Monday, August 31, 2009

Three Little Words

I love school! - Zane, after his first day of kindergarten today

Leaving the house...


Zane and Papa...


Zane, Mama, and Eily (that's her leg on my hip) going into the school building...

It could not have gone better today. Zane was thrilled. We - the family left behind - survived, and we're all ready to do it again tomorrow.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Cats, Haircuts, Bad Husbands, and Vacations

Lots to blog about today: one of our “marriage cats” died this morning, Eily got her first haircut and I cry foul on the stylists, betrayal from the one I love, and Zane goes on his first vacation sans mama and papa tomorrow.

So, let’s get to it, shall we?

RIP Marriage Cat
Scott and I got two kittens 5 days after we were married. The smaller one, Lenny, was very sick with an eye infection when we picked him out, but I couldn’t resist his Russian Blue fur and the sweet look in his eyes. Fast forward 6 years, Zane had visited the ER 3 times in 3 months for severe asthma attacks and the allergist said the cats had to go. So with much wailing and gnashing of teeth, we gave our beloved “marriage cats” to SRH’s parents.

They said they would take good care of them. They said they were happy to help us out. They even said that our skittish Lenny (who was always that nervous kind of skinny cat that never let folks touch him) had become a fat lapcat. Whatever their story, here we are 6 years later, and our beloved Lenny is dead.

I’m sure it was something my mother-in-law did.

I jest. I jest.

Maybe.

So, we’re very sad here in CASA RH. Well, two of the four of us are sad. The little people have no recollection of cats in this house. But I do, and my heart is heavy today.


Eily’s Haircut
Crazy, curly-headed Eily got her hair cut for the first time yesterday. And it was fine - one of those kid-friendly places where they take a picture, make a certificate, and give a balloon for the first haircut.

I say it was fine, but the stylists (there were two because now I have two kids and we made simultaneous appointments) actually kind of honked me off during the hair cut. In what I’m sure was supposed to be helpful advice-giving, they said that I needed to start “doing” her hair up in ponytails and such. To get her used to it.

Oh, and I should leave on the conditioner after washing her hair. And I shouldn’t wash it more than 2 times per week so that it doesn’t get frizzy. And I should use some sort of moisturizing product to tame the frizzies as well. (And since we’re being ever so helpful, I should probably leave the conditioner on Zane’s hair, too.)

Exhibit A is below. Eily’s hair is about 3 inches long when you straighten out the curls. It is very rarely frizzy and never dry. She looked like she was sucking on a lemon the entire time they were putting their little rubber bands in it, and she kept trying to pull the pig tails out after they had them in.

She’s a baby for goodness sakes. Can we not - at 14 months - start with the “girls should look this way” bullshit?
Exhibit A - Eily in Pig Tails

That being said, those darn pigtails were so cute that Zane kept asking me to put her hair in the “tails” today. Oy vey.


Betrayal
In college, SRH and I were in an honor’s fraternity. (Perhaps I should have saved that information for my “Chronicles of the Uncool - Episode 2” post?) Anyhoo...we were in this fraternity. It’s where we met. We made lifelong friends, blah, blah, blah...

But I don’t really care about the fraternity anymore. I rarely think of it, truth be told.

But through the magic of Facebook, it’s popped its head back into our lives. Now, I’m not on Facebook, being a person who doesn’t care about people in general - and specifically those from my past. But SRH is on - and he totally sold me out today.

They wanted updated info, but since I have dropped off their email list, they only contacted SRH. Who promptly gave them my email and address! And not even my crappy, secondary gmail account, but my real-deal, work email.

First one of the marriage cats dies. Now my partner has sold me out. This relationship can’t last that much longer, I think.

(On the other hand, I don’t relish the idea of starting off my match.com ad with “must love kids”, so perhaps I’ll keep him around.)


Zane Vacation
As a last “hoorah” before school starts, Zane is leaving tomorrow with my mother for a three-day vacation. It will be his first time away from the two of us for that long of a time. I’ve been away that long. SRH has been away that long, but the kids have never been away from us that long.

He’s completely looking forward to it. I feel a little sick - and yes a little giddy, too - every time I think of it.

We’ll see how we all do...

Friday, August 07, 2009

Chronicles of the Uncool - Episode 1

In my lengthy absence from this here blog - but who are we kidding, I’ve been gone longer - I have spent time discovering new lows in my level of coolness. Hence I begin what promises to be an lengthy, episodic documentation of my lack of coolness.

Episode 1
I’ve been on the lookout for new music. I’m getting tired of my 1,347 iPod tunes, but I’m too pressed for time to spend it wading through radio drivel. We listened to the radio while on vacation and heard the same 5 songs over and over. And while I didn’t hate the the Nelly Furtado/James Morrison song the first 67 times, it doesn’t bear up well under repetition, and I wouldn’t consider buying it. And I hear that Rob Thomas has a new song as well.

I’ve become seasoned...mature..an npr listener...uncool...

But I’m prattling on to avoid my latest descent into uncoolness. I’ve been desperate, friends. I’m wanting new music but have avoided the radio, ignored my iTunes genius recommendations, and scoffed at Pandora’s pairings.

But I’ve done it. I’ve found a new set of tunes that keep my toes a-tappin’ and makes me look forward to being in the car. It’s...The Ting Tings.

And I know that they were kind of cool when they hit the scene on an iPod commercial well over a year ago. But I’m a bit slow to catch on. Truth be told, I never saw the commercial itself.

Nope, you know where I discovered The Ting Tings? On Yo Gabba Gabba.

Yep, that’s right. I heard my new, fun music on a preschooler’s show - looked up those fresh, hip, modern kids singing a catchy tune - and was hooked.

I have since bought the majority of their stuff on iTunes - including their live stuff, but my song of the moment is below.




But my real and true favorite, the one that started it all is Happy Birthday.

I’m such a dork.