Eye Roll - Just Have to Share

When the phone rang a few minutes ago, I answered even though no name came up on the caller ID. Usually I don't do that (never at night), but my work number comes up that way, so I answered.

It was some young kid, asking for my first name. "This is," thinking maybe is was one of the kids from Brownies or dance class, though why they would call, I've no idea. Then the kid said, making his voice "deeper," "This is the sex line. Do you want to come?" Now, that's so stupid, that I thought I must have been hearing wrong, so I said, "What?" The dumb kid actually repeated himself, so I asked for his mom. He mumbled something, but didn't hang up. So I said that maybe I should call back so I could talk to his mom, or "would it be better to talk to your dad?" Then he hung up.

Dang it, I wish just once I would have the presence of mind to talk like a phone sex operator, and really scare him off!!!

Potty Training

Before I get to the topic at hand, let me say that I picked Sarah up within 15 minutes of being called. (By the way, Pat, I laughed hardest at your comment!) She had fallen asleep at 5:30--from what I hear, it was the first time she'd stopped moving--and didn't wake up until I got there at 6, so I'm not sure she even realized that I was the worst mom at the Brownie Lock In.

So does anyone have any good ideas for a suck up/apology present for the Brownie Troop leader?

OK, on to the topic at hand. Lauren's potty training has gone so much better lately. Remember the major meltdown I had a few months ago? That was largely due to potty training frustration, though there was other stuff involved as well. But happily, there have been almost no daytime accidents in recent memory. The one notable exception was when she she tried to clean things up herself, but I'm not getting into that.

The stumbling block now is that she wets the bed at night. This has happened pretty much every night this week. Part of the problem is that when she wakes up in the middle of the night, we get her cleaned up, get the sheet off her bed, and let her get into bed with us rather than hassle with remaking the bed. Yeah, it's easier for us, but I don't think it's really helpful. So we now have an official policy that if she wets the bed, she has to sleep back in her own bed, but if she stays dry all night, she can come and cuddle with us in bed in the morning. We'll see how it goes. I just have to remember to set out clean pajamas, underwear, and sheets on her dresser before she goes to bed.

Worst. Mom. EVER.

%#*&!!!!!

Last night, I put the phone next to my bed, just in case Sarah needed to come home in the middle of the night. The phone rang, and when I answered it, it was her troop leader, "You gonna come get her?" Ohhhhhhhh, *%&#$^!!!!! Jeff and I both slept through the alarm. How does that happen? So I threw on clothes, raced to get her, and she was the last kid left. Out of 160 girls, she was the last one to be picked up. Well, there's more fodder for the therapist in 20 years . . .

Wow

It's been a long time since I've posted, so I guess this will be an overall, catch-up issue.

Addictive TV
Last year, I was a complete Lost junkie. This year, I still watch, but Project Runway is my obsession. Every Thursday morning, I check out the website to read Tim Gunn's blog and listen to his podcast. I think Santino is a jerk, Nick, Chloe and Daniel V are the best designers left, and Andrae has some good stuff in spite of the drama and the exaggerated expressions.

Homeschooling
I've got a new system now, where I plan out the whole week in advance, including links to anything I want on line, and print any worksheets. I still don't always get everything done that I plan for, but I do a lot better. I'm still in the beginning stages for next week. I always did love lesson planning. In a few months, I'm going to look for a way to have Sarah tested so that I can see where she is objectively.

My Mom
Her surgery is scheduled for February 9 (so much for her hopes that she could work through the heavy part of tax season!), and I'm going down to see her on the 22. We still haven't planned out who is going to take care of the girls, and we do need to do that, but we have plenty of help, so I'm not worried about it. Sarah, of course, started, "I'm going to miss you, Mom" the day after I bought my ticket.

Kidlets
Sarah loves Brownies. Tonight, she's at a Lock-In. They're going to "stay up all night, swimming and eating pizza and playing in the arcade and watching movies!!!" I get to pick her up at 5:30 tomorrow morning. I have a feeling she won't go to church, heh. She's also having a lot of fun in Tap and singing in the choir at church. We've also been walking around the neighborhood selling cookies. Good Lord, either we live in a ghost town, or people hide in the basement when they see us coming, because it seems like no one is ever home!

Lauren kept asking to pack her bag for the Lock-In tonight, too. She wasn't too upset when I reminded her that she isn't old enough yet, but I did have to repeat that four or five times. She loves Tap and choir, too, and I need to see if story time at the library has started up again yet.

Hobbies
I got to go scrapbooking last week, which was nice, but I realized that my style has "reverted" to what it used to be instead of the more intricate stuff I've done lately. I haven't taken many pictures yet, but I have got about half an hour on the camcorder. I desperately want the cable/software that will let me plug it straight into the computer and burn DVDs, but it's a little pricey. I'm going to clean a friend's house tomorrow, so maybe I'll get enough to feel justified in splurging.

OK, that's all the updates I can think of, and then some!

Christmas

So now that it's New Year's Eve, I guess I'll officially update on Christmas.


Christmas Eve we went to my parents' house. Lauren got lots of dressup clothes, which of course she loved. Sarah got a Light Bright box and a Barbie Karaoke Guitar, which she adores. Luckily, it has volume control. :D

I got to open my present before anyone else - a video camera, horay! As we were driving over to their house, I'd been thinking that I wanted to buy a camera after Christmas, and wondering how much it would cost. Perfect timing! Of course, my 18 year old cousin Danny had to figure out how to use it. I think we have about 10 minutes of film on that.

Christmas morning was at our house; pretty quick and quiet. Jeff's favorite present was the pennant I got him from the All Star Game. The 2004 Houston All Star Game, not this year's here in Detroit. Why would that be his favorite present? Why, because it means he gets to give me shit about being an airhead and not noticing that I got the wrong pennant for the rest of my life. It's the gift that keeps on giving!

By the way, it would appear that one of our Christmas traditions is that not only will the girls get new jammies on Christmas Eve, but that they will fit badly because I didn't check the measurements. Sarah's aren't too bad, but Lauren's in particular are far too long!

After going to church, we came home for a light lunch and quick nap, then off to Grammy & Grandpa's! More dressup clothes for Lauren (that's Grammy looking at her birthstone bracelet next to pink Tinkerbelle, and Aunt Andrea behind the purple feather girl), and Sarah got the Barbie Laptop she's been craving for so long. Lauren also got a scooter just like Sarah's, which she whizzed around on all night. Also, lots of clothes, so hopefully no more fighting with Sarah on Sunday mornings about what she's going to wear.




















The highlight of the night was that Jeff's brother Greg brought his guitar. The girls were all over him. Sarah had brought her pompoms, and Lauren really got into the cheerleading thing, which was hilarious. Greg has a nice voice - he sounds a lot like the Green Day song "Time of Your Life."


















Jeff and I also got a considerable bit of cash from his parents. There are so many things I'd like to do: upgrade my digital camera (something with more megapixels and more zoom), get the gingerbread cookie charm for my bracelet, get some new clothes, etc. But we decided that it's smarter to hold onto it and put it toward plants for the front of the house next spring. The new grass looks great, but we still don't have anything in front of the hosue, and it needs it, badly. We'll still spend some of it on fun stuff, but nothing too big.

I just realized that I got a lot more fun pictures of Lauren than of Sarah, so I'll throw in my most recent favorite of my big girl, getting a piggy back ride from Grandpa.

Candied Baklava

(I'll recap Christmas later)

Yesterday, I went over to my friend Jami's house (waving, 'cause I know she reads here) to learn to make baklava from her mom, who was visiting for a week. Mmmm, baklava. And this is Persian baklava. The baklava you get in bakeries is usually Greek baklava, which means it has walnuts & honey. Persian baklava uses almonds and sugar, and I think it has a more delicate flavor. I just found out that Lebanese baklava uses pistacios, and I might have to try that sometime. Although I knew the basics of how baklava works, it's nice to have someone to walk you through it the first time.

When I got there, we had to run out to the store to pick up more almonds and another pastry brush, since we made two pans simultaneously. Also, Jami needed a little breathing room from her mom, which I can totally understand. When we got back, we got down to business.

Each pan of baklava calls for a pound of melted butter. Start layering the phyllo sheets, with butter between each layer. I quickly forgot how many layers I'd put down, because of course I was constantly talking and not paying attention. Margey (Jami, how does your mom spell her name?) works with a charity that is building schools in Afganistan, and one of the fundraisers they did was an Afgani dinner. That is so the kind of fundraiser I could get behind! Luckily, baklava is forgiving of that kind of distraction.

After putting down 8 layers of phyllo, add ¼ of the filling. The filling is four cups of nuts and four cups of sugar. More phyllo, more filling, etc. Total of four layers of filling, five layers of phyllo. Then cut into squares or diamonds (the hardest part!), and bake for about 30 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown. While it's baking, make the syrup, which is a cup of water, two cups of sugar, a couple cinnamon sticks, and a tablespoon of lemon juice.

As she was copying the recipe (from this fabulous old cookbook called The Persian Kitchen), I noticed that she wrote down that the filling calls for TWO cups of sugar. Not four. Two. When I noticed, she said, "Oh, that's right," crossed out the 2 and wrote a 4. But then she went back to the book and realized that indeed, we should have used just two cups of sugar. Well, it was too late to do anything about it, so we decided to just wing it. Once it was done baking (it looked gorgeous!), we pulled it out and poured the hot syrup over it. Then we waited for it to cool. And waited. And waited.

While we were waiting, we snitched samples. The phyllo was wonderfully crisp, yet chewy due to the syrup. The filling was . . . um. Yeah. The filling was sweet. Really sweet. Hence the name "Candied Baklava." I'm going to cut a couple pieces for the kids and take the rest in to work today, and hopefully it'll all get eaten. I do plan to make baklava again, but I think that Candied Baklava is going to be retired. The story will certainly make it into my recipe book, though! ;D

Pity Party

Uuuuurgh.

I feel like crap.

My sinuses are all raw.

I had to pull the car over on the way to work so I could throw up.

Since my morning student didn't show up, I've been taking naps back here. It helps, but then I walk around and feel queasy again.

I really intended to go to the post office and run other errands, but it's not happening.

Bleagh.

Queen Kim the Productive

Yes, I saw Narnia last night; it was great!

My awesome wonderful parents had the girls for a sleepover last night, so I got to run errands this morning all by myself, which totally rocked!

I went to the mall for a present for Jeff and perfume for my SIL. Barnes & Nable for books for my Dad & my brother. Dollar Store for stocking stuffers. Grocery shopping (somehow, I lost a bag of groceries - d'oh!), too. Now I'm tired, but the house is a wreck, and I still have to make dinner. Once the kids are in bed, I'm up for some sewing.

The best things, though, are these: They're birthstone bracelets for my MIL, Sarah, Lauren, and stepmom. Sarah's birthstone is amethyst, and Lauren's is aquamarine. I realized, though, that since they're birthstone bracelets, I really should wait for their birthdays to give them to the girls. I so want to give them to them right away, though! I just hope they fit - I might try them on them while they sleep.

Hee

We went to the Rockettes last night, and had a lot of fun. One of the other moms from Sarah's tap class reserved a block of tickets, so in addition to getting the seats for half price, Sarah got to sit by one of her friends in dance class. I'm glad we got tickets for this instead of the Nutcracker, although that was a tradition when I was growing up and I really love it. But this was a little easier for little kids to get into (Lauren kept asking "Where's Santa?" every time he was off stage). Sarah said her favorite part was the living Nativity at the end. I was glad to see the show end on a non-commercial note.

As we were leaving, it was snowing, and had been for a while (which we'd expected--we have quite a bit of accumulation this morning). As the huge crowd was crowding toward the parking structure, a group of people behind us began singing, "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." For me, that was the high point of the evening--people taking something that was an inconvenience and having fun with it. It got a laugh out of pretty much everyone else, as well.

As for that last entry, well . . . the beginning of the week was rough. And I still have too much to do, but I'm not stressing about it as much anymore, though I did add "blender and margarita mix" to my Christmas list). Thanks for the good wishes, everyone!

AUGH!

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The Story Behind the Dresses

. . . or, How Kim Almost Got Herself in Way Over Her Head.

When I screwed up cutting out the bodice front piece of Lauren's dress last week, I scrambled to the nearest JoAnn Fabrics. Not the same one where I bought the fabric, but it was closer and I was hopeful. As soon as I walked it, I saw this gorgeous fabric. It looked like velvet with detailed metallic embroidery. Very flowy, graceful, Christmasy. And they had, in addition to deep red with gold stitching, midnight blue with silver stitching (which looks great on blondes) and hunter green with gold stitching (which looks great on redheads).

As soon as I saw it, I fell in love. I seriously considered putting aside the dress I'd already done, as well as the one I'd cut out (and screwed up) in favor of making two entirely new dresses out of this fabric. Did I mention that I did this on Saturday night? And that the pictures were going to be on Tuesday morning? And still I thought, "Yeah, I'd have to sew pretty much non-stop, but I could make it." Luckily for me, a saleslady saw the pattern envelope in my hand and said that the fabric wouldn't work with a gathered skirt. So I was off the hook. For this year.

I wonder if it would go on really deep sale after Christmas . . . I could find a pattern that would work, and buy enough to make the next size up, and be all set to make the dresses in September if I wanted! No rushing next year!!! That would be so awesome!

Um. Yeah. Anyway, THIS year's photo session went very well. Here's what we got (by the way, I don't know how true the color will be, but they're purple shot with some silver, and silver ribbon at the waist and cuffs):

Sewing, part deux

Here are the dresses, finally finished (almost--I still need to put a hook & eye at the tops in back). I think they're cute, but as always, I think they "look homemade." I've never made dresses in matching fabric before, so I also think they're a little "matchy-matchy." But at least they're done, and now I can move on to my next 50 projects.

Bleep

I like sewing, right? So why am I so ticked off right now?

Because, even though I made multiple perfect practice button holes on some test fabric, the top buttonhole on Sarah's dress has not worked three times now. I'm starting to worry about the integrity of the fabric, but I put it away for now. I still have to hem it, and it's too big around, but I can't change that.

Because I wasn't paying attention when I laid out the bodic pieces for Lauren's dress this afternoon and I cut the bodice front right down the center. I don't have enough fabric to cut the front out again, so now I get to go to the fabric store again and try to get a new piece. I am not looking forward to that.

Pictures are Tuesday, did I mention that?

16 days 0 days since Lauren's last accident.

You know, like the signs they have at construction sites?

Although she still frequently wets the bed at night, she hasn't had a daytime accident since November 3rd.

Hey, she needed a bath and hair washing anyway . . .

Scientists say cold noses reduce ability to fight virus attacks

Interesting, but short of a balaclava, how do I keep their noses warm?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/11/14/cold.chill/index.html

"If they become chilled, this causes a pronounced constriction of the blood vessels in the nose and shuts off the warm blood that supplies the white cells that fight infection. The reduced defences in the nose allow the virus to get stronger and common cold symptoms develop."

Edited to add: I guess a balaclava really wouldn't cut it, since it doesn't cover the nose, as I thought. "Ski mask" probably would have been better, but I don't think they would wear that, either, so I'm back where I started.

Well, that's cleared up

Last night, around quarter after 10, the phone rang, and the caller ID said, "Nevada." Um, I don't know anyone in Nevada, so I didn't answer it. But I checked the voicemail a few minutes later, and apparently, I do know someone in Nevada. It was my brother. My brother that no one has heard from in weeks. When my sister-in-law got a really good job offer in Las Vegas, they couldn't turn it down, so they moved. I told him that I understood that every bit of money they had needed to go to keeping the family afloat, but that I was still pissed that he hadn't let anyone know. He accepts that, and is sincerely sorry. I'm sad that they live so far away now, but glad they're ok.

Dude, are you mad at ME?!?

Remember this? When I said, "eventually, we got to an ER," what I didn't say is that we went to an urgent care facility first, waited for half an hour, and then when we finally got up to fill out the paperwork, someone came out and said that the X-ray machine was broken, and that since it was a head injury, she'd probably need a CAT scan, anyway (which they don't have), so we should head down to the ER a couple miles away. I was pissed, especially at having to wait for nothing, but left. Happily, the ER was great, and everything was fine.

Today, when I checked voicemail this afternoon, I had a call from the doc in charge at the Urgent Care facility first, wanting to know why I'd left without getting Sarah checked out. I called him back and explained what had happened. He talked about how she should have been checked out there first, and then done an official transfer. If something had happened to her on the way to the ER, the UC facility would have been liable. He said that he wanted to make sure his staff knew that what happened shouldn't have happened, and wanted to know if I remembered who had told me about the X-ray, what that person looked like, etc. Well, I didn't remember; I barely remembered what time we'd been in.

So then he got this tone in his voice, and said that they rarely do CAT scans on children anymore unless a concussion is indicated, and got all snotty. You know, I appreciate that your staff screwed up, and you want to make sure it doesn't happen again. But don't take it out on me.

Doing a little better

I've been really crabby all week. No suprise there, I know. But I talked to my mom last night, and at least now I know the plan. She's going to take some meds, then start chemo probably on Monday, and have three or four courses of that. Then the double mastectomy probably in January, then more chemo. Sounds horrible, but she's in good spirits. I asked her if she'd get medical marijuana, and get to be a big ol' pothead, but she laughed and said no. I'll probably go down there sometime in January to help out. I really want to thank everyone for all the good wishes--it really does make a difference.

I think I'm going to crawl into a hole

Or maybe crawl into bed. My grandfather died this morning. I am totally at a loss.

Edited to add: Apparently, the pictures I took back in June are the last ones of him.

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween! We had a good time - the rain held off, except for a drop or two, and it wasn't too cold. I can't believe how nice it's been the past three years on Halloween--we've really lucked out.

We went to our neighbor's house first, and since the three girls play together often, we all went around the neighborhood together. We only stayed out for about an hour, but they still got plenty of candy, of course.

The most memorable part of the night was when we went to a house with a person sitting outside. The person was dressed up as a witch or scarecrow or something, and sitting very still. Sarah & Sammy hung back--they could tell something was up. Lauren didn't even seem to notice and walked right past him/her. When the person moved, she kind of did a double take ("Wow, that's a real person!") but then asked for candy right away. It never even occurred to her to be scared. We went to another house that was intentionally scary, that the two big girls wouldn't go near--that person was walking around, and wearing a very scary mask, but again, nothing was going to keep Lauren from the candy.