one brick shy

Ug, I forgot how hard it is to find a second to post on...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:55:25 -0500

Ug, I forgot how hard it is to find a second to post on Sundays. I’ll have to plan ahead next week. Rest assured, I have a mouthful of things to complain about, including wearing heels to church. ADORABLE heels, fantastic outfit, that all worked in theory, except I just can’t wear heels anymore. I forgot how, I was trying not to fall over and kill myself or walk like a robot (or Julia Roberts, she does NOT have a sexy walk, case in point - when she does her walk-away from Andy Garcia at the end of Ocean’s 11 - that’s what I looked like today, bah). WHy must heels look so right and feel SO wrong??

But they were HOTT. I’ll share pix tomorrow, for now, check out these awesome party plates. Am I the ony one that has to decide between eating and drinking at cocktail parties where there’s no tables? This solves it! Must make some.

(via applearts:15 Useful and Creative Inventions)

Everyone should get a Pascal weekend. Kids love him, Husband has...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:43:48 -0500

Everyone should get a Pascal weekend. Kids love him, Husband has a partner in crime and I get an excuse to go to the cheese factory. Win-win-win.

indulge me

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:02:00 -0500

Indulge me today, this is a story I just feel like telling.

So we’ve established that getting my masters was the most difficult 2 years of my life. I’ve let go of most of it emotionally, but this one story comes to me every so often and all the emotions come flooding back.

My last semester, I took an ethnomusicology class from an eccentric prof, Dr. Solis. I just looked him up on the ASU website, and I have to share the official picture he has on the school website:

Classic. It was my favorite class of my entire masters. We studied music from all over the world, how people study said music and the consequences of an outsider studying music and seeing it through their own Western understanding of music theory and such. It was fascinating - and to prove his point, once a week we all had to meet up and learn to play all the instruments in an actual Javanese gamelan without benefit of written music. Very humbling and eye opening, and one of the only hours a week I actually enjoyed myself.

And then he announced the coolest assignment ever - we were going to write ethnographies on another student in the class and present how different influences in their lives had shaped the musician they were. How cool! I couldn’t wait to hear what someone came up with my odd musical past. One girl in class approached me and asked to be my partner, and her ethnography was really wild -she’d trained in musical theater but after traveling as a humanitarian all over the far east, she was actually about to move to Nepal to be a radio DJ. It was a blast to study and write. But when I offered to give her an interview to study my side, she cheerfully informed me that she was only auditing the class and was not required to do the assignments. Total buzzkill.

The day we presented, we all had a blast learning about the different influences of our classmates, but I had to fight back tears. One, because I’m overly emotional, but two, because it perfectly illustrated my tenure as a graduate student - always the odd man out. I was too alternative for the other string players (including my professor), never anywhere as good as any of them, and never fit in with any of the people at church. No one ever talked to me at institute. I was just too… different. And here I was, in my favorite class, the only one missing out on this assignment. I didn’t think anyone would notice, but at the end of the class, Dr. Solis asked my partner to present her paper on me, and she told him she didn’t do one. He looked honestly horrified, and found me later to apologize over and over. Of course, being me, I went home to cry, but it made me feel so much better to know that he’d noticed and cared.

A few weeks later, I had my comprehensive exams, where all my professors submitted questions and I had 4 hours to write answers that proved to them I knew enough to graduate. They were arguably the toughest 4 hours of my life - I didn’t stop typing for a second, terrified I would forget the name of a technique or composer and I’d be denied my degree. It took me 2 hours to answer the question “Give the history of the violin concerto, citing specific works, years and techniques introduced.” My tendonitis was screaming in my arms, but I didn’t stop typing - until I got to my last question in the last 15 minutes. It was the only one submitted by Dr. Solis, and it was this: “Write your ethnography.” I actually cried with relief when I saw it. My history is crazy interesting - I was a classical violinist that began studying jazz and other styles and traveled all over the world to learn from different masters of their craft - heck, one year of my undergrad, I exasperated my professor by only being able to play a bow techique I’d mastered for jazz that emulated the breathy sound of a saxophone. Great for Coltrane, not so good for the Bruch concerto.

It was so kind of him. And weeks later when I found out the results, my violin professor told me how I’d “barely passed,” what with me just not fitting in as the perfect violin student or being as good as I should have been.. at anything. I didn’t care - because the word “barely” was nowhere near as important as “PASSED.” Something tells me that last question and his scoring may have been what pushed me over the top.

She was actually out of town for graduation, and so I asked Dr. Solis to hood me in the official ceremony. I’m so glad that’s how it turned out. I’ll always love him for showing concern for me and caring enough to give me that question.

Every now and then, I think of that experience and feel sad I never got to have anyone do a report on me. Those 2 years really broke my spirit, ug. You know what put it back together again? Joining the BorderCollies. Playing in a celtic band with a motley crew of musicians, some of us who had no business playing celtic music, but going ahead and being AWESOME anyway. The members of that band are the best musicians I have ever worked with, and it was such an honor and delight. And all the people who bought our CDs, that came to our gigs and supported us, were the bandaid my musical self needed.

I wonder what my ethnography would be now? Classical Suzuki trained violinist, turned jazz fiddler, turned electric rock violinist, add a dash of Latin, Klezmer and Indian music, then a 4 year stint as a celtic violinist who now does nothing but change diapers all day. I wish someone had written a paper on me before I had to close that chapter of my life. But I have that 15 minute ethnography that Dr. Solis gave me, and I’ll forever love that crazy professor for that tender mercy.

I’m landlocked today. Well, every day really. What else is...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:55:11 -0500

I’m landlocked today. Well, every day really. What else is there to do in the Middle Of Nowhere Wisconsin*?So not shockingly, I’m feeling a little low today and lonely, so I made my clone-girl a puppet theater so she can entertain me all evening long.

That, my friends, is the best kind of child labor there is.

The Middle Of Nowhere being specifically about 60 minutes north of a Target store in Madison. I figure all my geography in relation to the closest Target, don’t you?

Oh, did I forget to mention OUR HOUSE IN ATLANTA IS UNDER...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:27:56 -0500

Oh, did I forget to mention OUR HOUSE IN ATLANTA IS UNDER CONTRACT??? And we have to head there in a week and a half for the closing?? Can you believe someone is buying that house?? I never thought anyone other than my wacky self would want that crazy house on the hill, but someone does!!

Anyone else feel like dancing?!

blast from the past

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:02:00 -0500

This was originally posted by moi July 20, 2005. We were just 7 months into our marriage, and at that point we’d only even known each other a year.

So I’m sitting there on the couch with Jared, when I notice he’s on the A Current Affair website’s commentary page, snickering to himself.

This is what he wrote to them:

just curious how your exhaustive hunt for bigfoot is goin. can you give me an update? i been out lookin for him since you showed your show and was wondering how much you think that his pelt is worth. your show is the best one that I like on the TV. i even worked up my own t-shirt with your logo. i didn’t have a new one, so i used one of my old daddy’s shirts. mama said he aint comin back so it was ok. i wear it everyday. ok well, the librarian keeps askin me to leave the libary sayin I’m stinkin up the place and scarin all the other people so I’m gonna go. please write to me and tell me about bigfoot and if you want we can split the pelt money if you want to.

i love you.

Where does he get these ideas?? The best part was how much he laughed at himself. I wonder what would happen if I locked him a room with nothing but some spagetti. Something tells me I’d find it friggin hilarious.

GPOYW At our trunk or treat this year. I’m smiling...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:01:01 -0500

GPOYW

At our trunk or treat this year. I’m smiling because that’s the same dress I wore to my senior recital when I was 22. And it wasn’t even tight. WOOT.

∞ Just think about it .. you’ll get it. (via ooliquidnightoo)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:03:33 -0500

∞

Just think about it .. you’ll get it.

(via ooliquidnightoo)

a Dr. Laura moment

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:18:00 -0500

Yesterday WonderGirl did not nap, then the missionaries popped in that night and her bedtime was pushed back about an hour. So by the time Husband was trying to get her to bed, she had a full-on meltdown. I have no idea what it was about - I think she was screaming something about juice. I was trying to feed and sleepify the Dude, so I was just listening to the crazy. She was in her room alone since we don’t allow her tantrums anywhere else in the house. You need to scream like an animal? You don’t get an audience. And she adores an audience. What tantruming kid doesn’t love an audience?

When it was apparent she was going to tear the walls down, I about lost control and announced I was going to go in there and tear her head off, but Husband stopped me and calmly went into her room, picked her up, carried her into the bathroom and dropped her in a cold tub full of water. It was the perfect SNAP OUT OF IT move, I was so crazy impressed with him. As she stood there sputtering and all confused like a drowned rat, he calmly explained why he did what he did and what her consequences were. And she got it. She went down like a light after that.

Here’s my take on discipline - the kid has got to know there are consequences to their actions. And I don’t just mean they get their favorite toy taken away or have to stand in a corner - they have to know that people, especially parents, have breaking points. I have a temper, she knows it and I know it - and when she complains about how I yelled at her the other day, we talk about WHY mommy got to that point. If you disobey mommy repeatedly, if you do the scream-y thing and behave the way you see those monster kids at church behave, mommy WILL break at some point and yell, since you obviously didn’t hear me the first 3 times I said to stop. Because mommy is a HUMAN BEING and has feelings and faults, despite adoring the heck out of you. And when WG starts acting up, I remind her what the consequence is for treating mommy that way, and most times she stops dead in her tracks. Snappy mommy is freaky, dagnabit, and she needs to know that, for both our sakes. One thing I do know about dogs is you don’t touch their food bowl while they’re eating or push them too much when you are teasing them, because out of instinct, they’ll attack to protect themselves. Humans are the same way, and I’ll be darned if I’m letting my daughter out in the world without knowing that fact.

And when she’s behaving properly, I let her know it profusely.

So last night as I sat there trying to feed the Dude and I heard the giant splash of water and the sound of my daughter overcoming her tired rage to realize she’d gone too far, I smiled. It’s one thing to figure out your stand on how to teach and discipline your kid, but it’s another thing entirely to know your kid’s Baby Daddy is on the same page.

NaBloPoMo day 3 in the bag!

Moi. circa 1994 on an orchestra trip. Can you tell which geek...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:21:14 -0500

Moi. circa 1994 on an orchestra trip. Can you tell which geek is me?

Light-up wallpaper. Mad cool. Someday, I will build a house. ...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:16:43 -0500

Light-up wallpaper. Mad cool. Someday, I will build a house. And I will do this, so I don’t have to stress about what family photo or cutsey pictures to put on the wall. And instead of blank walls, I will have light. Until then… will someone please come to my house and add a few of those delightful touches that make the house not look like a college freshman decorated it?

(via piquant:entropicflux)

Weezer : I Am The Greatest man That Ever Lived Loves me...

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:40:09 -0500

Weezer : I Am The Greatest man That Ever Lived

Loves me some Weezer - and this tune is quite the unique selection. If you are a music geek, someone analyzed the different styles found in this number - I don’t know if I agree with the Beethoven part but all in all it’s pretty dang intarresting. And awesome. See if you can catch them all:

Live 0:00
Rap 0:35
Slipknot 1:00
Jeff Buckley 1:26
Choral 1:51
Aerosmith 2:17
Nirvana 2:43
Andrews Sisters 3:08
Green Day 3:33
Spoken word (heavily inspired by Elvis’ “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”) 4:06
Bach 4:37
Beethoven 4:54
Weezer 5:10

Are you dying to know how my Halloween was? You are?? Lucky...

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:31:52 -0500

Are you dying to know how my Halloween was? You are?? Lucky you!!!

Wednesday day was WonderGirl’s Halloween party at her school (have I mentioned how much I love that place??) and I’d promised to dress up, plus get her and Dude all costumed up. But the night before I’d been up almost all the bleepety-bleeping night long so I was barely functional. I had to figure out a costume for her, and I did it maahhhvelously - I rummaged in her closet and came out with a denim jumper, blue tights, a staw hat, a bandana and a pair of glittery cowgirl boots. Dang I’m awesome. Then I threw on my fall-back black dress and witch hat, put Dude in a pumpkin bag and headed to play at school. Fabulous mommying for the day achieved.

Then that night was the church Halloween party - a potluck where you were supposed to bring soup. Husband made some AMAZING Thai Coconut soup and no one there had ever even heard of it (“Ew! Coconut in a soup?!”). Le sigh. Love the boonies. But then I got it all to myself, heh. On the way home I decided to be a nice mommy and let WG eat some candy. I’m usually all miserly about letting her gobble too much, but I figured she’s 3 now and I remember mom letting me eat all the candy I wanted, seeing as I was the one who had walked the entire neighborhood to get it (except for the Almond Joys. We were required to surrender those to her). So she ate a few Starbursts, a lollipop, and tried to eat a Twizzlers but she kept dropping it. We got home, took baths, brushed our teeth, prayed, snuggled in bed for some stories and then snuggled like we usually do until she got groggy. Except suddenly, without reason, she puked. No warning, no “uuuugghhhh I don’t feel good” just BLAH, on her bed, the wall and MY HAIR. I am now officially a mother.

Friday there was the Preschool Pumpkin parade - all the kids in town line up and walk Main Street while the shop keepers hand out candy. I was the only mom dressed up - again in my witch costume, but dang I want WG to feel like this is a holiday for all of us, not just some thing we make her do. Festive and all that. Also, I think it makes me cooler than the other moms. And since I am lacking in most of the other mom qualities - craftiness, able to cook, able to wear mom jeans - I figure I have to make up for it in Halloween costumes.

The actual Halloween night we had a church meeting down in Madison so we left WG with 2 other girls and they had a pajama party with copious amounts of popcorn and screaming and Nick Jr.

Man, when I write it all out I see how awesome I truly am, the puppet-master of her social calendar. Someday, WG will be able to read and I want her to realize how fabulous her mom was/is. YOU HEAR ME?? FAAAABBBUUULLLOOOOUUUUSSSS!!!

Day one of NaBloPoMo down, 29 to go!

rant

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:12:52 -0400

Dude doesn’t nap well during the day because he doesn’t sleep well at night. He doesn’t sleep well at night and it’s my fault. I have 2 functions at night - when he wakes me up, I either

1. feed him while checking my e.mail because it wakes me up enough to take care of him, and then I lay in my bed totally awake and unable to sleep for at least an hour, usually staying awake through the next feeding. Although today at 1am I tried that but I was so tired we fell asleep on the chair for an hour and I woke up seconds before I pushed my laptop onto the floor. Or, I

2. feed him in his room in the dark, but I don’t actually wake up, so I pass out on the couch or floor (it was the hallway once this week too) with Dude laying on my chest, and we sleep uncomfortably for an hour or so, until I wake up and try to put him back to bed but he won’t sleep anymore because why would you sleep on a hard, cold bed when you had a warm squishy mommy? So I, still barely awake stumble around trying to get him sleepy again unsuccessfully. Heck, around 3am today, I actually put his diaper on only halfway and backwards so a few minutes later he woke me up, sopping wet with pee. Woohoo.

It’s my fault he doesn’t know how to sleep. But I can’t think when I’m tired. Some people get mean, but I just get stupid. And now royally pissed off. Not at my sweet Dude, I know it’s not his fault. It’s mine. I won’t say where my wrath is going, but I do know I need a healthy way to release it because I’m about to punch someone in the face. I may or may not have almost ripped WG’s head off for trying to sneak a snack, which she is not allowed since she wouldn’t eat her breakfast.

So now, because I am so &^%&*% mad, I would like to make a list of other things that are incurring my wrath today:

1. The &^%^%$ 25 MPH speed limit in this podunk town.

2. The dresser I walked into at 1am.

3. Oatmeal, and having it spat on me by WG.

4. Not knowing everything in the universe. Specifically, not knowing how and who to set up all my amazing single guy friends up with since they deserve to be happy, except who knows if there is anyone out there good enough for them and if they were with some undeserving chick that would be on this list too.

5. Screaming children.

6. Dry skin. It hasn’t stopped raining in 5 days, but my epidermis is like sandpaper and no amount of guzzling water or slopping on lotion is making a difference.

7. Not seeing the sun for 5 ^%$#^%$ days.

8. Hair. I don’t want to blow dry it, I don’t want to stand there and try and get it to look decent, I just want to go. And the only hairstyle that will accommodate that is bald, but I’m pretty sure my skull is not one of my better features so I gots to cover that up. And I am tired of looking like this:

9. Crap all over the %$# floor that I didn’t put there and can’t get the person who DID put it there to put it away since there’s no place to put most of this crap and organizing things gives me $%# hives.

Okay, let’s cleanse the palete, shall we?

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Now let’s get out there and not kill anybody today!

NaBloPoMo

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:28:45 -0400

Visit NaBloPoMo

See that handy badge? It means NaBloPoMo is almost upon us. Yep, an entire month of entries for you, my lucky audience. 3 years ago I was a PPD wreck, and hiding from the rest of the world. Very UN-moi, as we all know. So when Husband found out about it, he insisted I go for it. Every day he encouraged me to write, and in return I got someone of the sweetest e.mails and support from people all over the world, forcing me out of my dark corner and closer to someplace healthy. So there’s a sweet spot in my heart for the exercize that is the November of blogging. Why don’t you join me?? It’s good for the soul and all that. And for my voyeuristic needs :)

The Meet Up Hey, can I bring my friend Dave to the meet up...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:48:06 -0400

The Meet Up

Hey, can I bring my friend Dave to the meet up tonight?

Sure, what instrument does he play?

The gun.

via ooliquidnightoo

GPOYW Currently my FB profile pic. I’m so obsessed with...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:40:03 -0400

GPOYW Currently my FB profile pic. I’m so obsessed with this fauxlaroid iPhone app it’s almost criminal. Except I’m getting amazing shots of the Dude. Will share soon.

FYI. (via)

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:32:27 -0400

FYI. (v i a)

So every night/morning, I’m up for those pesky feedings...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:13:03 -0400

So every night/morning, I’m up for those pesky feedings and diaper changes every other hour or so. And in between those times, I’m laying in bed, cursing my brain for not turning off so I can get some sleep. I don’t think there’s anything positive a brain can think at 3am. I can’t do it, I just lay there, furious, thinking every possible horrible thing about myself. I’m sure it’s doing wonders for my blood pressure.

But last night wasn’t as bad. I was thinking over these amazing pictures from Erika’s 10th wedding anniversary Trash The Dress photo session, and thinking how awesome it would be to try it in another 5 years. But oh, I thought, my dress was far too formal to do that.. grrr, grumble grumble… wait! What about just the skirt, and some t-shirt that says something witty, like “My Dad Went To Dallas And All I Got Was This T-Shirt,” maybe “Vote For Pedro” (a staple of 2005, ahhhh). Or something classy, whatever. How fun would that be?! And how awesome would it be if I could fit in that thing in another 5 years?!

I loved the skirt of my wedding dress. All these gathers and tucks with white roses inside for the temple ceremony, and then red ones added for the reception.

Oh, I felt like a princess in that skirt, it was heavenly! And all my bridesmaids, friends and family had hidden charms in the tucks that they didn’t reveal to me until after the ceremony - they all had these personal meanings from our relationships, and then they all put them on a necklace for me. So. Dang. Cute. I’d love to get to slip that puppy on again, just for the memory of how divine it felt to feel the layers swish around my ankles as I danced.

I lay there smiling for the first time at 4am in days, thinking how fun that would be. But then I remembered my groom isn’t the kind of guy who would be willing to do that with me. That’s a side of my personality - the Ethel Merman part - he usually outsources to my friends, which has worked for him. He also said I can’t pull off pink hair. And that thought made me get cranky again (remember, 4am and all)… until I came up with the perfect solution.

Stunt double.

I’d settle for Rowan Atkinson. *geek swoon* Anyone have his phone number?!?!

And with that thought, I drifted off to sleep only to be woken up again half an hour later. Grrrrr.

From the moment WG was born, she’s blinded everyone with...

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:34:30 -0400

From the moment WG was born, she’s blinded everyone with her star power. Every excitable Brasilian woman who demanded to hold her, every old man at the store she insisted on flirting with, every random stranger who crosses her path gives me the same line - “you have a star on your hands!”. She practically sparkles, and did from one.

But this little Dude - I’m not taken by glitz, but kindness. He screams only when he needs something, and the rest of the time is spent wiggling and giggling. I lean over his face for hours a a day, marveling at how sweet and just plain nice he is. And coaxing him to laugh. It’s a delightful hobby.

I adore my star. I didn’t think I could love someone as much as the little girl I call Sunshine. So the heavens sent me something completely different. A Dude of the sweet variety.