Always build in an extra 45 minutes in your schedule for laundry.
So our big boy was complaining that he didn't have a coat. He had a coat that he BEGGED for, but couldn't wear it because it was too "South Park". It was fine, and he is a big boy, if he didn't want to wear the coat, I wasn't going to make him.
We headed off to the airport, the kids finally got the clue that we were going to Albuquerque, and we were off. Our airport, not a hub, easy in, easy out. We landed at the hub at gate B84, our departure gate, B83. Not adjacent, clear across the airport. But we get there, I was even impressed that our eight year old was oohing and aahing when we did the final turn into the airport, that usually causes him to tense up a little. So proud of my little frequent flier.
Travel tip: I will always travel backpack. I love it.
Once we are in ABQ, we headed off to rent our car. For those cities that haven't caught on yet, car rental centers ROCK. One shuttle, one area, thank you. Also, kiosk check in, TOTALLY ROCKS. We wouldn't even have had to talk to anyone if the mini-vans weren't a mile out. So, we're off on our adventure, and our phone map doesn't work. (Do they ever when you are out of familiar territory?)
Afterthought: Paper maps.
After a mildly lengthy tour of ABQ, we find our home away from home, the Residence Inn, and the nicest hotel guy ever, John. In the middle of my rave of John, my husband asks if He should be worried about Me, I replied that it was I that should be worried about Him. Then we walk into our Suite. It was Sweet. It was their two story loft. I love it, can't get enough of the Residence Inn, and it was $150 a night, for a king bed, a queen murphy bed, a hide-a-bed, full kitchen, hot breakfast, two full baths, and John got me extra blankets.
Afterthought: ALWAYS STAY AT THE RESIDENCE INN
After dinner our eight year old was giving the gnome a tour of our suite, (rolling him down the stairs). Well, a $20 gnome is not up for such adventure, he brought me the gnome pieces with tears in his eyes, (first thought: Why do we have to break everything?????? second thought: It's a choice between my son's spirit and a twenty dollar gnome.) "It's ok, I know you didn't mean to break him, next time be more careful."
Important reminder to me: Broken gnomes not broken homes.
So, dad played cards with the kids downstairs, I vegged in front of the tv upstairs. (Again, loving the Residence Inn). ((Do you think they'll let me stay there free if I mention them enough?))
I CAN'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
...of vacation planning.
I promised several people that I would blog about my recent vaca. Here it is.
Several months ago I was blogging around, and came across a blogger who had spent a lot of time owning a hot air balloon, and I said that sounds fun. I googled hot air balloon festivals and there were several to choose from. Most were too soon or too something. I settled my heart on one in Gallup, New Mexico the first weekend in December. My first clue should have been their website, but I'll get into that later.
First thing I had to do was convince my much more practical husband that taking the kids out of school for four days, putting the babies in respite for five days, flying to ABQ, and spending thousands of dollars would be a good idea. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have worried about the details, we'd have done it and worried about it later. I think that that probably led to a lot of his practicality, but as I consider things more, he's loosened up, and pretty soon we'll pass each other on our way to the other extreme.
I only knew two things of Albuquerque. One, was that it was in New Mexico, and two the Weird Al song, ok three, it was in Bernalillo County. Other than that, my mind was a clean slate. I found out so much about Albuquerque, and the more I learned the more I wanted to visit. First thing, was it's cool there in December. I know it sounds silly, but I figure, desert = hot, but throw in an altitude higher than one mile and you get cold. Two, there is a freakin' huge mountain bumpin' up against the city, and on that mountain...the longest tram of some sort in the world. So, I was really excited about doing that. (my dearly departed Grandma B is looking down from heaven wondering where that adventuresome me was thirty years ago when she had to drag me up the side of a mountain screaming the whole way.)
I decided that I wanted this trip for my Christmas present. I wanted to go to Albuquerque, I wanted to go to the balloon festival, I wanted to hang out with my older kids, and my husband and not have to worry about which three year old was where, and getting in by eight o'clock, and getting up at the crack of early. I wanted a vacation. I stated on my Born of the Heart blog that the babies will have six years of being only children, so don't feel bad for them, we don't love them any less, we just wanted to spend some time with our born of the body babies, who have given up their parents for the last four years.
So, I came up with a mock up itinerary and presented it to my husband. I was surprised that he didn't need talked into it. Ok, I have issues, I find it hard to believe that someone could want me to have something that I want. I promise to go to therapy.
There are two givens in our house. We don't carry credit card debt, anymore, and if we can't pay for it, we can't afford it. So, I had to figure a way to make this vacation as cheap as possible, and to not notice the couple of thousand dollars this trip would cost. First thing, airline tickets. I found out that www.farecompare.com had a historical graph of the price of airline tickets for the last two years. Good news, the tickets were forecast to drop about $150, I just had to be patient and wait. Wait I did and it saved me $800.
Second thing, an inexpensive place to stay, that wouldn't make us feel all ooky. We love the Residence Inn in San Antonio, figured we'd try out the one in Albuquerque. They had a two bedroom suite for $151/night. Yikes, that's cheap, and you get a free hot breakfast. We were so there. They also have a full, stocked kitchen, we could have saved even more money by cooking, but I was on vacation....
All parents know what I mean when I say I dread the question of "how long until....?" We boldly decided that this would be a surprise trip. The kids would not know a thing, until they needed to know. So I came up with the idea of an Amazing Race type scenario. We'd figure out how much money we'd spend on them, break it up into five parts and give them a fifth of their money and a clue each day. This turned out to be a brilliant idea. The kids had to pay for snacks and souvenirs along the way. We'd buy meals and pay entrance fees. In fifteen kid days I was only asked for money once, it is almost a Christmas miracle.
We also had to plan the Gallup portion of our trip. It was two hours from Albuquerque on Route 66, figured that would be fun. Turns out the only exciting thing about Gallup was the balloon festival. I was really looking forward to that. They have beautiful scenery there, the red rock formations surrounding the town were awesome. I was so excited to see the balloons with the red rocks in the background, I couldn't wait.
Gallup is a stones throw from Arizona, just inside Arizona is the Painted Desert, reportedly a photographers dream. My daughter is a photographer and since this is her senior year, I thought it would be fun to take her there, in the Painted Desert is the Petrified National Forest, cool, cool, cool.
Just beyond the forest was Winslow, Arizona, needed to go stand on a corner, and just beyond that Meteor Crater. This trip was getting more fun by the second, I was getting more excited.
The ticket prices dropped, we bought the tickets, we booked hotel rooms, the only thing standing between us and our adventure was the calendar, but I was ready.
Several months ago I was blogging around, and came across a blogger who had spent a lot of time owning a hot air balloon, and I said that sounds fun. I googled hot air balloon festivals and there were several to choose from. Most were too soon or too something. I settled my heart on one in Gallup, New Mexico the first weekend in December. My first clue should have been their website, but I'll get into that later.
First thing I had to do was convince my much more practical husband that taking the kids out of school for four days, putting the babies in respite for five days, flying to ABQ, and spending thousands of dollars would be a good idea. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have worried about the details, we'd have done it and worried about it later. I think that that probably led to a lot of his practicality, but as I consider things more, he's loosened up, and pretty soon we'll pass each other on our way to the other extreme.
I only knew two things of Albuquerque. One, was that it was in New Mexico, and two the Weird Al song, ok three, it was in Bernalillo County. Other than that, my mind was a clean slate. I found out so much about Albuquerque, and the more I learned the more I wanted to visit. First thing, was it's cool there in December. I know it sounds silly, but I figure, desert = hot, but throw in an altitude higher than one mile and you get cold. Two, there is a freakin' huge mountain bumpin' up against the city, and on that mountain...the longest tram of some sort in the world. So, I was really excited about doing that. (my dearly departed Grandma B is looking down from heaven wondering where that adventuresome me was thirty years ago when she had to drag me up the side of a mountain screaming the whole way.)
I decided that I wanted this trip for my Christmas present. I wanted to go to Albuquerque, I wanted to go to the balloon festival, I wanted to hang out with my older kids, and my husband and not have to worry about which three year old was where, and getting in by eight o'clock, and getting up at the crack of early. I wanted a vacation. I stated on my Born of the Heart blog that the babies will have six years of being only children, so don't feel bad for them, we don't love them any less, we just wanted to spend some time with our born of the body babies, who have given up their parents for the last four years.
So, I came up with a mock up itinerary and presented it to my husband. I was surprised that he didn't need talked into it. Ok, I have issues, I find it hard to believe that someone could want me to have something that I want. I promise to go to therapy.
There are two givens in our house. We don't carry credit card debt, anymore, and if we can't pay for it, we can't afford it. So, I had to figure a way to make this vacation as cheap as possible, and to not notice the couple of thousand dollars this trip would cost. First thing, airline tickets. I found out that www.farecompare.com had a historical graph of the price of airline tickets for the last two years. Good news, the tickets were forecast to drop about $150, I just had to be patient and wait. Wait I did and it saved me $800.
Second thing, an inexpensive place to stay, that wouldn't make us feel all ooky. We love the Residence Inn in San Antonio, figured we'd try out the one in Albuquerque. They had a two bedroom suite for $151/night. Yikes, that's cheap, and you get a free hot breakfast. We were so there. They also have a full, stocked kitchen, we could have saved even more money by cooking, but I was on vacation....
All parents know what I mean when I say I dread the question of "how long until....?" We boldly decided that this would be a surprise trip. The kids would not know a thing, until they needed to know. So I came up with the idea of an Amazing Race type scenario. We'd figure out how much money we'd spend on them, break it up into five parts and give them a fifth of their money and a clue each day. This turned out to be a brilliant idea. The kids had to pay for snacks and souvenirs along the way. We'd buy meals and pay entrance fees. In fifteen kid days I was only asked for money once, it is almost a Christmas miracle.
We also had to plan the Gallup portion of our trip. It was two hours from Albuquerque on Route 66, figured that would be fun. Turns out the only exciting thing about Gallup was the balloon festival. I was really looking forward to that. They have beautiful scenery there, the red rock formations surrounding the town were awesome. I was so excited to see the balloons with the red rocks in the background, I couldn't wait.
Gallup is a stones throw from Arizona, just inside Arizona is the Painted Desert, reportedly a photographers dream. My daughter is a photographer and since this is her senior year, I thought it would be fun to take her there, in the Painted Desert is the Petrified National Forest, cool, cool, cool.
Just beyond the forest was Winslow, Arizona, needed to go stand on a corner, and just beyond that Meteor Crater. This trip was getting more fun by the second, I was getting more excited.
The ticket prices dropped, we bought the tickets, we booked hotel rooms, the only thing standing between us and our adventure was the calendar, but I was ready.
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