Stops in the Vast Wasteland Part II
Sometimes posting can be hard work, but the joy of writing often returns once the first few letters appear on the screen. The big trick is being consistant in the process.
So I'm just going to hit a few shows that have been on the docket as well as a smattering of other quick hits. Look at this as the scattershot thought.
This past weekend was a Halloween & Project time. That drywall kitchen project is finally nearing completion as I was able to get the paint down and most of the molding up. Just a few more nails and we will have our kitchen back after nearly 5 months of various states of disrepair. The morel of this story - drywall is not difficult in general, but a pain to execute properly and time consuming in an annoying fashion.
On the fun side, we actually got our pumpkins carved and some photos are up on the Picasa picture album. Holly and Sasha did the good ones, mine is the tenticle mouth. No suprise there.
Oh and the kids haven't gone trick or treating yet, although they did help in carving smaller pumpkins. Alya really got into the cleaning and cutting. Marcus just gnawed on the top of the pumpkin after pulling down most of the DVDs. Pictures will be up tonight in the same folder.
***
In the realm of television, I finally got around to watching the new Christian Slater show "My Own Worst Enemy" (NBC - Mondays). While deleting the pilot from the DVR, I was a little torn about the show. The best description might be "24" meets "Chuck" with no charm and much lighter intensity. This is a show to let pass simply because it takes itself too seriously when the concept is so rediculous. Rent a Bond flick for better spy action, or Me, Myself & Irene for lowbrow (extremely lowbrow) split personality hijinks.
"House" (Fox - Tuesday) remains an extremely enjoyable show to watch. However, it seems to have broken a bit away from the medical mystery side of things to move into character study mode. The events arounds the patient are not as important as the events with the doctors and their lives. This makes the show not as much fun as last season, but perhaps that is just me. Still a fun watch.
The new show "Fringe" (Fox - Tuesday) follows "House" schedule-wise, but misses the mark a tad execution-wise. The show is basically the producers of "Lost" take on the "X-Files". An FBI agent gets caught up with mysterious happenings that revolve around something called "the Pattern" and a company by the name of Massive Dynamics. Each episode revolves around some sort of fringe-science - a telepathic cellphone network, cloning, shared memories accessed through regression, weird stuff in general. Fun show, but not outstanding.
"Bones" (Fox - Wednesday) is a show that brings back memories of the classic era of "Moonlighting" with the two leads having that same chemistry that Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd held in their show 20(!) years ago. Each show seems to be based on a body being found and the FBI bring the Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan and her team to figure out the crime. David Boreanaz (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) plays the FBI agent who brings in the bodies and does the field agent work as Seeley Booth, while Emily Deschanel plays the title character. Boreanaz and Deschanel's interaction really make the show, but the supporting characters are put together quite well. If you've got room on the viewing plate, give it a shot.
Okay, that's enough tv for now. Then again, we probably all have too much tv already.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Connected - Well? Too?
Recently I have been making connections to people a lot more than I ever have before. Email has always been a staple connection. Work has introduced me to productive internet messaging (IM). One side of the family has an email discussion list that sees consistent use. Sasha is on Facebook and now I am too. And this blog is a way of connecting to people as well.
But is it too much?
With my gamer friends, email is the primary method of communication. Sometimes I feel that the person on the other end is annoyed that I interrupted them or even that I used the phone when a text message or an email would have been just fine.
To me, it's reinforcing that bubble of isolation that this time of "communication" is rapidly constricting.
Back in my high school days, I was on the phone constantly. Whether it was arranging plans for the evening, chatting about some movie that we just saw, or just plain talking, I did it a lot. Hours at a time. Well into the wee hours on some occasions.
This was generally because most of my friends were across town, so just swinging by was not an option. And the lack of a car never helped either. So the phone was my connection to my friends.
And now that doesn't really exist.
Certainly, a lot has changed in 20 years that is not technology related. Time is a lot more precious and there isn't enough of it to spend an hour on the phone when there's work to be done. And work keeps those late nights to a minimum.
Once I had my own phone line/place (the two switched a lot in the college years) my line was to tell people to call at anytime if they want to talk. One in the morning was just as acceptable as early evening. And I truly meant it.
If I got a phone call at 1 A.M. tonight, I know I'd be very grouchy for reasons ranging from "Did you wake the kids?" to "I have to wake up in five hours, what do you want?" Neither of those response are positive or welcoming, but that my life is like now.
But how does one really establish a connection?
Face to face is the best way to do that. Then all forms of communication are available and open. Voice is only a small portion and this text is even worse. You have to guess my tone and emotion based on these mere words. Hardly a way to really connect.
Maybe we should break free from our isolation bubbles and start meeting people in real life instead of on the web. Perhaps that would help keep us from actually becoming isolated.
Then again, I am writing a blog which is the equivalent of shouting to the aether. So what do I know.
Be seeing you,
Jon
PS - If you feel that disconnection, call a friend tonight and get some of that connection reestablished. I'm going to try it myself.
But is it too much?
With my gamer friends, email is the primary method of communication. Sometimes I feel that the person on the other end is annoyed that I interrupted them or even that I used the phone when a text message or an email would have been just fine.
To me, it's reinforcing that bubble of isolation that this time of "communication" is rapidly constricting.
Back in my high school days, I was on the phone constantly. Whether it was arranging plans for the evening, chatting about some movie that we just saw, or just plain talking, I did it a lot. Hours at a time. Well into the wee hours on some occasions.
This was generally because most of my friends were across town, so just swinging by was not an option. And the lack of a car never helped either. So the phone was my connection to my friends.
And now that doesn't really exist.
Certainly, a lot has changed in 20 years that is not technology related. Time is a lot more precious and there isn't enough of it to spend an hour on the phone when there's work to be done. And work keeps those late nights to a minimum.
Once I had my own phone line/place (the two switched a lot in the college years) my line was to tell people to call at anytime if they want to talk. One in the morning was just as acceptable as early evening. And I truly meant it.
If I got a phone call at 1 A.M. tonight, I know I'd be very grouchy for reasons ranging from "Did you wake the kids?" to "I have to wake up in five hours, what do you want?" Neither of those response are positive or welcoming, but that my life is like now.
But how does one really establish a connection?
Face to face is the best way to do that. Then all forms of communication are available and open. Voice is only a small portion and this text is even worse. You have to guess my tone and emotion based on these mere words. Hardly a way to really connect.
Maybe we should break free from our isolation bubbles and start meeting people in real life instead of on the web. Perhaps that would help keep us from actually becoming isolated.
Then again, I am writing a blog which is the equivalent of shouting to the aether. So what do I know.
Be seeing you,
Jon
PS - If you feel that disconnection, call a friend tonight and get some of that connection reestablished. I'm going to try it myself.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Double Barreled Snot-gun
An illness is among the BSer family again. Nothing as severe as the ear infections but Sasha, Marcus and I all have colds of various degrees. Oh the joy.
And it all kicked in from following a few fall traditions, while forgetting the biggest one - make sure to dress warmly.
It all started with a family tradition that little kids generally love - going to the pumpkin farm. We met up with Grandma Susan at the Elegant Farmer around 11 AM.
The focus of the Elegant Farmer is apples, with pumpkins a close second. Third are the baked good, but those come later.
So we loaded the kids up in their wagon and pulled them from the car to the location where the tractors load up visitors to take out to the fields. While Sasha got tickets, Grandma Susan took Alya to the little shack where they sell cider doughnuts. Both Alya and Marcus loved the sugar, cinnamon yummy of fried dough.
However, when "tractor ride" was mentioned to Alya, her expression changed. She was a little scared at these huge machines that made lots of noise. Alya recognized that they were tractors, but had very little concept of the actual scale prior to that Saturday.
We made though the entire line and Alya was having nothing to do with sitting on a bail of hay as the tractors pulled them along. Screaming, yelling and kicking sold us on the idea that Alya could stay behind with Sasha, and such it was.
Marcus rode with Grandma Susan and myself, and seemed to enjoy it. No big thrills, but he liked to alternate who he snuggled up to while we bounced around the two apple orchards and the pumpkin patch.
Meanwhile, Alya had a grand time walking among the pumpkins back at the store. Two hay bordered squares filled with pumpkins makes for a grand obstacle course when you are two years old.
Eventually Marcus joined her and both of them played among the famous orange squash only taking a break for some apple slices with caramel on them. A fine reason to take five.
Afterward we went through the store and the BSers managed to only buy a loaf of pumpkin apple bread out of all the options of baked good there, including the classic Apple Pie in a Bag. But the motivating factor was the two large bags of apples which Sasha turned into three pies that evening.
Sadly, the fresh air might have been a little too much for Marcus, and he developed the double-barrel snotgun that evening. That boy is just like his daddy when he gets sick - miserable.
That evening was pie creation and consumption, with Grandma Nida coming over to spend time with the little ones and partake in pie. And eventually, she was goingt watch the kids while Sasha and I went out to a haunted house with Grandma Susan and Holly.
For Sasha, it was a near perfect fall day, doing fall things. We drove through the country viewing the color of the leaves while going to Elegant Farmer. Spent the day on a pumpkin farm with the kids. And wrapping it up with a trip to a haunted house.
Specifically, the Hartford Jaycees Haunted House up in Slinger, WI.
This place was fantastic. They had a really good system that would have allowed us to leave and return instead of standing in a long line to wait to go in. Unfortunately, that was Sasha and my folly. We stood outside in 46 degree weather for around three hours. While neither of us sport the double-barrel snotgun that Marcus carries, we are with him in misery.
But the Haunted House itself was very clever and neat. It starts with a dark trail poorly lit by torches that leads one among shacks inhabited by noise makers and actors ready to capitalize on all the anxiety that you've build up in anticipation from three hours of waiting.
The kicker is the walk through a huge metal tank with spooky lights on the inside and someone banging around on top of the tank. Eventually we got chased out and into the house proper.
And it is indeed a proper house that they've turned into a three story haunted mansion. You start on the top floor where the phantom of the opera greets you with his story. And the phantom really enjoyed his story, although Susan did feed his ego quite a bit by talking to him during his monologue.
Eventually we left that room and moved through the house, lots of dark stretches and great set piece rooms filled with actors and monsters on air powered pistons. It was a fun walk though the house that eventually led to the basement (complete with real musty basement smell) and out the cellar door.
The weird thing about the exit - it wasn't a chase out since you had to walk out stairs - but a calm exit. One that made you feel like you were in an actual horror movie waiting for that final moment where the bad guy leaps out to kill off the last survivor. But doesn't happen and instead a small ball of disquiet rests with you for the rest of the evening.
Good stuff, Maynard.
Jon
Links:
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/BSerHome/PumpkinFarmAndAfter
Elegant Farmer - http://www.elegantfarmer.com/
Hartford Jaycees Haunted House - http://www.hartfordjcs.com/
And it all kicked in from following a few fall traditions, while forgetting the biggest one - make sure to dress warmly.
It all started with a family tradition that little kids generally love - going to the pumpkin farm. We met up with Grandma Susan at the Elegant Farmer around 11 AM.
The focus of the Elegant Farmer is apples, with pumpkins a close second. Third are the baked good, but those come later.
So we loaded the kids up in their wagon and pulled them from the car to the location where the tractors load up visitors to take out to the fields. While Sasha got tickets, Grandma Susan took Alya to the little shack where they sell cider doughnuts. Both Alya and Marcus loved the sugar, cinnamon yummy of fried dough.
However, when "tractor ride" was mentioned to Alya, her expression changed. She was a little scared at these huge machines that made lots of noise. Alya recognized that they were tractors, but had very little concept of the actual scale prior to that Saturday.
We made though the entire line and Alya was having nothing to do with sitting on a bail of hay as the tractors pulled them along. Screaming, yelling and kicking sold us on the idea that Alya could stay behind with Sasha, and such it was.
Marcus rode with Grandma Susan and myself, and seemed to enjoy it. No big thrills, but he liked to alternate who he snuggled up to while we bounced around the two apple orchards and the pumpkin patch.
Meanwhile, Alya had a grand time walking among the pumpkins back at the store. Two hay bordered squares filled with pumpkins makes for a grand obstacle course when you are two years old.
Eventually Marcus joined her and both of them played among the famous orange squash only taking a break for some apple slices with caramel on them. A fine reason to take five.
Afterward we went through the store and the BSers managed to only buy a loaf of pumpkin apple bread out of all the options of baked good there, including the classic Apple Pie in a Bag. But the motivating factor was the two large bags of apples which Sasha turned into three pies that evening.
Sadly, the fresh air might have been a little too much for Marcus, and he developed the double-barrel snotgun that evening. That boy is just like his daddy when he gets sick - miserable.
That evening was pie creation and consumption, with Grandma Nida coming over to spend time with the little ones and partake in pie. And eventually, she was goingt watch the kids while Sasha and I went out to a haunted house with Grandma Susan and Holly.
For Sasha, it was a near perfect fall day, doing fall things. We drove through the country viewing the color of the leaves while going to Elegant Farmer. Spent the day on a pumpkin farm with the kids. And wrapping it up with a trip to a haunted house.
Specifically, the Hartford Jaycees Haunted House up in Slinger, WI.
This place was fantastic. They had a really good system that would have allowed us to leave and return instead of standing in a long line to wait to go in. Unfortunately, that was Sasha and my folly. We stood outside in 46 degree weather for around three hours. While neither of us sport the double-barrel snotgun that Marcus carries, we are with him in misery.
But the Haunted House itself was very clever and neat. It starts with a dark trail poorly lit by torches that leads one among shacks inhabited by noise makers and actors ready to capitalize on all the anxiety that you've build up in anticipation from three hours of waiting.
The kicker is the walk through a huge metal tank with spooky lights on the inside and someone banging around on top of the tank. Eventually we got chased out and into the house proper.
And it is indeed a proper house that they've turned into a three story haunted mansion. You start on the top floor where the phantom of the opera greets you with his story. And the phantom really enjoyed his story, although Susan did feed his ego quite a bit by talking to him during his monologue.
Eventually we left that room and moved through the house, lots of dark stretches and great set piece rooms filled with actors and monsters on air powered pistons. It was a fun walk though the house that eventually led to the basement (complete with real musty basement smell) and out the cellar door.
The weird thing about the exit - it wasn't a chase out since you had to walk out stairs - but a calm exit. One that made you feel like you were in an actual horror movie waiting for that final moment where the bad guy leaps out to kill off the last survivor. But doesn't happen and instead a small ball of disquiet rests with you for the rest of the evening.
Good stuff, Maynard.
Jon
Links:
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/BSerHome/PumpkinFarmAndAfter
Elegant Farmer - http://www.elegantfarmer.com/
Hartford Jaycees Haunted House - http://www.hartfordjcs.com/
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
How do we get there? Backstroke!
My little squirrel in a lake in Northern Wisconsin
Ah yes, the jokes of summer camp. Whenever it rained at the overnight camp I went to back in the day, someone would shout out "How do we get there?" and the response would indeed be "Backstroke!" followed by much windmilling of arms by 10 year old boys. Good times of child fun.
These days, Alya is the one who is doing swimming lessions and I took her to the Brown Deer High School pool last night for the latest class that Alya is currently taking. Mind, it isn't actually swimming but more like pool activities for little ones.
No matter what the definition, Alya loves to "Jump in the wa-wa." She will stand on the side of the pool and leap right into my or Sasha's arms without the slightest hesitation. And that is awesome in my eyes.
Especially since she will probably be a good swimmer at an early age, unlike her old man.
When I was a wee lad, I got sent to swimming lessons often. The same swimming lessions. Over and over again. That was because I was never able to pass the beginner level. Looking back, the only thing that I believe was problematic was doing dives. Leaping head first into anything just feels wrong to me.
It took about two years before beginners was passed. Over a year to get past the advanced beginners class. And the next classes went quickly after that. Probably because diving wasn't as important anymore.
Like Alya, I liked to jump in the wa-wa and still do. Hopefully, she'll get through the diving portion easier than her pa-pa.
---
Other notes - currently on a Peter Gabriel listening trip. "More Than This" from the Up album is on the iPod right now. Up is an album of heavy emotion and heavy beats. When it came out, I gave a brief listen at the Borders on the south side of Milwaukee. The jarring guitars and discordiant sounds instantly turned me off and I made no move to buy the CDs as it was not the Peter Gabriel that I enjoyed.
Then I heard "The Barry Williams Show". Don't know where I heard it, but a song about a daytime talk show host that goes over the edge is simply a delight to the ear. This opened my mind to some of the other tracks, the eventual purchase of the CD, and seeing him in concert at Summerfest a few years back.
So give him a listen again. Whether it be the John-Cusack-holding-a-boom-box "In Your Eyes" or the behavioral science based "Shock the Monkey", dust him off and give a listen. Peter Gabriel is an artist that stands the test of time in my mind.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Recovery
Howdy all. It's Tuesday and the family has two more holes in the head. Yep, Marcus got tubes put into his ears yesterday.
It is one of those inevitable processes that our children have gone through. After nearly two months of being on and off antibiotics, Marcus now has bonus holes in the ears.
The scary part is the moment when they take him away for the surgery. When Alya went, she had a sedative and was in the metal "crib". Marcus went in the anesthesiologist's arms. Both times it was wrenching to know that they were going to make my son breath chemicals to knock him unconscious.
And we would not be there to watch. To know exactly what was happening. We just waited for his return.
Marcus was away from us for over an hour. Upon his return, he was very upset and crying uncontrollably. This happens since the drugs are still in his system, and he's awake. It basically is a "bad trip" because he cannot understand what's happening.
Eventually, Marcus fell asleep in my arms while I was singing "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega to him. The boy has good taste.
Today Marcus is doing well. He's at daycare and only had a little bit of infant Tylenol late this morning due to crabbiness. Marcus is a trooper and a tough little guy.
Hopefully we won't have to deal with another surgery for a long time, if ever again. Stuff like that is rough on everyone.
Be seeing you,
Jon
It is one of those inevitable processes that our children have gone through. After nearly two months of being on and off antibiotics, Marcus now has bonus holes in the ears.
The scary part is the moment when they take him away for the surgery. When Alya went, she had a sedative and was in the metal "crib". Marcus went in the anesthesiologist's arms. Both times it was wrenching to know that they were going to make my son breath chemicals to knock him unconscious.
And we would not be there to watch. To know exactly what was happening. We just waited for his return.
Marcus was away from us for over an hour. Upon his return, he was very upset and crying uncontrollably. This happens since the drugs are still in his system, and he's awake. It basically is a "bad trip" because he cannot understand what's happening.
Eventually, Marcus fell asleep in my arms while I was singing "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega to him. The boy has good taste.
Today Marcus is doing well. He's at daycare and only had a little bit of infant Tylenol late this morning due to crabbiness. Marcus is a trooper and a tough little guy.
Hopefully we won't have to deal with another surgery for a long time, if ever again. Stuff like that is rough on everyone.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Saturday, October 4, 2008
I'm going to make it after all
Look everyone! It's Saturday night and I'm still standing. My appreciation for single parents just keeps growing as the days continue.
Most of the day actually went really well. Good morning wake-up at 6:45 AM - which is late for the kids. A nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast and watermelon. Marcus took his morning nap, Alya read books, I got cleaned up and we all went to the Milwaukee County Zoo.
Bump number one - I only took the single seat stroller, thinking Alya would be willing to walk a lot of the time. "I hold you!" were the first words out of her mouth as we walked onto the zoo grounds. One would hope that phrase meant, "Hold my hand," or "I want to give you a hug," not, "Carry me for the entire time we're at the zoo." You can guess which one it actually meant.
The zoo was a grand time. Started with a couple of penguins, moved to the apes, and then the reptile & aquatic house. That last location was my first real break for my arms.
The reptile & aquatic house was possibly Alya's favorite stop because she liked looking at the very large fish. However, they did scare he a little, so if you ask her which is her favorite, it won't be remembered.
We then saw the American Badger, who was out and about. Checked out the camels, although Alya was a little more interested in the sky glider. Passed the giraffes and went into the Big Cat House.
Right before the official start of the bedtime routine, I asked Alya what her favorite animal was at the zoo, and she said it was the tiger. That surprised me, because it just lay there and wasn't active at all today. But tigers are quite impressive, even when lying down and that is exactly what happened with Alya.
The other bedtime surprise was that she remembered the name of a particularly active Siamang monkey at the zoo. We were watching this little fellow climbing some branches and playing with a length of hose, when a woman came up and told us the name of the monkey and age and few other facts. Alya remembered that name tonight - and I still don't know what it is. Whip-crack smart my little one is.
In case you were wondering, Marcus had a good time at the zoo as well. He was mainly people watching, although animals were catching his eye as well. I never noticed him falling asleep, so it kept his interest for the three hours we were there. Cool stuff.
At any rate, we ate lunch at the zoo and then Alya and Marcus fell asleep on the way home for the long afternoon nap. And I could have used one too. Except by the time I got everything cleaned up and lunch eaten, I didn't have the ability to fall asleep. Should of napped though as the evening went rough.
Marcus woke up first, but only by about 10 minutes or so. Both kids were initially in great moods, but then Alya started getting a little tired while Marcus went the other direction and got riled up. In fact, he was working on his brotherly duty of annoying the heck out of his sister.
I moved them into the kitchen where Alya was doing her large floor puzzles while I helped and kept Marcus distracted.
Wow, the evening is blurring together even now.
Bump number two came around when I had finished getting dinner ready. Kraft Mac & Cheese, peaches and a veggie mix of corn, carrots, peas and string beans. Marcus ate very well, but Alya....
Well she was engrossed in a Dora DVD that I had put on before starting dinner. Didn't realize that the stupid thing ran over 90 minutes! And Dora episodes are on the long side too. So when the episode was wrapping up as I got dinner on the table, my thought was "Excellent, now we can move right into supper."
Unfortunately, I was unaware that there was another episode to go and it kicked off before I could turn off the DVD. This was not a happy time for Alya or myself. I tried to fight the battle, but lost and Alya got to watch that episode while I fed Marcus. And cleaned up Marcus. And started getting Marcus's pajamas on while thinking, "When is this going to freakin' end?"
Did I mention that Marcus was riled and out to get his sister?
The last (as far as I was concerned) episode was almost at the end when Marcus crawled over to the tv and turned off the DVD player.
Yeah, you probably can figure out what happened next.
Bump number three - yelling, crying, more crawling around trying to increase chaos levels.
The end result. Our DVD player does resume where the DVD left off from last time. Alya had hot dog, veggies and peaches for dinner in front of the tv while watching Zoboombafo. And Marcus went to bed.
After hardly eating dinner, Alya was ready for bed, too. No fussing, no fighting, just go back to her room, get changed into pajamas, read a few books and off to sleep.
All I had to do now is clean the house, do the dishes, eat some proper dinner, and figure out how to relax. And for me that was to bake some brownies. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to try them out now.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Most of the day actually went really well. Good morning wake-up at 6:45 AM - which is late for the kids. A nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast and watermelon. Marcus took his morning nap, Alya read books, I got cleaned up and we all went to the Milwaukee County Zoo.
Bump number one - I only took the single seat stroller, thinking Alya would be willing to walk a lot of the time. "I hold you!" were the first words out of her mouth as we walked onto the zoo grounds. One would hope that phrase meant, "Hold my hand," or "I want to give you a hug," not, "Carry me for the entire time we're at the zoo." You can guess which one it actually meant.
The zoo was a grand time. Started with a couple of penguins, moved to the apes, and then the reptile & aquatic house. That last location was my first real break for my arms.
The reptile & aquatic house was possibly Alya's favorite stop because she liked looking at the very large fish. However, they did scare he a little, so if you ask her which is her favorite, it won't be remembered.
We then saw the American Badger, who was out and about. Checked out the camels, although Alya was a little more interested in the sky glider. Passed the giraffes and went into the Big Cat House.
Right before the official start of the bedtime routine, I asked Alya what her favorite animal was at the zoo, and she said it was the tiger. That surprised me, because it just lay there and wasn't active at all today. But tigers are quite impressive, even when lying down and that is exactly what happened with Alya.
The other bedtime surprise was that she remembered the name of a particularly active Siamang monkey at the zoo. We were watching this little fellow climbing some branches and playing with a length of hose, when a woman came up and told us the name of the monkey and age and few other facts. Alya remembered that name tonight - and I still don't know what it is. Whip-crack smart my little one is.
In case you were wondering, Marcus had a good time at the zoo as well. He was mainly people watching, although animals were catching his eye as well. I never noticed him falling asleep, so it kept his interest for the three hours we were there. Cool stuff.
At any rate, we ate lunch at the zoo and then Alya and Marcus fell asleep on the way home for the long afternoon nap. And I could have used one too. Except by the time I got everything cleaned up and lunch eaten, I didn't have the ability to fall asleep. Should of napped though as the evening went rough.
Marcus woke up first, but only by about 10 minutes or so. Both kids were initially in great moods, but then Alya started getting a little tired while Marcus went the other direction and got riled up. In fact, he was working on his brotherly duty of annoying the heck out of his sister.
I moved them into the kitchen where Alya was doing her large floor puzzles while I helped and kept Marcus distracted.
Wow, the evening is blurring together even now.
Bump number two came around when I had finished getting dinner ready. Kraft Mac & Cheese, peaches and a veggie mix of corn, carrots, peas and string beans. Marcus ate very well, but Alya....
Well she was engrossed in a Dora DVD that I had put on before starting dinner. Didn't realize that the stupid thing ran over 90 minutes! And Dora episodes are on the long side too. So when the episode was wrapping up as I got dinner on the table, my thought was "Excellent, now we can move right into supper."
Unfortunately, I was unaware that there was another episode to go and it kicked off before I could turn off the DVD. This was not a happy time for Alya or myself. I tried to fight the battle, but lost and Alya got to watch that episode while I fed Marcus. And cleaned up Marcus. And started getting Marcus's pajamas on while thinking, "When is this going to freakin' end?"
Did I mention that Marcus was riled and out to get his sister?
The last (as far as I was concerned) episode was almost at the end when Marcus crawled over to the tv and turned off the DVD player.
Yeah, you probably can figure out what happened next.
Bump number three - yelling, crying, more crawling around trying to increase chaos levels.
The end result. Our DVD player does resume where the DVD left off from last time. Alya had hot dog, veggies and peaches for dinner in front of the tv while watching Zoboombafo. And Marcus went to bed.
After hardly eating dinner, Alya was ready for bed, too. No fussing, no fighting, just go back to her room, get changed into pajamas, read a few books and off to sleep.
All I had to do now is clean the house, do the dishes, eat some proper dinner, and figure out how to relax. And for me that was to bake some brownies. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to try them out now.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The Long Weekend of the Father
Yes, it is happening this weekend. Sasha's heading off for a much needed weekend away with friends and I'm going to be flying solo with Alya and Marcus for more than a day for the first time.
And Alya is now officially two years old.
The Terrible-Twos.
I could be in trouble.
However, I'm thinking not so much.
See, my daughter can be completely crazy and she can be the sweetest little squirrel in existence.
Yesterday, I flew solo in the daycare drop off. Normally not a big deal, but on Monday Alya switched rooms to Prancing Ponies and had a rough first day.
So we walk into daycare, drop Marcus off with no problems and start head over to the indoor play area called Large Muscle. In the mornings, both Prancing Ponies and Busy Bears (Alya's old room) are playing in there. This made the Monday drop off easy. Delays at home resulted in Alya and I walking over to Large Muscle only to find out the Ponies have moved to their room.
I pick up Alya, start walking over to the room and she starts crying. "No Ponies! No Ponies!" my distraught daughter yells through the tears. Clutching onto my shoulders and neck, refusing to let go results in my arms being unable to set her down.
After all, when your child is bawling and hanging onto you like a life preserver, instinct demands that you do not let go.
After ten minutes of attempting to get her to lay down with plug and woobie, or at least take off her jacket, I had to break my heart and pass her over to the head of the daycare room.
And then walk away.
It's one of the most horrible things I've ever had to do.
However, the story has a happy ending.
See, once I was gone, Alya calmed down and then had a wonderful day. She ate well, had a good nap, and sang and danced with friend that had moved to this room before her.
At pick-up, she was very happy to see Mommy and was such a good help throughout the evening, especially at bedtime.
Tuesday nights are my gaming night. I go to my hobby shop of choice (Adventures in Gaming) and meet up with friends to play various games and talk about all the stuff that guys talk about.
Sasha gave me a call after the little ones were asleep to tell me about the most fantastic thing that Alya did.
At bedtime, Sasha was getting ready to rock Marcus, feed him his bottle and lay him down in the crib. This is when Alya piped up that she wanted to do it. Two years old and the most awesome little girl in the world wanted to help her brother go night-night.
And so she did.
With Sasha helping from the ottoman, Alya rocked Marcus on her lap in the big rocking chair and fed him the bottle. Alya talked to him and held Marcus close until he fell asleep. The she and Mommy moved Marcus to his crib for sleep. And he proceeded to sleep straight until morning.
That's my special little squirrel. So with her help, I have no worries for the weekend. Which reminds me just how lucky I am.
Be seeing you,
Jon
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