Jul/080
You can take the kid out of junior high…
...but you can't take the junior high out of the kid.
Sorry it has been so quiet lately. Maya's b-day party is tomorrow so of course we have been spending all week sprucing up the house, doing yardwork and cleaning (which I am sure is to all be destroyed in 10 minutes by 3-year-olds).
Need to start packing for our trip to StL next week too. Wow, where does Summer go. Work has been super crazy on top of it. Hoping for good weather this weekend.
Jul/080
2-Minute Update
Took Maya to a little carnival last night in Vernon Hills. There were only two rides she could go on because of height requirements that they strictly enforced. She had to be 36 inches to ride so hopefully next year. Broke my heart trying to explain to her that she is too short while other younger kids got to ride. We made do with a couple of Merry-Go-Round trips and a shared venture on the Ferris Wheel. Also, the bag of cotton candy did not hurt. It was a really nice Maya/Daddy day.
Busy weekend getting ready for the B-day party the following week. Lots of yard work, still trying to finish the porch. Did not run once this week and I am tired as all get out. Early to bed tonight. Trying to run 7 tomorrow and get back in the swing of things.
Jul/080
Thursday
We met with our awesome social worker last night about our adoptions. Not good. I will write more about that later.
This is the second day in a row that the newspaper was missing. Neighbors have theirs and the bill has been paid so it it is either an oversight in the Chicago Tribune's delivery system or someone is pinching my daily. I think I am going to setup a duck blind with a video camera tomorrow morning. So frustrating.
Jul/080
Rob Stone and the C-Notes
It was a craptacular day at work yesterday; too much to do and not enough time. I have been going in early, but I have not been able to stay late this week and things are starting to pile up, but I think I can recover through the weekend.
Last night we were supposed to meet with our social worker about our options for International adoption since China is taking so long. She cancelled last minute because her babysitter cancelled and we rescheduled for this evening.
Instead of staying late we decided to take Maya to a concert. Every Tuesday in the Summer the Lake County Park District puts on a music event at Independence Grove in Libertyville. IG is this huge park/forest preserve that butts up to the Des Plaines River Trail running/biking path. The part itself is unbelievable. There are miles of well groomed asphalt trails, a beach, a playground and an event center. Next to the event center is this huge cement compass that serves as a stage.
All afternoon Courtney told Maya that we were going to a music show. She was amped by the time I got home from work. She was taking her musical instruments and marching around the downstairs chanting “Music Parade to Music Show: (Parades are her other big thing now too.) She would beat her tambourine and then blow her harmonica while keeping her cadence.
We scarfed down dinner and then swung by the in-laws to get one of the super comfortable beach chairs that was left there. These chairs are amazing for Summer events; low to the ground, a big storage pocket and best of all they have these straps that allow you to wear it like a back pack; really handy when herding an almost 3YO.
The venue was somewhat crowded. We got there right when the sun was setting across the lake and the band was starting to play. As you can see by the picture below, we slunk off to the side to enjoy the blues stylings of Rob Stone and the C-Notes. Every week they do a different music genre at the park and bring in a different type of band. Next week it is a 16-piece big band orchestra and they also do classic rock, Latin music and kids music.
It was an amazing night; no mosquitoes, the weather was perfect and the crowd was really relaxed. On these nights the park district seems to look the other way on open containers so people bring coolers and tables for dinner and drinks before the show. I treated Maya to a snow cone which she had never experienced before. She fell in love with it right away – which means it took us twice as long to walk back to our spot because she was so intent on eating it.
So, we relaxed in our nice and comfy chairs. Didn’t think about work or other stressful things; we just took a breather to enjoy ourselves and the moment. Maya was enthused to be out there. She saw some other kids dancing so she started to do the same. She would move her arms and clap with this little shuck and jive that was endearing. Her signature move is the “tail feather”. When we asked her to shake it she bends over with this goofy grin and waggles her bottom.
Since the show started at 7:30 we knew we would be leaving just as it was getting started. We packed up everything and made our way to the car past the stage. Maya took one last chance to dance by the musicians to the chagrin of the crowd around us. We were only there for an hour, 60 minutes and the stress just evaporated. This is what Summer should be about. We were only there for a short time, but it could have not been better spent. Even coming home and seeing the half-finished swing set in the backyard could not bring me down.
There are 4 shows left, we missed the first 2 or 3, but we are going to try and make a point to hit as many as we can.
Jul/080
Metal Death Trap - Day 3 -
Every kid loves a swing set. Ours in particular enjoys a swing to no end. She has internally geo-mapped an entire 15-square-mile area with the location of every swing. If we are driving down the street she will point out the swings and ask to ride them. When we ask her what she wants to do, she always replies that she wants to swing.
So being the suckersgood parents that we are and seeing that it is her birthday coming up we decided to get and construct one for her. You may have noticed I have not posted in a while; I have been stuck underneath this unseemly behemoth of a project. Originally, we wanted to get her one of those nice wood ones that go on sale at the end of the year, but we remembered that we are broke and how could we be good parents if we didn't buy her a swing set.
For her gift, the MIL went halfsies and I picked it up last Sunday from Toys-R-Expensive ans started the assembling process on Sunday afternoon. I like putting things together when they go together as they are supposed to do so. I spent approximately 2.5 hours finding tools and then had to get the right beverage pairing together which turned out to be a white wine spritzer for the Summer day. (Go ahead and revoke my guy license, those things are good.)
The swing set we got is one of those A-frame metal contraptions made overseas by people who only deal in the metric system. Like I said, when things fit together, I love reading the instructions and assembling things like this. The problem with these pre-fab sets is that the holes don't always match up (if they have been punched through cleanly) and that it takes a lot of wiggling to try and get these setup correctly.
The big kicker on this project is that all of the screws are about a half inch too short. Yes, I was using the right screws. I understand that they want to try and keep the screws from cutting little playful hands, but I couldn't even get the nut on most of these. Frustrating. The whole time Maya is running around me trying to "help" me put it together. This includes hiding the nuts, putting the screws in the planters and running off with various pieces. It wasn't going anywhere so we gave up.
Next day Court went out and bought some new screws that were a little longer. I will risk tattered hands to be able to get it together. The plan was to put it together after the kid went down, but the nuts that came were not compatible with the screws she bought so back to the store. We made it a family trip and of course Maya had to ride the quarter Merry-Go-Round outside the store. Yes, suckers.
Got home and finished the basic A-frame and went to put the cross supports on and again the screws don't work...I made them work. We worked for about another 2 hours fighting screws and hordes of ravenous mosquitoes to eventually get one swing attached.
Six hours worth of work, two hardware visits and about a spray gallon worth of Off repellent later we had one f'ing swing and a trapeze bar hung. No slide, no glider, no swings for her friends. The frame is a little shaky and she won't be able to go that high because they are "big girl" swings and not the buckets she is used to daredeviling in.
Supposed to look like:
See all those happy and diverse kids. That is what it should be like. A happy little group of tots getting their first taste of G-forces. This is what ours looked like:
(Man, it is really hard to find a picture of a dilapidated swing set. Come on, Internet you can make my life easier.)
Hope to finish everything else tonight since our social worker had to reschedule. That kid better like this damn thing. You should see all of the contusions on my hands.
(Update - 8:37AM - C called me to say that Maya came downstairs and was really excited when she saw it outside so they went out for a swing. Maya sat on it (still not used to the big girl swing) and then said "Where are the other swings? I want to go inside and watch Dora. Gratitude I tells ya. (Which also reminds me that her new favorite thing is to say "Daddy, is your hair falling out?" "Yes, Maya." "Wow, it's falling out." "Thanks, Maya." - This is repeated for about 5 minutes. She is fascinated with my hairline running away from my face.))
Jul/080
More tales from the train
Late night for me last night. Work has me totally slammed lately, I feel like I am starting to fall behind so I decided to stay late and try and get some things accomplished. It is always funny that I can get more done during off-work hours then while I am there.
Last night was a gloomy night. Pretty much from the moment I left the office to board the 8:35 train home it started to pour down like the sky ripped open. I am too cheap to take a cab so I pulled out my umbrella that I keep in the briefcase and started the mile trudge up Jackson Ave to the train station.
Now, my umbrella was bought specifically so I could store it in my work bag. I never remember to ring one when it is supposed to rain so I figure it is always better to keep it handy for easy access. It is a good umbrella, but it only covers about 2/3 of my body based on my height and the fabric circumference. This means that my legs, up to the calf, and usually one arm gets soaked if it is raining hard enough. Big deal, I will live.
Made it to the train station after passing tens of tourists huddled under awnings and office building openings. Come on, who brings an umbrella when you are traveling. You can tell a lot by people when they are in the rain without coverage. There are those that try to wait it out, there are those that wrap newspaper around their heads and let the rest of themselves get soaked and others that tighten up like canvas trying to keep the water thinking that the more tense they are the better of a repellant they will be.
My favorite people are the ones that enjoy it with a smile and a “what the hell” attitude. It is just water, I am on vacation and I am getting wet—no worries. These people seem like you could grab a beer with them and shoot the breeze without many social barriers.
I made it inside and passed all of the soaked people in the stairwell and congregated in the bar watching baseball and drinking overpriced ($7 for a 12 oz Miller lite!) beer. Have to admit, I have consumed my fair share.
At this time of night there are only two evils open for food. One is McDonalds and the other is a Cajun food place. The Cajun join is owned (I think) by an Asian couple that always yell out: “Yummy, yummy you eat here.” I have heard this exact phrase for almost eight years. The food looks floured in Crisco, fried in lard and served with vegetables that look like they were a part of the salmonella recall purchased wholesale. Pass.
So it is McDonalds, owned by probably a bunch of crusty white guys that wax their Bentleys with fifties. Let me rephrase that, send someone up for Hamburger University (It exists, I used to drive by it when I was consulting) to do their auto detailing. I give in and get the McNugget meal. (Mmmmm cannibal chicken).
Who was the genius that came up with the conditioning of a value meal? I am one of those people that get line anxiety and need to repeat what I am getting over and over. I have the fear of being “that” guy who waffles over what to buy holding up the line. Why are we so conditioned now that we have to order by number ensuring that we get mega-calorie meals that we don’t really need. Just like everything else, probably because it is easier to do (and I am sure they make a nice little upsell as we continue to eat more than we need.) It is kinda of scary that in economic times like this there is a tendency to increase the portion size, which does not cost much, to justify slapping an extra buck on the price. I am sure there are people who are paid to figure out these ratios and dump it into a matrix.
So, with my sack of grease in one wet hand I made my way to the train. The Metra workers were switching the power from the station to the engine so the car was dark as I climbed upstairs. And it remained dark. When there is no power, there is no fans or AC running. I was still soaked on 1/3 of my body smelling all the wonderful fragrances coming off of people experiencing muggy day in the concrete box that is the city. Scentacular!
I began perspiring myself and got to listen to a woman on a cell phone in the quietness of the train trying to explain to somebody in octaves reserved for opera that her “God DAMN piece of SHIT water heater is BROKEN! What am I going to do CAL? I HAVE to take a shower tomorrow for work. I thought you fixed the GOD DAMN piece of SHIT last week.”
What is wrong with people that either tune out everyone around them or just don’t care? I so wanted to fling some Honey Mustard sauce at her and say “How ya gonna clean it BITCH! How ya gonna clean it NOW?” but my keep-my-ass-out-of-jail side persevered.
Thankfully she ended the conversation and THEN walked out into the vestibule. WTF? Day-time riding is so much different than at night. In the morning everyone is calm and reserved, all business drinking coffee and reading the paper. People are a little looser in the evening grabbing beers from the bar car and unwinding.
Thankfully the AC came back on, Well, thankfully at first until I looked down to the yahoos seated beneath me and saw this:
Yes, those are ten gnarly, white trash, bare toes freed from their Jellies. Eww. Ewww. Ewwwwww. This is not your house. Where do the hell do people think they are in public? Now, the picture does not do this justice. These toes had nails on them could cut through the seat fabric and they seemed to have an extra appendage that would allow her to heat, cut and serve the Salisbury steak in her Hungry Man TV dinner value meal.
I know it is hot and you have been WALKING around all day, but keep the Fromunda cheese wheels in their protective casings. And yes, I was still eating my own processed value meal while trying not to upchuck it on her. “HERE lady how about a number SIX!” Blarrrffff.
Wait it is not over. After finishing my delicious filler and settling my stomach by keeping my eyes averted to the pterodactyl claws six feet away I noticed another woman that was hogging four spots (Us daytime train people shakes our heads in smug and quiet disapproval at this) I saw she was stretched out across the seats BAREFOOT!
Look:
Back-to-back, naked hoosier toes. (For you non-StL people this is not a term of endearment for Indiana people) It was a shoeless, white trash sandwich. Arrrggghhhhh. What the hell people. There should be a law that allows people to swat these socially inept people with a rolled up newspaper, preferably the Sunday edition.
These toes were painted green and did not look like she had just taken off her new Nike brand cheese graters, but come on. It was a somewhat-crowded train so someone eventually sat across from her, but she never removed her feet. She kept her kicks right next to this. Maybe I am making mre out of this than needs be, granted if C and I are eating informally in front of the TV I ask not to show them to me.
I don’t get it, I really can’t understand how people can think that this is OK.
Well, that is my Friday story for you. Trying to get some house stuff done and pay the bills this weekend. Saturday night is a 10-year Anniversary party at a good friend’s house. Maya had a checkup at the dentist yesterday. C said she was pretty good but she is starting to form two cavities. Need to water down the juice (good advice for Sat. too) and stop giving her mayonnaise for toothpaste (she loves it though, just dips in the gallon-sized Hellmans jug from Sam’s).
Sorry, I am tired and I feel combustion engine of coffee and previous-nightMcDonald’s kicking in and I still have to walk back into work. Could not get out of bed this morning to run, blamed it on the rain (yes, I do have a treadmill in the basement)
Have a good weekend.
Jul/080
Sub Pop
Happy 20th Anniversary to the music label I grew up on including Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Afghan Whigs, L7, Love Battery and Nirvana.
Some of my favorite artists that I am into now are on their label including Band of Horses, Iron and Wine, Sleater-Kinney, Modest Mouse, Tiny Vipers, The White Stripes, The Shins and the list could go on and on. This is where most of the up and coming bands start out and where I cut my teeth on non-radio music.
Jul/080
7/9/8
Already way behind today so need to get work done on the train. Could not escape the gravitational pull of the bed this morning. I am starting to see a pattern of every-other-day running. Tonight's Wino Wednesday for those in the "know" so see you there.
This is dedicated to Rich:
Jul/080
Still Haven’t Seen “My Kid Could Paint That”
Art is a very subjective means of expression. One person’s trash is another one’s treasure. We as a human race have always strived to express ourselves through color, dance and drawing just to name a few of the thousand different disciplines.
Not since the cave paintings found in Lascaux, France has there been a completely redefining moment in the way we look at ourselves and each other, Ladies and gentleman, my limited vocabulary is like a laundry list written by a first-year ESL student compared to the majesty that is:
BITCH (or Bitterness Fulfilled)
Author: Anonymous
Medium: Key on Trunk
Canvas: 1996 Saturn LS1 trunk
Location: Itinerant (This viewing was at an “On the Border” restaurant)
Date created: Two boyfriends ago, after the one that was on parole
Like Picasso’s ear, this young artist needed to make himself known to the object of his affection. In this tragically romantic piece the artist needs to express himself in such a way that his lover will always take his message with her. (I am assuming it is a “her” because the bumper sticker beneath the masterpiece extolled that “Good Girls go to Heaven; Bad Girls go EVERYWHERE”)
Notice the lack of curved letters. It is as if the artist wanted to show his urgency of emotions or he wanted to tell her that you are not even worth my time to make the arced half circles that form a proper B.
Luckily, the stars of the world were in alignment and the owner of this remarkable piece came out just as I we were leaving. Not only was I able to confirm her gender, but I was able to discuss the piece with the owner of this rolling gallery.
Me: Excuse me, ma’am, is this your amazing gift to the world?
Owner: You mean my Saturn?
Me: Absolutely. This work of art should be in a museum. The raw emotions stir something inside of me. The lettering is sublime and the message is an observation into love’s soul; all in a single word
Owner: You mean where I got keyed? Dude, you crazy.
Me: You must tell me something about the artist of this wonderful piece.
Owner: You must mean that asshole Julian. I was with him like two years ago and he got crazy on me saying I was going around his back with one of his boys, I don’t do drama so I dropped him and wasn’t happy about it as you can see.
Me: I see. As a testament to that relationship that never blossomed you wear your pain on your sleeve like a scarlet letter B as a staunch reminder of the pains of love?
Owner: Naw, I just can’t afford to get it buffed.
At this point, she hopped into her rolling campus and sped away into the horizon keeping all of her stories, her bitterness and love unrealized within the confines of those two doors.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I know, I know. The joke was played out after the first paragraph. Went to bed early last night and got up about 4:30 to go for my run. Total time for the 3 miles was 25:43. I like that I am getting better with my times, would love to run a sub 8:00 per mile 5K at some point in my life, but I prefer to concentrate on the distance.
It was nasty hot this morning. The second I walked onto the porch I knew that it was going to be stifling. I sometimes forget that I grew up in St. Louis and that this used to be a daily occurrence for months on end. I have definitely gotten soft to that end. Took a long cold shower to try and get my core temperature down, but it wasn’t working.
When you are still hot, like that and you get out of the shower the water on you still feels like sweat and then putting pants on exacerbates it. Checked my watch and saw that I was running late for the early train so I grabbed everything and hustled out the door. By the time I got to the station I was sweating again for real, but at least the cars are full of glorious AC, I just need to get a spatula to remove my shirt stuck to my bath.
Yes, this is a long post, The other little bump this morning was that the newspaper was not delivered. None of the other neighbor’s had their (no, I was not casing their driveways) so I know that mine wasn’t stolen. It is funny the routines we get into. I feel “off” if I don’t have my morning newspaper. I read it in a certain order and fold it in the same way on the top storage shelf of the commuter train.
Busy day work wise today and tomorrow; might have to stay late. Tomorrow is Wino Wednesday and I really wanted to get the porch ready for painting this weekend or at the very least acid etching. Hmmm…this week seems more hectic than I first thought, I think I need to fix that.
Here is a picture of Maya with a friend's set of raccoon binoculars.
Jul/080
Precious Snowflakes (Part 2)
She admits her kids were out of control on the flight. "They were restless and excited and walking around the plane."
Yes, pretty harsh to strand kids and a pregnant Mom, but damn, control your kids especially after you are told multiple times to rein them in. The whole attitude disturbs me. Obviously, not knowing the full extent of the situation I don't know the whole story, but I think I have to side with Southwest on this one. I am sure the rest of the passengers cheered once the plane took off again.
Status:
Kevin Hoffmann is watching his daughter roll around in an Ikea ball pit. Need to find the Purell body suit called the Germefluven.
