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.

Honey & I at the USVIs

Honey & I, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Let's see...

I fell off the dieting wagon because I was getting too stressed. I feel better now, so I'm trying again. My current weight is 134, and I'm surprised it didn't go higher than that.

I have some motivation - a couple of opportunities fell into place and we're taking Brenden on vacation to the Virgin Islands in early May. I'm all excited about it. By opportunities I mean cheap tickets, of course. Spirit Airlines was having a sale and I managed to snag 3 seats from Atlanta to Charlotte Amalie for a grand. Believe me, that's cheap! We also found a room in a condo for a week for around a grand. And they let kids under 3 stay for free, which was a big factor. We're staying at Serendip Condos.

Jon and I also feel comfortable taking the car barge from St. Thomas to St. John so we are renting a Jeep at the airport and doing our own driving. It cuts a bunch of hassles and actually saves us a little money. If we have time (and I think we will), we can stop at the grocery store in Red Hook and buy some supplies because it's cheaper in St. Thomas than St. John.

As an extra added bonus the apartment has wireless internet but I don't know how fast or reliable it is. It would be fun to blog / upload photos while we're there.

We won't be doing much scuba, obviously, but I bet monkey-boy will just love the beach and the ocean, and I'll work diligently to prevent him from getting sunburned.

It will be interesting to see how well we pull this off.

Clean Laundry

laundry, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

While watching the Superbowl last evening, the stupid Bud Light commercial came on where all the men were slapping each other in the face. After viewing this, Brenden turned around and slapped his dad in the head.

He got a whuppin but damn it was funny!

In Response to Nancy's Comments:

ARRRR, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Actually, when I don't have colds, I can smell things. My sense of smell is still attenuated, but I have noticed a marked improvement since the beginning of the year.

Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway supply the voices for Mermaidman and Barnacleboy on Spongebob Squarepants. Clancy Brown supplies the voice for Eugene Krabs, which I always found profoundly disturbing.

carseat
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I hope Helly's dad is okay. I hope Helly is okay! News like that can make for a long, long weekend.

I'd best write this entry before I get busy or like last week, I won't find the time. The twin themes of last week were stress and sleeplessness - the latter thanks to Brenden, who for some reason has forgotten how to go night-night. The stress was work-related: nothing serious just some heavy workloads with deadlines fast approaching.

I ended the week with a cold, one I didn't catch from Brenden. So far he seems fine. I have mentioned that I catch colds the way Willie Mays caught fly balls, right?

Big fat kitty is teaching Brenden how to speak. Any time I'm in the kitchen, BFK waddles in and starts meowing at the top of his lungs because he wants a kitty treat or a pet, or both. So if I'm in the kitchen, Brenden will toddle in and start going "Mao? Mao? Mao? Mao?" and won't stop unless I give him a cookie or some raisins. He's not satisfied with a pet on the head.

Brenden's eating habits are amusing me: I've managed to transition him to eating whatever we are eating with only a few forays into Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee land. These meals include Indian and Thai curries. He's handling the heat just fine, even though I do notice his milk consumption goes up on those days. There's a lot of speculation about children's food preferences being set in the womb, and maybe it's not all hooie because I ate spicy, spicy foods when I was pregnant. Brenden also loves lemon wedges. I know because I always give him my wedge out of my iced tea when we go out to eat. The faces he make are priceless, but he'll actually consume most of it.

Of all things, I have a consultation with a plastic surgeon today. He's going to look at the discolorations on my face (melasma or cholasma, also known as the "mask of pregnancy") which I've had since before I got pregnant. I think it was from birth control pills. I'm tired of it so I'm going to see what treatment options he recommends. I have a fixed price in my head - if he goes over it screw it. I'm self-concious about it, but not *that* self-concious.

Mom and Brenden

Mom and Brenden
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

While the rest of the world froze, those of us in Alabama had a balmy if somewhat windy weekend, with temps topping out in the low 70's on Saturday. Brenden and I spent some time outside; both at the dropzone and at home.

On Sunday we were playing in the leaves I have yet to throw out. Brenden decided he wanted to play in the van, so I let him. At one point I asked him: "do you want to do see daddy?" He excitedly said "Dada!" and looked around for him. I said, "If you climb in your seat, we'll go see daddy!" I said it a few times, but finally he got the idea and climbed into his seat. I buckled him in and off we went. My god, we're finally communicating beyond "No!" and "Whaaa!" although there's plenty of that too.

I'm down to 129. I was forced to buy a pair of jeans because the ones I have are just too baggy. I bought a pair of Wrangler's and bought the size I wore compulsively in college: 30 waist, 30 inseam. I'm happy to report they are loose on me. I only bought one pair because I want to lose a little more. I'd kill to find a steady supply of 28-29, which is my real size about now. 30-30 is the lowest most places stock.

I need to write about Deadwood eventually, because it's the most fascinating show I've seen in a long time. 24 has started again, BSG and Lost are returning soon, so I'm thrilled. American Idol is coming back soon too, but I intend to use most of that time this year doing something else, like clipping my toenails.

Chill out redux

Chill out
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Cut & paste meme from Nancy

1. Elaborate on your default icon.
Me and el jefe. The full pic is on Flickr - me with a sardonic stare, Brenden all relaxed.

2. What's your current relationship status?
Married for 7 years.

3. Ever have a near-death experience?
I think so - a car crash when I was 15 and broke my back. My brain pragmatically said "uh-uh, not going to be here" and I have no memory of the accident.

4. Name an obvious quality you have.
I know a little bit about most things as opposed to super knowledgeable about a few things. Is that a quality or being a superficial know-it-all?

5. What's the name of the song that's stuck in your head right now?
The Veronica Mars theme song - We Used To Be Friends. I blame Nancy.

6. Name a celebrity you would marry.
Hm. Nope, can't think of one. Marry a twinkie? Erk.

7. Who will cut and paste this first?
I doubt anyone will.

8. Has anyone ever said you look like a celebrity?
Never.

9. Do you wear a watch? What kind?
My $175 swiss army watch is broken. My Burger King Star Wars watch is broken, too but it cost me a lot less.

10. Do you have anything pierced?
Ears. 2 in left, 1 in right.

11. Do you have any tattoos?
Celtic knot band around my left arm.

12. Do you like pain?
Depends on what I'm doing. I like the pain of exhaustion from working out because it means I'm accomplishing something. But pain for pain's sake? Disgusting.

13. Do you like to shop?
No.

14. What was the last thing you paid for with cash?
A roll of 100 stamps out of a machine. Put 2 $20 bills in, was given a Sacagawea dollar as change.

15. What was the last thing you paid for with your credit card?
Does American Express count? I haven't used a real credit card in 6 or 7 years and can't remember the last time I used it. If so, then a toy chest off of Amazon.com.


16. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?
my husband. I *hate* phones.

17. What is on your desktop background?
Brenden riding Tigger.

18. What is the background on your cell phone?
No background, just a screen with numbered buttons.

19. What was the last movie you watched?
Snakes on a Plane. It was a movie about snakes on a plane.

20. What was the last book you read?
Olympos, by Dan Simmons. Nifty!

Brenden in the Field

Brenden in the Field
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Hooray, new pictures!! Ileana is sending me a cd of the photos that were taken on her new camera and brother Jon's camera from Christmas. She sent me a few which were posted on Flickr. I love this photo: this was from a day where Ilu, Andrea and I walked over to the old house, then walked over near the pond. I carried Brenden for a while, which I'm happy to say was not exhausting (it would have been 6 months ago). When I set him down he toddled on back to the new house, which you can see in the background.

I think one of my favorite moments on Christmas day was hearing my dad laugh during dinner. He was laughing at Brenden, who, at 2 in the afternoon, had refused to nap. Poor B was in his high chair and nodding off while stubbornly trying to stuff more food into his face. The deep need to sleep won out and Jon took him upstairs to nap after using a finger to sweep his mouth for stray food. Jon said the poor kid was so out of it he never even flinched when he stuck his finger in his mouth.

So my diet and exercise plan is working fine. I'm at 131 which is nice, and I can actually see some of my abdominal muscles again. I still have a lot of flab (which Brenden likes to play with, ew), and while I have a long way to go to regain my strength, I am progressing at a fairly rapid clip. And in case you are wondering, no you can't lose weight and gain muscle, but gaining strength does not necessarily mean gaining muscle. I might write more about my dieting plan later, if I actually stick to it.

Brenden worked hard this weekend and can now properly say 'kitty'. He also said 'Elmo!' and can point to his nose, tongue, and chin if I ask him. We're working on 'ear', 'hand', and 'toe'. He likes to say 'pabaa!' 'pabaa!' (his new attempt at spongebob) when we watch the show. When the fish comes on during the opening song, he opens and closes his mouth just like a fish. It's cute.

Unbaa! Unbaa!

spongebob squarepants
Originally uploaded by max remmelts.

Letter to Brenden Month 19:

Hey, Bud. Christmas was fun but exhausting as your physical skills develop but your common sense remains dormant. I suppose in order to have common sense you have to be able to have coherent thoughts, and in order to think coherently you need to be able to speak.

I could swear you are juuuuust on the verge of getting the idea of language. I was thrilled while we were in Oklahoma that you were able to recognize both brother Jon's cat Lucy and Andrea's cat Geidi as "Kitty!" (pronounced 'tseetee'). And I was so proud when your dad called me up yesterday to tell me you had said "Spongebob!" (pronounced 'unbaa'). I'm so proud!! *Sniff!*

We also think we heard you say something that rhymes with "sockplucker" which tells me we shouldn't be watching "Deadwood" while you're in the room.

And the coolest thing is when I ask for a smooch, you plant one on my cheek. Sometimes you headbutt me, but that's okay.

A photo from a year ago

Tour Time
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

'06 in Review (the highlights):

January: Brenden stands up!
February: Brenden and I visit Oklahoma.
March: Saw Walk the Line. It certainly wasn't Brenden's hospital stay!
April: Opening the pool (slow month!).
May: Vacation in Oklahoma and Helly and Alan's Wedding (not so slow month).
June: Brenden's first birthday.
July: Brenden's first haircut (another slow month).
August: Sinus surgery (the highlight there were the Lortabs) and Tennessee vacation.
September: Vasquez passed away (not a highlight but memorable enough). I miss my kitty.
October: Took Brenden to his first birthday party.
November: House remodeling.
December: Christmas in Oklahoma.

Wow, do I have a dull life! Actually that's good and I'm not complaining. If I asked for an interesting life, I'd probably be teleported to Baghdad or something.

Last year's resolutions were to watch more movies and be nicer to my husband. I think I accomplished those, but I still need to work on them both.

Here are this year's resolutions:
1)Eat less (DUH!). I weigh 133 right now. I'd like to get to 125.

2)Exercise more. I simply want to return to the shape I was in just before getting pregnant with Brenden.

3)Maintain a budget, the details of which I shall not bore you.

Happy new Year, everyone. This is my third attempt at writing a blog entry in the last week; I haven't been busy as much as too tired.

christmas in Oklahoma was great - I spent most of my time chasing Brenden. He didn't react well to being in a new place and he tended to wake up constantly, which meant that everyone else in the house woke up constantly as well. The last 3 days we were there I had Jon go sleep in the garage loft with Andrew and Jonathan and I kept B in bed with me. He was sleeping pretty well by the time we left. Everyone was pretty gracious about Brenden's hyperactive nature. They also showered him with Christmas loot. Pictures to eventually follow and more on that below.

I really didn't do anything while we were there. I read some - I reread "Into Thin Air" which is a fascinating account of a disastrous season of climbing on Mount Everest, and made progress through "Olympos", by Dan Simmons. I really can't think of anything else I did.

I spent most of the holidays dealing with the tail-end of the cold B gave me. I wrote several paragraphs detailing what I blew out of my nose and comparing it to a jellyfish invasion but decided better and deleted it.

I didn't get much for Christmas but on the other hand I didn't really want much. I got some nifty bunny slippers, some nice hoodies and a comfy robe. Hell, I tried to hold back a couple of hundred dollars from the stock sale check when my company went private, but I *still* couldn't find anything I wanted. I put it on the airplane instead. All I want for Christmas is to be the hell out of debt!

Actually, I fell in love with my brother Jonathan's camera. It's a slim Canon digital. Ileana got one for Christmas. Both husband Jon and I loved their cameras so much I didn't really use my old digital one while we were there. So we have tons of pictures but I have to beg Ilu and brother Jon to send them to me.

I think the best part of Christmas, besides seeing Ilu and Dad, was spending time with Andrew and brother Jon. I really haven't spent much time with them since they were kids. Andrew is a big movie nut and it was funny listening to him and Andrea argue about stupid movies. Is this stuff genetic? Also: Drunken Boykin Monopoly was a hoot.

I have lots more to blog, but I'll have to write later. I should get to work.

6 months ago

crawl
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Our holiday preparations are pretty much in place: we leave for Oklahoma to my dad's place this Saturday. It will be us three, my sister and her husband Eddie, and brothers Andrew and Jonathan (dad and Ilu's kids. I say kids but they are both grown too). With all them kids you think dad would have more grandchildren. All of us are slackers!

Brenden and I had a rough weekend. He was sick with a cold and a lot of coughing - he would wake himself up then wake me up. I could get him back to sleep with a little water, rocking, and meds, but then it would take me forever to get back to sleep. I have some kind of bug now - so far I'm not sure what it is, maybe another sinus infection.

Speaking of my sinuses, I am occasionally experiencing good days, where I can smell without loading up on medications. This development is encouraging. I'm sure it has a lot to do with getting rid of the carpeting. I'm also trying to be scrupulous when it comes to my meds.

I also have a quick "what we're watching" update: the Discovery Channel has been showing a 6-part series "Everest: Beyond the Limit" which has been fascinating viewing: apparently Mount Everest has become so damn popular to try to climb that the most dangerous things are the traffic jams. The series, of which the last ep which airs tonight, follows one group as they attempt the climb - the coolest things are the Sherpa-cams. The entire series will be shown concurrently starting at 5pm (eastern, I presume) New Year's eve, if you want to set your TiVos. If you read "Into Thin Air" you might like this series.

Yippie-kay-yay!

yahoo
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

A meme from Nancy:

1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, go down to the fifth sentence
3. Post the text of next 3 sentences on your blog
4. Name of the book and the author
5. Tag three people

The Book: Dynamic HTML, by Danny Goodman

The text:
For Internet Explorer 4, the TextRange object and related functionality is guaranteed to work only on Windows platforms. The macintosh version of I.E. 4.0., for example, does not support the TextRange at all. Plan your deployment accordingly.

I'm not going to tag anyone. My dear sweet Neptune, I need to read something for fun!

Big B, little B, what begins with B?

Big B, little B, what begins with B?
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Short butts- I mean bits

Last night Jon and I watched Super Size Me, an amusing/scary documentary about fast food. He didn't tell me anything I didn't know, except he went into explicit detail about why fast food is bad, mmmkay. But remind me, when it's time for my son to go to school, to investigate for myself what kind of crap they're feeding him. I remember what our high school served: starches, covered in starches, with a side of starch. And ketchup, which was our vegetable.

Brenden is 18 months old and was given several dozen Hotwheels as a gift. Yes, I let him play with them, under my supervision. Really the only danger they pose is for us adults. Hotwheel + slick floor = twisted ankles.

I'm losing weight again - I have been dieting since the end of October with mixed results. I am happy that I'm still on it despite the holidays and the abundance of free candy left over from Halloween at work. I now weigh 135, which means I am now taking off the weight that I gained just before I got pregnant. I have been exercising by walking and Jon and I have started back on weights. While one of us does our reps, the other one plays with/corrals/bribes Brenden.

Family Portrait

Family Portrait
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

What we've been watching:

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Not as good as the first one, but a welcome addition to our DVD collection. Why? Pirates! Sword fights!! Monsters that gave Jon and I nightmares!!! No, really. We both had seriously vivid dreams about Davey Jones and his crew the night after we watched it.

Nacho Libre: Rented because we both like Jack Black, who should receive an Oscar for the actor having the most fun with his career. The movie itself was... odd. It's helpful to know about Mexican wrestling (which is a hoot, especially if you have watched only WWF in the past).

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: Nifty concept (retro sci-fi), but Meh execution. I like Jude Law, but he's a bit too androgynous for some of the roles he takes especially this one. The movie has some nifty Giant Freakin Robots, which is always a plus.

In the series world, everything seems to be on hiatus or in repeats. Battlestar Galactica is still showing first runs and this season might be the best one ever. Last night's episode, where Kat's past catches up to her, made me cry, and the episode before that where Starbuck and Apollo resolve some old issues by literally beating the crap out of each other was terrific. And I'm glad to see Colonel Tigh back on the job!

Veronica Mars shifted format slightly for the 3rd season (don't worry, no spoilers here) and I think is still trying to adjust. Veronica's in college now and instead of one big mystery per season, the writers have changed it up into 3 mystery arcs. The first mystery was put to bed and I have mixed feelings about this arc. Still I'm going to stick with this show because the first two seasons were so awesome.

Mememememe!

Using our new kitchen
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Hey, One word Meme time:

1. Yourself: lazy
2. Your spouse: hyper
3. Your hair: long
4. Your mother: retired
5. Your father: grilling
6. Your favorite item: camera
7. Your dream last night: Ugh
8. Your favorite drink: Guinness
9. Your dream car: Mustang
10. The room you are in: cubicle
11. Your ex: gone
12. Your fear: incompetence
13. What you want to be in 10 years: rich
14. Who you hung out with last night: family
15. What you're not: organised
16. Muffins: chocolate
17: One of your wish list items: robe
18: Time: fugit
19. The last thing you did: read
20. What you are wearing: jeans
21. Your favorite weather: warm
22. Your favorite book: worn
23. The last thing you ate: cheese
24. Your life: nice
25. Your mood: active
26. Your best friend: husband
27. What you're thinking about right now: coffee
28. Your car: Saturn
29. What you are doing at the moment: coffee
30. Your summer: fun
31. Your relationship status: better
32. What is on your TV: Pirates
33. What is the weather like: cold
34. When was the last time you laughed: seven

Brenden being Curious

Brenden being Curious
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Short and perhaps not so sweet this month:

Letter to Brenden 18 Months
Hooray, my sweet little fella; you are now a whole year and one half! Many websites, blogs, and discussion boards state that the terrible twos often start early and you are no exception. What you are displaying is frustration, often because you have to deal with the word "NO!" many, many times during the day. You attempt to vent your frustration by throwing or hitting things, or hitting me - you tried to pull that on your dad once.

Once.

Naturally, these actions invoke another spate of "NO!"s from your loving parents and you don't know what to do. Welcome to Earth.

Up, up and away!

Squee!
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

What we've been watching (the Good, the Bad, the Ugly but not in that order:

The Bad: Strangers With Candy - this movie may be the straw that broke the camel's back. I had to review it and I am still trying to come up with 700 words to say "It's not my cup of tea". Bleh.

The Ugly: BloodRayne - I know better than to watch an Uwe Boll film, but I ended up watching this because of an unfortunate exchange of information with my husband. He was going through the OnDemand movies, reading the descriptions and stopped on Bloodrayne. I said "Hey did you know Michelle Rodriguez and Kristina Lokken are dating?". Bad move - he immediately turned on the movie, despite my assurances that it sucks. I really don't know if they are dating for real, they might just be best buds. Still, more power to them if they are.

As for Bloodrayne, it was actually entertainingly bad, with a whole bevy of embarrassed actors including Sir Ben Kingsley. The Queen is going to take his knighthood away if he keeps slumming in crap like this. The best was a perfectly miscast Micheal Madsen as some sort of medeival vampire hunter. Rodriguez and Lokken are simply unfortunately here, but at least it looks like they got more out of the movie than a paycheck.

The (really, really) good: Superman Returns I loved this movie! I'm very glad I saw the 2 original Christopher Reeve Supermans recently because this movie takes up where they left off (thankfully ignoring the 3rd and 4th movies). Superman has been away for 5 years, unsuccessfully trying to find remnants of his homeworld. When he returns he finds things have changed radically - Metropolis and Lois Lane have moved on, having found a way to live without the man of steel. Bryan Singer directed - he did the first 2 X-Men movies and I don't blame him for dropping X-Men for something as iconic as Superman (although the X-Men franchise suffered from his loss).

Singer plays off the original 2 movies like I mentioned as well as the comics, and he gives the movie his own touches. The one I liked best are all the characters (except perhaps Jimmy Olsen) have more dimensions. Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) benefits the most. He's still the evil genius buffoon, but he's actually somewhat scary in this movie. Lois Lane is still your standard feisty reporter, but she is prickly and hurt as old wounds open when Superman returns. And Superman himself (played by Brandon Routh who is spooky in his resemblance to Christopher Reeve yet doesn't do an impersonation) seems so lost and alone even as he saves countless lives. Singer gives Superman an ethereal quality (as well as overtly touching on the Christ/Atlas/Prometheus imagery). It also doesn't hurt that Routh is almost disturbingly beautiful.

If I have quibbles the movie drags in places, and my biggest problem with the movie I can't really discuss because that would be spoiling it. Let's just say that Jon and I had a mini-argument about why Superman can't have a relationship with a human woman and it degenerated fast into territory that Kevin Smith would be proud of.

File this under "No shit, Sherlock!"

Giggle Break
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Your Movie Buff Quotient: 88%

You are a movie buff of the most obsessive variety. If a movie exists, chances are that you've seen it. You're an expert on movie facts and trivia. It's hard to stump you with a question about film.

Are You a Movie Buff?

New living room

New living room
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

If you take a surf on over to my Flickr account you'll see a whole passel of pictures of the house. I hope Helly doesn't gnash her teeth too much: getting it done so quickly cost us pretty close to five figures, way more than we wanted to spend. Nonetheless, I'm loving our living room. It looks like a living room now, instead of an Inquisition tortute chamber.

All rooms except now have laminate floors, and now is a good time to compare and contrast laminate vs. carpet:

Laminate flooring is good because:

• Easier to keep clean
  
• Easier to spot and avoid stepping in cat puke
  
• Children learn the laws of physics quicker
  
• Good excuse to buy bunny slippers
  
• Looks wonderful and isn't as expensive as hardwood flooring
  

Laminate flooring is bad because:

• Harder to be lazy and ignore the dust drifts and cat puke.
  
• Child's lack of understanding of the laws of physics leads to more bumps on head.
  
• Sound isn't absorbed as well so house is now noisier.
  
• Cold on the tootsies.
  
• Cat hates cold floor therefore takes up residence on pillows or head.
  
• Cat spins his wheels madly when trying to run away from small marauders.
  

70's brown shag carpet is good because:

• Hides spills, cat puke, cat hair and dirt well.
  
• Warm on the tootsies.
  
• Child somewhat protected from spills.
  
• Cat can fall asleep wherever he wants.
  

70's brown shag carpet is bad because:

• Won't find the cat puke until you step in it.
  
• Will destroy your sinuses and cause you thousands in medical expenses, even if you have insurance.
  
• Looks like crap.
  

So there you have it. I have noticed little effect on my sinuses yet because I still have a sinus infection (appointment w. doc today), plus I'm still taking meds that keep my nose clear so I don't know yet if I can ease off on taking them. Once I get completely infection-free we'll see.

Brenden's room

Bs room
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Well my estimate on getting the house finished was optimistic. Maybe Friday. Ugh, it will have to be Friday because after that we will have run out of money. Jon and I have successfully avoided credit card debt and we're not going to start now.

I never did comment on the elections, did I? Well I was disappointed when Daniel Craig was selected. When the Broccolis were talking about a 'younger' Bond, I was expecting very young, like mid-20's. I was hoping they'd consider Mathew MacFadyen. Technically Craig is younger than Pierce Brosnan, but he's still not what I pictured. Oh, okay, Daniel Craig is not very good looking. At least he doesn't do it for me. I have to admit, though, no Bond ever did it for me except maybe Timothy Dalton and he lasted for only 2 movies.

But the reviews for Casino Royale indicate that this might be the Bond movie I've been hoping for all my life. I'm not really exagerrating - Dr. No came out 2 years before I was born and I can recall seeing every Bond movie that came out in the theater since The Man with the Golden Gun. Yes, I saw every single Roger Moore Bond, the best of which was The Spy who Loved Me. It was all downhill from there but I sat through them all.

When Dalton took over, I was so optimistic. The Living Daylights is still one of my favorites - the script seemed to care about the story and characters (well, in the context of James Bond movies). License to Kill, however was a total mess so exit Mr. Dalton. Pierce Brosnan I like so I was happy to see his Bond movies starting with Goldeneye but they slowly deteriorated and he lasted for 4 movies - I saw every single one of these in the theater, though.

So here we are at Casino Royale, a new Bond with reportedly all the crap jettisoned and I'll probably have to catch it on DVD because Monkey boy is just not ready to sit in a theater seat for 2 hours.

Stripped Room

strippedroom
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Bare nekkid walls!

This process is going much faster than planned. This shot was taken Monday; Todd used the panelling you see here as templates because the wall panelling is the same dimensions as the drywall. They were able to hang almost all the drywall yesterday and even got a good deal mudded (whatever that means - all I know is they aren't far from painting which should be happening today).

This photo also doesn't show that most of the rest of the carpeting is gone (hooray!).

More photos to follow eventually.

More writing

writing3
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Oh! I should add: yesterday when I picked him up from daycare, I led him to the car holding his hand, opened the door, and he got in all by hisself and sat down in his chair! He patiently waited as I buckled him in. This might not sound important, but I have always carried him to the car and placed him in his seat. He's been fighting me lately and now I know why: he wants more independence.

This coming Monday Todd our contractor is coming back and he and Jonathan are going to tackle the living room. This part of the job includes taking the panelling up and putting up drywall. Brenden and I will be banished to the bedrooms (which I need to take photos of because they are beatiful! If not a little stark. I need to put some pictures up, or something. Maybe some dogs playing poker.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

writing
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Brenden likes scribbling. Note to myself - stock up on crayons and drawing paper. I haven't seen him sit still in once place for this long since he learned to crawl.

This is the kitchen floor, by the way, which I know looks filthy. It's because of all the home improvement stuff. I can't wait until this floor is replaced!

What we're watching:

Brenden tried to feed his cookie monster doll a vanilla wafer last night. We TiVo Sesame Street for him and it's showing. I can't get that frickin' song out of my head: "La la, la la! La la, la la! Elmo's World!"

Battlestar Galactica continues to hurt: Starbuck and Tigh were playing "Who's the biggest asshole in the fleet" when Admiral Adama called them on it. Starbuck couldn't take having her surrogate dad refer to her as a "cancer" so she is trying to pull her crap together. Tigh, who was forced to kill his wife, is apparently going to try to drink himself to death.

Catch Me if you Can is a movie about a teenager in the late 60's who conned and wrote bad checks all over the U.S. and Europe. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks star. This movie is only worth seeing because it's based on a true story. And a performance by Christopher Walken that wasn't phoned in (for once).

Speaking of Tom Hanks, I saw Big a few nights ago. Damn he was young. Fun movie.

We saw Mission: Impossible III last night. It was the best of the 3 movies, but I know that's not saying much. Still it wasn't bad for an overblown action movie. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the bad guy and he does so awesomely. I must say the IMF agency is the worst government agency ever! Every movie has featured a bad guy who was a member of IMF. They're even more compromised than the Los Angeles division of CTU, and that is saying something.

Letter to Brenden Month 17

eating
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I came to the realization recently, Brenden, that you are a highly active child and will need many different places and things to roam, investigate, and climb upon. Sometimes I wish you would just sit down and watch some TV quietly, but then I feel guilty because the last thing the world needs is another couch potato. You do like books, which is great - especially books with photos in them. You like to point to a picture and I'll tell you what it is. You seem pretty hung up on that picture of an airplane. I wonder why?

You aren't adding any new words to your vocabulary but I'm guessing that language hasn't really clicked with you yet. You do like to imitate hand gestures and facial expressions - no, I'm not going to teach you sign language because your daycare provider wouldn't know what the hell you were trying to say so that could only be confusing.

I'm really not sure yet about what I'm going to do about finding more outlets for your active nature. I take you outside when I can, but it's so hard to keep you away from things you want to investigate but really shouldn't (pools, cars, sharp pointy things in the garage, barking dogs, etc). The world is your jungle gym.

Program Notes:

surfing
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Warm up your TiVos:

Iron Chef America will feature a battle featuring Giada Di Laurentis versus Rachel Ray. I just bring this up because of some comments on someone's blog about these two. They will be paired with Iron Chefs Bobby Flay and Mario Battali, respectively. The ingredient is cranberries (November 12th @ 9, 8 central ).

Spongebob until you drop - Nickelodeon will be counting down the top 100 Spongebob Squarepants episodes, ending with the premiere of the Spongebob Squarepants movie, which I loved. This all starts Thursday at 8.

Mom with Brenden

Mom w B 6
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Do you like the parallel in this picture? You would think it was staged. Trust me; no one stages Monkey boy and gets away with it!

Speaking of - he has a head cold, plus an ear infection in both ears. That explains why he's been shoving things in them. D'oh!

He's taking an antibiotic and a decongestant. Fortunately I don't have to fight him to take those - I feed the meds to him through a syringe designed for dispensing medication and he cooperates happily. Matter of fact, I usually have to wrestle with him to get the damn thing out of his mouth.

Fall in Oklahoma 4

Fall in Oklahoma 4
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

This is just my entry to keep up with the Nanoo Nanoo blog more month. Not much to say. Brenden is sick so I'm going to pick him up in a little bit - hope I can get through to the doctor's office today. Poor little monkey boy.

Attack of the Monkey Boy

Attack of the Monkey Boy
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Blog more, huh? What do I have to blog about today? How about how everyone on the face of the planet underestimates how much they will spend on large home improvement projects? I don't want to talk about it.

Here's a haflway decent view of the north side of our living room.

Hello!

Hello!
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

November is write more month - many bloggers are pledging to post at least once a day. I'm not sure I'll be able to do that much but I'll take a whack at it.

I bought 5 bags of candy and we still ran out last night. We watched King Kong, Peter Jackson's remake of the highly beloved and rarely seen 30's film. The good things: lotsa kewl action, Jack Black, and excellent CGI work behind the animating of the 25-foot ape. He was a very sympathetic creature. The bad things: it was too frackin' long!!! Usually I don't have a problem with butt-numbing films unless you actually notice that your butt is numb before the movie ends. I hate to say it Pete, you could have cut down your story and it would have been just as effective. The movie was just an onslaught and I was worn out by the time Kong fell off the Empire State Building. Sorry if I spoiled that for you.

The work in the house is going slowly but steadily. Jon has put the flooring down in the back bathroom and the bedroom and it looks good. I was very surprised at just how dingy the ceiling looked when it was painted and I could contrast the old with the new. the ceiling was old-dishwater grey. Blech! Both Jon and Todd, the contractor, are getting all of the rest of the house finished before tackling the panelling in the living room. At the rate the rest of the house is taking, they may not be getting to it until next week. It's worth it because the care taken with everything is worth it. Photos are forthcoming, because the transformation of the rooms done so far have been astonishing.

Despite Brenden's sugar highs last night, he slept pretty well. His sleeping patterns had been disrupted because of the time change so none of us had gotten enough sleep the last couple of days. Brenden is officially a Smartie junkie. I may never get him to eat a green bean in his lifetime (not that I won't try).

No Costume this Year

Bee Crying
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Yeah, it's a slow day today. I've been asked several times what Brenden is going to wear for Halloween, and the answer is 'nothing'. I'm going to let him run around naked while I hand out candy tomorrow. Seriously, no costumes this year. Maybe next year if he wants.

I was thinking about finding him an all-white cotton outfit w/sweatpants & hoodie. I'd spatter red food dye on it and then with a sharpie, put big dots in the middle of the spatters. Then when everyone asks me what he's supposed to be I'd say "an extra in a Hong Kong gangster movie" but a) it's not that funny and b) it's too 1990's.

Fall in Oklahoma 2

Fall in Oklahoma 2
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

More Brenden stuff: As I was getting him ready for bed last night, he protested when I put him in his crib. I picked him up again, and got a bright idea: I took the 2 stuffed ducks out of his crib (all the time I'm carrying B) and went to one of his toy chests and took out a stuffed tiger. I offered it to him and he managed to hug it and me enthusiastically. I took him back to his crib and set him down; he immediately put the tiger in a complete bear hug and started to, uh, make sweet love to it. I put a blanket over the lovebirds and left them alone. I never heard a peep out of him after that. Every Calvin needs a Hobbes.

Oh, yeah: and this story. I don't know how it is around the rest of the country but the political way of dealing with the Methamphetamine problem here is severely restricting the sale of products containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. When you do buy them you have to go to the pharmacy counter. Most places I go simply take your name & address and want to see your driver's license.

Saturday I went to buy some Claratin-D, a product I'm fond of when my sinus headaches get bad which between the paint fumes and the changing seasons have been killer lately. The pharmacist takes my information and then takes my license and is apparently making some sort of computer check on my id.

Several minutes go by and the pharmacist apologizes and says the computer check is going slow. More time passes and Brenden is getting restless in his shopping cart seat so I ask for my license back. I'm pretty angry right then even though I know the pharmacist is simply following instructions. I do chew on her butt a bit just to vent, but I felt somewhat bad about doing that. She didn't make the rules and she certainly doesn't run the crappy-assed database Alabama had thrown together to track pseudoephedrine purchases.

But for JEBUS'S SAKE!!! 5 people came up to the pharmacy window, asked for refills, and NEVER HAD THEIR LICENSE TAKEN FOR A COMPUTER CHECK! Next time I see my doctor I'm going to ask for a prescription.

Till the cows come home

Fall in Oklahoma 3
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Ileana sent me some photos from the farm in Oklahoma. I like the Fall - it's not unpleasantly cold and the afternoons are pleasant and walking around is nice, especially with all the trees turning color.

Dooce, A.K.A. Heather Armstrong writes a wickedly funny and popular blog. Some friends pointed me to her blog when I became pregnant because she suffers from chronic depression. Today she linked to this article about depression. The guy who wrote the article is right: "depression" is a horribly poor word for that disease. Maybe in the sense of "tropical depression" because you get to listen to a lot of howling, but in your head instead of the wind.

I have done fine since the worst effects of depression dissipated after my pregnancy. I have been off of medication for over a year and have felt no need to go back. I do have bad days occasionally, but to extend the article's metaphor, those days are mild thunderstorms and not the hurricane I was in while I was pregnant. And mine was a category 1. I can't begin to imagine how someone can live in a category 5 for that long and survive.

In happier news, Brenden said "tattoo" today, while pointing at his dad's tattoo. He also likes to stick a finger in our bellybuttons and say "beebeebeebee!" because we beep his bellybutton all the time.

Having fun pressing buttons

Having fun pressing buttons
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

It has begun!

Our house is being painted as I speak but it's much more than painting - many walls were covered with wallpaper that were never primed, which translates to holes being ripped into the drywall when you try to remove the stuff. So those holes have to be patched and sanded as well. What a mess.

I am happy with the color I chose for the walls - so far our bedroom and bathroom have been painted and they look nice. No floors have been put in yet. I have taken plenty of 'before' pictures (and have yet to post them) and will take plenty of 'after' photos when the time comes. Here's a nice photo of the paneling in the living room, which should cease to exist sometimes next week.

In the meantime Brenden has mastered the art of turning door knobs so every door knob in the house now has one of those childproof knobs on it. He hates me, I know he does.



There are reasons why I love Battlestar Galactica and why Lost annoys me, and it all has to do with the characters.

In Battlestar Galactica the characters are flawed. Hella-mega flawed. Roslin tried to throw an election. Adama jr. and sr. have jeapoardized their entire species trying to rescue a comrade. Starbuck is a reckless boozehound, Tigh and Zarek are terrorists (from different wars), and we won't even begin to walk through Baltar's flaws. Yet I love them one and all because when they hurt, I hurt. Last Friday's ep (Exodus, pt. 2) was so awesome I doubt they will be able to match it the rest of the season.

It was more than the nerdy ecstacy of the Galactica jumping into New Caprica's atmosphere and freefalling while unleashing all those Vipers on unsuspecting Cylons. It was more than the Pegasus coming to the Galactica's rescue and taking two Cylon base stars out with it. What made that show ring was a broken Colonel Tigh and Starbuck's realization that she had been had in the most horrible way imaginable. The few remaining humans had been rescued from the Cylon camp and that was cause to cheer, but my two favorite characters are in more pain than I can bear.

So why does Lost annoy me? I don't like anyone. I sat through 8 seasons of indecipherable plotlines of The X-Files because I loved Mulder and Scully. I will keep watching Lost, but it better let me emphathize with someone ASAP because it's beginning to piss me off.

Skiffy shite

Tardis
Originally uploaded by Darkest Before Dawn.

I'm so very grateful that the Skiffy network is broadcasting the new Dr. Who episodes for us old nerds. I saw my first Dr. Who episode on WGN, sometime in the late 70's. That's so strange - I thought my memory has to be off but it's true because I recall watching the show on PBS in early 1979 and I know I had seen some episodes before that.

I also like that BBC gave the show new sensibilities and has started to deal with questions we fans have had for a long time: just why does and immortal (so far) being go gallavanting around the space-time continuum with a varied assortment of simian life-forms, typically those who are young, pretty, and British? Ok, so he's lonely.

I viewed the latest (U.S.) episode last night, which was very sad because we got to meet (or revisit) one of the good Doc's former companions, Sarah Jane Smith. (She has a startling resemblance to Mary McDonnell, and I was amused that my favorite recapper Jacob noticed the same on Television Without Pity.) She and the doctor run into each other while investigating some school shennanigans being masterminded by Anthony Stewart Head, whom some people might remember from those old Taster's Choice commercials.

Anyway, she and the doctor have a nice reunion, then Rose, the doc's current companion gets all shirty towards Sarah, until after some talking she discovers her insecurity is more rightly pointed at the good doctor. More important than why does he pick them up, why does he show his companions the universe then dump them so soon? Well that turns out to be a duh, too; because humans grow old and die while the doc just regenerates. I guess he dumps them after a couple of years or so so they can at least try to have a life after moving through time and space. The very sad part about this episode is it seems Sarah Jane had no life after the doctor ditched her. She is still nosy, but she never married.

She got to keep the disco dog, though.

Another boring post

Mom B and BFK
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Brenden stumbled and split his lower lip against the nightstand in the bedroom yesterday. I was folding clothes. Poor kid bled everywhere, especially on me, but he'll live. Despite the volume of blood there's only a tiny cut on his lip. He got over it pretty fast, too.

Big Fat Kitty jumped on the nightstand sometime later on (I was still trying to fold clothes in the bedroom) and Brenden rushed up to him and wagged a finger at him and yelled "No no no no no!". For the rest of the day he did the same thing to the cat no matter where kitty jumped. I guess it's wrong of me to have one set of rules for Big Fat Kitty and another for Monkey boy.

I'm getting major T.V. fixes now that Lost, Dr. Who, and Battlestar Galactica are back on, not to mention Veronica Mars, The Office and new South Park. Quick observations:

1: I like Lost better without so many damn commercial interruptions.

2: David Tennant is a good Doctor, but I miss Chris Eccleston.

3: Battlestar Galactica is still my favorite show. I could do without Fat Apollo, though.

4: I made my Veronica Mars observation yesterday. I really like how Veronica is allowed to be an asshole and I'm also really glad that her boyfriend Duncan has left (stupid baby subplot nonwithstanding). Logan might be a psychotic jackass, but at least he's an interesting psychotic jackass. And it's nice to see Charisma Carpenter get some work!

5: I actually like Michael on The Office. Of course if he were my boss I would have to kill him.

6: South Park has always been hit-or-miss. Not much else to say about that, but Blizzard must have been in 7th heaven for that 20-minute World of Warcraft commercial (which also explained in excruciating detail why I don't play multiplayer games).

Silly Face

Silly Face
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Here's a rare Sunday blogpost because Brenden is tolerating me being out of the living room for a little bit.

I had *yet another* sinus infection, but went to my way cool allergy doc instead of my overworked family physician who can't remember me from visit to visit. He put me on an aggressive antibiotic treatment and it seems to be working because I can smell things now without having to O.D. on Afrin. I am currently stripping wallpaper when I can and using a steamer (only way to go) so the whole house smells like old wallpaper glue.

I'm such a whiner.

We're halfway through season 2 of Veronica Mars and I must say it's a shocker what gets past the censors on that show.

Month 16

Trip2
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Brenden and Jon had a great time in Massachusetts, even though neither got much sleep. I actually didn't have much fun - I started peeling wallpaper from around the house. Oh, that reminds me:

I don't think I mentioned this, but when we decided about the laminate flooring, we also decided to repaint the whole house - this included yanking all the paneling from the living room and replacing it with drywall. We also need to repaint the ceilings because a) smokers lived there and b) we have some water stains from problems fixed a while back.

Jon has hired a contractor who is going to let Jon work with him to do everything. I'll do what I can, but for the most part I'm going to be keeping Brenden out of their way.

Speaking of B: Letter to Brenden Month 16:

Well, darling; you are getting more clever and aware. I have noticed no new words in your vocabulary recently, but I do love how if I say "no!" and you continue with whatever you are doing, if I get in your face and ask "what did I just say?" You go "no no no!" and clap your hands. Usually that's enough to make you stop.

I took you to your first Birthday Party. I thought you are a little young for such events, but it was for a girl in your same daycare and I thought it might be fun. For the most part you had a blast. Kylie's parents had rented one of those big jumping castles. You didn't go in until all the bigger kids had gone for food and then I had a tough time getting you out of there. You do love flinging yourself at bouncy things.

We also went for a hayride, which involved sitting on bales of hay in an open trailer pulled by a gigantic tractor. We passed some horses and I was all "YEEEEEEEK!" but then I felt bad because you really wanted to look at one up close. Some of the other kids started feeding hay to the horses, and you saw this and grabbed a little twig and held it up to a horse. I don't think he saw it. I was going to give you more hay to hold but the tractor decided to move at that point. I'm glad to see an animal that big didn't scare you, although I would like you to know that if you ever see a bear that's not behind a cage don't try to feed it, ok? It's probably a good idea to leave it alone altogether.

I wonder if it might be time for a trip to a zoo.

Sleeping on the Quilt

Sleeping on the Quilt
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

This week will be an interesting week because monkeyboy is with monkeyman Jon up in Massachusetts where they are visiting family. I simply don't have any vacation time left this year. Everyone keeps saying "oh, you'll miss him so much" and I'm all "Hooray!". They're coming back Thursday, and I'm sure they'll be able to handle 4 days without me. Hey, I love my kid but I need a break. What am I going to do? Drink like a pirate and watch flesh-eating zombie movies, that's what.

Speaking of watching, Jon and I finished season 2 of Lost so we'll watch season 3 as it's broadcast. Kinda bummed by some of the outcomes of season 2, but I like a show that keeps me guessing, even though I'm better at guessing than some of the main characters, apparently. Only Sayid seems to have any common sense.

Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica starts this Friday, woo-hoo! We're almost done with season 1 of Veronica Mars but I have to wait until Jon comes home to watch the last disk. I guess I could always resort to Television Without Pity to figure out who killed Lilly Kane but that would be cheating. Both Jon and I are still wierded out by Logan and Veronica getting together. I'm TiVo-ing season 3 and I'll just store them until we catch up.

I think I told this story before but I wanted to tell it again:

Back in college I was living in sin with my boyfriend when one day he went out for a jog and returned with this very small black and white kitten. Will had a thing for cats and we already had 7 or 8 living around the house. I bitched at him; "why the hell did you bring another cat home?!!?"

He said "well I was jogging by this girl getting in a car and she had this little guy with her. She asked me if it was ours and I said 'no', so she said she was taking it to the pound so I said 'give her to me'".

How could I argue with that?

But anyway, this little cat was so small she probably shouldn't have been away from her mother. I ended up feeding her wet food. None of the other cats were given wet food, so when it came time to eat, she would be on my lap eating out of a little plate. I would be knocking back the other cats with my free arm so they couldn't get at the food. In that way she and I bonded.

Thank you everyone once again for the well-wishes and sympathy. I picked up Vasquez's ashes today and have decided to hang onto them for now. They are in a nice wooden urn that will go in a high place well beyond monkeyboy's reach.