Helping Mom With the Brewing

helping mom, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I'm brewing again because I desparately need a hobby.

A couple of weeks ago I did a quick inventory of my brewing equipment. I still had a couple of plastic bucket fermenters but decided to replace them because they have been used storing all sorts of fun lawn or pool chemicals for the last 3 years. I went online and I found the best of both worlds - a plastic carboy that will hold 6 gallons. I had a 6.5 gallon glass carboy that my husband broke - he denies it but I *know* it was him so I bought a bucket, and I hated it because I couldn't see what was going on during fermentation. See photo - top left for what a carboy is.

So I bought this new plastic carboy -lightweight and unbreakable, and I can peek in at what is going on without having to take the lid off.

I bought a buttload of new stuff just because, including a new hydrometer, 2 freezer thermometers, and a digital cook thermometer. I also bought a new wort chiller because my old one looks like someone sat on it and I'm not into wasting time trying to work the kinks out of copper tubing.

I should remember to order my yeast separately because even though all my supplies arrived 2 days after I ordered it, my big box o' stuff rode around in an UPS delivery truck all day and my *live* yeast pack was decidedly warm.

Still I worried for nothing. This live yeast pack comes with an inner pack of yeast nutrients. You smack the pack, the nutrient pack breaks, and you wait 3 hours and the pack should start to swell with activity. Mine swelled just fine.

My first job was washing everything real well, including scrubbing my old aluminum cook kettle. It took me 2 and a half hours to get that thing presentable. I was also soaking everything in a bleach solution (tubing, racking cane, funnel, stirring spoon) in one of my old fermenting buckets. I then set up a siphon from the old bucket to my new see-through carboy and Brenden decided he was completely fascinated with siphons. He, my kitchen floor, and 6-8 towels were sanitized along with all of my brewing gear (it was 1tbsp clorox to 5 gallons of water. I wasn't afraid of B poisoning himself).

I waited until the evening to actually do the boil. Having Monkey-boy gallavanting around me while I'm trying to boil 5 gallons of sugar water on a propane burner is not my idea of safe brewing. Once el jefe was safely tucked away in his crib I fired her up and got a 5-gallon batch of Irish Red ale a boiling.

I chose Irish Red because it's one of my favorites- I think I have made 1 batch of Irish Red for every 3 batches of beer I've ever brewed (American Cream Ale is my next favorite). I'm very comfortable with making this even if I did get a lot of malted barley grain all over my kitchen when I opened the bag too fast.

Anyway I got hammered while drinking Sam Adams but still managed to get the hops into the wort (the sugar water), the wort boiled, then cooled, then transferred to the carboy without mishap. I pitched the yeast, threw the stopper with the airlock on and put it in my keg freezer at a comfy 68 degrees. Then I stumbled to bed after making sure I at least washed everything enough to get the sugar off.

The next day I peek into the freezer and see a nice head of foam on the wort (that was some perky yeast! Usually it takes about 24 hours to see that much activity), but oddly the airlock isn't burbling - I won't go into detail, but the airlock is designed to let co2 escape during fermentation but not allow other gasses / bugs / critters in. It should bubble with yeast activity like that.

I figure out I forgot a vital part of the airlock when I was assembling everything the night before. I found it, rinsed it off in peach-flavored Vodka (about the only thing that crap is good for) and put it in the airlock. Bubbles ahoy. Now I just hope no bugs or critters got in while this part was missing.

I'm going to bottle this batch - it will probably give me the incentive to get off my butt and clean and sanitize my corny kegs, and get my co2 bottles filled because bottling is a pain in the butt. I was disgruntled to find out my 16 ounce flip-top bottles(think Grolsh bottles) had disappeared because they made bottling just a touch easier.

Next up: I'll probably do a cream ale and keg it, then I think I'll try something more ambitious. I'm thinking an India Pale Ale (lots of hops + a high gravity brew - high gravity means there's a wagonload of malt sugar in the wort therefore lots of alcohol).

Someday I want to move from extract brewing to all-grain brewing. Brenden will definitely have to be older because that takes a full day, from mashing the grains (not what it sounds like) to pitching the yeast.

Next time I brew I'll take photos so you all will know what the hell I'm talking about.

Pointless Chicken Photo

Rooster and hens, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I am sorry to see that Helly's dad has passed away. It makes me thankful that I've spent more time with my dad since Brenden was born. I'm not sure what else I can say about that.

For the first time in 3 years I brewed a batch of beer last weekend. It's currently burping merrily away in my kegorator. I'm going to bottle it, which is a pain in the butt, in about a week or two, as soon as it stops fermenting.

New Brenden phrases: "Uh oh! Woe! Uh oh, Woe!" No, he's not an end-of-times prophet, he's just telling my my cell phone is ringing. "Peas! Peas! Peas!" What he now says when he wants something. It beats his old "Uh. Uh uh uh uh! Uh! UH!" phrase.

Yeah, I don't have much to say. I watched The Sopranos finale and I was happy with the ending. Some people think Tony got whacked. Nonsense. Half the fun of the Sopranos was all the little details like music, movies, books, etc that seemed incidental never were. What Journey song was Tony listening to at the end of the episode/season/series?

Working hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Paying anything to roll the dice
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

Tony and family, and Family, keep on keeping on. Seems self-evident to me.

2 Years Ago...

Thinking, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I went back and corrected a few of the entries for the last meme I posted. I have indeed performed on stage, and I have also had surgery performed on my body. In 2 instances I have lovingly and in detail blogged about the surgical procedures.

We took Brenden to a new place in Decatur called "Off the Walls". It's for kids and it's an indoor playground, featuring many of those inflatable things that kids can jump on, slide off, etc. When we walked in with Brenden, judging by the expression on his face you would have thought the Valkyries had taken him to Valhalla a wee bit early.

We forgot the camera, unfortunately. Because Jon still has a busted foot I got to crawl, slide, climb, and play with El Jefe for 2 1/2 hours. I had fun, but my body sounded like a bowl of Rice Crispies.

Jon took B to his 2 year well-baby appointment. He is 30.4 pounds and 37 inches tall. He is big for his age!

NO WAI, originally uploaded by Women, Fire & Dangerous Things.

Meme time! This is one of those "have you ever" memes, and you answer by bolding the ones you've done:

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink Small bar, thank goodness.
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain I'm not going to assume they mean "on foot".
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game Braves vs. Twins! 1991 World Series!
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity - If I have given anything, I have to assume it's what I could afford
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign Don't ask I'm ashamed.
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs Some of these are stupid
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children In the process of..
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge - I drove it
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (45.5 kilograms)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart - I don't think so
111. Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol Yes, yes, and yes
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach -ew!
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read Many
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life - Unknown, but I have donated blood quite often, and being 0 neg (universal donor), I would hope someone got some use out of it!

Looking for trouble

Looking for trouble, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Letter to Brenden Month 24

Happy Birthday, child of mine. I hope you enjoy your chocolate cake with vanilla icing and Spongebob thingies poking out of it all over the top. I wish I were there to eat it with you. ‹/mommy guilt›

Your physical skills, both gross and fine motor skills, are a quantum leap ahead of where you were this time last year. You climb everything you possibly can, which is a major hassle because I'm having to lock you out of the kitchen some times to keep you off the dishwasher, the table, the counters. I had kittens when you came out of the kitchen waving a knife around. I know that knife was in the knife block, well away from the edge of the counter!

You have improved your vocabulary, and as I have written previously, you overload the meanings of words because you have so few of them and that is classical toddler behavior.

I have noticed other words:

"Chayah!" Which means chair. Usually you say this when you are hungry and are ready to sit down and eat.

"Dowah! Door, which usually means the fridge door. You are mastering the habit of standing there, looking in the fridge, trying to decide what you want. I recall this habit irritating the piss out of my mom. Payback is hell.

"Shoo shoo!" Choo-choo, or your train set. You overload this one to mean just about any toy with wheels except airplanes. Speaking of:

"Ayahplagh" (Really!) This is your new attempt to say airplane. You also say "Keeat" instead of "keetee" when referring to the cat now.

I'm sure you have a much larger vocabulary than I'm giving you credit for, honey. Give me time, I'm learning.

Da da na na meow

Pool side, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

A new lesson in Brendenspeak:

Yesterday Brenden told me "Da da na na meow!"

It is important, when translating Brendenspeak to know the context. Brenden and I were outside, next to the hot tub.

"Da Da" translates to "parent person". It is either me, or Jon. This one word doesn't change meaning much with context unlike the other 5-6 words in his vocabulary.

"Na na", derived from "night night", has come to mean "pick me up and place me (x)". Since we always say "night night" to him when we pick him up and place him in his crib, it doesn't take too much to understand where this new definition came from.

"Meow!" Something to drink, or liquid, depending on context. In this case it meant the hot tub.

So to put it all together, Brenden said: "Mom, pick me up and put me in the hot tub!"

We spent an hour splishing around in there. The pool is crystal clear, but too doggone cold right now.

This flower has nothing to do with this post

hisbiscus, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I had a good time in Michigan. It was nice to be able to relax, unwind, and get tanked without having to chase Brenden about. It was good to see Hector again, as well as his brother Victor and their always cool parents. I will post pictures eventually. I don't know if any of them are worth posting. I blame the beer.

My brother and his hilarious wife Jen were there, as well as mom and Price. I was also happy to see Hector's friend Dave there - counting him, Ed, Hector, and Victor, it was a reunion of my old Dungeons and Dragons group. I definitely hope some of those photos come out! I'll write more later.

I met Victor's fiance, Kim. They're getting married next month! I wish they had spaced it out more because I can't go.

This wedding was the second I've been to where I have seen a Shrek wedding cake topper. It makes sense - Shrek is the most romantic movie to have come out in a long time.

Speaking of movies, I saw Spider-man III Saturday before the wedding. I concur with Nancy: it's a better movie than the critics are giving it credit for. It's not as good as the second movie, and there was way too much jammed in there, but overall I was very happy because Sam Raimi did not forget that the first two movies were about Peter, MJ, and Harry and he brought the story to a satisfying (and open-ended) conclusion.

Brenden did something pretty cute Sunday: he dragged a teddy bear out of his room, put him on the couch laying down with his head on a pillow. Then he pulled a small comforter we keep on the couch over his bear, patted it on the back, and said "ni-ni! Ni-ni!" (night- night).

Happy Towel Day!

Happy Towel Day!, originally uploaded by mmuzzy.

It's been a while since I've nattered about my favorite redhead. I'm still quite fond of him but lately I have realized that if I could be any inanimate object I wanted to be it would be Jamie Bamber's towel (hence the title of this post, though it is towel day. Surely you know where your towel is?).

Anyway, Damian Lewis is going to be in a new series on NBC this fall. The bad news is it's a cop show (Life). I predict it will last about 4-5 episodes. I'm thinking the success of Hugh Laurie in House has made hiring Brits to play Americans the fashionable thing to do. Speaking of Mr. Laurie, it took several seasons of House before I finally recognized him as the goofball twit from the many incarnations of Blackadder.

It worked for the aforementioned Laurie and Bamber (though technically Lee Adama's not American - he's Caprican) but failed for Ioan Gruffudd who was in some Lawyer show a few years ago that tanked mightily (Century City, if I recally correctly). I won't mind a cop show if the writing is good.

Birthday Present

Birthday Present, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

In response to Alan's comment yesterday:

I will give Hector your congratulations. I should have posted this before, but here is a link to his wedding info.

His brother Victor is doing great, still lives in Atlanta (I think) and has an important lady in his life, too. No word on any impending marriage yet.

What I'm (not) watching:

After poorly marketing it and placing it against the powerhouse of garbage that is American Idol, Veronica Mars is no more. I had to quit watching it after the first 7 eps of this season because my husband likes AI. That royally sucks. I wish Fox or one of the other networks would resurrect it and let it find the audience it deserves. Hell, the USA network has a good track record with detective shows.

Battlestar Galactica is on hiatus until 2008, but it has at least one season left. The show's creator doesn't want it to go on indefinitely, but wants the show to resolve its story then bow out gracefully. I think that's a fantastic idea and something Chris Carter should have understood when the X-Files wound down.

Season 3 of BSG was uneven; the first half was awesome with the humans breaking out of New Capricra and dealing with the aftermath plus finding the next signpost to Earth. the second half deteriorated badly with some horrid episodes. I found out later that the show's writers had to axe a story line and rushed to fill in the episodes and it shows with some awful writing. The season finale kind of and sort of made up for it when Apollo reads the riot act* to the entire fracking fleet during Baltar's trial. I also like the fact that Starbuck *is* alive, and I have no clue whatsoever what is going to happen to the fleet in season 3 (it doesn't look too good).

Lost 's season ended with a bang in its season finale, and like BSG, plans to bow out gracefully by telling its story then leaving the stage (in 3 more seasons). I am officially liking this series again after an uneven start. I could use more footage of Jack beating up Ben next season!

24's season ended with a whimper. I think this show is done for, and it should have ended with season 4. Maybe *next* season the writers will listen to me and understand that they don't need to put the world on the edge of apocalypse to make a show exciting. I doubt they will listen to me though.

So once again it is summer rerun time, also known as the long, dark tea time of the soul. Anybody got any good movie recommendations?

What's on the Beach

What's on the Beach, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Jon broke his foot last weekend, and no it wasn't on a skydive. His foot looks real ugly but the doc didn't even cast it. He should be able to walk on it by next week. I am flying up to Detroit Friday to my friend Hector's wedding and I was worried I would have to miss it because of the busted foot but Jon found someone who will help him with Brenden. I will take the camera ans snap a bunch of photos, of course.

Real quick, because I'm like 3 weeks late with this:

Letter to Brenden Month 23: You are doing three new things since I've written one of these:

The good: you love to dance. I mean you put on your boogie shoes and get down. You didn't get that from me!

The bad: quit stage-diving, little buddy! You are finding things to climb on and then launching yourself at me. So far you've been lucky and I haven't missed. When we go into the pool next time I think I'm going to deliberately miss, so maybe you will learn a little caution.

The ugly: stop eating bugs!

Stoplight Parrotfish

Stoplight Parrotfish, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

FYI, parrotfishies are the main culprit behind St. John's soft sands. They are called parrotfish because they have beaks for mouths (kind of) and they scrape old coral for food. They poop out the coral, which has been reduced to small grains (sand). That's right, and it's the best damn fish poop I've ever walked on.

Trip Report: May 8,9,10 Trunk Bay, Cruz Bay, and Coming Home
On the morning of May 8 we chose to go to a different beach. Trunk Bay is one of the more famous beaches of the Virgin Islands - it is very pretty plus it has even better facilities that Cinnamon Bay. That's the problem: there's a $4 entry fee and many, many people go there and it's especially crowded when tour groups from one of the cruise ships shows up. The whole trick to Trunk Bay is to arrive real early, say 7:30 in the morning. You won't have to pay to get in and there's usually only a few other folks on the beach. Jon snorkeled along the underwater Trail:



Brenden was even more bold in the water, which was very calm. He'd try to walk out as far as he could then he'd insist on me carrying him as far as we could. He kept pointing at this blue bouy and saying "Ball! Ball!" and wanting us to go to it. It was too deep, and I didn't have any trustworthy floaties I could load him in and swim with him to it.



The day was cloudy and showers kept threatening but we lasted until about 10 when it started getting too crowded. Brenden, with his endless fascination with running water, had a major meltdown when I insisted we leave the shower area. He fell asleep by the time we drove back into town.

If you guessed we played in the pool in the afternoon, you wouldn't be wrong. Jon went on a night-time scuba dive and I stayed with Brenden.



We decided to slack even more on the 9th. We went into Cruz Bay to window-shop and snap some photos. We found a little children's park near the National Park dock but it was getting hot about then so we went and ate at a restaurant (The Balcony) which is on the 2nd Floor of Wharfside Village (a shopping area near the Passenger Ferry dock). The food was better than we had in St. Thomas, more plentiful, and less expensive. Go figure. Brenden loooooooooooves shrimp.



During the entire vacation, Brenden would take long naps (3 hours at least). No, we didn't mind; there's something about the tropics (the heat, duh) that wears you out and Jon and I would take naps during the afternoon, as well. But any time B is asleep it's quality time, so I fought the sleepies and sat out on the veranda and watched the boats come and go. I also walked around the grounds and snapped photos of the flora and fauna. I saw 2 iguanas while we were there but I decided photos were out because both of them were sadly roadkill.

Brenden got more quality pool-time that afternoon, of course.



Coming home was like clockwork, too, surprisingly. We loaded up the jeep, checked out, caught a car barge back to st. Thomas, brought the jeep back to the car rental place, they drove us to the airport. Dependable in St. Thomas has friendly employees, by the way. That reminds me: The fellow who drove us from the airport to the car rental place was quiet but polite. When he left us, he said "goodbye" and I said goodbye, too. Brenden surprised him (and me) by waving and saying "bye-bye!" and the guy gave us both a beautiful, sunny smile. He was more talkative when he drove us back to the airport a week later.

So anyway the flights back were unremarkable. Brenden did have a meltdown on the flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta but he fell asleep before the plane left the tarmac and didn't wake up until we were retrieving our luggage. We drove back to Hartselle right then, and didn't get to the house until 1:30, swearing right then that we would pay an extra $600-$800 to fly out of Huntsville or Birmingham next time.

Overall, I loved the vacation, but perhaps the Virgin Islands was too ambitious for a full family vacation considering Brenden's age. The Gulf Coast is 5 hours south of us by car, after all. But as Brenden gets older, I hope he continues to find the ocean as exciting and enjoyable as I still do. My mom tells me that my brother Edward was snorkeling at the age of 3. I opened the pool last weekend and as soon as it gets warm enough we are going to continue working with Brenden on his swimming lessons.

Scuba Day

IMG_0364, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Why interrupt a tradition on my blog?

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday Bill Paxton
Happy birthday to you!

James Lileks is vacation blogging, too; his entries are about his family's trip to DisneyWorld. I see he gets the same feelings I get whenever I encounter the House of Mouse: cynicism at war with the inner 5-year old who is genuinely getting a kick out of everything. Me, I can't wait to take Brenden.

Trip Report: May 6,7 Cinnamon Bay and Low-Key
We went to Cinnamon Bay again, except this time we did it right and left the condo early. Brenden felt more comfortable with the ocean and I felt more comfortable snorkeling. I sat in the water with B and we 'dug for treasure' - there's a line of coarser material about 2 feet into the water that includes small bits of broken coral, shells, and rocks. I'd dump some of this into B's toy sieve and pan through it in the water until the big stuff remained. Brenden was fascinated by the little bits and pieces left over; occasionally we'd find a larger shell that way.



The next day was the big day - we were going to go scuba diving. I had called a place recommended on various message boards. By the way, how can you trust info you get from a message board? Leave a message with the word "1337" in it and see how many responses you get that say "what the hell does that mean?" The more confusion, the more trustworthy the source.



Anyway, I called Christy's of St. John, and they recommended a babysitter. Tamisha is a very nice young lady who was shy with us but she and Brenden got along just fine. She watched him for the morning while Jon and I loaded up for some scuba diving with Low-Key Watersports, a company we have dived with both times we have been to St. John. I had wanted to try a company that dealt with smaller groups, but Jon wanted to stay with Low-Key. Overall, the dives were nice, but it was somewhat of a cattle boat. I hope next time we can try the other company.



Still, the first dive at Calf Rock was rough - I hadn't dived since Costa Rica and it took me a while to get used to the environment again. The second dive at Little St. James was much better although when I got out of the water I was shivering. The water temp was 82 and I only wore my rash guard over my bathing suit. Next time I'll wear a shorty, and I won't let 2 1/2 years go by before I dive again.



I did have a good time. I saw all kinds of nifty creatures, including an eel, pretty fish, a big honking barracuda, several rays, and the spider-thingy above. Our dive guide pulled it out of a hole and put it on my hand. I'm glad I don't have bug phobias. I still wonder what it is (I have identification books. I'll need to peruse them).

I also got to see one of my favorite types of little fishies: I looked them up once but I can't remember their official name. I call them "disco fish". These pretty, shy little fellas live in holes in the ocean bottom. They never go far from their holes, and the effort it takes to stay near their holes makes them look like their dancing. This photo doesn't do their coloring justice: their hues are almost neon. Hence the 'disco'.



Both days ended with trips to the pool. Brenden could never get enough of the pool.

Rainbow

Rainbow, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I went to visit my doc yesterday and was prescribed a whole slew of meds including antibiotics, decongestant/expectorant, and Singulair for athsma/allergies. I'm also throwing ibuprofen on top of all that for the sore throat. Last night I had spectacular dreams which bled over into reality. I dreamt I had heard a loud bang, so I woke up and had to search the whole house before I went back into bed and discovered there had been no noise (Jon was wondering what the hell I had been doing).

On with the show:

Trip Report: May 4-5 Cinnamon Bay and Charlotte Amalie We saw a rainbow over St. Thomas when we woke up and I managed to snag a few pictures of it. We planned to go to the beach and it took forever to get ready. By the time we left the condo it was 9 am and Brenden was already a little cranky. We also discovered that we had left the battery charger for our new camera (Canon PowerShot SD900) back home. Jon and I debated a course of action and ended up deciding to go over to St. Thomas on the following day to find one. We didn't come all this way to snap only a few paltry photos.

We stopped in Cruz Bay to see if we could find a charger (no luck) and to buy Brenden a few cheapie beach toys. St. John Kids, right next to the passenger ferry dock, had some nice toys that fit the bill. We decided on Cinnamon Bay for our beach destination because it has shower facilities, plus it is my most favoritest place in the known universe.




I watched el jefe at first while Jon went a snorkeling. He tested out the waterproof case for the camera and I tried to teach Brenden how to make a sand castle. I built them and he would go Godzilla on them. I took him out in the water a few times and he seemed far more interested in digging in the sand.





I went snorkeling too and kept getting foot cramps. I haven't been snorkeling / scuba diving since we went to Costa Rica 2 years and 8 months or so ago so I was a little out of practice. I didn't last long and went and played with B some more. Despite a powerful sun B and I managed to deter sunburn thanks to spf-rated rash guards and plenty o' sunscreen. Jon got some on his shoulders.

The rest of the day was unremarkable.

We took our time and left for the passenger ferry dock to catch the ferry into Charlotte Amalie at 11:15. Brenden was cranky, of course. Jon was carrying him around in our kiddie backpack but it was hot. I bought him a little hat which he wore occasionally.








In Charlotte Amalie we ate lunch at a restaraunt with AC. I don't remember the name but it was pretty expensive. Brenden got to sit by a window looking over the CA harbor. He decorated it with ketchup. Then we went shopping. We found a charger so we did some window-shopping and bought a few more toys for Brenden. He was allowed to walk a little and stopped for every puddle and fountain we came by. The boy is fascinated with water, particularly running water. I have to do battle with him every time I try to get him out of the bathtub.

On the ferry ride back he fell asleep, thank Neptune.

view from condo, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Trip Report: May 2-3 Travel Day(s) The hotel in Atlanta was a kind of good idea; getting Brenden to sleep was a major hassle (11:30 or so) so none of us were well-rested by the time we got to Hartsfield International at 5:30. Still it beat trying to leave the house at 1 am. Now here's the scary part of this travel day: everything went according to plan! Very spooky.

Security was a breeze, the flights were on-time and pleasant (would it be racist of me to point out the French flight attendants were kinda rude, though?), and Brenden was for the most part amenable. We had to break out the dvd player during the last hour of the flight from Ft. Lauderdale to St. Thomas to quell an attack of the crankies but that was it. We flew Spirit Airlines, by the way, in some of their brand-spanking new A-319 Airbuses. Anyone who is reading this who lives in Atlanta ought to keep them in mind because they have good deals on vacation spots.

So the flights were on-time, the luggage didn't get lost and the folks at Dependable Car Rental came and got us 10 minutes after we called them just like they said they would. We rented a 4-door Jeep Wrangler (yes, a 4 door. They make those now). Once the paperwork was finished, Jon drove from Charlotte Amalie to the ferry dock in Red Hook and we almost immediately backed up onto a car barge. Brenden by then had decided to nap again.





We drove off at the new dock at Enighed pond thus avoiding the chaos near the passenger ferry / national park docks. We made one stop at the Starfish Market for some quick supplies and found the Serendip Condos relatively easy. We had rented Echo unit, and for a less expensive alternative to renting a villa I think we got our money's worth. The condo was small, with the kitchen / dining room / living room being one room, then a bathroom (tiny) and a bedroom. These condos are perfect for couples or really small families.

There were two air conditioners, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. The best part of the condo to me was the verandah. It was fairly large and I was able to let Brenden on it without too much fear he would try to climb anything. The view was nice and ironically of the car ferry dock at Enighed pond. I am of the opinion that when they built the dock and dredged the salt pond it helped this view. I spent plenty of downtime on the verandah drinking beer and watching the barges come and go.

I took Brenden for a walk in the neighborhood while Jon took a nap. These condos are in a residential area and most people who live there are working-class (I saw many taxis parked in the driveways). This area is also one big honking hill and all the streets have a steep grade. If you want to get in serious shape, go move to St. John for 6 months and do a casual stroll around this neighborhood every morning.

The condos themselves are older but well-maintained. The architectural style screams 70's to me. They were also freshly painted (white and light blue). The pool looks like the newest addition and someone is going nuts with his or her landscaping project. I showed Brenden some of the native life (chickens, feral cats, and lizards) and he had fun chasing after some of them (all too swift, lucky for them).





Once Jon woke up we took B swimming in the pool to wear him out. We were all wore out by bed-time.

Digging the Ocean

Momnb, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

We're back from vacation, and I'm sick again. Same shit, different day. I'm getting caught up with everything and will eventually get around to posting a trip report. I have posted some of the photos from the trip on my flickr account and have a bunch more to process. We have a new camera and a waterproof casing and we were snap-happy on this trip.

In a nutshell: vacation was fun but trying, because doing anything that disrupts a toddler's routine means there will be hell to pay. The good news is Brenden loves the beach / ocean as much as I had hoped. Matter of fact the hard part was getting him to leave the beach. We had several episodes of having to drag him away kicking and screaming.

I would just like to take this moment and thank Stephen Hillenburg from the bottom of my heart for his inspired creation of "Spongebob Squarepants". Without the season 4 dvd's, none of us would have made it out of this vacation alive.

Anticipation and Trepidation

Trunk Bay@St. John, originally uploaded by NNBB_Alf.

I just did a search on my own blog and I am amazed at how many posts about James Bond I have written.

I have nothing else to say about that, I was just amused.

I'm impatient for work to be over. Even though we don't get on the plane until tomorrow, I will really feel like I'm on my way when we head for Atlanta this afternoon. Everything is packed, including the few liquid/aerosol/gels in less than 3 oz. sizes that I'm taking in my carry-on packed in one quart-size ZipLoc baggy (not a gallon-size, not a fold-over or twist-tie). The TSA folks will probably throw mine away because it's a Target knock-off baggie and not a real ZipLoc. Life in the 21st century is so much fun!

I want to get to Hartsfield by 5am local, even though our flight doesn't leave until 8. I'm hoping security won't be as crowded, plus if it is, we'll have plenty of time to go through. It should be an absolute hoot getting through with Brenden in tow. People are always pissed at other people with small children in tow. Now I get to pay for every time I was annoyed by some poor overtired child having a meltdown and their harried stressed-out parents. I bought every little toy and treat with Spongebob on it I could lay my hands on for bribes. We also have our portable DVD with season 4 of SBSP but that's for me too. All the websites with travelling tips say it's a good idea to keep your kid distracted as much as possible. I should go to Wal-Mart and buy 30-40 pairs of ear plugs for the passengers around us. I am worried about Brenden's ears, too - he finishes his antibiotics today, but how can I tell if his ear infection is gone? If it was caused by a virus the antibiotics would have been pointless (although the conjunctivitis cleared up rapidly).

Wow, this worry is stressful. I may need a vacation after all of this.

St. John or bust!

Caneel Bay, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

We're getting everything ready for the trip - we're leaving Wednesday night and staying at a hotel near Atlanta because our flight leaves at 8am. I'm trying to bring everything I think we may need yet trying not to pack the house. Packing used to be easy before Brenden!

Speaking of Monkey-boy, his ears and eyes seem to be better but the antibiotics I'm giving him have given him a case of oral thrush. That's a yeast infection. It's not dangerous but it can make for a cranky child. I have packed many surprises and treats (code name:BRIBES) for the plane rides. Pray for us, or at least the poor people who have to sit next to us.

Bond. James Bond.

James Bond, originally uploaded by knoopie.

We saw a movie last week!! It took 2 days but we saw Casino Royale, the new James Bond movie featuring the new Bond, Daniel Craig. I knew something was different when the opening credits features silhouettes of men beating the crap out of each other, instead of naked dancing chicks. For the record, Chris Cornell sang the opening theme.

The James Bond franchise has always been the David Bowie of movies (although that's kind of an insult to Mr. Bowie). He has survived so long because he adapts his musical style to the times - He reinvents himself but stays the same, if that makes sense. So does the Bond franchise. This time, the producers paid attention to 2 things, the first being Batman Begins, which was a 'reset' of the Batman franchise (and believe me, I have no problem ignoring the Joel Shumaker Batmans and I was never a big fan of the Tim Burton ones anyway). The second thing, and more importantly, is the Bourne franchise: both The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy had lots of fun, sweaty action without ever resorting to gimmicky gadgets or too-ludicrous stunts.

The sad thing is they missed the fact that Christian Bale and Matt Damon are a lot of fun to look at and Daniel Craig, well, is kinda ugly. But no matter: I never thought Sean Connery was good looking, George Lazenby was a non-entity, Roger Moore was cardboard, and Pierce Brosnan was nice-looking but not my thing (Timothy Dalton was a hottie but he didn't make it past 2 movies). The fact that Bond never was attractive to me (except in The Living Daylights, perhaps my favorite of all time) has never altered the fact that I unconditionally love Bond movies. Yes, even the really stupid Roger Moore ones.

So even though I find Daniel Craig very hard to look at, I must admit he is well-cast here as the proto-James Bond. He's just got his license to kill and he's a bit of a thug. The script actually sort of follows the book (which I haven't read since college) to even keeping a torture scene and all I can say is *owie!!* for Bond. Jon didn't like this movie because he didn't think it was a 'Bond' movie, but I liked it for just these reasons. Bond sweats, bleeds, makes mistakes, and even falls in love. The action is well-filmed and tense and not stoopid. They did keep a few tropes: the bad guy is a sweaty ugly creep of Northern European extraction (but is not trying to take over ther world for once). *I* loved this movie. I have always clamored for more serious Bond movies and I finally got one. Hooray! I hope they remake some of the other old ones.

Now that it's acceptable to have story arcs in TV shows and movies I would looooooooooove it if they built one for Bond (yes, the books had a story arc, if I remember correctly). Then we could get to On Her Majesty's Secret Service which is a great James Bond story but very few people have actually seen the movie.

What, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I took Brenden to the doc's yesterday and he has an ear infection plus conjunctivitis. He's on antibiotics and some children's Motrin at night seems to help him sleep better. He kept me up most of the weekend. Now it's my turn today - I have something nasty developing in my lungs. I'll go to the doc's today and beg for some cough medicine. It hurts bad to cough plus what ever I hack up is a nice murky green. Hope you aren't eating your morning donut, just now. We need to get this all cleared up because vacation is in 9 days.

Here's a meme via Nancy:


1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:00
2. How do you like your steak? Medium
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The Wedding Crashers, I think.
4. What is your favorite TV show? Battlestar Galactica!
5. What did you have for breakfast? Coffee. Not much appetite right now.
6. What is your middle name? Linn.
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Caribbean.
8. What foods do you dislike? Anything with fruit cooked into it. I love fruit but don't bake it to mush please.
9. What is your favorite chips? Doritos.
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Music? What's that?
11. What kind of car do you drive? Saturn 4-door something.
12. What is your favorite sandwich? Cubano
13. What characteristics do you despise? Bullies. I can forgive just about everything else but bullies piss me off.
14. What are your favorite clothes? PJ bottoms and a tee-shirt! Me too!!
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? With the family? By myself? I'd stay here for a week or two: Gibney Beach. I'd just lay in some groceries and go swim and snorkel when I want and then come in and read books while listening to the ocean. If I had the family with me it would be the same island just something a little more accessible (and cheaper).

16. Favorite brand of clothing? The brands that fit. Still fond of Levi blue jeans.
17. Where would you want to retire? If I were a bazillionaire, my own island. Since I'm not, Oklahoma looks nice.
18. Favorite time of day? Only on weekends, the 2 hours that B naps. That's *me* time.
19. Where were you born? Kansas City, Missouri
20. What is your favorite sport to watch? Baseball! To quote an old boyfriend, it's 10 minutes of action jam-packed into 3 hours, but that's why I like it. I can put a game on then read a book and look up when I hear the crowd cheer.
21. Pepsi or Coke? Coke!
22. Beavers or ducks? Ducks. Otters, on the other hand...
23. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Morning but not by choice.
24. Pedicure or manicure? No.
25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Brenden taught a little 15 month old girl how to push a button on a water fountain at the doctor's office. I'm just amazed that he's that social.
26. What did you want to be when you were little? An astronaut.
27. What is your best childhood memory? Swimming in the ocean.
28. Piercing? Ears
29. Ever been to Africa? No.
30. Ever been toilet papering? No.
31. Been in a car accident? Yes.
32. Favorite day of the week? Saturday.
33. Restaurant? Currently it's Logan's Roadhouse. Why? Because it's noisy and you can throw things on the floor. That would make it Brenden's favorite restaurant as well.
34. Favorite Flower? Tulips.
35. Favorite ice cream? Chocolate chip.
36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Popeye's. I loove their red beans and rice.
37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Less than Spongebob. Never, really.
38. From whom did you get your last email? Someone who want to sell me something to increase my penis size.
39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I'll have to go with Amazon.com too.
40. Bedtime? 9:30 pm.
41. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? whomever wishes to do this.
44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Ileana. Dad couldn't come with us because he was getting operated on. I can't remember the restaurant but I had fajitas.
45. What are you listening to right now? The tapping on my keyboard
46. What is your favorite color? Blue.
47. How many tattoos do you have? One. That's enough.
48. Favorite magazine? Popular Mechanics. No, that's not a joke.

Meowing for Juice

Easter, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Dad is out of the hospital and both he and Ileana are in better spirits. Dad was making William Wallace jokes so I know he was feeling better. After talking with the doctor who actually performed the surgery, they both feel more optimistic about his treatment options. If I heard him right, he'll be recuperating for 3 more weeks then visiting an oncologist. They'll be staying in Tampa for a while because access to medical facilities is easier there than in Oklahoma. I'm going to bring Brenden and Jon down sometime in June. They have a pool, so I know what B will be doing!

Speaking of, we had our first real conversation yesterday:

B: MeMeow! Mao? Mao? Mao?
Me: Sure, hon, I'll get you something to drink. (Puts sippy cup under water dispenser on fridge)
B: Nooooo! (points emphatically at fridge door, grabs handle), Eh, eh eh eh eh!!
Me: Okay, no water. What? (Opens fridge door)
B: (pointing at apple juice) choos! Choos!
Me: (giving in like a little wuss because that's the first time he said 'juice' ) Okay, hon, just a little. (pours small amount in sippy cup).
B: (grabs cup) A-shoo! (thank you!)

Sticker Boy

Sticker Boy, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I'm posting this photo because we need a good laugh!

The news isn't good - some of the lymph nodes were positive for cancer. My dad will be consulting with his docs today for a course of treatment. When she called me Ilu was understandably quite upset. So am I.

I'm back - busy catching up at work and I still don't have web access at home.

Anyhows, my dad is doing fine - his surgery went well and yes it involves the "C" word. The doc thinks he got it all plus it doesn't look like it spread to any other organs. The only question that remains is some lymph nodes surrounding the affected tissue. They were enlarged, but it isn't known because they were affected or simply 'reactive' (I assume meaning 'enlarged because of problem in area'). I'm waiting to hear from Ilu about the results from the pathologist.

I'm very glad I went - they both were quite happy I showed up. Waiting while someone is at the hospital is always the slowest, most horrendous and annoying wait possible and Ilu and I had a long one. We got to the hospital at 7:30 but dad didn't get called until several hours later. He didn't go into surgery until much later, and then there was recovery then waiting while he was given a room. In all fairness to the hospital once he went into the surgery we were given updates frequently on everything. Any way he got into his room at 7pm. Dad was feeling pretty groggy but in good spirits while Ilu was understandably frazzled.

I called Ilu yesterday and dad is up and about and hopefully getting out of the hospital today. I hope so. Hospitals have too many sick people in them to want to hang around there for too long.

Thanks, guys, for your sympathy. I'm going to Florida tomorrow to visit w/dad and spend time with Ilu while my dad has his operation on Thursday. Not much else to say, except they feel optimistic so so do I. Oh, yeah for my brother Ed:

Happy Birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
You look like a monkey
And you smell like one too!

Dad & Brenden

Dad & Brenden, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Hope everyone had a good Easter. Mine was mixed - besides news about poor Caboose, Ileana told me Friday my dad is going to have surgery soon - he's going to the Mayo Clinic today for consultation about the extent of the problem. I am joining Helly and a huge group of other people aboard the "Worried about Dad" cruise ship. That's all I want to say about this.

We had a nasty storm last Tuesday and I didn't realize until this weekend that we had no Internet service (that shows you how often I get on the computer at home). Apparently lightning hit pretty close to our house. Our neighbors lost some electical gadgets including their garage door opener.

I told you that to tell you this: I took Brenden on his first Easter Egg hunt Saturday and I got some photos but can't post them yet. It was set up in Sparkman Park, which is the park about 1/4th a mile away from our house. I put B in his kid carrier (I bought a new one - it's a backpack and can hold a kid weighing up to 50 pounds) and we walked over there.

The Kiwanis club sponsored this one, and I like how they did it - they found a good balance between competition vs. fairness. They divided up all the kids into age groups. In each age group's area they hid 1 golden egg, which was the 'grand prize'. All the other eggs were empty and plastic. After that it didn't matter if you grabbed 1 or 1000 eggs; every kid got the same little bag of candy.

So, when the whistle blew, all of us with little fry worked on encouraging our kids to grab eggs. Brenden picked up a handful and dumped them in some other child's basket. The mom of the other kid looked totally abashed. I was laughing and told her it didn't matter (maybe she didn't know the rules). So we ended up with a grand total of 2 eggs once the area was scoured clean. Brenden got distracted well before that happened and was trying to climb into the creek that bisects the park so I put him back in his carrier and we got his candy and walked home. He quit bitching at me when I gave him some of his loot. All in all it was fun but cold!

Sunday I raked and thatched our front yard. I chased B around for most of that, since I was unable to set the pool up for him because of the temperature. I did let him play with the hose for a while until he took his jacket off and sprayed it down. Our next door neighbor took some pity on me and let B play in her back yard with her son while I finished as much of the thatching as I could. I am surprisingly not sore! Weight training has its rewards.

Caboose

Caboose, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

It's been rough the last 12 months on animals in our family. Ralph, the norwegian swamp kitty, my kitty Vasquez, Ed's wife's doggie Ivan, and now poor Caboose. Rest in peace, guys and girls. You were all well-loved.

B and Me

B and Me, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Still smelling - what's more fun than blowing raspberries on your almost-2 year old's belly? Having your almost-2 year old blow them on your belly! Big old wet ones. I haven't laughed that hard in years!

Jon is going to work at the same company I do - he worked there before, almost 5 years ago. He will be doing support/training for an engineering software package.

Letter to Brenden month 22:

I don't know if it's the new day care, or it's simply time for you to start speaking, but your vocabulary has skyrocketed. I am still puzzling out your words. Here's some examples:

Shoo! - This is either shoe, or thank you, depending on context.

Noo! - This is either nose, or no, again depending on context.

Pay! - Airplane.

Ow! - Just what it means - ouch.

Keeedeee! - Kitty.

Tee! - Teeth

BeeBee! - either "belly button", or "mom, please open the garage door, I want to go outside" depending on context.

Heea! - "take this from me"

MaMao! - "I want something to drink, preferably milk" - a word you learned from Kitty.

DaDa! Daddy, or Mommy, depending on context. That's right, he refers to me as dada.


Speaking of the new day care, our next door neighbor wanted to quit her job to be with her son more. Her previous job? She worked at a daycare center. She was able to quit because she takes care of Brenden, plus some other occasional babysitting for other kids in the neighborhood. It works out great for all of us, so far. She's smart, kind, and patient, and works with Brenden on what I wish I could work with him on more - talking.

I love it because in the morning I can walk Brenden over to her house, even if it takes 10 minutes because B insists on investigating every blade of grass in between here or there. The types of trees that have seeds that act like helicopter blades recently went to seed so walks take even longer as I have to demonstrate to Brenden every seed's aerodynamic abilities.

Her son (Walker, and no Talladega Nights jokes from you!) is 4, and a pretty good kid. He's not a bully, but I see him get frustrated occasionally. I don't know how long this will last, but both Walker and Brenden are getting a little taste of what it's like to have a brother, at least.

Happy flesh-eating zombie cannibal or Chef Boy-ar-dee night?

Happy Cannibal, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I am well aware this isn't 'cute'. It is prety doggone gross, if you ask me Gross amuses me, however. Remember my pics of dead squirrels floating in my pool?

To my happy amazement, I can still smell. This round of steroids seems to have left my sinuses open. I am absolutely thrilled. My sense of smell isn't as strong, but that might just be because I'm used to smelling things.

Jon is currently in Moab, Utah enjoying a last-minute vacation w/some buddies. He starts a new job this coming Monday. The Drop Zone is alive and well, before you ask.

Kitty

Spooky Pooky, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I can still smell today - it's balanced now by a honking sinus headache I've had for 2 days. Beats sneezing I guess.

This is either funny or not, depending on how you feel about cats: Cats here. I should warn you: occasional rude language, much bad spelling and Harry Potter spoilers ahoy.

Have a good weekend, y'all!

Amazing details about my Sinuses

SandN, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

This post is in response to Nancy's comments from my last post, concerning my allergies.

Oddly enough despite the asthsma attack, I have had no symptoms whatsoever, except (2nd verse, same as the first) swollen sinuses, swollen enough to prevent me from smelling very well. My nose isn't runny and my eyes aren't itchy at all. I attribute this improvement to 3 things:

1) Nasonex, which prevents the runny nose. Awesome stuff, I have been using it since I started skydiving (back in 96).

2) the removal of the carpet from my house. I really think this helped with the hay fever symptoms because I'm not having any. Plus, I sweep just about every day and I'm constantly amazed by the amount of dirt I sweep up. I was a lazy vacuumer in the first place, plus that carpet was from the 70's...! I had realized a little while ago that my sense of smell had completely disappeared not too long after we had moved into that house. I know because I had bought a plug-in air freshener thingy for the kitchen and I had complained to Jon that it wasn't working. He insisted the kitchen smelled like a flower shop.

3)The allergy shots. Clicky here for a good definition of what these do, and I swear they work for me. I got slack on these shots after my pregnancy and no amount of Nasonex in the world kept the hay fever symptoms away.

As far as my sense of smell goes, instead of being completely gone it comes and goes. It has been mainly gone this last month because of the weather (and plant sperm). I can improve my sense of smell (and taste) slightly with OTC nasal spray but I can't use that constantly so I tend to only snort the stuff when I make a particularly tasty dinner or we go out to eat. I use it maybe 2-3 times a week and never more than once a day with at least 48 hours in between uses. I also use a saline wash (NeilMed) to keep my sinuses rinsed out. I try to do that once a day but sometimes I'm lazy.

I took my last dose of Prednisone this morning, and I am interested in seeing how long my sense of smell lasts. On a scale of 1-10 I would say my sense of smell is at a 9 right now. I can smell the coffee I bought, that general ozone smell a place with a bunch of electronics get, my deodorant (Arrid Extra-Dry), and the Tropical Coconut hand lotion I use. I can walk down the hall and smell everyone's perfume and after-shave. It's quite nice.

"Landscaping" a year ago

stick, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Hooray! Starbuck is alive!!! And Tigh is a .... cylon ....
I guess I'll figure it all out in 2008.

My sympathies to those of us with allergies in the Southeast that woke up last weekend to find a ton of plant sperm deposited on their vehicles. Many people around here are walking around with their eyes almost puffed shut. I have been doing fine, but I had an interesting trip to the allergy clinic last Friday for my shot.

Due to the pollen overload I guess my immune system was already stressed out and I had a severe reaction to my shots. I developed a pretty classical athsma attack. The doc loaded me with epinepherine (whee!) and when I could finally breathe again he gave me some Claratin and a prescription for Prednisone.

Prednisone is the fine medication that allows me to smell things like a normal person, so at least there's that nice side effect. I won't be able to use any while on vacation because the possible side effects of continued usage are not something I particularly want to experience.

I bought monkey-boy a small swimming pool and actually got some yard work done this weekend. As long as he has a pool to splash around in and a hose to spray I don't have to chase him down the driveway every 2 minutes to keep him from running into the street. Plus, I get my lawn watered.

I had big plans last year for the landscaping at our house but it looks like all I'm going to do this year is get rid of every single frickin bush that surrounds our house. I ripped up the degenerating cloth weed barrier (pulling up a ton of weeds that have grown on top of it - see photo) and layed down some new mulch. Once I actually figure out what I want to plant I'll be working in some compost into the soil. I want tiny, pretty plants not obnoxious bushes that need to be in barrier hedges. I'm also going to remove the uneven plastic edging that separates the "landscaping" and the "grass" (see photo). I haven't decided whether to replace the barrier with bricks or maybe some sort of edging grass. I'm leaning towards the brick barrier but that might be too time-intensive.

Monkey-boy, incidentally, managed to scrape a cheek, both knees, and garner a bunch of other little bruises and scrapes this weekend. He loves being outdoors! I brought him in on Saturday after one good knee scrape and only then did he howl. I gently dabbed at his knee with a warm, wet washcloth and he snatched it away from me and scrubbed at his kneecap. He looked puzzled, like he couldn't understand why the pain wasn't coming off. I put his feeding chair on the floor in front of the TV and propped his leg up on a pillow and we ate dinner watching Spongebob. Normally we eat in the kitchen but I felt like babying him a little.

Rainbow over Francis Bay, originally uploaded by Vicki_H.

What we're watching:

It's been tough to watch movies at our house with Monkey Boy around but we've managed a few. We watched A Scanner Darkly the other night, and it is perhaps the finest adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story ever ( other adaptations: Blade Runner, Screamers, Minority Report, and Total Recall). Directed by Richard Linklater and starring Keanu Reeves (and the well-cast Robert Downey, Jr. and Woody Harrellson as 2 paranoid stoners - this movie only missed Mathew McConaughey and his bongo drums), it's a story about the drug war in the not-too-distant future. It was also shot live and then run through an animation process known as "interpolative rotoscoping" which IMHO gives the movie that perfect disconnected-from-reality feeling that you get if you have ever read any of Dick's work. Two thumbs up, but it would be a big mistake to watch it with your mind altered in any way.

Other than that it's been T.V: 24 is still the same old 24 - lots of running around and trying to find the bad guys. Lost is still the same old Lost - lots mysteries coming out of mysteries without any real resolution. Battlestar Galactica is still Battlestar Galactica: ripping my heart out of my chest and stomping on it every chance it gets.

I'm not just talking about Starbuck's suicide ("Hey, Starbuck: what do you hear?" "Nothing but the rain") - this show keeps echoing its past in ways that just make me cry. Lee and Bill mended their rift when Starbuck was lost and presumed dead way back in season 1. Now they are both so lost in their bergs of grief the rift is back, bigger than ever. And then Lee went and pressed Laura on the witness stand and Laura begged him to stop ("Captain Apollo... that has a nice ring to it") and managed to remind us of their once friendship just as Lee destroys whatever was left of it for good.

I thought this show was starting to slump some during the latter half of this season but it has managed to wake me up just in time to beat me senseless. Sunday is the last ep of season 3 and I'm not sure I'm looking forward to it or not.

Bunny Feet!

bunny feet, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Here is a link to some great photos that illustrate my favorite place in the world: Wish I were Here.

Letter to Brenden, Month 20, 21:

I just realized I skipped month 20 and I'm late with this letter, too. Your mommy is a slacker, honey. I hope you didn't inherit my slacker genes. Considering your excess of energy, I am thinking you didn't. You still refuse to associate words with a better form of communication, preferring to grunt, gesticulate, and lead us around by the finger to get what you want from us (and pitch a hissy-fit when we say "no"). You are Drama Boy now, as well; after you pitch a fit you will give us the grand poopy face and sigh. Man, it's funny! And where do you get that crap?

Physically you are the 2 year-old equivalent of a jock. Dad took you to the park the other day and let you play on the jungle gym. Your fearlessness turns my head more grey than it is but I am also impressed, especially with the way you love to throw yourself down the slide head-first, laughing all the way into the gravel pit.

Around the beginning of the year dad and I decided we needed to get out more, so Wednesdays are Family Night and we take you to various restaurants. You do pretty well, all considered. We take you to the van for a little time-out if you get too vocal (no one likes a screeching child to accompany their meals). But you get it out of your system fast and we've never had to just leave.

Speaking of food, you are pretty flexible. You won't eat most vegetables except peas and green beans (so I feed you a lot of peas and green beans), but you are an avid fruit connoseur and will eat most forms of protein I have offered (as long as it isn't too chewy). You have discovered the wonder that is ketchup, and will eventually eschew the foods I offer along with the ketchup and simply dip your hand in the wonderous substance and lick your fingers off. You will also decorate your face and hair, clothes, and surrounding furniture but that's ok. That's what garden hoses were made for.

The oddest food preference you have (in the category of fruit connoseur) is your love of lemons. I always give you my lemon out of my iced tea at the restaurant and you always lick and chew and eat much of it (all the while making faces). Last night, however at the Mexican place, you decided to squeeze the lemons we gave you all over your lap. That's the first time I have ever had to change a diaper with a fresh, lemony scent.

Navigating

navigating, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

52 days to go until vacation! I'm still at 129 pounds. I can't convince my body to lose more, for some reason. I won't cry about it - 129 is better than 150, which is what I weighed this time last year.

I owe Brenden a letter this month. I'll get to it later. I'm feeling lazy (and what else is new?), so here is 2 Memes, lifted from Helly who lifted from Basil:

1. The phone rings. Who are you hoping it is? A wrong number. I don't particularly enjoy phone conversation.

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart? Yes. It's just wrong not to.

3. In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener? I'm a listener.

4. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive? As long as I didn't panic I think I would be okay. All them hunting magazines I've read in doctor's offices seem to indicate panic is the #1 killer of people who are lost.

5. Do you like to ride horses? No. I am allergic to horses something fierce. Sandy <---> Horses = Matter <---> Antimatter

Lasts:
1. Last kiss: Last night, just before Brenden and I left the drop zone. Jon was staying over because he has to work on the King Air today.

2. Last beverage: Coffee. Will probably be my next 10 beverages.

3. Last movie watched: Talladega Nights - so that's Sacha Baron Cohen. It was funny, and despite the gayness I don't think I ever heard the word "fag".

4. Last phone call: Jon, wishing me good morning.

5. Last CD played: I can't remember that far back. I'm pretty much an XM person, particularly XM Kids. I've discovered I like happy tunes with goofy lyrics.

6. Last "i love you": End of last Phone Call.

7. Last time you cried: Last Monday, March 5th. At the end of a TiVo'd ep of "Battlestar Galactica". Starbuck died! May I please have a moment of AUGH!? I guess Tigh's title of the biggest Asshole in the Fleet is now unchallenged.

8. Last alcoholic drink: Last night, I had a Miller Light while watching Spongebob with Brenden just before bed. Brenden had his own sippy cup of milk.

Hypno - Bob

hypnobob, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I would like to blame the lack of blogging on a hardware failure (one of my disk drives crashed & burned) but that's simply not true. I simply don't have much to blog about. I'll do a point-by-point recap of some random thoughts that I wanted to blog about:

Diet: 129 pounds. I will most likely not lose that much simply because I'm almost back where I was with weightlifting before I got pregnant. I have come to realize a heavy weight workout makes me hungry beyond belief. I decided to compromise and eat more (but still enough to lose) so weight loss will be slower. Yes, any muscle I build will be heavier than fat but eventually that will plateau out.

Brenden: He loves pushing himself on his little tricycle (he hasn't gotten the hang of pedaling) up the driveway, then pushing himself down the driveway until he has built up speed. He gets pissed if I try to hold on, so I just run next to him in case he takes a spill (or a car comes). So my little monkey is a speed freak.

Vacation: 60 days and counting! I have bought a pair of women's board shorts for a swimsuit - I'm so glad that they are available! I fricking hate bikinis. Not only because of my flabby buttocks. I'm tired of pulling my swimsuit out of my crack constantly.

What I'm watching: Spongebob, mostly. My favorite ep is where Spongebob, Patrick, and Squidward go camping together in their yards and Spongebob sings "the Campfire Song Song" and Squidward gets attacked by a sea bear. I'm also fond of the episode where Spongebob and Patrick learn a 'sentence enhancer' and use it liberally. The soundtrack substitutes the sound of a squeaking dolphin, but it's a lot of fun to imagine the worst word possible when they're using it. I know Brenden watches it because of me, but Spongebob is such an unthreatening cheerful character, even if he does use an occasional sentence enhancer.