Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Goop on My Hands
I have more than just goop on my hands. I have all sorts of dirt and tiny pieces of hair that are trapped in the goop. And it really isn't on my hands so much as on my fingernails. J's nails look almost nice and freshly painted right now, and I look like I've been living in the forest. I should say that 3/4 of J's nails look nice, because she was counting on K finishing her other hand for her, and then small children happened. But I got goop on my hands in this way:
I was sitting on the front step with Pax and J quartering brussel sprouts and watching the kids play when we noticed that there definitely were birds flying in and out of a missing corner cap in our aluminum siding. I don't know what kind of birds they were, but the same type are living in the currently vacant house next door to us and sadly neglected inhabited house across the street. So I got my ladder out.
It's dangerous to show Owen the ladder, because it reminds him that he is an expert climber. Or at least, he thinks he is. Last night at the playground he attempted to go up the rock wall by himself multiple times. He's already scaled ladders in the garage when left unattended.
But it wasn't Owen that stood at the base of my ladder. It was Abby, while O held it steady. She talked about her dollies, Jasmine and Snow White. It was a very different sort of conversation than what I'm used to with James.
I tacked the missing corner cap back on and managed to get the other loose pieces secure again, but there was still a big gap under one of the pieces. A bird flew into it while I was off the ladder. I went down to the basement and pulled out the tube of Great Stuff (actual name) that's been sitting next to our laundry detergent for over a year. The bottle wasn't sealed shut, and I managed to get it into the siding crack. (And of course, all over everything else, including my hands.)
And that's why I have goop on my hands.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Projects Today
I. Reset Button
The kids had such a good time at Nama's.
Such a good time.
Such a good time that our house seems...well, kind of boring by comparison. There are no sandboxes, or tractors, or ponds. There isn't nearly as much ice cream. And there are naps. Naps that produce tiny-fisted tantrums of shrieking rage.
Yesterday was kind of a long day.
But today they're doing better. I've had them on my own all morning, and I took them on a long hike to get them good and tired down by the bay. They ate a good lunch, and they helped around the house. I think Owen has pretty much adjusted back to normal life. I thought James was close until I put him down for a nap.
"James, can you put your cars on the dresser while I make your bed?"
"I'm too tired...you do it."
"If you're too tired to put your cars on your shelf you must be too tired for a book nap, huh?"
"I'm not too tired" <lying still on the floor and not moving>
"Last chance, James, put your cars up on the shelf."
"I can't do it." <lying still>
I lifted him up into his nicely made bed and put his cars away. And then only let him take two books to bed instead of the enormous stack he'd intended to read.
There were tears.
I don't think he's quite over the weekend yet.
II. Inventory
A Presbyterian church near ours recently shut its doors permanently. It had been hanging on by a thread for years, and finally the dozen or so people left in the membership decided to call it. There were complicated questions about whose responsibility the building would be, and what was to become of some of the church's resources, but one wonderful outcome for Gates was gaining a strong alto who also happened to be the choir librarian. She was able to donate almost their entire music library to my choir, and all of a sudden our holdings have about doubled in size.
I spent an entire morning last week sorting through it with a few volunteers, and my project for this afternoon is to continue typing up the inventory and adding it into our electronic database.
It really is sad news...and it's sad to see the stamp on every copy for a church that no longer exists. But I think they're glad that the music will still be sung somewhere.
III. eBay
I've turned into quite the eBay entrepreneur. Actually, I need to be careful, because if I generate too much income flipping and selling various trumpet parts I'm going to end up paying social security taxes and whatnot on that particular revenue stream. But anyway, I finally hit a big bump in the road. I sold a modified 1C mouthpiece to someone in Denmark. I didn't mean to, really. I have a big notice in my listings that says something like "International Bidders please message first." The guy seemed interested enough to deal with the customs paperwork and the headache, so I agreed to let him bid. Well, the first part went smoothly. He won the auction, I printed out the customs forms, and sent the mouthpiece off to Denmark. He paid, and I deposited the money.
Then the mouthpiece, apparently, sat at customs for a week. And another week. And another week. He contacted me and asked if I knew anything about it, and I sent him a tracking number. The US tracking number wasn't the same as the Denmark tracking number.
Finally, the package arrived back at Harwick Road in Rochester yesterday. There was a note in Danish scribbled on the envelope. Thanks to Google Translate, I know that the package was "Never claimed." I contacted the buyer again and asked if he wanted to try over. He answered back that he might, but he was moving soon and didn't know if he would have an address.
...I convinced him to take a refund.
IV. Cleaning the Car
The boys are so disgusting. I kind of feel embarrassed when anyone besides them sits in the backseat of the car. It's covered in broken crackers and cereal pieces, there are old toys coated in unknown sticky substances, and random discolored spots. Just today while I was loading Owen into his carseat James scrambled in, pulled two-thirds empty coffee cup out of the front, and tipped it upside down (why wouldn't you, right?) back by his seat.
"Uh-oh!"
"James!! Why did you do that?!"
"Don't worry, Daddy. It's not a big spill."
"James, it is a big spill. It's a very big spill."
"It's okay, Daddy. It will dry quickly. No need to be upset."
"No, no, no. It's not going to dry quickly. You're going to have a wet butt. So...yes, we should be upset."
"It's okay, Daddy. It will be fine."
At least he's listening some of the time.
As penance, he and Owen helped me clean the car. Well, they sort of helped. They used baby wipes on glass and mirror surfaces that they weren't supposed to, and while I was vacuuming everything out they repeatedly turned the four-ways on and honked the horn (we were inside the garage), but they seemed genuinely interested in helping get it spic and span again.
James was concerned when he learned that he might have left streaks on the rear view mirror.
"Don't worry, James. It will be fine. It's not a big deal."
The kids had such a good time at Nama's.
Such a good time.
Such a good time that our house seems...well, kind of boring by comparison. There are no sandboxes, or tractors, or ponds. There isn't nearly as much ice cream. And there are naps. Naps that produce tiny-fisted tantrums of shrieking rage.
Yesterday was kind of a long day.
But today they're doing better. I've had them on my own all morning, and I took them on a long hike to get them good and tired down by the bay. They ate a good lunch, and they helped around the house. I think Owen has pretty much adjusted back to normal life. I thought James was close until I put him down for a nap.
"James, can you put your cars on the dresser while I make your bed?"
"I'm too tired...you do it."
"If you're too tired to put your cars on your shelf you must be too tired for a book nap, huh?"
"I'm not too tired" <lying still on the floor and not moving>
"Last chance, James, put your cars up on the shelf."
"I can't do it." <lying still>
I lifted him up into his nicely made bed and put his cars away. And then only let him take two books to bed instead of the enormous stack he'd intended to read.
There were tears.
I don't think he's quite over the weekend yet.
II. Inventory
A Presbyterian church near ours recently shut its doors permanently. It had been hanging on by a thread for years, and finally the dozen or so people left in the membership decided to call it. There were complicated questions about whose responsibility the building would be, and what was to become of some of the church's resources, but one wonderful outcome for Gates was gaining a strong alto who also happened to be the choir librarian. She was able to donate almost their entire music library to my choir, and all of a sudden our holdings have about doubled in size.
I spent an entire morning last week sorting through it with a few volunteers, and my project for this afternoon is to continue typing up the inventory and adding it into our electronic database.
It really is sad news...and it's sad to see the stamp on every copy for a church that no longer exists. But I think they're glad that the music will still be sung somewhere.
III. eBay
I've turned into quite the eBay entrepreneur. Actually, I need to be careful, because if I generate too much income flipping and selling various trumpet parts I'm going to end up paying social security taxes and whatnot on that particular revenue stream. But anyway, I finally hit a big bump in the road. I sold a modified 1C mouthpiece to someone in Denmark. I didn't mean to, really. I have a big notice in my listings that says something like "International Bidders please message first." The guy seemed interested enough to deal with the customs paperwork and the headache, so I agreed to let him bid. Well, the first part went smoothly. He won the auction, I printed out the customs forms, and sent the mouthpiece off to Denmark. He paid, and I deposited the money.
Then the mouthpiece, apparently, sat at customs for a week. And another week. And another week. He contacted me and asked if I knew anything about it, and I sent him a tracking number. The US tracking number wasn't the same as the Denmark tracking number.
Finally, the package arrived back at Harwick Road in Rochester yesterday. There was a note in Danish scribbled on the envelope. Thanks to Google Translate, I know that the package was "Never claimed." I contacted the buyer again and asked if he wanted to try over. He answered back that he might, but he was moving soon and didn't know if he would have an address.
...I convinced him to take a refund.
IV. Cleaning the Car
The boys are so disgusting. I kind of feel embarrassed when anyone besides them sits in the backseat of the car. It's covered in broken crackers and cereal pieces, there are old toys coated in unknown sticky substances, and random discolored spots. Just today while I was loading Owen into his carseat James scrambled in, pulled two-thirds empty coffee cup out of the front, and tipped it upside down (why wouldn't you, right?) back by his seat.
"Uh-oh!"
"James!! Why did you do that?!"
"Don't worry, Daddy. It's not a big spill."
"James, it is a big spill. It's a very big spill."
"It's okay, Daddy. It will dry quickly. No need to be upset."
"No, no, no. It's not going to dry quickly. You're going to have a wet butt. So...yes, we should be upset."
"It's okay, Daddy. It will be fine."
At least he's listening some of the time.
As penance, he and Owen helped me clean the car. Well, they sort of helped. They used baby wipes on glass and mirror surfaces that they weren't supposed to, and while I was vacuuming everything out they repeatedly turned the four-ways on and honked the horn (we were inside the garage), but they seemed genuinely interested in helping get it spic and span again.
James was concerned when he learned that he might have left streaks on the rear view mirror.
"Don't worry, James. It will be fine. It's not a big deal."
Monday, June 27, 2016
The More of Less-Blogging for Books
This was a timely read. I'd been thinking about how much STUFF we'd accumulated anyway (buying wedding gifts for friends while trying to clear them out of your basement storage will do that) when I ordered this book about decluttering. The author also keeps a blog, which I didn't find nearly as useful. The book, however, I'd be happy to lend out to anyone interested in his family's story of reducing, giving away, and finding happiness.
Basic points-
Americans own too much stuff
Having too much stuff ends up taking over your free time and free space
This is really stressful, and we compensate for the stress by buying more stuff
You're much more likely to be happy with fewer (nicer) things
In the spirit of this book we've purged a number of items that were cluttering our house--our closets are cleaned out of clothes that we know we're never going to wear again, I took out several boxes of books that I was never going to get around to reading, we pitched some old ugly furniture, and we purged about 30% of the boy's toys from upstairs. (We all know what their favorites are...we didn't need two wooden trains out)
Basic points-
Americans own too much stuff
Having too much stuff ends up taking over your free time and free space
This is really stressful, and we compensate for the stress by buying more stuff
You're much more likely to be happy with fewer (nicer) things
In the spirit of this book we've purged a number of items that were cluttering our house--our closets are cleaned out of clothes that we know we're never going to wear again, I took out several boxes of books that I was never going to get around to reading, we pitched some old ugly furniture, and we purged about 30% of the boy's toys from upstairs. (We all know what their favorites are...we didn't need two wooden trains out)
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Quick Hitters
I. Aristotle Essays, edited by J.M.E. Moravcsik, sets out to 1) compare the thought of the past and that of the present 2) examine Aristotle's explanations in our own terms 3) trace the implications of his key claims 4) examine the appearance of new evidence.
G.E.M. Anscombe on a passage from De Interpretatione in which Aristotle examines the necessity of affirmation/negation being true/false for universals and particulars.
K. Jaakko J. Hintikka on Aristotle's different possibilities of necessity and possibility/impossibility as distinct from contingency.
M. Thompson on Aristotle's Square of Opposition and whether the problems in evaluating it can be explained away by "features of ordinary speech." (Apparently not)
John Cook Wilson on Categories in Aristotle and Kant
A translation and commentary of the Categories by J.L. Ackrill
An attempt to explain what classes of expressions designate items in the categories, the nature of the list, and its source of unity by the editor. (Aristotle's Theory of Categories)
An analysis of Essence and Accident against the background of Locke's interpretation by Irving M. Copi.
An essay called Tithenai ta Phainomena (a quote from the Physics) attempting to explain the apparent difference in method between the Analytics and Physics by G.E.L. Owen
II. The Same Block
Fox Tail Drive is part of a development off of Barts Church Road, and the rest of the development turns back towards Barts Church as a separate road known as Fox Run Terrace. The whole circle is about 1.3 miles. About twelve years ago J and I started off on a chilly December walk down Fox Run Terrace, shuffling along the left side of the street. I had met her family before on a wind ensemble tour and a few times at school, but this time had traveled down on business about her. When we left the house pretty much everyone knew what was up, and by the time we arrived back to her front porch it had all been made official, as much as being official can count for a couple of eighteen-year olds.
That block is still very much the same. There's an undeveloped public lot that might get turned into a baseball field yet about halfway up Fox Run Terrace, and there's a gorgeous property with an enormous yard right at the sharp bend it makes to meet Barts Church. There's a farm along Barts Church as you head up the first big hill, and over the second there's an old church that is still slowly being turned into a viable residential property.
We ran the loop (twice around, and with all the ups and downs it feels a lot longer than 2.6 miles) this time, and it was good to still be side by side as we huffed up the steep climb on Barts Church and turned back onto Fox Tail. We've made some very good decisions as we've gone round that development.
III. Lord of the Rings
It's time to re-read Lord of the Rings. The movies are delightful, and they have a particular staying power since the music and the cinematography are all so spectacular. But the books ARE different, and it's been delightful to be back with the authentic Frodo and Sam as they set out of the Shire again. I'm not sure how we came by our "set" of the books. We have a Del Rey paperback of The Fellowship of the Ring which has a Country Inn and Suites sticker on it, and then the Two Towers (which I know we own, but I can't find) is from a different printing and has a picture of Legolas from the movie. I don't think we've ever owned a copy of Return of the King, so I'll be needing to borrow that from someone in a few weeks, if any of you are feeling particularly generous.
IV. Uncles
I think it's safe to say the set of Uncles gigs that we played this week ought to be dedicated to little Wesley, who is home now. There's soup on the stove for his parents, and all reports indicate he's doing just fine...I'm among the number (including Mom and Martha) who have seen him in person but are yet to hold him, and it's certainly feeling like we need to change that.
Despite not having played together in a very long time, Wesley's very own set of musical uncles managed to play together again successfully and make a surprising amount of money in the process!
G.E.M. Anscombe on a passage from De Interpretatione in which Aristotle examines the necessity of affirmation/negation being true/false for universals and particulars.
K. Jaakko J. Hintikka on Aristotle's different possibilities of necessity and possibility/impossibility as distinct from contingency.
M. Thompson on Aristotle's Square of Opposition and whether the problems in evaluating it can be explained away by "features of ordinary speech." (Apparently not)
John Cook Wilson on Categories in Aristotle and Kant
A translation and commentary of the Categories by J.L. Ackrill
An attempt to explain what classes of expressions designate items in the categories, the nature of the list, and its source of unity by the editor. (Aristotle's Theory of Categories)
An analysis of Essence and Accident against the background of Locke's interpretation by Irving M. Copi.
An essay called Tithenai ta Phainomena (a quote from the Physics) attempting to explain the apparent difference in method between the Analytics and Physics by G.E.L. Owen
II. The Same Block
Fox Tail Drive is part of a development off of Barts Church Road, and the rest of the development turns back towards Barts Church as a separate road known as Fox Run Terrace. The whole circle is about 1.3 miles. About twelve years ago J and I started off on a chilly December walk down Fox Run Terrace, shuffling along the left side of the street. I had met her family before on a wind ensemble tour and a few times at school, but this time had traveled down on business about her. When we left the house pretty much everyone knew what was up, and by the time we arrived back to her front porch it had all been made official, as much as being official can count for a couple of eighteen-year olds.
That block is still very much the same. There's an undeveloped public lot that might get turned into a baseball field yet about halfway up Fox Run Terrace, and there's a gorgeous property with an enormous yard right at the sharp bend it makes to meet Barts Church. There's a farm along Barts Church as you head up the first big hill, and over the second there's an old church that is still slowly being turned into a viable residential property.
We ran the loop (twice around, and with all the ups and downs it feels a lot longer than 2.6 miles) this time, and it was good to still be side by side as we huffed up the steep climb on Barts Church and turned back onto Fox Tail. We've made some very good decisions as we've gone round that development.
III. Lord of the Rings
It's time to re-read Lord of the Rings. The movies are delightful, and they have a particular staying power since the music and the cinematography are all so spectacular. But the books ARE different, and it's been delightful to be back with the authentic Frodo and Sam as they set out of the Shire again. I'm not sure how we came by our "set" of the books. We have a Del Rey paperback of The Fellowship of the Ring which has a Country Inn and Suites sticker on it, and then the Two Towers (which I know we own, but I can't find) is from a different printing and has a picture of Legolas from the movie. I don't think we've ever owned a copy of Return of the King, so I'll be needing to borrow that from someone in a few weeks, if any of you are feeling particularly generous.
IV. Uncles
I think it's safe to say the set of Uncles gigs that we played this week ought to be dedicated to little Wesley, who is home now. There's soup on the stove for his parents, and all reports indicate he's doing just fine...I'm among the number (including Mom and Martha) who have seen him in person but are yet to hold him, and it's certainly feeling like we need to change that.
Despite not having played together in a very long time, Wesley's very own set of musical uncles managed to play together again successfully and make a surprising amount of money in the process!
Friday, June 17, 2016
Boys' Morning In
J was at work today, and I had the boys to myself. Here were the highlights and lowlights:
I cleaned Owen's room from top to bottom, and he insisted on wearing nothing but a diaper all morning. At one point I found his Halloween costume (a tiger suit) in his closet, and he decided he wanted to wear that for a bit. He knocked on James' door and roared at him--it is polite to knock before you roar, if you're a tiger--and wore it for about a half an hour before he decided he was tired of it and wanted to go back to the diaper.
I let James stay up during nap since it was going to be abbreviated anyway and offered him half of a chocolate cupcake while we worked on his states puzzle during afternoon coffee. When a large chunk of my half fell out onto the table he quickly grabbed it out from under me and popped it into his mouth, then immediately looked up at me and held eye contact as if wondering whether or not I'd seen it.
I fixed our increasingly inefficient vacuum cleaner by unclogging a brick of old cheerios and Christmas tree needles. I had the manual pulled up on my phone as I took it apart, and at one point Owen got ahold of the phone and made off with it. By the time I found him I was signed up to receive text notifications whenever the Bissell Corporation tweets anything.
I managed to bribe Owen into eating five bites of cut up orange pepper by offering him a small dish of strawberries and whipped cream for lunch. Once he finished the strawberries and still had some whipped cream, he finished all of the other orange pepper slices, dipping each one into the whipped cream.
I cleaned Owen's room from top to bottom, and he insisted on wearing nothing but a diaper all morning. At one point I found his Halloween costume (a tiger suit) in his closet, and he decided he wanted to wear that for a bit. He knocked on James' door and roared at him--it is polite to knock before you roar, if you're a tiger--and wore it for about a half an hour before he decided he was tired of it and wanted to go back to the diaper.
I let James stay up during nap since it was going to be abbreviated anyway and offered him half of a chocolate cupcake while we worked on his states puzzle during afternoon coffee. When a large chunk of my half fell out onto the table he quickly grabbed it out from under me and popped it into his mouth, then immediately looked up at me and held eye contact as if wondering whether or not I'd seen it.
I fixed our increasingly inefficient vacuum cleaner by unclogging a brick of old cheerios and Christmas tree needles. I had the manual pulled up on my phone as I took it apart, and at one point Owen got ahold of the phone and made off with it. By the time I found him I was signed up to receive text notifications whenever the Bissell Corporation tweets anything.
I managed to bribe Owen into eating five bites of cut up orange pepper by offering him a small dish of strawberries and whipped cream for lunch. Once he finished the strawberries and still had some whipped cream, he finished all of the other orange pepper slices, dipping each one into the whipped cream.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Playmates
The boys get along pretty well most of the time. I think they really do like each other, even though they would have to anyway. Owen's first request most mornings is to go wake James up, and James is always excited to see him. But you wouldn't necessarily think that this thing would be working as well as it appears to be so far.
For one thing, James is incredibly possessive. When he gets it into his head that something is "his," he has to know where it is all times. This goes especially for George, Steven, and all of his cars. While we're at Grandma's this also goes for the stack of books that he likes ("These are for me, Owen"), the red motorcycle that is a friend of Lightning's, the red tractor that is a friend of Mater's, the red ball that Owen had first, etc...
Owen, on the other hand, is a shameless thief and pot-stirrer. He usually is only interested in James' toys for the sake of provoking a reaction. If he can get James to break out of whatever game he's playing and chase after him screaming for justice...well, he thinks this is the most fun you can have. On the rare occasion when Owen actually is engrossed in a toy or a book on his own and James should happen to take it away from him, we can usually hear the meltdown from the other side of the block.
The best fun they have is doing stuff that makes no sense to the adult world, but is apparently for them engrossing and entertaining, such as plucking grass and putting out on the sidewalk as food for ants, or pulling out handfuls from the bushes, dropping them into cups, and then turning the cups over the edge of the porch.
When I went upstairs this afternoon to call them for lunch I found them sitting together in Owen's room, and James was reading a Look-and-Find book to Owen. He was sitting, and Owen was lying on the floor, chin in his elbows. They didn't hear me coming up the stairs--it's nice when the stairs don't squeak--and I just watched them reading together for about 10 minutes.
It's good when they play together nicely.
For one thing, James is incredibly possessive. When he gets it into his head that something is "his," he has to know where it is all times. This goes especially for George, Steven, and all of his cars. While we're at Grandma's this also goes for the stack of books that he likes ("These are for me, Owen"), the red motorcycle that is a friend of Lightning's, the red tractor that is a friend of Mater's, the red ball that Owen had first, etc...
Owen, on the other hand, is a shameless thief and pot-stirrer. He usually is only interested in James' toys for the sake of provoking a reaction. If he can get James to break out of whatever game he's playing and chase after him screaming for justice...well, he thinks this is the most fun you can have. On the rare occasion when Owen actually is engrossed in a toy or a book on his own and James should happen to take it away from him, we can usually hear the meltdown from the other side of the block.
The best fun they have is doing stuff that makes no sense to the adult world, but is apparently for them engrossing and entertaining, such as plucking grass and putting out on the sidewalk as food for ants, or pulling out handfuls from the bushes, dropping them into cups, and then turning the cups over the edge of the porch.
When I went upstairs this afternoon to call them for lunch I found them sitting together in Owen's room, and James was reading a Look-and-Find book to Owen. He was sitting, and Owen was lying on the floor, chin in his elbows. They didn't hear me coming up the stairs--it's nice when the stairs don't squeak--and I just watched them reading together for about 10 minutes.
It's good when they play together nicely.
Highlights from Pennsylvania So Far
-Poor Owen is frustrated about his rear-facing car seat. The kids did great on the trip down, but I think he's about ready to be turned around and looking at the rest of the world.
-Driving alongside a train through part of Marysville
-The nipple sign is gone! (Blasted censorship)
-Driving over the mountain when we discovered (after not paying close enough attention to the electronic signage) that Route 15 was closed after Marysville
-Interesting conversation with J for six hours straight on the trip down. (Lots of broad statistical guessing about topics like how many pizzas over the course of ten years, etc..)
-James completely loving being at Grandma's house...finding "his" room exactly as he left it
-Visiting Daniel and Emily's new house and having a great dinner and fancy tractor rides
-Visiting Uncle Tim's new apartment (without the kids) and watching 3D movies on his wall-sized television.
-An afternoon out with J getting milkshakes and picking up swimsuits (and a fun floppy hat) for beach week
-Trying to explain (completely unsuccessfully) how to play Apples to Apples with James
-Making chalk tracings, inscriptions, and the solar system outside on the sidewalk
-Lunch with Great Grandma and Grandpa Davis on the trip down
-New running shoes for me
-Jogging the development with J...without a jogging stroller
-Letting Owen run around the house in just a diaper because apparently he's a little exhibitionist
-Mom's strawberry pie and James' completely dumbfounded expression when everyone began singing "Happy Birthday" to J
-Driving alongside a train through part of Marysville
-The nipple sign is gone! (Blasted censorship)
-Driving over the mountain when we discovered (after not paying close enough attention to the electronic signage) that Route 15 was closed after Marysville
-Interesting conversation with J for six hours straight on the trip down. (Lots of broad statistical guessing about topics like how many pizzas over the course of ten years, etc..)
-James completely loving being at Grandma's house...finding "his" room exactly as he left it
-Visiting Daniel and Emily's new house and having a great dinner and fancy tractor rides
-Visiting Uncle Tim's new apartment (without the kids) and watching 3D movies on his wall-sized television.
-An afternoon out with J getting milkshakes and picking up swimsuits (and a fun floppy hat) for beach week
-Trying to explain (completely unsuccessfully) how to play Apples to Apples with James
-Making chalk tracings, inscriptions, and the solar system outside on the sidewalk
-Lunch with Great Grandma and Grandpa Davis on the trip down
-New running shoes for me
-Jogging the development with J...without a jogging stroller
-Letting Owen run around the house in just a diaper because apparently he's a little exhibitionist
-Mom's strawberry pie and James' completely dumbfounded expression when everyone began singing "Happy Birthday" to J
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Loveliness
I just wrote a long polemic against the contemporary music concert that I'm playing in today, but then thought better of publishing it once I remembered the professional risk I'd be taking (you never know when the music director is going to google your name) and also reconsidered sounding like an angry old codger.
So instead of complaining about terrible orchestra music that sounds like a piano being tipped over, here are some things that I find particularly lovely this morning:
-Owen waiting in his crib for someone to get him up so that he can climb onto his rocking horse and sing the ABCs to himself with an enormous grin over and over again at 7 AM
-The blast of fully functional central air conditioning kicking on in a hot car
-A completely green college quad at 11 AM on a Sunday morning with pretty girls in sunglasses lying in the grass and a couple of guys throwing a frisbee around
-A tall cup of coffee and several hours worth of books to read
-Geese looking half-asleep on the lake
So instead of complaining about terrible orchestra music that sounds like a piano being tipped over, here are some things that I find particularly lovely this morning:
-Owen waiting in his crib for someone to get him up so that he can climb onto his rocking horse and sing the ABCs to himself with an enormous grin over and over again at 7 AM
-The blast of fully functional central air conditioning kicking on in a hot car
-A completely green college quad at 11 AM on a Sunday morning with pretty girls in sunglasses lying in the grass and a couple of guys throwing a frisbee around
-A tall cup of coffee and several hours worth of books to read
-Geese looking half-asleep on the lake
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Quick Hitters
I. Playgrounds
It is officially playground season. School is nearly out for the summer, the weather is nice all day long, and we have two small boys whose biological imperative is constantly demanding that they stretch their little muscles, run, jump, leap, pull, and, apparently, slide down slides.
We knew even before we moved that the playground at the elementary school across the road would be a big hit with the boys. There were maybe one or two days that November warm enough for me to bundle James up and take him over, but we needed to wait until Spring to really use "Our Playground" as they call it. It's quite nice--I think the nicest in the area, although some of the novelty has worn off for James.
It's been running in the stroller that helped us discover the others--one about half a mile down Empire Boulevard at a busy intersection, another at the local middle school, and then another about a half-mile up from the middle school. There's an established routine now for discovering a new playground. James, upon being freed from the jogging stroller, immediately puts his stuffed animals and cars in the deepest recess of his seat where no one can find them and runs to find the smallest slide, then gestures to Owen and tries to convince him to come join him.
Owen, who has been attempting to free himself from the stroller from the moment the playground was spotted, is already halfway up the ladder to whatever the largest, scariest-looking big boy slide might be.
That pattern holds true for swings as well. James will choose the toddler swing if available, or the lowest hanging traditional swing. Owen will only ride the traditional swings, the higher and scarier the better. (J saved him from certain doom the other day when he fell asleep mid-swing and was about to tumble out, sucking on the fingers of his right hand and tugging on his ear with his left, of course.)
It's been good to see that they are capable of some positive social interaction as well. Mostly they prefer dogs to people, but yesterday James chatted so animatedly to a pleasant looking dog-owner who was visiting with her little son that I had to pick up him and transport him back to a slide (still going on eagerly about the musical tastes of the various characters of the movie Cars and how many days were left until we left for the beach this summer) so that the stranger could have a little peace. There have been a few bullies to deal with as well. Yesterday a little girl insisted repeatedly to James (and very loudly) that he needed to come with her RIGHT NOW.
He sat in the woodchips looking shell-shocked, and when she eventually stalked off, apparently quite angry with him, he looked at me in bewilderment and said "...but I have work to do with my dump truck!" I felt sorry for the little girls' parents, who were attempting what looked to be an often-occurring chat about manners, and explained to James that red-headed girls could be a real mixed bag.
Our worst playground experience was at a little community playground that was supposedly for younger children. The lot was dirty and overgrown, and the engineering on the equipment didn't make a whole lot of sense for little kids--Owen banged his head hard on an arch multiple times after scaling a rock wall, both kids got violently bumped a round a steep slide, and there were seedy looking teenagers who showed up and lounged about the benches. Best of all, Owen walked through someone's old vomit one of the stairs to the slides. I don't think we'll be heading back there anytime soon.
II. Who Is Trying to Reach Me?
1. Mint Analytics with a breakdown of where my money went last week. I like it when they tell me that we didn't spend very much, which was true of last week, apparently.
2. E-Z Pass Customer service, which is dipping into the bank account yet again. (I'm ready to be off the highways for a while after this week.)
3. eBay, reminding me that a pair of shoes I was looking at is going to sell soon. (This is fine, I'm not interested.)
4. Navient, reminding me to pay my student loans 20 days from now.
5. The Monroe County Library, reminding me that we need to return a Curious George video before we leave for Pennsylvania. (They don't know we're going to Pennsylvania, of course, but they would like it back before Wednesday)
6. My Whole Bean Coffee Supplier, offering me a 25% discount on beans this weekend. (Not interested, I just bought beans last month.)
7. Brass Quintet members, inquiring about dates for a gig that I can't do.
8. Starbucks, trying to sell me overpriced breakfast sandwiches
9. An ebay user who bought one of my old trumpet cases, responding to my email shaking him down to pay up
10. A local college dean who offered me a job that I turned down, responding curtly ( I hope not too upset) that he'd received my answer
So...mostly money. If any of you would like to send me an email that isn't about money, I'd love to hear from you and promise a quick response!
III. The Ice Cream Maker
We held off on Thai DNI for a long time because there was going to be a big extra expense involved--a $65 ice cream maker attachment for J's KitchenAid. We made the splurge, and the cardamom/vanilla thai ice cream was pretty good, albeit a little crunchy. (The straining part didn't quite work out.) Then J made some chocolate ice cream with it a few days ago. Honestly, the stand mixer would be worth it just for the ice cream. It's going to be a good summer.
It is officially playground season. School is nearly out for the summer, the weather is nice all day long, and we have two small boys whose biological imperative is constantly demanding that they stretch their little muscles, run, jump, leap, pull, and, apparently, slide down slides.
We knew even before we moved that the playground at the elementary school across the road would be a big hit with the boys. There were maybe one or two days that November warm enough for me to bundle James up and take him over, but we needed to wait until Spring to really use "Our Playground" as they call it. It's quite nice--I think the nicest in the area, although some of the novelty has worn off for James.
It's been running in the stroller that helped us discover the others--one about half a mile down Empire Boulevard at a busy intersection, another at the local middle school, and then another about a half-mile up from the middle school. There's an established routine now for discovering a new playground. James, upon being freed from the jogging stroller, immediately puts his stuffed animals and cars in the deepest recess of his seat where no one can find them and runs to find the smallest slide, then gestures to Owen and tries to convince him to come join him.
Owen, who has been attempting to free himself from the stroller from the moment the playground was spotted, is already halfway up the ladder to whatever the largest, scariest-looking big boy slide might be.
That pattern holds true for swings as well. James will choose the toddler swing if available, or the lowest hanging traditional swing. Owen will only ride the traditional swings, the higher and scarier the better. (J saved him from certain doom the other day when he fell asleep mid-swing and was about to tumble out, sucking on the fingers of his right hand and tugging on his ear with his left, of course.)
It's been good to see that they are capable of some positive social interaction as well. Mostly they prefer dogs to people, but yesterday James chatted so animatedly to a pleasant looking dog-owner who was visiting with her little son that I had to pick up him and transport him back to a slide (still going on eagerly about the musical tastes of the various characters of the movie Cars and how many days were left until we left for the beach this summer) so that the stranger could have a little peace. There have been a few bullies to deal with as well. Yesterday a little girl insisted repeatedly to James (and very loudly) that he needed to come with her RIGHT NOW.
He sat in the woodchips looking shell-shocked, and when she eventually stalked off, apparently quite angry with him, he looked at me in bewilderment and said "...but I have work to do with my dump truck!" I felt sorry for the little girls' parents, who were attempting what looked to be an often-occurring chat about manners, and explained to James that red-headed girls could be a real mixed bag.
Our worst playground experience was at a little community playground that was supposedly for younger children. The lot was dirty and overgrown, and the engineering on the equipment didn't make a whole lot of sense for little kids--Owen banged his head hard on an arch multiple times after scaling a rock wall, both kids got violently bumped a round a steep slide, and there were seedy looking teenagers who showed up and lounged about the benches. Best of all, Owen walked through someone's old vomit one of the stairs to the slides. I don't think we'll be heading back there anytime soon.
II. Who Is Trying to Reach Me?
1. Mint Analytics with a breakdown of where my money went last week. I like it when they tell me that we didn't spend very much, which was true of last week, apparently.
2. E-Z Pass Customer service, which is dipping into the bank account yet again. (I'm ready to be off the highways for a while after this week.)
3. eBay, reminding me that a pair of shoes I was looking at is going to sell soon. (This is fine, I'm not interested.)
4. Navient, reminding me to pay my student loans 20 days from now.
5. The Monroe County Library, reminding me that we need to return a Curious George video before we leave for Pennsylvania. (They don't know we're going to Pennsylvania, of course, but they would like it back before Wednesday)
6. My Whole Bean Coffee Supplier, offering me a 25% discount on beans this weekend. (Not interested, I just bought beans last month.)
7. Brass Quintet members, inquiring about dates for a gig that I can't do.
8. Starbucks, trying to sell me overpriced breakfast sandwiches
9. An ebay user who bought one of my old trumpet cases, responding to my email shaking him down to pay up
10. A local college dean who offered me a job that I turned down, responding curtly ( I hope not too upset) that he'd received my answer
So...mostly money. If any of you would like to send me an email that isn't about money, I'd love to hear from you and promise a quick response!
III. The Ice Cream Maker
We held off on Thai DNI for a long time because there was going to be a big extra expense involved--a $65 ice cream maker attachment for J's KitchenAid. We made the splurge, and the cardamom/vanilla thai ice cream was pretty good, albeit a little crunchy. (The straining part didn't quite work out.) Then J made some chocolate ice cream with it a few days ago. Honestly, the stand mixer would be worth it just for the ice cream. It's going to be a good summer.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Things to Remember
I. I haven't been back, but two of J's friends live in our old apartment in Brighton. Not just in our old apartment complex, but in the exact same apartment that we inhabited. She tells me that there's a picture of us on the fridge, so we can sort of be the genii loci of Clover Park #3.
I should find an excuse to look in on the place some time, because I think I'm already forgetting what it looked like. I remember where the bed was in our bedroom, and how the big window in there looked out into a bunch of trees in someone's fenced-in backyard over the apartment driveway. We had big closets with sliding doors, and I think our desk was in the bedroom as well--this is the sort of thing I'm starting to get fuzzy on.
I wonder what I ought to remember about our current house on Harwick Road. I'm afraid I'll only remember the beautiful hardwood floors, if we ever moved away, just for how sticky and crumby they always were around where the boys ate.
We do have a great master bedroom. It's the biggest room upstairs, and the bed is up against the eastern wall now. I moved it without asking J a few months ago, and she didn't like it, but we haven't ever gotten around to moving it back. The end tables are probably the most striking feature of the room as you're looking at the bed.
J's father made the end tables, and they're incredible. They're so much nicer than any other piece of furniture we own--beautifully crafted, perfectly stained, still pristine looking.
We have an storage ottoman with some sweaters and our swim things at the foot of the bed, and I've been keeping the box fan on it. It's easy for me to fall asleep with my feet at the headboard if I stay up late to read with the fan blasting on me. Last I knew Calvus was still sleeping with a fan blasting on him...I wonder if that's still the case?
It's been cooler the past few nights though, cool enough to want to crawl under the blankets and sleep close to J, but warm enough for her to come to bed with bare legs.
It's always bright downstairs in the morning, or at least if we open the blinds and curtains. (I usually do, while I'm making coffee and getting out a book to read at my desk.) There's a sunbeam that moves across the library floor from 8-9 in the morning, and if the kids are doing okay on their own we can lie in the middle of it with books and coffee mugs while they race around past (and over) us.
II. Alpine Week
It's Alpine Symphony week--a possibly once in a lifetime chance to play Strauss' biggest symphonic work.
Things to remember from this week in the orchestra-
Getting hired almost a year in advance and blocking off the dates
Not finding out until the first rehearsal that I'd be playing first offstage as well as assisting onstage, and sight-reading the part with a few of the other double-duty horn players since not all the extras were hired for the early part of the week.
The commissioned overture that had a bunch of high Cs (in the 2nd trumpet part) since apparently there weren't enough high notes in Alpine..
The first 8 bars and last 8 bars played in complete darkness in the hall to coordinate with the projected images overhead.
Sitting in front of the trombone section during The Summit
I should find an excuse to look in on the place some time, because I think I'm already forgetting what it looked like. I remember where the bed was in our bedroom, and how the big window in there looked out into a bunch of trees in someone's fenced-in backyard over the apartment driveway. We had big closets with sliding doors, and I think our desk was in the bedroom as well--this is the sort of thing I'm starting to get fuzzy on.
I wonder what I ought to remember about our current house on Harwick Road. I'm afraid I'll only remember the beautiful hardwood floors, if we ever moved away, just for how sticky and crumby they always were around where the boys ate.
We do have a great master bedroom. It's the biggest room upstairs, and the bed is up against the eastern wall now. I moved it without asking J a few months ago, and she didn't like it, but we haven't ever gotten around to moving it back. The end tables are probably the most striking feature of the room as you're looking at the bed.
J's father made the end tables, and they're incredible. They're so much nicer than any other piece of furniture we own--beautifully crafted, perfectly stained, still pristine looking.
We have an storage ottoman with some sweaters and our swim things at the foot of the bed, and I've been keeping the box fan on it. It's easy for me to fall asleep with my feet at the headboard if I stay up late to read with the fan blasting on me. Last I knew Calvus was still sleeping with a fan blasting on him...I wonder if that's still the case?
It's been cooler the past few nights though, cool enough to want to crawl under the blankets and sleep close to J, but warm enough for her to come to bed with bare legs.
It's always bright downstairs in the morning, or at least if we open the blinds and curtains. (I usually do, while I'm making coffee and getting out a book to read at my desk.) There's a sunbeam that moves across the library floor from 8-9 in the morning, and if the kids are doing okay on their own we can lie in the middle of it with books and coffee mugs while they race around past (and over) us.
II. Alpine Week
It's Alpine Symphony week--a possibly once in a lifetime chance to play Strauss' biggest symphonic work.
Things to remember from this week in the orchestra-
Getting hired almost a year in advance and blocking off the dates
Not finding out until the first rehearsal that I'd be playing first offstage as well as assisting onstage, and sight-reading the part with a few of the other double-duty horn players since not all the extras were hired for the early part of the week.
The commissioned overture that had a bunch of high Cs (in the 2nd trumpet part) since apparently there weren't enough high notes in Alpine..
The first 8 bars and last 8 bars played in complete darkness in the hall to coordinate with the projected images overhead.
Sitting in front of the trombone section during The Summit
Adventures
I. Things always melt down as soon as you get all three pots on the stove at once. You want to time the pasta to finish, the sauce to heat up, and the mushrooms and sausage to be done all at the same time. But then when you have all of these finishing at once and need to keep stirring the sauce to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan you can't drop everything at once to go help James, who apparently didn't make it all the way to the potty, to help clean up.
"You can wait two minutes, James. I'll be right there, just take your wet clothes off and finish going on the potty."
"WAHHH!!!"
"It's alright, it was just an accident. But you need to take your clothes off yourself while I finish getting dinner ready."
"WAHHH!!!"
"Why is Owen crying?"
<through sobs from both boys>
"He's trying to play in the puddle!!"
"Owen, get out of there. Hey, no no no!"
<my phone starts ringing with a call from someone with information on a college teaching job>
"Hello, can I call you back in a few minutes? It's a little crazy--NO! Stay out of the puddle! James, just finish taking your pants off and I'll help you in a sec--yeah, I'll call you back as soon as I get dinner on the--THE SAUCE!"
"My cars got in the puddle! WAHHH!!!!!"
II. Owen has learned...well, he's learned a new word.
It's the wind-up that really makes it special.
"nnnNNNYOOo!"
It is his new word for everything.
"Good morning Owen, would you like to get up?"
''nnnNNNYOOo!"
"Would you like to get your brother up?"
"nnnNNNYOOo!"
"You can wait two minutes, James. I'll be right there, just take your wet clothes off and finish going on the potty."
"WAHHH!!!"
"It's alright, it was just an accident. But you need to take your clothes off yourself while I finish getting dinner ready."
"WAHHH!!!"
"Why is Owen crying?"
<through sobs from both boys>
"He's trying to play in the puddle!!"
"Owen, get out of there. Hey, no no no!"
<my phone starts ringing with a call from someone with information on a college teaching job>
"Hello, can I call you back in a few minutes? It's a little crazy--NO! Stay out of the puddle! James, just finish taking your pants off and I'll help you in a sec--yeah, I'll call you back as soon as I get dinner on the--THE SAUCE!"
"My cars got in the puddle! WAHHH!!!!!"
II. Owen has learned...well, he's learned a new word.
It's the wind-up that really makes it special.
"nnnNNNYOOo!"
It is his new word for everything.
"Good morning Owen, would you like to get up?"
''nnnNNNYOOo!"
"Would you like to get your brother up?"
"nnnNNNYOOo!"
"Would you like some breakfast?"
"nnnNNNYOOo!"
And of course, you can already guess the answer to questions like:
"Are we ready for a bath?"
"Should we think about getting ready for bed?"
"Would you like a bite of salad?"
"Can you come and wave goodbye to Daddy?"
By the way, if you're wondering what he was doing in the video, he pulls out everything in my wallet any time he gets his hands on it. I am only okay with him doing this because he digs through the plastic cards until he finds my Visa, which has the Buffalo Bills logo on it, which he points to and then proudly says "Buff-a-wo!"
III. Three year old birthday parties can be rough, even when they're your own kids. But we had a great one last night for our little friend Lachlan. Poor Lachie was the little baby that couldn't keep up with the big kids for the longest time, but I think it's safe to say he's old enough now to do whatever (and climb wherever) James and Alexa are off to. And the best part? They can supervise themselves (so far as we know) so the adults can have a great time on their own!
IV.
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| "The Calm Before the Storm" |
V. Recently finished reading the Memoir of Marco Parenti, which was a look at interesting events in Medici Florence through the journal of borderline uninteresting (but really ordinary in the best sense of the word) silk merchant whose family was tied up in their political upheavals. Now onto a Hemmingway Novel (Islands in the Stream) in honor of Lux, whose wedding month has now arrived.
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