kcobweb

To sum up:

* We got everyone sick for Christmas! Whee! For Christmas breakfast, everyone had various quickbreads and a glass of Emergen-C.

* Elena was also sick for Christmas - had a rough night, didn't want to get up even for PRESENTS, and then was totally overwhelmed and overstimulated. She got a lot of great stuff though.

* On Boxing Day we saw a couple of friends, and then everyone slept (see above, re: SICK).

* We made all our flights yesterday, but only with the traditional breakneck-heartpounding-run-through-O'Hare (I never *see* anything in that airport - just lights flashing by), which was made all the more lovely by my collapsing at the gate in a Very Special Coughing Fit. Then we found out that the flight attendants for the Albany flight were coming from.... the plane we'd just been on, so we should have had no need to run.

* Elena slept for a huge portion of the day.

* Of course, my baggage did not make it on that flight, but the box of Christmas presents did arrive with us (barely surviving the trip, actually).

* And then I was up half the night coughing again.

* Today is officially a lazy day - we all slept in till 10 (Elena didn't even get to bed till 1, and we were later than that), and there will be many naps and cups of tea. And waiting for baggage. Period.

* The word "wrecked" has been used to describe how I feel all too often for the past 3 weeks. MAKE IT STOP.

* Very happy to be home. Yay.

ETA: United now claims that my bag will be delivered sometime tonight! Wooo! (Do we believe them? *grin*)

We're back..... Our visit was a whirlwind - friends to meet, pictures to take, lots of food. My sister finally announced to the room at large that she and her boy are talking about marriage (her admitting that just may be one of the signs of the apocalypse). My dad's cabin did not burn down and appears to be safe. I got to talk a little to galagan and he is doing well and having fun in the Yukon. Our trip back yesterday was pretty smooth, and Elena behaved amazingly well: "I sat in my seat and wore my seatbelt and sat still." We got home late and I got an email that said I got into my safety school (translation: I will definitely be going to library school - now it's just a matter of when and *where*). I still am waiting on a recommendation before I can send in the other applications (and get into the programs I actually *want*). I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a week - even last night, after we got back, my brain was....exceedingly boingy and Would. Not. Shut. Up. scottahill and Jen are here tonight with the cutest little button of a baby Miriam, and she's been crawling all around and flinging Elena's toys happily.

Okay, I think we're packed, except for girly's necessities like quilt-doll-bear-nightlight which are all in her room until morning, as well as my toiletries. I have new books for E to read, a new doll, a few toys, and something to color for the flight tomorrow. And my iPod is loaded with her latest favorite TMBG album (Here Come the 123s), plus the others I already had.

No solid news on the wildfire/cabin front, but it doesn't look good, as the latest news stories seem to hint that they might have to evacuate the town which is east of the cabin.... and the fire started west of the cabin. That seems Bad.

We had a fabulous time last night with xen_opus and his JB. We wandered around campus gawking at all the new buildings, "new" being defined as "within the past 10 years".

*sigh* I should probably go to bed. I need to wake up well before oh-dark-thirty in order to catch the morning flight. I hate the night before I fly out in the morning, because I can never sleep. Blah.

I'll be on-line occasionally this week - and back home next Wednesday.

OMG WE ARE GOING TO NEW YORK CITY STOP
OMG MANHATTAN MAKES ME CLAUSTROPHOBIC BUT I WILL PERSEVERE STOP
SEE YOU ON TUESDAY STOP

Yesterday was the end of a (minor) era for us: our last playgroup before Elena starts preschool. (Next week we're on vacation, and she starts when we get back!) When we first moved here, the single best piece of advice I got (from the rabbi's wife) was "Join the EI playgroups, and you'll meet everyone you need to know." Pretty much all of my friends here with kids (except kouredios, I think) came about through that connection - either they were in the playgroup, or I met them through other playgroup people. Yay. That said, the group was better run last year, and I'm not too upset about ducking out of a disorganized group a little early. I will miss hanging out with other moms to chat once a week..... but I guess I'll still have the library story hour.

In other news:

* We go to Texas on Saturday! We're doing multiple loads of laundry today so we'll have actual clean clothes to wear. There's practically no food in the house - or at least, nothing to construct dinner from - so we're going to have to go out the next few nights.

* It's going to be freaking hot there - high 80s, into the 90s. (Blech. That's probably a little too hot for my delicate northern constitution.) I had to dig out all my shorts and see if they still fit. Good news, they mostly do. Toenails have been painted. There will be sandals and bare feet and stuff.

* And, OMG, I have to pack. Sheesh.

* I am resolutely NOT worrying about where/how Elena will sleep, nor how her potty training progress will be affected by a week away. We'll just deal with it.

* I need to put lots of kiddie music on my mp3 player, for her amusement purposes. They Might Be Giants as children's music is a bizarre thing - it *works*, but it's strange. :)

* I also need to get ready to lead discussion for my book club tonight about Joy Comes in the Morning. So far, the book club members I've run into say they liked it, so that's a good sign.....

Rainy day. Fall weather has finally caught up with me. Aaahhhhh.

I forgot to mention how truly satisfying it was to come back home to a house that is really quite bright red. The painters have almost finished (a few sections need another coat; clearly they can't do it today). It's very striking, and I'm thrilled to pieces every time I go outside or look out the window. Before and after pictures will follow, as soon as they are really done.

Having just left Canada, it seems appropriate to mention that today is Canadian Thanksgiving! I will be making galagan's favorite Thanksgiving food (green bean casserole - we're so pedestrian) for dinner in honor of the occasion.

( book meme! )

Yes, there are a few that I both finished *and* found completely unreadable. If you'd asked me 5 minutes after closing the book what it was about, I'd have said "dribble dribble hilxcuik hkjnaso", or something to that effect......

*gulp* I have a long to-do list. I should really attack it now.

ETA: Vacation pictures here

Getting ready to head out of town - errands have been run, phone calls made, etc. I just have to pack...... Somehow I am getting hung up on that part, though that's not usually a problem for me. I have a partial list started of stuff to bring, and I keep staring at it.

A few details for tomorrow are fuzzy, but in general, we are getting in the car, with my mother along too, and driving to Boston. Mom and I will play around with Elena (maybe going to the Aquarium, as her hotel is right there), while galagan finishes work up. Saturday morning, we will say goodbye to Mom (who has a weekend meeting in Boston), and we drive North! To Nova Scotia!! (Actually, the first night we'll be in New Brunswick.) In the week, we plan on seeing the Bay of Fundy, Cape Breton Island, Halifax, and some of the western coasts before getting on the high speed ferry back to Portland and onward to home.

If I'm playing with Scrabble with you on Facebook, I'll make any final moves tonight, and then abandon you till next Sunday.

I am excited, except for that nagging sense of doom that comes before leaving home - what am I forgetting? what will go wrong?

* * * * *

Totally unconnected, but the book swap shed at the town landfill had some great finds today - beginning Italian, Cherry Ames, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, and a jewel called "Beth Hilton, Model" from 1961.

*ahem* PACKING. Note to self: get to work.

I was going to write a glowing report on what my child is like at *gulp* 29 months old. Then it was lunchtime:

Beeena! [banana]
Cheese!
(howling because part of the banana broke off, and won't go back on)
(more howling)
Rogurt! [yogurt]
Pasta! Bagel! Pasta! Bagel!
(bagel gets there first. By the time the pasta is cooked, she's demanding her next thing....)
Butter! (holding out last crust of bagel)
Butterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
(long explanation about how she already has butter, it's on the bagel, even if she can't see it, it's there, really truly, but it melted, go ahead and take a bite and you'll see....)
(All she's eaten at this point is a few bites of banana, all the cheese, and the bagel. The rest of the above-mentioned food is sitting in front of her, basically untouched.)
Applesauce!
(Me: No applesauce now, why don't you eat some of what's in front of you? More howling.)
Cwackers! Pa butter! [peanut butter]
(Me: no, eat what's in front of you.)
(Lots more howling, punctuated by "Blow my nose!")

Eventually she wandered off (still hasn't eaten most of that) and decided she wanted to take her dolls for a walk. Of course, the doll stroller has a bent frame, so I don't want to take it out, because it's a pain, plus it's wet out, plus she's crabby, so it wouldn't go well at *all*. My refusal to go outside didn't go over well either.

Now she wants to "color wiv crans", but I have my eye on the clock for blessed blessed naptime. This will be another struggle.

( more under the cut )

She's still not asleep. Should I go upstairs and shush her, or just hope she'll doze off??? Hmmmm.

I am feeling a little better now. The toddler is sleeping. Phone calls have been made. I even cleaned out all the little plastic containers of Things that were lurking in the refrigerator (and most of them weren't too bad).

Book reports!

The Case of the Missing Books: A Mobile Library Mystery by Ian Sansom - this started out pretty good - even riotously funny on a few pages, but it just couldn't sustain itself. The bleak setting, grim situation, and dorky (not in a good way) protagonist all added up to a big Meh from me. This might have been a mood thing, I suppose - but something just didn't set right with this book, for me.

The American Academy of Pediatrics' Guide to Toilet Training - This caught my eye in the children's section of the library. I'm not terribly worried about this, but we also aren't really making any progress. This was awesome - well-written, clear, concise, easy to understand. Their general attitude is "it will happen, don't worry too much, and try to see your child's perspective", which I wholeheartedly agree with. There are sections on training older toddlers, children with special needs, everything. In the future, I'll definitely look for books from the AAP on other topics.

And now..... I should go pack, or clean out the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator, or something. We head out to Montana tomorrow, and will be gone all week. Toodles!!

* I have "Turkey in the Straw" stuck in my head, but with alternate lyrics penned by saltcod from many many years ago. ("The weasel who couldn't lay an egg"?) My brain is weird. (The song is in my brain because we've been playing a CD of children's folk songs.)

* I got a huge packet of information today in the mail from the Nova Scotia Tourism Office! We're hoping to carve out a week or so in early September. I'm so damned excited.

* Right after discussing whale-watching with galagan and how I've never been and always wanted to go, my sister called and then we had a conversation about she feels the same - always wanted to, never gets to.

* My sister did tell me that when she was in Maine last month, she saw a place where they were giving PUFFIN TOURS. OMG, how did I not know such things exist? I want to drive up there right now in order to be first in line to see puffins.

* My sister is leaving for Switzerland in 3 days (for a month in Europe - one week of singing, followed by 3 weeks of putzing around with her boyfriend), but she was rather envious of our planned trip to Nova Scotia. So I guess we're even.

* I have a splinter in my foot, and this is not the first I've had this week. (galagan thinks I need to stop going barefoot, but *that's* not going to happen.) I can't get this one out. There's been lots of digging around with pin and tweezers. Damn it, it hurts, and it's right on the pad of my foot where it bears pretty much all my weight. Bugger.

* I'm giving in to the global mindmeld, and re-reading HP Book VI.

* I got a free doll stroller today, via Freecycle. As soon as I straighten the frame a little bit and clean it out, Elena will be So. Excited.

* Nova Scotia! I think I need a kilt. I had one when I was little, complete with one of those giant safety pin thingies.