The Car

Andrew's new car.

Cravings and new cars

For the past few days, I've been craving bacon. Normally, I almost never eat meat (only because it's often not appealing to me -- not because I'm a vegetarian -- but that's a blog for another day), so this craving is really weird. With this baby, I've had some unusual cravings (for me). There's been a few times now where I NEEDED bacon, and then another time when we were food shopping and I found myself buying hotdogs (either Nathan's or Hebrew National -- the only kind there are, as far as I'm concerned) (I'm showing my colors as a food snob, I'm afraid) and sauerkraut, which were then consumed at 11pm that night. I think that the "toddler cardio" of chasing Andrew around must be helping me keep my weight in check, because I'm on track with the last pregnancy, surprisingly enough. Sometimes I scare myself with what I want to eat, but I realize that it's really okay to give in from time to time and just have exactly what I want. So for breakfast today I had an avocado, tomato and bacon sandwich with mayonnaise. The only saving grace in this meal was the homemade bread I used. =0

Today on the way to the mailbox with Andrew, I noticed something by the dumpster: a black, rugged plastic, little-kid pick-up truck! Now, I've never picked anyone's garbage before, and as all of the apartments in our complex surround and share the dumpsters, I felt especially awkward doing this, but...well, Happy Spring to Andrew! It's used but in great condition, and it is propelled by the child's feet, which stick through the bottom. I always wanted one when I was little, and when I saw this, I just couldn't pass it up.

This is a gift for me too! For the past half-hour, he's thoroughly amused himself by climbing in and out, beeping the horn, and spinning the steering wheel. So great!

My questions are: is the taking of other's trash ethical? Should I have asked someone? If so, who? My landlady was in the office -- should I have asked her?

(Note: pics of the little guy in his new "caw" will be posted tomorrow -- I'm currently at my monthly download limit for Funtigo.)

Baking with Mommy

Baking with mommy 01
Originally uploaded by faithdarling.

One of our favorite things to do is baking together. It's something that we both enjoy doing, and there's always a fun snack at the end! Another plus is that I've become a better baker from all the practice. =) Also, it enables me to get something done, and in the meantime he thinks it a toddler activity, so everyone wins.

Baking with Mommy 02
Originally uploaded by faithdarling.

Tasting the dough is all part of the fun. The trick is to quickly get past this stage in the baking so that we actually have enough to bake at the end of it all!

The Last Bottle

The Last Bottle
Originally uploaded by faithdarling.

This is Andrew drinking his bottle before bed last night. It will probably be his last bottle ever, which is kind of sad. I love cuddling him while he drinks his bottle...the way he strokes my hair, the way he looks at me so peacefully, totally enjoying the whole experience. I felt like I needed to wean him now though before the baby is born, because otherwise, I'd have to wait quite a while before making the attempt. It's easier to battle the will of a 1-1/2 year old than a 3 year-old. Once the baby is born, I don't want him to have too many changes beyond that for a while. It'll be enough for him to adjust to having a sibling!

Really, Nobody Cares

Listening List For the Week:

Showbread: No Sir, Nihilism is not Practical
Denison Witmer: Philadelphia Songs
Ed Gein: It’s a Chame
The Witness Protection Program: He Has the Technology
Over the Rhine: Changes Come (Live)
Blindside: About a Burning Fire
Sigur Ros: ()
Not Waving But Drowning: An Anthology of Sorts
Daniel Ryan: Piping by the Oaks of Mamre
Reuben Morgan: World Through Your Eyes
Frodus: And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea
Raft of Dead Monkeys: Thoroughlev

Check them out if you care.

MOPS

Yesterday morning, Andrew and I went to this group called MOPS, or Mothers Of Preschoolers. I didn't really know what to expect, but the premise sounded good: meet other moms and spend time with them for two hours while Andrew and other little people got babysat in another room. Two hours! A whole morning accounted for, and then to home for a nap! Then just the afternoon to entertain the boy, and the day is over! All of this was very attractive to me. Not even the $20 registration fee could deter me. I was buying two hours of freedom.

After a few early morning errands (dropping Greg off at work, and a brief bit of shopping), Andrew and I pulled up to New Hope Baptist Church. Andrew was feeling fantastic from his breakfast of a bottle of milk and several little cups of cheese doodles (they were at the check-out counter at Staples for impulse buys...Andrew is an impulse buyer), and jumped out of the car to start running circles around the parking lot. After collecting him and all the paraphernalia found orbiting around small children, I marched us both inside. As I was doing registration, Andrew wandered off down the hall in a recent display of independence to check out the classrooms already containing children. When I finally brought him to where he'd be spending the morning, he took one look at a ball machine and never gave a second thought to me as I quickly slipped out.

The meeting itself was really nice. There was a surprisingly extensive and tasty buffet breakfast spread -- sausage strudel, donuts, deviled eggs and tiny quiches along with both red and green grapes, chunks of pineapple and watermelon. Since I can't eat sugar anymore, I was expecting to have to pass on the whole affair, so I was very pleased. We all gathered around this one table to put together a simple craft, then settled in with our breakfasts and listened to a lady talk about MOPS International, and a fundraising walk (check out the "Support me in Great Moms Walk" link under my links to the right side of this page) that we'll be doing at the end of April. I expected this to be dry, but the lady was good and held our interest well. After that, we were broken up into pre-assigned small groups -- something that I usually avoid like the plague -- and I proceeded to enjoy myself there too. The lady leading our discussion was friendly and outspoken, the ice breaker questions were not embarrassing, and I started to realize what MOPS really is.

MOPS is a support group for moms in the greatest degree. Not only do the get together for pre-scheduled meetings once or twice a month, but they make connections and stay connected. The small group leader has the responsibility to contact each of the members of her group via e-mail or phone call at least once a month. The personal touch is built right into the system. Normally, I wouldn't invite some stranger to pry into my life, but the touch was so light, it was welcome. Now that I'm a mom of a toddler, I've realized my very real need for local support and contact with other moms.

All of this may not sound like much, but I can tell you that I felt like I'd been given the world yesterday. After spending two hours of Andrew-less time, I felt refreshed, although I wasn't really sure what had just happened or why I felt so good. Still it's hard to explain why this all meant so much to me, but perhaps if you tried staying at home all day (every day) with a baby/toddler for over a year and then suddenly found something like this, you'd understand. All I can say is, it was great.

Naked Truth

You've probably seen that picture of Andrew in Greg's shoes that I just posted. The end of the story is, Greg and Andrew were taking a shower. After the shower Greg went downstairs to get a diaper. When he returned, Andrew was bending over, his finger fully buried in a little pile of poop. Andrew had never seen his poop before in "the wild", and was facinated. This was hilarious, but I'm glad that Greg cleaned it up.

Digitalized!

Naked
Originally uploaded by faithdarling.

Mirror
Originally uploaded by faithdarling.

Finally, we have a digital camera! It came by UPS today, and I am SO EXCITED! Unfortunately, the SD card that I had bought a while ago isn't the right kind for the camera, and with the card that comes with the camera, I can take only about 10 shots. Oh well. I guess a large capacity card is next on the list.

Nobody Cares

Even though nobody cares, here's my listening list for the week:

The Bowels of Judas: Broken Jaws Smile Crooked
Tantrum of the Muse: The Downtrodden and the Sidhe
Belle & Sabastian: Dear Catastrophe Waitress
The Beta Band: Heroes to Zeroes
The Von Bondies: Pawn Shop Heart
The Daughters: Canada Songs
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: Save My Soul
Nat King Cole: Unforgettable
Brother Danielson: Brother is to Son
Havalina: Space, Love, and Bullfighting
Odon Soterias: Anno Domini
Sixpence None the Richer: Divine Discontent

Gerg

Circulate!

When I was pregnant with Andrew, my midwife advised me to remove refined sugar from my diet, since both my mom and grandma have suffered from varicose veins, and since it's genetic, it may easily affect me too. Once someone gets varicose veins they never go away, so I followed her instructions and was very disciplined about my diet. (While refined sugar is in your system, it thins the walls of your veins and arteries. When pregnant, there is such an increase in blood volume that the circulation often becomes congested and sluggish. If the veins and arteries are thinned out, they are much more likely to bulge out, causing varicosities.)

Watching your diet carefully and being self-disciplined while raising a toddler, however, is something else entirely. Already it takes a heck of a lot of creativity to convince yourself that the peanut butter and banana with soymilk is going to satisfy you even though all you really want is a donut and coffee. With a toddler, I've noticed that my creative powers are already stretched thin with amusing him, feeding him, understanding him, etc, so there's not a whole lot left for me. Now all of these are reasons, of course, not good excuses -- I'm just telling it like it is.

Anyway, the other day I had the car, and Joy, Andrew and I were out doing stuff. Dunkin Donuts started looking really good. We ended up stopping in there, and instead of just having "a little something", I had...two donuts. After my valiant attempts at not eating too much white sugar, the donuts tasted a little too sweet, but...yeah, I ate them anyway. A few hours later, I noticed a deep throbbing in the back of my lower left leg. By the time dinner was over, I could hardly walk over to the couch, I was limping so badly from the pain. The next day I called my midwife, and she had me buy compression knee-highs, cayenne pepper capsules and this herbal mix called vari-gone.

I feel way better now (except for a constant heat in my stomach from the pepper), but Greg and I noticed something -- these knee highs are the same things that older ladies wear to keep their feet from swelling! I've never thought about it before, but that's why their ankles and feet often look like fake legs. You learn something new every day! (And now you know how to improve your circulation!)

shoe fetish

On Monday, Joy, Andrew and I went shopping for shoes (for Joy). Andrew adores shoes, and also loves rearranging things. Unfortunately, it ended up being a sad day for him because we had to leave each store to go to the next, at which time he would lie prostrate on the floor and look up at us, squealing. By the time we got to the last store, he decided that he'd just rush around and check out the whole store as quickly as possible. I turned around to find him in deep discussion (one sided, since it was Toddler-english) with a man trying on shoes about a used ped...the ped from unknown sources, stiff with sweat. He must have found it in a corner somewhere. So gross. Ah well. What doesn't kill you makes you strong, as they say.

Okay, this is just... well, just click the link

eBay auction - NAME OUR BABY BOY

Joy Quotes

If you don't know Joy well, these may not be so funny. They are all true.

Posted by Faith, but recorded by Greg:

Occurrence #1. Eating a container of cottage cheese: "What kind of cheese is this?"

Occurrence #2. While tasting food, asked me about the other times she'd been caught "anonymously". (Was the catcher anonymous, or the catchee?) (Is "catchee" a word?)

Occurrence #3. Feeling a lump in Faith's belly "Is that the baby?!"
"Well what else would it be, Joy?"
"I don't know...skin?"

Occurrence #4. After being repeatedly laughed at for being ridiculous, Joy went upstairs to read. Not even ten minutes later, Joy returned back downstairs, announcing, "I'm not back, I'm just putting my book away." Joy proceeded to stay downstairs for more mocking.

Ohmygosh, people will bid on almost anything

So, wanna be a millionaire? What can you think of selling?

MY DAUGHTERS MONSTER

Dementia Test

Feel free to post your "score" in the comment area.

Found on the Military Spouse message board:

Exercise of the brain is as important as exercise of the muscles. As we grow older, it's important that we keep mentally alert. The saying; "If you don't use it, you will lose it" also applies to the brain, so...

Below is a very private way to gauge your loss or non-loss of intelligence. So, take the following test presented here and determine if you are losing it or are still "with it."

The spaces below are so you don't see the answers until you have made you own OK, relax, clear your mind and.... begin.

1. What do you put in a toaster?

Answer: "bread." If you said "toast," then give up now and go do something else. Try not to hurt yourself.

If you said, "bread," go to Question 2.

2. Say "silk" five times. Now spell "silk." What do cows drink?

!

Answer: Cows drink water. If you said "milk," please do not attempt the next question. Your brain is obviously overstressed and may even overheat. It may be that you need to content yourself with reading something more appropriate such as Children's World. If you said "water" then proceed to question 3.

3. If a red house is made from red bricks and a blue house is made from blue bricks and a pink house is made from pink bricks and a black house is made from black bricks, what is a green house made from?

Answer: Greenhouses are made from glass. If you said "green bricks," what the devil are you still doing here reading these questions????? If you said "glass," then go on to Question 4.

4. It's twenty years ago, and a plane is flying at 20,000 feet over Germany. (If you will recall, Germany at the time was politically divided into West Germany and East Germany.) Anyway, during the flight, TWO of the engines fail. The pilot, realizing that the last remaining engine is also failing, decides on a crash landing procedure. Unfortunately the engine fails before he has time and the plane fatally crashes smack in the middle of "no man's land" between East Germany and West Germany Where would you bury the survivors? East Germany or West Germany or in "no man's land"?

Answer: You don't, of course, bury survivors. If you said

ANYTHING else, you are a real dunce and you must NEVER try to rescue anyone from a plane crash. Your efforts would not be appreciated. If you said, "Don't bury the survivors" then proceed to the next question.

5. If the hour hand on a clock moves 1/60 of a degree every minute then how many degrees will the hour hand move in one hour? (They want the answer to this statement, not the real answer.)

Answer: One degree. If you said "360 degrees" or anything other than "one degree," you are to be congratulated on getting this far, but you are obviously out of your league. Turn your pencil in and exit the room. Everyone else proceed to the final question.

6. Without using a calculator - You are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales. In London, 17 people get on the bus. In Reading, six people get off the bus and nine people get on. In Swindon, two people get off and four get on. In Cardiff, 11 people get off and 16 people get in. In Swansea, three people get off and five people get on. In Carmathen, six people get off and three get on. You then arrive at Milford Haven. What was the name of the bus driver?

Answer: Oh, for crying out loud! Don't you remember? It was YOU!!

Terribly wonderful

Just the other day, I woke up and looked at my life. Really looked at it. I am a SAHM. A Stay At Home Mom. This is my title. My job description is to clean, care for, amuse and train another human being as though that body were my own. To know when they're hungry, to comfort when sad, to translate a band new, unrecognized language to English.

I have no car to be able to escape to the adult world, so during the winter when it's too cold to walk outside, I cleancareforamusetraincomforttranslate all day, by myself. Toddler speak is my life. Sometimes it's the loneliest job I can think of, and I feel as though I'm turning to mush in body and mind, becoming an Unsocialized. When I laugh too easily, when I get excited about "library storytime" or "Nature's Nursery" at the zoo, when I hunt unashamedly for new friends, I wonder if I've become (gasp!) culturally unjaded. What has become of me? But then I realized a piece of hard truth. This job that I've chosen is to give life. To give love. To give myself totally and completely. To lay down what is me, and immerse myself in the world of another for his own sake.

As he sits on the living room floor (oversized red ski-cap pushing out his little ears), putting stickers on his belly, I know deep down that this is the place that I need to be. His dimpled hands reach up to take my face, kissing me again and again, and I realize that my life is great. When I bake and he insists on stirring ingredients out of the bowl, when I'm cleaning up and he's transferring the sorted, dirty laundry piles from room to room, when he helps me make the bed by tossing carefully arranged pillows to the floor, I know that in all of this I am raising a man. And what could be more important than that?

Shows I've Been to Lately

As you probably already know, I go to a lot of shows. Here's the latest. Maybe I'll have some pictures up too.

Leahy:
Awesome show. It was my second time seeing them, and they were unbelievable, as usual. We saw them in Rochester. If you ever have the opportunity to see them, you won't regret traveling whatever distance because it is totally worth it.

Psyopus:
I missed seeing them play last summer in New Jersey. This time they actually came to Binghamton, which was nice. Their guitarist, Christopher Arp is one of the best metal guitatists I've ever seen, and he is already endorsed by Ibanez guitars. Definitely an insane band. Check them out if you like tech-metal.

From a Second Story Window:
This was my second time seeing them play, and it was definitely a treat. Total pandemonium, aptly describes these guys. It was often difficult to tell where the band ended and the crowd began because everybody was just jumping all over the place. They played in Binghamton, a week after Psyopus. The other bands they played with were pretty horrible, but it was worth the wait to see FASSW.


I think those are the only shows I've been to in the past two months. The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza is supposedly coming to Binghamton in April, but probably nobody cares. People always tell me they want to find out about shows, so I tell them, but they never come. The Red Chord is coming to Syracuse on April 24th, and Jet is coming to NYC in June, but again, nobody cares.

Sorry for wasting your time.

Gerg

Check Out These Bands

Greg's Weekly Listening List:

Linford Detweiler: Grey Ghost Stories
Del Castillo: Brothers of the Castle
Norma Jean: O' God the Aftermath
Grits: Dichotomy B
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: B.R.M.C.
Squad Five-O: Late News Breaking
Crimson Moonlight: Veil of Remembrance
Antestor: The Forsaken
Old Crow Medicine Show: O.C.M.S.
Chingon: Mexican Spaghetti Western
Scarlet: Cult Classic
Madison Greene: Guinea Greene Style
Decahedron: Disconnection Imminent

Gerg

Andrew's Listening Preferences for the Week

Often, when I get home from work, Andrew takes me by the hand, into my upstairs closet, where I keep all of my music. After picking out his selection, we put it in, and he starts going crazy, running around and punching the air like a true rock 'n roller. This is a list of his latest random selections:

The Stivs: The Beat is Loose
Rackets & Drapes: Candyland
Alanis Morissette: Supposed Former Infantuation Junkie
No Doubt: Rock Steady
Luti-Kriss: Throwing Myself
Sarah McLachlan: Mirrorball

Why forwards make me hate

There are people in this world who feel that sending out mass forwards to their friends is endearing, and even appreciated. More people than not, it seems. In case anyone was wondering, sending me any of these unsolicited forwards are fruitless, since I delete them on sight. I REFUSE TO EVEN OPEN THEM. Here are my reasons for my dislike of forwards:

1. I don't want your junk mail.
2. Most of the time, they have no bearing on my life, and are a waste of my time to read.
3. They have nothing to do with the sender, and to me it is as if they left me a voicemail of something pre-recorded that has nothing to do with them or me.
4. VERY OFTEN, they are those "send this to as many people as you know -- the little girl with cancer will get 3 cents for each e-mail sent!", and somehow everyone believes this, and doesn't believe that there's some bored college kid writing these up and shooting them out, wondering when he'll get it back, and how many people it will get sent to in the meantime. (Has anyone ever called the "genuine" phone numbers at the end of those e-mails to check their authenticity? I have. They're never true, in case anyone was wondering.)

Most likely, no one who sends me forwards will ever read this blog, and so in writing this, it is a classic act of passive aggressive behavior. (Feels good to get it out though!) But for anyone who does send them, and is beginning to feel a little put off by this, let me clarify: If your mom/spouse/sibling loves funny blond jokes, and calls/e-mails you in thanks every time that you forward them something of that nature, than go ahead with your bad self! Also, if you delete "FWD:" from the subject line, as well as all of the crap that goes in front of it (the trail of who's gotten it so far, and how many times it's been forwarded, etc.), and it's something to the effect of totally funny pictures (the "Paws Up" shot is from something like this that Gary Seifert sent me), then once again, go ahead with your bad self. Also, if it's a really great link that you think I PERSONALLY would be interested in (i.e., not your whole address book), then I'll say again -- well, you get the point. Oh, also, one time a friend e-mailed all the girls she knew with this forward about serial rapists/killers putting cop lights on their cars to pull girls over. There was a special number that you were supposed to be able to call to verify that you had a genuine police officer chasing you. When I called my cell phone company and then did a little research online, I found that the info was only true in Canada. So I appreciated the sentiment, and from now on will only pull over in public places (you can simply call 911 to let them know this, if a cop is chasing you), but please, everyone, KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SENDING!!

If you find something funny online and think I'd enjoy reading it, go ahead and send it. Just please, don't mass e-mail me with junk.

So that's what I have to say to the people who won't be reading this anyway. (Effective, don't you think?) =)

Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor

Greg found this online:

After every flight, pilots with Qantas (Australia) fill out a form called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots and the solutions recorded by maintenance engineers.

By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident.

P= The problem logged by the pilot.
S= The solution and action taken by mechanics.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute
descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what they're for.

P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget
pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.