Cabin. Fever.

It’s been a looong, looooong, loooooooong week. The kind of long week that induces me to add extra letters to words. Exxxxtra letttters.

There hasn’t been anything particularly bad going on, so I really shouldn’t complain. But I’ll complain anyhow.

Daycare was closed. Seeing as I am crazy about my kids, that shouldn’t sound like a bad thing. However, I am so not cut out to be a stay-at-home mother. I guess much of the problem was in how much we stayed at home. We had various plans for various days, but many of them fell through for various reasons. For another thing, I still had some work obligations to tend to, so it wasn’t actually vacation time.

We did get out on Wednesday for a bit, which was before all this snow started falling. After being out and about for a while, I thought it would be nice to go somewhere for a snack. I found myself hankering for a latte (a decaf soy latte, mind you), and the only place to find such a thing in the towns near our home is a large chain bookstore. That particular endeavor ended in me leaving the bookstore in disgrace with a crying baby, one newly purchased $4.99 Dora book which I had tried to read to Phoebe, but which we couldn’t finish due to said crying baby, and a little less dignity. I did at least get to have my latte first. (Though I burned my tongue on it, and had to wait what seemed an eternity for it to cool, and then had to chug it anyhow when Theo ran out of patience at being stuck at the table after hours of largely being strapped in to a carseat or a stroller. Good times.)

I looked forward to the weekend, when John would be available so we could all go out together on some fun excursion. Friday things were mostly closed for the holiday, so we didn’t try. We made plans for Saturday, but then it snowed, and it set us back. We thought we try for Sunday, but there was more snow. And somehow, we never managed to go anywhere. And while Phoebe likes to go out in the snow, Theo, so far, does not. (Also, I can’t for the life of me find his snowpants. Our house eats things.) The result is that I have not actually left the house in days. I can’t actually tell you where the time has gone. I know I did some baking. I made apple sauce (from baked apples) and a pumpkin pie, and Phoebe and I made bread again. There have been some movies watched. There have been some toys played with. Some phone calls. I’ve had very little time on my laptop, other than late at night, and much of that was for work. I check in for brief spells during the day, but Theo has this tendency to come over to the couch and close my laptop whenever I open it.

I have to say that I am really looking forward to Tuesday, when Phoebe and Theo go back to daycare. It’s not that I don’t like spending time with them. It’s just that I appreciate spending time with them more when I get to have a bit of time when I can focus on other things.

—
And speaking of focussing on my children, here are some pictures I took.

tin

  1. tin: a metal “Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (Latin: Stannum) and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table.”
  2. tin toys: classic toys made of tin
  3. Tin Toy(1988): an early Pixar short film featuring animate toys and a drooly baby
  4. tintype: a early type of photograph printed on metal (typically iron) plates
  5. Tintin: a character from a series of comic books
  6. Rin Tin Tin: a German Shepard (or several) of fiction and TV
  7. Pushing Tin (1999) A movie about air traffic controllers starring John Cusack
  8. tin: another name for a can used to hold food, e.g. a tin of beans
  9. tin foil: what aluminum foil is commonly called
  10. tin: a traditional material for gifts in honor of a 10th wedding anniversary

Had I been more organized, many of those items might have made good gifts to get John for our 10th anniversary. Which is today. Instead, I may have to give him a wad of aluminum foil and a tin of green beans.

Happy anniversary, John!

bumper stickers for word nerds

This week’s Monday Mission was to compose a license plate or a bumper sticker. I felt like doing several. Because I’m like that. (I’m also late getting this posted. Because I’m like that.)

For more license plates and bumper stickers, drive over to Painted Maypole’s and honk.

O Tannenbaum


We finally got our tree this past Saturday. Phoebe and I decorated it on Sunday. I put on the star, the lights, and the strands of beads.

Then Phoebe put on ornaments while I made dinner.

She put on just about all of the ornaments.

She put some of them way, way up high!

(Phoebe is about 3 and a half feet tall.)

Let it mold.

Oh the veggies in there are frightful,
And takeout’s so delightful
And since the leftover soup’s too old
Let it mold, let it mold, let it mold.

Since the fridge door last was closing
The food’s been decomposing.
That old tuna salad’s growing bold
Let it mold, let it mold, let it mold.

When we finally face the blight
How I’ll try very hard not to gag
But if we hold our noses night
We can load up a hazmat bag.

The eggs have all gone rotten
And the tofu’s best forgotten
But as long takeout’s still sold
Let it mold, let it mold, let it mold.

This was a Monday Mission, which called for re-written holiday songs. For potentially less toxic songs, pay a visit to Painted Maypole.

speeding by

This week’s PhotoHunt theme is “fast.”

These are a few photos I took in the fall. I can’t believe how fast the months have passed this year. There is still part of me that is waiting for summer. (Did we even have June this year?)

For more people’s interpretations of “fast,” hurry over to tnchick’s place.

don we now our gay apparel

Neil of Citizen of the Month has posted the 2009 Annual Blogger Christmahanukwanzaakah Online Holiday Concert. And I’ve participated again. Because apparently I like the sound of my own voice.

(This year, I opted to go with a more cheerful carol than last year’s song about dead babies.)

Go have a look. There are pictures, even.