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Friday, August 26, 2011

It's Friday! Time for a List



  • Blogger will no longer let me place the html code from Flickr in order to add a photograph to this blog. 
    • But just on this blog. Quirk works fine. I don't get it. 
    • So, I have to go to flickr, download the appropriately sized photograph to my hard drive, and then upload it to Blogger. 
    • Super-dee-duper-y efficiency right there, people.
  • I got my temporary crown on Tuesday. 
    • I'm hoping that the permanent one comes with a really nice castle and a service staff. 
    • I'll let you know. 
    • Even if it only comes with an official dog hair remover, I'll be thrilled.
  • Jasper sheds.
    • Tons and tons and tons and tons of hair.
    • Everywhere.
    • Constantly.
    • But he's so cute, it really doesn't bother me, except when he stops up my vacuum cleaner.
  • Raikki can walk.
    • He walks like he's had just a few too many drinks.
    • He pees like he's had a few too many drinks.
    • But he's getting better every day.
  • My computer has developed a mind of its own.
    • Sometimes the cursor wanders over the screen from left to right.
      • At first I thought the boys had swiped my bluetooth mouse and were messing with me.
      • They weren't.
      • But they have.
    • Sometimes the left click won't work.
      • The right click works just fine.
    • I have an appointment at the Genius Bar on Tuesday.
      • As soon as I made the appointment, everything started working really well.
      • Guess I showed it, huh?
  • This is my last weekend to be 42.
    • My birthday is on Monday.
    • I'll be 43.
    • Is it weird that I don't mind admitting that?
    • 43 is a prime number.
    • Is it weird that I know that?
  • I hope your weekend is spectacular.
    • If you're on the east coast, batten down the hatches and stock up on water and batteries.
      • And milk.
      • And bread.
      • And toilet paper.
      • And beers.
    • If you're elsewhere?
      • Drink a beer, anyway. It's the weekend!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Southern Augusts



In the southern United States, summers are like long, never ending tests of endurance and mental fortitude. Even in relatively temperate Tennessee, August can seem like a cruel tormentor - and until you've lived in some state like Louisiana, you really have no idea what it means to endure summer.

I grew up there, in Lousisiana. I breathed in the swampy air and sat motionless through the heat of the afternoon, shaded by magnolias and willows, waiting for the dimming light and the lightning bugs to rouse me back to wakefulness. My friends and I would meet in the dusk outside and continue whatever games we had started earlier in the day, up until the time our mothers would call us home for supper and cool showers and bedtime.

I remember sitting in my elementary school classroom in the beginning days of September and feeling the sweat trickle down my back, wishing the oscillating fan would sweep my way and get stuck, so I could cool off a little bit.

Yes. I realize I'm showing my age a bit. I remember when they installed central air-conditioning in my elementary school. I was interviewed for a radio show about it. I think my parents probably recorded the interview on their reel-to-reel. I think I stated that it would help me be a better student, air-conditioning. If I didn't have to worry about sweat droplets on my math paper, I might be better able to remember my multiplication tables.

We got air-conditioners. It still took me a while to memorize those nines.

Now - my kids play tennis early in the day to escape the heat, although they've suffered through a few late afternoon scorchers. They escape into the a/c in the afternoons, instead of into the shade of a fine magnolia tree, to wait out the heat while brushing up on their video game skills. And still, as the light dims and the lightning bugs beckon, they make their way outside to meet up with friends and finish their games just as I did over 30 years ago in Augusts gone by.

We're not so different than we used to be...

Monday, August 22, 2011

Decade

photo by Dan Dillon

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful ten-year-old in the world.

I am over-the-moon proud to be your mama, and I can't wait to see what the next ten years bring!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Just Another Manic Monday


Sometimes you just need space to spread out and calm down and get away from time's knobby knees.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Post Where I List a Bunch of Random Things


Stunning, originally uploaded by diahn.



  • I just got back from the dentist. 
    • I need a crown.
    • I'd rather have a tiara.
    • Dammit.
  • I've been putting together our new school schedule.
    • We need a microscope.
    • I love microscopes.
    • If I didn't have to buy a crown, it would be easier to justify a microscope.
    • Dammit.
  • Raikki is at physical therapy today.
    • He's getting stronger every day.
    • He can move faster on two legs than I can.
    • I love that dog.
  • Today is my grandparents' 70th anniversary.
    • They still live together.
    • They still love each other.
    • That's awesomesauce right there.
  • In 12 days, my baby will be 10.
    • I don't even want to talk about it.
  • In 19 days, I will be 43.
    • My dentist told me I look 35.
    • He was just buttering me up before telling me about the crown.
  • I made a Caprese Salad last night.
    • The tomatoes were from my garden.
    • So was the basil.
    • Basil is my life.
  • I'm going to change into my tennis clothes.
    • My boys are making me play.
    • They're starting to beat me.
    • Little stinkers.
    • I couldn't be happier.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Lord of the Regatta de Blanc

When I was in high school, I was incredibly good looking.

IMG_0005

PROOF!

This may not be the best representation of my self 25 years ago, but it's closest to my mental image of my teenaged self.

I got better.

Anyway. I had two real loves in my life back then - music and books. My boyfriend was Sting. He loved me just the way I was. He gave me mighty bass lines and piercing vocals whenever I wanted them.

He was a good boyfriend.

I LOVED The Police. LOVED them. My room was decked out in their posters, my cassette collection was riddled with their albums. I watched the Synchronicity HBO concert live. I wore strange clothes. I cried when they broke up in 1984.

I probably would have worn strange clothes anyway, but we'll just blame it on them, okay?

I also lived with my nose in a book pretty much all the time. Not a school book, necessarily, but fiction - constantly. One of my long-loved, re-read favorites is Lord of the Rings. And while I'm not much of a movie buff, when the movies came out, I fell in love with those as well.

This week, those two loves have combined into a wonderful blend of firsts for my boys. We've been reading The Lord of the Rings aloud together, and they had already started to fall in love with the characters, and while we intend to continue reading it together, Dr. SmartyPants and I decided the time was right for them to see the movies. We've never let them watch PG-13 movies before.

They were SO EXCITED! Because they AREN'T EVEN 13 YET!

Breakin' the law...breakin' the law...

Joshua is already petitioning to have his name changed to "Legolas." I just hope he doesn't decide to go so far as to do any body modifications to get elf ears.

I also played The Police for them this week. This was part of an educational experiment we were involved in with Melinda, who feels my one flaw (one and only...isn't she sweet) is my general disregard for Bruce Springsteen. I don't actively dislike him, I even find myself singing along occasionally, he's just kind of "meh" for me. She loves him, and sent the boys an email to ask them to give him a try - with a couple of recommendations for songs to start with.

I played those songs for them, with no commentary - I'm not one to bias anyone's musical opinion. Their overall impression was that the music was nice, the saxophone was awesome, but they couldn't understand anything The Boss said, and his voice was kind of weird. They rated it an overall "okay." (sorry Mo...)

I thought it was time to break out The Police.

I'm thrilled to say they loved them. Derek loved the baseline on "Demolition Man" and was singing it in the backseat while Joshua grooved to the drumbeat in the front. Joshua asked me if I could buy him the album for his iPhone. (YES! YES! ACTUALLY NO! Because we already have it, but I can LOAD it on your iPhone.) When we pulled into the garage, and we were in the middle of "Every Breath You Take," they made me sit there until the song was over.

I just can't tell you how stupidly happy it made me that they loved the music that shaped my teen years. I can't even tell you why it made me so happy. I just know it did and I'm so looking forward to driving around with my two awesome kids, singing at the top of our lungs...

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Raikki Update



The boys and I went to visit Raikki at the hospital yesterday. He's in the rehab wing, getting daily therapy to try and restore mobility to his rear legs. So far, he's shown a little improvement, but not as much as we had hoped to see at this point. Tonight will mark one week since he went down, but the doctors mark things from his worst loss of sensation, which would be Thursday. The first seven days after that are the most crucial to his success or failure.

He's trying though, poor guy. They had him in the underwater treadmill for probably 20 minutes, and by the end of it, he was absolutely exhausted. The doctors were very pleased with how he did, though - much better than the first time he went in.

We're just taking things one day at a time - crossing our fingers and toes - sending up prayers.