August 2008 Round Up

I really feel like I am missing stuff for this month, but I am flat out exhausted, and I need to get this posted.


Blinkie by: Jo's Blinkie Obsession (no longer active)

Monthly Round Up idea borrowed from Katie the Scrapbook Lady.

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Le sigh, again nothing. Started a book, but it's only about 25% done, and it's not looking like it will be finished any time soon.

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?
Lots and lots of Olympics! Part of why I'm tired (yes, still).

What special days did I celebrate and how?
DH's birthday was a bust. See "new restaurant" section.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
Just cards for the August birthdays around here (DH, BIL, my brother). Received some wonderful old photos in the mail from Steve's grandmother.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
Luke had a sinus infection that required some truly noxious medicine. Thank goodness for extra medicine flavoring! I had sniffles off and on, but nothing serious.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
Touch a Truck. Visited my parents and my grandfather over Labor Day weekend.

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
Tried Moe's Southwest Grill again. Had only been there once, I think. Eh, probably won't be back. It was okay, nothing spectacular, and nothing Luke will eat. Dynasty Garden was a new Chinese place, and we both thought it was terrible. Made the mistake of eating there for DH's birthday, so it was doubly disappointing.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
New cake pan for Luke's birthday. That's all that really comes to mind. Seems like there was something else, but it's not coming to me.

What were this month's disappointments?
Had two consecutive not-so-good weeks at work (part of why my blog has been quiet), compounded by the fact that my boss officially left. New boss is great, don't get me wrong, but I really miss my old boss/friend.

What were my accomplishments this month?
I stitched! Finished a fob and a temari, and made good progress on a second partially finished temari. Just needs an obi, but I'm trying to figure out what kind I want to do.

What were Luke's accomplishments this month?
Everyone says his speech is much better. And his imagination is really taking off. Legos are his current favorite; they become all kinds of robots and space ships.

Anything else noteworthy to record?
Lost power one evening and spent the night at a hotel, a rather unexpected excursion. Not exactly sure that was "fun," which is why I didn't put it elsewhere in this list. Just interesting. And Luke crashed the Lego bookshelves.

Currently feeling: very tired

Four years in the making

Okay, no one faint. I hope you're all sitting down. Ready? I stitched!

:: Erin waits while everyone picks themselves up off the floor ::

Actually, you may just want to stay in the floor, since it gets even more amazing. I also finished two projects!

:: Erin passes out smelling salts, certain this information has caused some loss of consciousness ::

The title up there is both true and a bit misleading. Both of the projects I finished were started while I was pregnant. Both of them, sadly, were also *almost* finished when I put them down. I don't really recall why I put them down. I know late in my pregnancy, I had the attention span of a gnat. Concentrating on much of anything was difficult, especially something like stitching. Then after Luke arrived, I didn't have time, and then when I had time, I didn't have interest.

But Heather inspired me by finishing the flower fob she started around the same time (scroll to bottom of that post). I figured if she could do it, then so could I. First I had to hunt down the nearly finished berry, but it was right where I left it four years ago: in my stitching bag in the closet. I had all the beading and backstitching done. All it needed was some fusible fleece for backing, some handmade green cording, and peyote beaded strawberry leaves. Took about 3 days to manage all that (what with that pesky job thing getting in the way) and get it "fobinated" (sewn together and stuffed). So here is my newly completed (for the second time, seeing as I gave away the first one) beaded strawberry fob.



This is "A Strawberry for Emily" by Tomorrow's Antiques (they don't have a website, as far as I know).

But we're not done yet! Oh no. While I was in the closet hunting for the unfinished strawberry, I stumbled on my temari bag. Now, having seen Glenda complete a few temari in the last 4 years, one of them last month, I was already starting to get the temari bug again. Upon peeking into my bag, though, I discovered a temari that I had totally forgotten about, and it was nearly done! See the second picture below? All I had to do was put in the purple triangles with the white outlines (one was complete; had 7 more to do), and it was finished. I know I was working on this during the Myrtle Beach trip (that I never did write up) in February 2004, and again, I have no idea why I put it aside. But it's done now, and I think it looks pretty good. Certainly a lot of imperfections, but hopefully they're only really obvious to me, not anyone else.



Sorry, forgot the credits. Basically this pattern, but I actually figured it out only from a picture (the one at the bottom, in fact). There was no posted pattern at the time I started working on it, and I am thrilled with myself for being able to reconstruct it based only on the photo! Done in DMC floss.

Thanks for looking!

Currently feeling: amazed at myself!

Crusoe

Crusoe is apparently a new show coming in the fall on NBC; I've been seeing the commercials during the Olympics. Am I the only person who thinks it looks an awful lot like "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Television Show"?

Currently feeling: avast!

Movie Quotes Meme - Answers

BTW, today has been much better than yesterday. Thanks for all the hugs many of you sent my way!

Wow, you all did remarkably well! Only one was left, and it is really a rather obscure movie that most people haven't seen, but my family totally loves it. And I had two posts in the comments from someone listed only as Anonymous. I don't know if it was the same anonymous person, or two different ones, so I am listing them as #1 and #2.

1 - from Galaxy Quest - "Well forget it! I'm not doing it! This episode was badly written!" Cris (elfinlady) got it.

2 - from Hitch - "Right. Well, see, I'm more of a literal kind of guy. So when I do this... This is more like me saying that I will literally break your wrist off if you ever touch me again. Okay, pumpkin?" - Melissa (missycor) almost got it, and Anonymous #2 got it

3 - from Apollo 13 - "Those people don't put one piece of equipment on my lawn. If they have a problem with that, they can take it up with my husband. He'll be home... on FRIDAY!" - Jenni (thermalgal) and my mom

4 - from Contact - "Ellie, still waiting for E.T. to call?" - Lisa (in Wa) got it

5 - from Toy Story - "One minute you're defending the whole galaxy, and, suddenly, you find yourself sucking down Darjeeling with... Marie Antoinette and her little sister." - Jenn (sewunicorn) got it

6 - from The Incredibles - "Supermodels. Heh! Nothing super about them... spoiled, stupid little stick figures with poofy lips who think only about themselves." - Annette got it

7 - from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl - "You seem somewhat familiar. Have I threatened you before?" - Lisa (in Wa) got it

8 - from Playing By Heart - "You can't treat people the way you treat them and then say something adorable like that." - No one got it, which isn't really a surprise

9 - from Star Wars - "Don't call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease. - Lisa (in Wa) got it

10 - from Shakespeare in Love - "Not the artful postures of love, not playful and poetical games of love for the amusement of an evening, but love that... over-throws life. Unbiddable, ungovernable - like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture." - Valerie got it

11 - from Sleeping Beauty (Disney) - "Good gracious! Who left the mop running?" - Jenn (sewunicorn) got it

12 - from Demolition Man - "Mellow greetings. What seems to be your boggle?" - Anonymous #2 got it

13 - from The Princess Bride - "It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise." - Annette got it

14 - from Jurassic Park - "I don't believe it! You're supposed to come here and defend me against these characters and the only one I've got on my side is the bloodsucking lawyer!" - Anonymous #1 got it

15 - from Dead Poets Society - "Phone call from God... Now if it had been collect, it would have been daring!" - Ina and David got it

A truly terrible day

Today was one of those where every time you think that nothing else can go wrong, it does. Luke is on antibiotics for a sinus infection, and the medicine is noxious. Even the pharmacist says it is some of the nastiest stuff they have! We tried it with whatever flavor it comes, and it was a battle to get him to take it this morning (his second dose). It's about the consistency of congealed white-out, and just the smell of it nearly made *me* gag. There were many tears, on both sides, about having to take it this morning. The thought of having to give him this medicine 18 more times (twice a day for 10 days, this morning was dose #2) just filled me with dread.

Then there were major wrecks everywhere on the roads both to and from daycare, so I almost missed the first staff meeting with my new boss. That meeting went well, but it was still an hour I spent on the phone, during which I received several emails from 3 of 4 vendors at work regarding problems with our in-progress projects. Tried to get those squared away during the one hour break I had between Call 1 and Call 2 for today.

Call 2 took 90 minutes instead of the 45 it should have, during which everyone was making unreasonable demands and expecting us to meet impossible dates. That call started at 11:30 I also had to make an emergency call (during Call 2!) to the field to make sure the didn't disconnect something with live service because some information I had been given was incorrect. After that, I was on the phone handling various issues that had come up in the 90 minutes I was on Call 2.

I was pretty much on the phone non-stop from 11:30 to 4 PM (including my regularly scheduled Call 3 at 3 PM), after which I was ready to crash! I totally bailed at 4:30 today. I had simply had it. We pick up Luke and go out to dinner, where I will admit that Luke was remarkably well behaved. Then we went to Target so I could go back to the pharmacy to see if they had some flavoring they could put in the antibiotic (they said I could bring it back for flavor if need be when I picked it up yesterday). I asked what they recommended. Apparently, there is a database somewhere that says this type of flavor works best for these types of medicine. They suggested bubble gum or watermelon. We went with bubble gum. Came home, where it was a battle to get him to take it again (can't blame him, really), but the flavoring really seemed to help (as did the Doritos as a reward for taking it all).

So things are going better, and I am starting to not be in nearly so bad of a mood by the time I get home. Then I sit down and check my email (which I haven't had time to do all day) and find out that someone I was very good friends with at work (who I sadly have not seen in about 5 years) had a heart attack 3 days ago and died before the paramedics could get there. It was totally out of the blue. The email came in last night about the funeral today, but I didn't get it until tonight, so I missed it (took it a while to circulate around to me via the grapevine). He was only 52. He was just such a huge personality, one of the genuinely nicest and smartest people I ever met. I am crushed that he is no longer here, that his children (now in their early to late 20s; I can't believe I remember when the youngest was in middle school!) have lost such a wonderful father, and that his grandchildren will not remember him. I was in tears off and on for the next hour or so. Such a huge huge loss.

Just the "perfect" cap to my horrid day.

Currently feeling: ready for a better day tomorrow

Movie Quotes Meme - only 3 left - anyone else?

An anonymous commenter got #14. If you want your name listed, Mr./Ms. Anonymous, please let me know who you are! LOL As for the remaining three, if anyone who has already guessed would like to take a shot, feel free. I'll close it out on Thursday.

Currently feeling: having great fun

Movie Quotes Meme

Only 1 left. Wow, y'all are doing well so far! A couple of wrong guesses, but mostly correct. I'm sure some of you could have guessed a few more, so thank you for saving some guesses for others. Makes it more fun when more can play! LOL

This was fun, and a whole lot harder than I would have thought (given that I'm sure people, like me, are trying not to pick the obvious quotes). Surely this is something I would be good at, but even knowing that there had to be a quote from one particular movie on hers, I couldn't find it (in my defense, we don't have the movie in question on DVD). Snitched from Annette’s blog:

1. Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search functions.
5. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.

1 - Well forget it! I'm not doing it! This episode was badly written! Cris (elfinlady) got it; click for answer

2 - Right. Well, see, I'm more of a literal kind of guy. So when I do this... This is more like me saying that I will literally break your wrist off if you ever touch me again. Okay, pumpkin? Melissa (missycor) is so close!!! (she knows it is Will Smith saying it); Anonymous #2 got it; click for answer

3 - Those people don't put one piece of equipment on my lawn. If they have a problem with that, they can take it up with my husband. He'll be home... on FRIDAY! Jenni (thermalgal) and my mom both got it (Jenni's comment didn't go through for some reason, but she emailed it to me); click for answer

4 - Ellie, still waiting for E.T. to call? Lisa (in Wa) got it; click for answer

5 - One minute you're defending the whole galaxy, and, suddenly, you find yourself sucking down Darjeeling with... Marie Antoinette and her little sister. Jenn (sewunicorn) got it; click for answer

6 - Supermodels. Heh! Nothing super about them... spoiled, stupid little stick figures with poofy lips who think only about themselves. Annette got it; click for answer

7 - You seem somewhat familiar. Have I threatened you before? Lisa (in Wa) got it; click for answer

8 - You can't treat people the way you treat them and then say something adorable like that.

9 - Don't call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease. Lisa (in Wa) got it; click for answer

10 - Not the artful postures of love, not playful and poetical games of love for the amusement of an evening, but love that... over-throws life. Unbiddable, ungovernable - like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture. Valerie got it; click for answer

11 - Good gracious! Who left the mop running? Jenn (sewunicorn) got it; click for answer

12 - Mellow greetings. What seems to be your boggle? Anonymous #2 got it; click for answer

13 - It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise. Annette got it; click for answer

14 - I don't believe it! You're supposed to come here and defend me against these characters and the only one I've got on my side is the bloodsucking lawyer! Anonymous got it (who are you? LOL); click for answer

15 - Phone call from God... Now if it had been collect, it would have been daring! Ina and David got it; click for answer

Lego Calamity

My son is very fortunate this evening. Fortunate he wasn't hurt, fortunate he scared the crap out of us before we saw the carnage, and fortunate we were so relieved that he was okay that we chose not to kill him.

Luke and DH were upstairs engaging in a mutually favorite post-bath time ritual: playing with DH's Star Wars Legos that reside in our bedroom. I was downstairs playing on the web, waiting for the Olympics to restart at 7 PM. I heard DH leave our bedroom and go into Luke's bedroom to "prep the room" before bedtime, just as he's done every Sunday evening for months now.

Then came a huge crashing noise from overhead, and DH and I could have beaten any Olympian in that moment. He sprinted across the hall from Luke's bedroom back to ours as I hurtled up the stairs two at a time, both of us more concerned about the silence following the crash than anything.

DH got there first, having only a fraction of the distance to travel that I did (he already being upstairs and all). The crying started as soon as he opened the door; I didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad sign. By the time I got up the stairs, DH was shoving a borderline-hysterical Luke out of the bedroom and slammed the door right in my face (he had no idea I was there, I promise).

There was no doubt about what had crashed. Only two possible pieces of furniture could have fallen, and the other one would have made a *much* larger "boom" on a different part of the ceiling (plus it is surrounded by junk and is extremely heavy, so it is unlikely he could have pulled it over at all).

Clearly Luke was okay, or he would not have been shoved out of the room so unceremoniously. I opened the door to see the bookshelves laying face down on the corner of the dresser, the back corners of the shelf digging into the wall, tiny Lego pieces strewn everywhere. The shelves housed DH's prized Star Wars Legos collection. I can't even tell you how many sets we had up there. 25? 30? More? That's not an unreasonable guess; some sets are quite small, but others are large and impressive. Roughly 21 cubic feet of Star Wars Lego goodness, lovingly assembled piece by piece by DH over a period of 6-7 years. The only reason there weren't more is because we were simply out of room. The unassembled sets were stacked next to the shelf, waiting. There were a few of my collectible dolls on top of the shelves, but they are plastic and in boxes and survived mostly unscathed. Our room is bit of a mess, so I don't have photos of the whole scene, but here is some of the aftermath:



The bookcase was cheap, mostly press board with a cardboard backing. Nevertheless, it was heavy enough, and fell hard enough, that it cracked the corner of my dresser that is made of solid wood:



I think DH was just in shock (and feeling a little guilty). I was much angrier about it than he was. Luke was still crying out in the hall, a crumpled little heap on the carpet. I went back out, at DH's request, so that he could pick up the bookcase (it was rather unwieldy for me) and I could try and calm Luke down. I'll admit, I did more borderline-shouting than comforting. I was still just so angry, both at him (he knows better!) and myself (for not anchoring it to the wall; I *know,* I know).

And Luke was still just *screaming,* which did nothing to help my jangled nerves. I told him he could either calm down and go down stairs, or he could go to his room and go to bed. He didn't budge. I don't know if he was just being stubborn, or if he simply didn't hear me over his own wailing. So I picked him up and plopped him down on his bed, and he just curled up and bawled. Now how bad do I feel? DH comes back out of our bedroom about this time, and he still seems a little out of it. He talks very calmly to Luke and gets him to calm down and go downstairs, and we completed the remainder of the usual bedtime routine without incident.

After Luke was in bed, I went in to take pictures, and DH started picking up the pieces (literally) and assessing the damage. I offered to help, but I certainly didn't know what pieces went with what. He didn't know all of them, but he would definitely know better than I. I went down to watch the Olympics (at his insistence) and left him to his own devices.

Two hours later, and he has all but one put back together. Nothing appears to be irrevocably broken; everything broke into bricks, like it should. There are a few extra pieces that we don't know where they go, but if we can't tell from looking that something's missing, then it's not really a big deal. The Millennium Falcon, however, is still a wreck. It is so complex, and there are so many small pieces, that he will virtually have to rebuild it from scratch. (Guess it's a good thing he kept all of the building guides, no?) Last time, I think it took him about 6 hours to put it together. Not sure when he will have that kind of time to devote to the restoration effort, but I will do my best to make it happen sometime soon. We both realize that, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a catastrophe. In fact, we are really quite lucky that the damage wasn't worse, to the bookshelf, the dresser, the Legos, or the child. But it was still heartbreaking to see all those hours and hours of hard work shattered in a single moment.

Currently feeling: in pieces

Touch a Truck

Saturday morning, we attended a local event called "Touch a Truck." It's just what it sounds like. Several local businesses and organizations make one of their vehicles available to the public to come and touch, sit in, photograph, and otherwise generally oogle. There is someone there who usually drives/operates the vehicle to answer questions. And, it was held in a parking lot that is right next to the train tracks, so we even got to see two trains go by while we were there. I don't know who dreamed up this event for DeKalb County, but they have the eternal gratitude of virtually every mother of a young boy. There was a fire engine, an ambulance, a pediatric emergency vehicle, a school bus, a bucket truck (sometimes called a cherry picker), a cement truck, and a police car. Of course there are pictures!



I actually have a better picture of Luke in the police car, but this one was a better shot of the officer who was there. This man was having more fun than all of the kids put together! It was so wonderful to see him having such a fabulous time, especially given that a few of the other "vehicle owners" were a little grumpy, the paramedics in particular. The officer let the kids turn on the lights, talk into the loud speaker, and every 20 minutes or so, he would let someone turn on the siren for a moment (after an announcement over said loud speaker for everyone to cover their ears). He was having an absolute blast, which made it that much more fun for the kids. I am kicking myself for not getting his name. I'll try to contact the organizers on Monday to see if they know. I would also like to acknowledge the driver of the cement truck (next to last photo). He is not a short man, and you can see how high above him Luke is. This man picked up every single kid under 5 feet tall and put them in the seat of this truck, and he did it with a smile on his face, genuinely enjoying watching each kid's face light up. I can't even calculate the amount of weight he picked up to a height of about 6 feet today. His back and shoulders are going to be *so* sore tonight!

So, thank you so much to all of the sponsors and participants in the DeKalb County "Touch a Truck" event. We had an absolute blast!

Currently feeling: gratitude

Not all treasure is silver and gold

Happy birthday, DH! He is truly a treasure in my life. But that's not really what the title refers to.

We received such treasure in the mail this week from DH's grandmother. (That would be his step-father's mother.) It arrived in a flat padded envelope, containing photographs of DH's maternal grandparents, including one of his grandmother at age 16 months, plus some additional photos of his mom as a child. And how, you might ask, did the mother of his step-father (MIL's second husband, the man DH calls "Dad," to whom MIL is no longer married) come by these photos of DH's mother's family? Simple; the mother of MIL's third ex-husband found them and dropped them off one day when she was in town. (If you kept up with all the players here, I am most impressed.) Gotta love small town Southern life, no?

But I can't knock it. Those small town values have returned treasures to us that could never be replicated. MIL hasn't been one to hold on to a lot of things in all the moves she's made. Most keepsakes like these photos have been lost or thrown out over the years by MIL herself. These photos in particular were left at her XH3's house when she moved out. XH3's mother could have just thrown them out, or XH3 himself could have. But they didn't. They valued these photos enough to make sure they got into the hands of someone who would appreciate them. And we are certainly most appreciative.

Currently feeling: in history heaven

The Irony of Bedtime Drama

If we would just give in to all of his insane stall tactics, that would still probably be faster (say, 30-40 minutes of stalling) than saying no and dealing with the hour-plus worth of drama that follows. I know it is the principle of the thing. Do what you are told to do the *first* time you are told to do it. It is a battle that needs to be fought on occasion. It's just hard to remember that when he's been screaming for an hour as though blood has truly been shed. Is my skull cracking open yet?

Currently feeling: "women do get wooly, because of all the stress..." (trying to keep my sense of humor; I'm sure several of you know that reference)

The Unexpected Overnight Adventure

Okay, that makes it sound much more grandiose than it actually was. (This is the story I thought I was going to post yesterday.)

Saturday night, we abruptly decided to have an overnight adventure. Why? Because we were without electricity. It's like an epidemic of utility outages; first water, now power. Around 7 PM, a huge storm appeared out of no where. We've had pop-up thunder storms before (though with the drought, they haven't been nearly as common in recent years), but this was different. It just "felt" different to me. I can't really explain it. I don't know if it was the way the trees were behaving in the wind, or the almost constant lightning, or the thunder coming from all directions. It just wasn't a standard storm. The rain finally started, and I thought things were returning to normal. Ha.

Around 7:15, there was a somewhat muffled popping noise, and the power went out. Great. We were just about to start getting Luke ready for bed, but he was too wound up with the power outage. Plus, things were starting to get really strange outside. It was pouring buckets, enough that it was difficult to see the house across the street, but the sounds coming from outside didn't indicate that the rain was all that heavy. That's because the rain was being blown about, sometimes sideways, sometimes in a swirling manner, but not all that much of it was actually hitting the ground. It is the eeriest thing I have ever seen, and I was ready to jump in the closet right that instant. If there had been any sort of constant rumble (rather that the intense, but distinctly separate, claps of thunder), we definitely would have been in the closet. (The large-ish closet under the stairs is the only interior windowless room downstairs.)

Just about the time I was ready to start yanking out toys and jackets, just in case, the rain began falling vertically again. And boy, was it coming down! It was quite impressive, even by this Southerner's standards. But at least it felt "normal." It was now about 7:30. Still now power. We were also having trouble getting any phone calls out, by cell or land line, so we couldn't even report the outage or get status from the power company, nor could we check the weather (via internet or television) to see if the worst was over or if there was more to come. I finally managed to get a good enough signal and a circuit just before 8, and I called my parents. The worst of the storm had passed. Whew! But we still didn't have power, and it was rapidly approaching 80 degrees inside the house.

As a quick aside, special thanks goes to my father, The Flashlight Junkie (no doubt about where Luke gets it from), for making sure we were well stocked with flashlight options. I promise to never laugh again when you insist on giving us yet another one, because they sure did come in handy. Wish we'd had a few more batteries (note to self: restock AAs), but we managed fine. BTW, the second picture is Luke trying to look at a DVD in the dark. I know it's hard to make out, but he was so cute wanting to check out everything with a flashlight.



Had it been just the two of us, we *might* have toughed it out, but not with Luke. It wasn't really so much the heat. It was more the lack of all the things he is accustomed to having while sleeping, like a white noise machine, and most importantly, a night light! And we couldn't watch Superdog before bed or do many of our other routine type things. With all the excitement of the evening so far, and with things still being so non-normal, there was no hope of getting him to go to sleep and stay asleep at the house. So we got the number of a hotel not too far away, called to verify that *they* had electricity (they did), threw some pajamas and related Luke bedtime gear in a small suitcase, and headed out.

There were limbs and trees and other debris down everywhere on the way to the hotel. You could hear and see emergency vehicles all over the various neighborhoods, including several streets blocked by police due to large trees covering the road. Most of the street lights and traffic lights were working, though, so that helped. The hotel thankfully had a one bedroom suite available (our preferred room type with Luke). He thought the sofa bed was the most amazing thing ever! You should have seen his face as he watched DH pull it out. Pure magic!



We'd brought a laptop and a Superdog DVD, so we popped that in to keep something similar to our home routine going. By now, it was nearly 10 PM, and we were all pretty tired. Luke only got up once for "one more hug and kiss" before crashing for the night. We turned in less than an hour later. I'm not sure if it was the bed, or that I forgot my pillow, or the light coming in the window, or the pounding bass beat from the club next door, but I didn't sleep well at all. From 11 PM until about 2:30 AM, I woke up about every 30 minutes. I did sleep a good 2 hours solid until 4:30 or so, then woke every hour until Luke got up at 7:30. Man, was I beat by the time we got home!



According to the lapsed time on our flashing alarm clocks, the power came back on around 1 AM, so it's a good thing we left. Had to trash much of what was in the refrigerator, but everything in the freezer was still well frozen with no signs of thawing (it was packed full, thus it retained the cold well), so it wasn't too bad. All in all, a tolerable little adventure. But I would prefer that, in the future, all overnight trips be planned at least more than an hour in advance.

Currently feeling: power-less

The Voice of the Braves is Silent Today

Skip Caray died yesterday. I didn't hear about it until this morning, and I cannot tell you how sad this news makes me. He's been announcing Atlanta Braves games literally all my life, and I have a hard time imagining Braves games without his voice overlayed on the action. His voice kept us company on many a car trip to and from my parents' house in the last decade-plus, and we spent many a weekend at DH's mom's place watching the boys while doing calculus and physics homework. Skip hasn't been on television broadcasts for a few years now, and he's only been doing home radio games for quite a while. So it isn't like I have no experience of games without him there. But just knowing he will never again return to the airwaves breaks my heart.

I don't recall the last time than an announcement about a "celebrity" death made me cry. Whether they were older and lived a long life, or whether they were younger and it was a shock, it didn't matter. Sure I was sad, but it didn't make me cry. But hearing Scott Slade on WSB announce his death literally took my breath away, and hearing the radio clips of him calling games that followed caused tears to run freely down my cheeks.

How will we ever get through a game without knowing where fans are from based on body language? Hopefully he taught Pete vanWieren that trick, but no one will ever be as good at it as Skip. And I hope any time someone writes in to ask what the numbers mean when they record an out (such as a 4-3 put out), they'll pull out an old recording of Skip giving his spiel. I'm sure it frustrated him to no end to have to answer that question so frequently, but he did it at *least* once a season. Sure there were times when you were surprised by some of the things he'd say, but he could get away with it. He was Skip Caray, good ol' crotchety Skip, who was anything but shy about his views! But he was always entertaining. And it will always be his voice in my head, for the rest of my life, shouting "Braves win! Braves win! Braves win!" Assuming, of course, we ever do win again. Come on, boys. Go out there and win one for Skip! He was your biggest fan for 33 years, except perhaps my husband. Skip gave his all to you; he deserves no less in return.

Goodbye, Skip Caray. Thank you for giving voice to Atlanta Braves baseball for so many years. You will be truly missed.

Currently feeling: so very sad

Too pretty to eat

Note to the cats: The purpose of this strange and unusual (and temporary) addition to our home is NOT to serve as your personal salad bar, so knock it off! They're way too pretty to eat.



Currently feeling: absurdly pleased with my unexpected flowers (from DH)