My Timing

Yesterday I finished reading a book called "Carbon Diaries 2015." Basically, it's the diary of a girl living in London in 2015 when they start rationing carbon use, and all this weird weather happens because of global warming, and then London floods. It was a really dumb book on many levels and I wouldn't recommend it (the storyline would have been much more interesting if the book had been about adults, but maybe that book has already been written), but the timing of it is pretty ironic with what's going on here at home. And the hypothesis about changes that could occur globally as a result of climate change is, of course, the "it" thing right now. It makes for good reads--well, it should make for good "dystopian future" reading, hypothetically. Other books have done much better.

Did you see this picture show from Boston.com's The Big Picture? Click on each picture to see a famous landmark turn the lights off for an hour. Did you hear about this, Earth Hour 2010? I don't think it made any kind of a difference as a global warming statement, other than to make people notice how much electricity we waste to light up pretty buildings (and I think the hill of the Acropolis looks way better unlit anyway).

I don't make it a habit to blog about anything political or remotely social for that matter, and I'm not going to start now. It was simply something I was thinking about this week as our basement flooded while I was reading a book wherein the town flooded.

My Flood Watch

And when I say "flood watch" I mean watch these videos of our flooded basement. We got so much rain in the last 24 hours that our basement now has about 5+ inches of water in it. Our next door neighbor's house has about 13 inches of standing water in the basement. I think the rain's done for now. We have rivers instead of a driveway. I've cleared out a lot of the junk that's featured in these videos, and we've had to call the fire department to come pump out the water (we're about "a page and a half down" on their list, or we were about an hour ago). A shop vac won't do anything with this much water.

I called the landlord, who suggested we take a walk around the house looking for "mole holes," or places where there are holes in the ground against the foundation where animals have dug out and created tunnels. Apparently there's a trend to use our foundation as an animal Hilton during the winter. Toby and I did this, and only succeeded in getting really, really wet. (His office has 18 inches of water in it, so we're not the priority for him yet.)

I hope these videos come through. Sorry for the weak commentary but it's all I could think of. (And I should note that we haven't cleaned out our empty cardboard boxes--empty wine boxes--in like 18 months, so there's nothing like a flooding rain to inspire a box party.) These videos were taken 30 minutes apart, so things look pretty much the same in both. I went down a half an hour later and moved stuff out of the way and we have some kind of flow from the wettest part of the basement out the garage door. For those of you who haven't seen our basement, it's a pretty creepy place to be (I never look up because of all the cobwebs) even when it's dry. Under 5 inches of water it's plain depressing.

My one-way ticket to insanity

Step one: take the personality outlined in previous post.

Step two: combine with two small children.

Step three: observe.

My Approval Rating

I must share a few things (and if this post makes you feel like you're too much inside my head, forgive me).
I like to obey the law: speeding is not for me (which is why BJ drives whenever we're together). I read instruction manuals so that I know how to correctly operate things (this is fodder for teasing in my family). I like to follow recipes instead of straying into unfamiliar territory with weird ingredients or messed up ratios. (I once made a lava cake, changing the recipe with a portion of margarine instead of all butter and it turned out terrible.) I'm lost without to-do lists with easy-to-check-off boxes (a list from last week: take out trash, mail Netflix movie, do dishes. Check, check, check).
These kinds of things make me feel comfortable. I like to know what's expected of me and I like knowing that I can accomplish it within my own means. Inside my head I have an "approval rating" like you might see for a seller of used books on Amazon. Each time I do a task I can check off a box and know that I've done what's required. I don't mind going an extra mile, and often times I do. But I am at ease when I know I've met someone's expectations (including my own). The more tasks I complete = the higher the approval rating.
What am I getting at? Well, this week I found myself distracted with worry because I wasn't meeting the expectations that other people put on me and it's really caused me to wonder about myself.

For example, Friday is recycling day. I get the basket out in the morning before I take Toby to preschool (check). Friday I took Norah for a jog and we got home right as the recycling truck drove by our house--without picking up my basket. For the next hour and a half I wondered, "what was wrong with my basket that caused the trash guys to just skip my house?" I called the trash company and asked why they skipped my house (I wouldn't have called if I hadn't seen them drive right by--after just picking up my neighbors' baskets). They couldn't figure it out either, but they made a special trip back to pick up my recycling later that day. But I worry that I did something wrong (did I not sort it right?) and that I've become "that house" the trash guys want to avoid.

This morning I got an email asking me to send a check I mailed weeks ago. Panic begins... Someone expected payment and I send the check. But what happens when they don't get it? I immediately blame the post office. Unfortunately, it was my error: I had an old payment address in the bill pay. Now I'm worried this person has lost respect for me because of such a stupid mistake!

Ugh. Maybe I can find something to do around here while I wait for this to get resolved, something that's an easy task to check off....Maybe Toby needs help putting legs back on his Lego men. ;o)

OK now, if you've made it this far, thanks for reading. I'm done. ~hugs~

My Dark and Stormy Night

On Saturday night we had a small dinner party here. We had a former student and his girlfriend over for a few courses (salad, cream of asparagus soup, short ribs and risotto). Everything turned out awesome, of course. Except that this also happened to be the night of a big rain and wind storm here in New England. We were just about finished with the last bites of the main course when.... the lights stuttered a couple of time and then went out completely. A few minutes later, after scrambling for our new (and rarely used) flood light and a box full of tea lights, our phone rings. The neighbors are wondering if we're okay without power. What should we do now? Invite them over and start mixing cocktails, of course! The kids, who were just getting snuggled up with Madagascar, pulled out their blocks and started building to entertain us all. (Note: the Elmo flashlight has continued to serve us well.)

After an hour and a half of candle-lit cocktails the power came back on (unlike other homes in CT where the power stayed off for days) and the lovely dinner party guests headed home for the night. It was a very memorable evening, and we were fortunate to only loose power for 90 minutes.

My New Pictures

I've updated the slide show at the top of the blog with new pictures.

If you'd like to make the pictures bigger just click on them. It will take you to the Picasa web album site where I keep the current photos. Feel free to browse.

My New Personal Best

I was going to run in a 5K today in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. But I let the registration slide when I saw the weather forecast: pouring rain and flood watch for all coastal towns.
So what did I decide to do this morning? Leave the kids with BJ and head out for a jog in our neighborhood. (No sense driving 20 minutes in the rain to run when I can run from here.)
Rainy? Yep. My feet were soaked before I went a quarter of a mile.
Windy? Yep. Sixteen mile an hour gusts.
Solitary? Yep. No iPod, few cars, and the only other humans I saw were mail carriers.
Hardest run ever? Close.
Personal best time and distance for the year? Yep.

The thought occurred to me about halfway through the run (when the gusts and rain were coming full in my face) that my kids must have been really difficult if I'd rather go outside and brave wacky weather than stay in and snuggle while watching Saturday morning cartoons.
But I came home to find Norah zonked out on BJ's chest and Toby in his pajamas snuggled up on the couch. After peeling off two soaked outer layers (I wish I had a scale so I could measure how many extra pounds of water I carried) and logging this run, I've decided to get back into my "scooby pants" and snuggle with the kids for the afternoon. The kids don't care how fast I run or how far, just as long as I'm in a better mood on my return! And from my perspective they are better than any personal best I can get out on the road.

My Lego Invasion

Last weekend Toby "inherited" quite a collection of Legos from his father. We visited Oma and Opa for a long weekend. Without the usual gaggle of cousins to play with Toby had Legos as his constant companion. We brought a bag of them to dinner on Friday. We brought a bag along on the metro ride to the Smithsonian on Saturday. We brought a bag of Legos everywhere. Toby got two new Legos kits that we put together on Monday, which he kept close by for the drive home on Tuesday. BJ also included a red plastic suitcase full of his childhood Lego pieces in the trunk of our car when we left.
Since our return Toby has done almost nothing but play with Legos. This is fantastic. However, there are drawbacks. Before this weekend I could walk about my house with confidence, trusting that my stockinged feet would only encounter safe, smooth flooring. Now a day doesn't go by without my feet discovering a rogue Lego piece that was overlooked in clean up. Before this weekend Toby was content to work with his pirates setting up battles with Norah's Little People princess and animals during his quiet time. Now he's starting to draw me into the battles as a medic--he appreciates my sense of perseverance in making sure every Lego man has legs. (It's only fair, I think, for the Lego people to have legs when they go into battle with the old Playmobile pirates.... we take things very seriously here!) And, of course, there's nothing like a "quiet time" with your kid digging through a plastic tub of Legos to find just the right piece. Toby got frustrated with this one night last week. His father's advice? "Toby, part of the fun in playing with Legos is trying to find the right piece." At least he hasn't thought of dumping them all out on the floor... yet.

My Book Pile

I used to pride myself on never giving up on a book, and not switching to a new book until I had finished the one I was reading. (This may not be considered a source of pride to many, but rather a source of stupidity or a stubborn waste of time). Recently, however, I have had to re-evaluate my stance on book consumption. I have front-loaded my library list with quality book suggestions, and I don't know where to start. So I've started a little bit from each of them. Here are a few of the titles I've been sampling:

When you Reach me. 2010's Newbery award winner--I started this one and didn't want to put it down. (When I got back to it on Monday night I didn't move from the couch until it was finished. I paid for it the next morning when I had to battle the dirty dishes to get the coffee set up, but it was totally worth it.)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Interesting premise, and it was recommended to me by my little sister. (Who didn't read it, but thought based on her book club's discussion that I might like it. She had a good excuse for not reading it, I think: she just had a baby a week ago! Welcome to the world, Kennadie!). Not a good sign that I had to ask BJ what two words meant--on the synopsis from the book cover! Too much time on young adult lit, I guess. But I'm on chapter 4 and it hasn't put me to sleep yet.

The Blind Side. Wanted to read this over Christmas break but didn't get around to checking it out. Put it on my list and forgot about it until today. I want to read it before I watch the movie (which is on my Netflix queue). We'll see if I can read it before the movie becomes available.

Making toast. I heard an interview with the author on the Diane Rehm show on NPR when I was picking Toby up from preschool. I usually can't stand Diane Rehm's voice, but I stuck it out for a half an hour to listen to this guy talk about his experience. He and his wife moved in with his son-in-law to help raise their three grandchildren when their daughter abruptly died in 2007. I've read a few pages of this memoir and it's already made me laugh and cry.

13 Reasons Why. A novel about a teenager's suicide. Saw a friend suggest it on Facebook. I haven't started this one yet. I'm limiting my intake of death to one book at a time.

My Kids Bowling

We went to the local bowling alley a few Saturdays ago with our neighbors. It was the kids' first introduction to bowling. It took them about an hour to get warmed up to the game, but they ended up really enjoying themselves.
Here are the videos to prove it.




(And how did the adults do? My score was a 123 and BJ's was a 127. I'm calling a rematch, though, because if it weren't for his 2 strikes in the last frame I would have beat him. Have I told you he works really well under pressure?) :o)

My Baby Girl Turns 2

Norah turned two on Saturday and we had a little celebration for her, with balloons, presents, cake and ice cream. I just looked back at all the pictures and realized two things: (1) she needed a hair tie because her hair is in the way in all the pictures, and (2) she can not smile for the camera yet. She prefers to say "cheese!" and squeeze her eyes tightly shut and grit her teeth. So the still pictures aren't that great. Please enjoy this little video post of her, being herself. And it gives you a good idea of what gifts she really enjoyed (the skirt, Elmo and Clifford books), as well as the ones that were pushed off to the side in favor of more exciting things (note the pile of clothes up next to the bookshelves).

My Fishy Experience

I've got loads of updating to do, not the least of which is our pictures from Norah's 2nd birthday party from the weekend. But this thing happened today that was just too funny to not post.

I took Norah to the pediatrician's for her 2 year check up this morning. We were the second ones there (even beating one of the secretaries in). Norah's favorite thing to see in the waiting room is this huge fish they have--the only one in the tank. Every doctor's visit she makes the sign for "fish," usually starting in the parking lot. (Can you see where this is going?)
Today she walks right up to the tank and says "Fish. Weep." Upon closer inspection (I was busy taking off coats and checking us in) I noticed the fish was on his side...and not swimming...and not sleeping, either. OK, happy Monday morning everyone! "Yes, Norah, the fishy is sleeping." I pointed the fish out to another mom in the waiting area who said, "Geez, that fish doesn't look too good." I hopped up and whispered to the secretary, who was still taking her coat off, "I think your fish is dead." She made this "Ut-oh" face and then went to tell the doctor. We were ushered off to an exam room, and I nodded to the doctor as he came into the waiting room with a net and a plastic bag....Upon our exit from the doctor's office Norah walked by the empty-but-still-running fish tank and said "Bye bubbles." No more questions about the sleeping fish.