Keep Austin Weird
Earlier today, I looked up the “Keep Austin Weird” slogan to see its origins, and found several other Texas-town slogans that were funny (well, if you’re a local) – including, “Keep Round Rock Mildly Unusual” “Keep Lubbock Flat” and “Keep Dallas Pretentious.”
I’ve also heard “Keep Georgetown Normal” which translates, “Keep Georgetown Boring.”
A toddler’s ego knows no bounds
This morning we dropped Jay off for his carpool and the full (or near-full, I’m not quite sure) moon was still in the sky. Mikaela pointed to it and exclaimed, ‘Mama, my moon!’
Reasons Texas is growing on me
- Breakfast tacos. I’m eating a potato, egg and bacon one right now. Yummy.
- The lack of a cold winter. I have to call my TN friends during the winter and gloat that we’re in the 50s when they’re below freezing.
- This is where Dr Pepper is from! (That should have been first on the list.)
- Austin. You gotta love it. The live music, the near-constant festivals, the nice parks, the non-ghetto downtown … and all the funny little quirks that makes Austin “weird.” (Leslie, anyone?)
- Kolaches.
- Texas sunsets.
- No sales tax on groceries. Hey, every little bit helps.
- The facts that spring starts in February. When Jay told me about that for the first time, I thought he was kidding.
- Bluebonnets and wildflowers.
Home schooling for (almost) free
I’ve decided to start homeschooling my 2 1/2-year-old and almost-4-year-old this school year (‘07-’08). I’m working on a list of things I want to cover this year with them. I guess you could say I’m writing my own curriculum. Some of my goals are lofty, but I figure I can at least give them an introduction to some concepts, even if they don’t master them. I’m going to be somewhat flexible in my teaching style, depending on what works best. I’m envisioning teaching them through games, hands-on activities and projects. My main focus at first is going to be on phonics/pre-reading skills, basic math skills and Bible.
When I first started thinking about homeschooling (or is it home-schooling or home schooling? I’m not sure which is correct), I was aghast at the curriculum prices. True, it’s cheaper than private school tuition, but it’s still more than I have to fork out – at least at this point. At the same time, I want my kids to have the best education I can possibly give them.
So, I’ve been doing some reasarch in the library and online, trying to see what homeschool curriculum resources I could find that were affordable … and so far, I’ve had great success. I’ve found nice, hard-backed science and reading textbooks at thrift stores and used book stores for just a few dollars. I’ve also found some great library books full of math activities that I’m going to run copies of on my home copier/printer.
My biggest surprise in my research into this endeavor so far: the wealth of free information for homeschoolers online. Here are some great preschool sites with lots of great resources for homeschooling, daycare, nursery school, or just the parent trying to prepare their kids for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, or first grade.
These sites contain lots of printable work sheets and cover lots of different things, from the alphabet and phonics to math and science.
Know of any more similar sites? Please share!
Where I’m at
I am gearing up to home-school the kids this year. I want to start when the public schools start, but we are still trying to figure out where/when/if to move, and I want to be settled before starting.
I have been accumulating lots of material and finding lots of great resources on the web. But I’ll expound on that in another post.
More on moving: Jay and I looked at our lease and figured out that we need to figure out what we’re doing in the next 30 days, so we can give 30 days’ notice and be out by the end of our lease Sept. 30. I’m not normally so commitment-phobic, but this decision has my stomach in knots. We can’t find anything I like in our price range. And by “like” I mean, “not a total piece of crap.” I’m not being super-picky at all.
Say a prayer that we can find a decent place in a decent neighborhood … man, this has been such a long journey!
In other news, my 17-year-old niece is coming in for a short visit tomorrow. I’m excited about her coming, but I hope we don’t bore her to death.
It’s storming again here (right now). All people can talk about here is the crazy amount of rain we continue to get. At least it keeps everything nice and green!
Oh! I almost forgot. I went into a new children’s consignment store here this weekend and wound up having a long conversation with the owner. I forget how we got on the subject, but after hearing that her 4-year-old daughter has autism, I confessed that I suspect my son may possibly have a high-functioning form of autism. The woman chided me for stalling and said that I need to have him evaluated by a pediatric neurologist. I guess I do, but every time I gear up to make the appointment, he does something that makes me think maybe he’s catching up and doing fine. Then I go hear other kids his age talk and interact with each other and it makes me think, he is NOT fine, and I need to do something. His ’symptoms’ include a speech delay, odd mannerisms, texture aversion and extreme pickiness with food, an obession with lining up/ordering things, and the fact that he won’t potty-train. Among other things.
This is such a gut-wrenching thing. It’s not that I would ever love him any less if he was diagnosed with autism or anything else, but as his mother who loves him dearly, I don’t want him to have to deal with a lifetime of difficulty from being “different.” Not that the problem doesn’t exist just because I’m in denial. It’s just hard to face.
I like these a lot better!
This is what the photo-upload “simpsonize me” resulted in (I tweaked my hairstyle a bit) … here’s Jay’s new pic too:
Food fight
Gabriel has always been a picky eater. The only things he reliably eats are pop tarts, cereal and crackers. I can usually get him to eat fruit with some prodding. Meat is iffy … one day he’ll devour it and the next he’ll only take two bites.
I’ve tried a variety of foods with him, but it’s a hit or a miss as to whether he’ll actually eat it. And more often than not, he won’t.
Before I had kids I wondered what the fuss was about when I heard people having similar conversations. ‘Just tell him to eat it or go to bed hungry,’ I thought to myself. HA. Kids will call your bluff on that one every time.
Seriously, this is getting so old. I’m torn between being stern about it (I want him to eat what the rest of the family is eating and not expect me to prepare a special meal for him), and giving in and letting him eat whatever he wants. The latter option is what I usually wind up caving in and doing, because he is on the skinny side.
I will say, I’ve found some success recently with Juicy Juice’s fruit/veggie juice. At least he’s getting SOMETHING akin to vegetables that way.
Thankfully, Mikaela is not following in his footsteps … she’s definitely more gastronomically adventuresome. Jay fixed a spicy king ranch chicken dish recently and she cleaned her plate and asked for more. She’s also got a taste for pickles – she’ll often follow me into the kitchen and ask with her sweetest voice, “want pickles peeese?”
Who could say no to that?
I’ve been tagged!
My friend Raymond tagged me to write 8 facts about myself. Here goes …
- Since I grew up in the deep south (Birmingham, AL), I love southern food. BUT, Tex-Mex is a very close second. Thank goodness … my husband is a great cook and Tex-Mex is his specialty.
- My husband and I only dated for 10 months before we were married. We’ve been together for eight years now, and married for seven.
- Rock and alternative music are my favorites, but I get a hankerin’ for some good blues every so often. I also listen to some Christian music, which I should really listen to more often in the car. It cuts down on my road rage.
- I have a college degree in journalism, but I like editing much more than I like writing. It’s not that I don’t like writing, it’s the process that’s a pain in the behind. Mostly contacts that won’t return your phone calls … that’s the worst.
- I am a SAHM/WAHM (for the uninitated, that’s Stay-at-home-mom/Work-at-home mom). I am seriously considering becoming a home-schooling mom – I’ve been doing some research into it. I was surprised to find out that you really only need to spend a couple/few hours a day doing it (at least when they’re really young) … I guess one-on-one interaction makes for more focused learning.
- I never get tired of looking at sunsets. My husband and I are also big weather buffs. I would love to be a trained storm spotter someday…
- I love thinking out of the box and dreaming up grand ideas. I’ve always been the one who’s likely to try something crazy. Too bad my voices of reason (my husband and my mom, mostly) talk me out of most of them.
- I’ve recently discovered an author that I really love – Donald Miller. My favorite book of his (so far) is Blue Like Jazz, about his journey to faith in Christ. It’s no fluffy Christian self-help book … it’s real and poingant, and the story is told from a former cynic’s point of view. Donald has some beautiful ideas about taking Christ out of the “box” we put him in. You’ll just have to read it to find out what I mean.
I’m currently in phone purgatory
“Please hold for the next available representative.” (Do I have a choice?)
15 seconds of elevator jazz
“Please hold for the next available representative.”
Repeat indefinitely.
UPDATE: this call-waiting routine actually lasted for 31 minutes until I hung up. Thanks, Bank of America.
Early bird
I am a night person, but I occasionally flip-flop.
For instance, night before last, I only got a few hours’ sleep. So, last night I was completely wiped out by dinnertime. I wound up going to bed at 8:45 and getting up at 4 this morning. I’ve done laundry, cleaned, gone to take Jay to meet his carpool, and finished proofing a website and it’s only 9 am.
Of course, I’m probably going to hit a wall sometime this afternoon. I’ve got childcare duties tonight with our home group from church, so I guess I’ll have to have some (okay, lots of) caffiene to stay perky.
Conversation between Melanie and Mikaela
Melanie: Mikaela, get down from my desk chair.
Mikaela: (banging on computer keyboard) Mama, I working!
TMI
CNN has reported that the growths removed from the president’s colon a couple of days ago are non-cancerous.
Do we really need to know all this information in real time? Can they just spare us and only report the final results? What’s next – a live video feed from the presidential colon-cam?
Bleh.
Conversation between Jay and Mikaela
J: Mikaela, what video do you want to watch?
M: (climbs up on table to get a better look at video selection) How ’bout ….
M: How ’bout …. hmmm… (stands there with hand on hip, thinking)
J: Yep, you’re a woman. You can’t make up your mind.
Things that go boom in the night
It should be some kind of law of nature that shampoo bottles aren’t allowed to randomly fall down in the tub in the middle of the night.
I think I’m going to go lay down and have a heart attack now. Have a nice day.
Oh, my gosh.
Have you seen the video clip of Tammy Faye Messner (Formerly Tammy Faye Bakker) on cnn.com? She looks like a skeleton with makeup on. It’s disturbing.
No matter how you feel about her, it’s sad to see anyone looking like they’re in such bad shape.
The dangers of having photos online
So, I just looked at my flickr account, and one picture of me from about 1991 – I have very long hair and braces – has had 268 views. ?!?!?
I’m sure somebody has posted it somewhere, saying, ‘Hey, go look at this dork!’
Old photo
As you can see, Jay has always been adorable.
Most embarrassing work moments
Since we spend a good little chunk of our lives in the workplace, it follows that we are going to have some embarrasing moments along the way. I’d like to hear yours, but I’ll share some of mine first:
Mel’s Mortifying Moments
- About a year-and-a-half ago, I asked a co-worker when she was due. I knew better than that, but I asked anyway. She replied that she was not pregnant, but had recently had abdominal surgery. I spent the rest of my time at that job trying to avoid her.
- When I worked for a magazine company in the Nashville area, I absentmindedly answered the phone one day while in the middle of reading an email. I said into the receiver: “X Magazine Company, this is me.” The person on the other end of the line giggled and said, “well, I’d hoped it was you!” It just happened to be my boss.
- The one that takes the cake: when I was 16 I worked as a cashier at a grocery store. We weren’t allowed to bring our purses in, so we had to stash whatever we needed for the shift in our oversized smock pockets. That day, I had a very handsome man come through my line and ask me for a pen to write his check with. I reached into my smock pocket and handed him … a tampon. He grinned at my mistake as I prayed for the earth to open and swallow me.
All right, now it’s your turn. Come on, people, out of the woodwork.
You do it to yourself, you do, and that’s what really hurts …
I’m counting the minutes until nap time.
For all three of us.
I drank something with caffiene in it way too late last night and as a result, I was up until 5 am. Mikaela woke me at 7:10. 2 hours and 10 minutes of sleep. I haven’t been this tired since having a newborn.
1 o’clock can’t get here fast enough.
Ha.
After a shower the other day, Gabriel was attempting to put on some undies. After several attempts at putting them on the wrong way, he disgustedly threw them down, saying, “This unnerwear boken!”
Critters
Tonight Jay and I were out back in the hammock, looking at the stars above. I heard a noise to my left, and turned to see a ‘possum walking along the fence-top like a tightrope. Jay told me not to worry, that it was probably just a cat. And I said, ‘no, it’s a possum! I’m sure! It had a long, skinny, pointy tail.’ I hopped out of the hammock and ran inside.
Jay went to investigate, confirming my suspicions. He scared it off, coming back inside the house and snickering at me for being such a city-slicker.
I don’t care. ‘Possums look too much like rats… I don’t want anything to do with them.
We sure do have lots of varmints ’round these parts. You’d think we lived in the middle of a forest.
Blue’s Clues
Jay played several games of Blue’s Clues with the kids tonight.
Blue’s Clues is a kids TV show where viewers have to look at the three clues provided throughout the episode and guess what Blue (the dog) is trying to say. The clues appear in the form of a blue paw-print on whatever objects the clues happen to be.
SO, tonight, Jay drew several paw-prints on paper and cut them out, affixing tape to the back. After he played the game several times and it was getting late, Jay put one clue on the clock, one on Gabriel’s pillow and one on Gabriel’s bed.
Jay said once the kids figured out the clues spelled out bedtime, their faces went from grins to frowns. Ha.
Learning to crochet
I’ve been looking for something to do while waiting for more work to come in. I found an instructional crochet video at Hobby Lobby yesterday and bought it. I’ve watched it over and over and … still can’t figure out how to crochet. It looks like it should be really easy, but I can’t quite make my fingers do what the lady on the video is doing.
Maybe knitting is easier.
Jello legs
I’m still shaky after what I watched happen earlier in the day.
I was pumping gas at one gas station near my house, staring off in the general direction of a gas station across the street. All of a sudden, a small car collided with a kid on a bike. He went up on the hood, and the car ran over the bike. By the time I started across the street, the kid had come back off the hood and was standing up, bent half-over.
I reached him, and he was shaking badly and had a nasty bruise coming up on his leg, but seemed otherwise OK. He said he was 15 and declined my offer to buy him some water or soda. Meanwhile, the car’s driver and her passenger – two middle-Eastern-looking women – were looking very alarmed and asking if there was anything they could do for him.
The kid used the driver’s cell phone to call his dad. His first words out of his mouth: “dad, I’ve just been hit by a car.” If I heard those words out of my child’s mouth, I’d probably die of a heart attack straightaway.
Anyway, the dad arrived and I typed my name and number into his blackberry. I wonder if he’s going to sue the driver. I honestly couldn’t tell whose fault it was. I would guess they both weren’t paying attention where they were going.
Thank God my kids are still young and I don’t have to worry about stuff like this yet!
The Lizard Returns
The baby lizard I saw in the kitchen the other day just made an appearance. Gabriel screamed, Mikaela froze like a deer in headlights, and Jay calmly picked it up and carried it outside. Thank goodness one person in this family isn’t a weenie.
Finished
I’m completely finished with my freelance project that I’ve been immersed in for the last two months, which provokes two responses:
Yea! I’m done!
Oh, CRAP. I’m done.
I hope they decide to send some more stuff my way … this steady income has been nice.
Fourth of July Fireworks, Rescheduled
Tonight the city put on its fourth of July fireworks, which was rained out on the 4th. Gabriel sat transfixed, exclaiming, “WOW!” every so often. Mikaela showed little interest and busied herself buckling her stroller buckle. I tried to take a few pix, but man, is it hard to get photos of fireworks with a digital camera!
Out of the mouths of babes
Some of my favorite mispronounciations from my kids:
Gabriel
Cupkate (cupcake)
Nakkin (napkin)
Pu-er (computer)
Be-o (Bevo, Texas’ mascot)
Mikaela
Be-aweena (ballerina)
We-wining (rewinding)
O-tay-o chip (potato chip)
Funder (thunder)
Not my department
This morning, while I was pouring Mikaela her morning sippy cup of milk, she started jumping up and down and screaming like … well, a girl. I figured she’d seen a bug. I calmly walked over to where she was standing and saw … a baby lizard.
Now, I don’t mind lizards … when they’re OUTSIDE. And not within jumping distance of me.
Anyway, I ushered Mikaela into my room to watch Sesame Street and decided to turn a blind eye. And what do you know, it was gone when I returned to the room. I know, it’s terrible. I just couldn’t deal with the thought of picking the squirmy thing up.
I hope it wiggled its way back outside … I don’t know what to do if I see the thing again. I don’t want to squash it, but I don’t want to pick it up. Maybe it’ll make its next appearance when my big, brave husband is home.
Today
Today we took the van for a much-needed oil change. While in the waiting room, a 5-year-old little boy tried to strike up a conversation with Gabriel, but Gabriel remained silent. Finally, the 5-year-old turned to me and asked “what’s his name?”
“Gabriel,” I replied.
The 5-y-o tried to say his name, “G- Ga-, Gabe (pause) It would be more better if your name was Daniel!”
Why do I do it?
I just finally finished with my sites for today’s deadline, 40 minutes until my time was up. I’ve been in don’t-talk-to-me-I’m-working-like-my-hair’s-on-fire mode all day.
I think I’m a glutton for punishment.
Random thoughts for the day
1. We’ve already gotten our rain quota here in TX … for the ENTIRE YEAR! And that’s pretty much just been in the last few weeks. Okay, it can stop raining now …
2. This makes me want someone to hold me …
3. I’m starting to think we’re never going to own a home. The annual property taxes on homes in our price range average $2000-$3000 … and even more. That’s a big add-on to your monthly payment. I don’t know where all these people living in these huge houses are getting the money … but can I have some?
4. I’m going to a much-needed girls’ night out tomorrow night (Friday). I am excited – I feel like I’ve been working 2 months straight with no break (oh, wait – I have). I’m kidding. Sort of. Having freelance work to do is a good thing, but it can be overwhelming at times … Anyway, someone call Jay tomorrow night and make sure he’s not feeding the kids junk and letting them stay up late.
5. My daughter’s impersonation of a fish is the cutest thing in the entire world.
6. I should really be working.
7. Gabriel can finally say the letter “W” semi-correctly. Instead of ‘double-you,’ he pronounces it ’dunna-bew.’ Close enough.
8. A few days ago, I was in the van with the kids. They were singing a praise and worship song, and my heart was welling with joy … until they started screaming “NO! I DO IT!” – fighting over whose turn it was to sing. Sigh.
9. Today, Gabriel ran into the wooden leg of the couch with his foot, cracking his toenail pretty bad. He was whimpering and limping around, and Mikaela reassured him: “you be OK, Gay-bul.”
10. I might have a car. More details if it pans out …
Ringing Endorsement
I am a chronic allergy/cold/sinus infection sufferer. I’m pretty much always fighting something off, which means my nose is almost always stuffy. I’ve tried many drugs over the years but I’m limited on what I can take now, thanks to my high BP.
Last night I got almost no sleep because every time I lay down, one side of my nose stopped up. When I rolled over, the other side would stop up (what causes that to happen, anyway? It’s SO annoying!)
So, I finally got the notion to use Breathe-Right strips tonight, and wow, they really work. I look ridiculous, and it feels funny on my nose in the same way that glasses do, but I’ll take that over all the sniffling and snorting.
Really now
News reports say that infamous Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss is opening a “stud farm” in Nevada, a luxury brothel catering specifically to women. Right.
So, I went to her website to see if I could get any more details for this post (and to get the address of the stud farm … LOL, just kidding) and I noticed that she has items for sale, including what you’d expect – lingerie, um – toys, etc. And baby blankets. ?!? I can’t really imagine why someone would go buy baby blankets from Heidi Fleiss?
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Weekend
We did a lot of driving around this weekend, looking at potential houses. We went to an open house today of one that we liked. It’s small and older, but it has good potential and a nice view from the back (it’s backed up to a farm). The realtor is working with our financial person to qualify us for bond money to get our closing costs covered and a good interest rate … we shall see how this all pans out. I’m not getting my hopes up any more.
I was excited at a good deal I found this weekend – a Fisher-Price dollhouse for Mikaela, complete with family and furniture, for $25. Seeing as though the same thing new would’ve probably been about $100, I was pretty thrilled. It’s as tall as she is. She’s had a blast playing with it this weekend. I had to laugh at her today – she took the doll house’s plastic cat and attacked the father figurine. After Peter did that to Jay, I guess she thinks that’s normal!
Jay only has to work 2 days this week. Yay. I hope I can get enough work done in the next couple of days that we can actually enjoy the 4th. We’re going to watch the local parade, attend a picnic with friends and watch the city’s fireworks show that night … I just hope it doesn’t rain like it did last year!
