Changing every day

Gabriel is growing up by leaps and bounds. I know this is good, this is what he's supposed to be doing. But I can't keep up! He's not a baby anymore and I am a little saddened by that. I am truly amazed while I watch him storming about the backyard, and wonder how this tall toddler got here so quickly. He had his 18-month checkup this week and he is still in the 97th percentile on weight, off the chart on head size, but he dipped down to 93 on height. He's still very proportional, though. I wish I could freeze-frame his very huggy personality right now. He blows kisses at everyone and spontaneously hugs all of us all the time. These pictures were taken on a gorgeous late winter day while he was discovering the little purple flowers that come up in our yard. My sweet and wonderful little man!

The best medicine - live and in person

If you heard someone screaming with glee last Sunday morning around 10am, that was me in the Target parking lot. Jav had just called to let me know that his sister got our tickets to see Eddie Izzard play the Majestic Theater on June 5th. I have been hoping he would do a US tour since I first laid eyes on him, just after Jav and I started dating in 2003. The first round of gleeful screaming started Friday morning when I got my Ticketmaster update and saw his name, although it was very quiet screaming since Gabriel was still asleep. I immediately joined his fan club to see if we could get the password for the Presale, and lo and behold they sent me an email later that afternoon with that very thing. Then the screaming turned into silent trepidation when they only had single tickets available for Presale. We all hoped that they had only put aside part of the tickets for Presale, but started talking about possibly doing a road trip to Austin (where he's doing three shows) if the one Dallas show was sold out. But it wasn't, and six of us happy campers will be sitting in the middle of the upper balcony laughing until tears run down our face and our dinners almost come back up.

What's all the fuss about? you may be asking yourself. Well, I think he's the funniest human being ON THE PLANET. I never much cared for stand-up before I saw him. Sandra (Jav's sister) had watched his HBO special and turned Jav and the rest of her family onto him. So Jav figured I would like him. And hearing that a cross-dressing Englishman who joked alot about history and religion sounded right up my alley. My Mom has also become a huge fan. I think he must have thought the time was finally ripe for a total US tour, after the success of The Riches on FX. The second season starts tonight, and our DVR is set up and ready to go. Eddie plays the head of a con artist family, with the excellent Minnie Driver as his wife. The first season was critically acclaimed, and I think did ok in the ratings. I'm sure he gained alot of new fans through the exposure, especially if they went out and rented any of his stand up DVD's, the set of which Jav got me for Christmas.

I haven't been this excited about a concert since I was going to sit on the floor for Van Halen in 1984.

Time is not on my side

The time change this past weekend is killing Jav and I. We can't get sleepy to go to bed at night, and we can't get up in the mornings. I feel like I did when Gabriel was still a little guy and not sleeping through the night. Gabriel, on the other hand, seems to have slipped back into a perfect sleep pattern. He has a little trouble going to sleep, but sleeps in mornings now almost an hour later than he was before the time change.

Who originally thought of this idea, anyway? I'd like to have a little chat with them. If I can stay awake.

No Country for Old Men - my review (finally)

I hesitated to see this. I think the Coen Brothers' movies are brilliant, but they are also so violent that I have to really get my brain ready to see one of their movies. And it was very worth the effort. These two just know how to make the total package: the scenery and look of the movie, the music, the story and the acting all fit together so beautifully. The plot for this one is simple and has been done so many times. You find a bunch of money, you decide to keep it, you think you can outsmart the rightful (?) owner. But Cormac McCarthy (the original author of the book) and the Coens (who wrote the screenplay) come through, making it all seem new and current.

Javier Bardem is just chilling. It makes you wonder if he had to spend a month at Disney World decompressing and feeling jolly again after he got finished with this role. But my two favorite performances are Tommy Lee Jones as the world weary sheriff trying to get to the good but greedy guy (Josh Brolin) before the bad guy gets to him, and Kelly MacDonald as the wife of the good but greedy guy. She is from Scotland and somehow masters the West Texas, trailer park-living, halfway given up on life drawl down to a tee.

The Coens' movies spoil you and turn you into a movie snob. You will find yourself thinking about the movie for weeks, maybe even months. My favorite Coen Bros. movie (and one of my favorites of all time) is still Miller's Crossing, about Irish and Italian Gang warfare in Prohibition Chicago. O Brother Where Art Thou, their deep South, bluegrass-ridden take on Homer's The Odyssey comes in a close second. I'll put No Country as a close third. Then the very wonderfully goofy The Big Lebowski, with Jeff Bridges as a stoner/bowler involved in a case of mistaken identity. Then Fargo - which is actually alot like No Country (but with snow) with it's sparse landscape, undertones of humor and extreme violence. Genius, genius, genius, genius and genius. I am so glad these guys are finally receiving their just rewards.

Doing absolutely nothing

Yesterday the weather was beautiful. After Gabriel's nap, we had a quick snack and ventured outside, as we do on nice weather days. He has his little things around the yard he likes to do every day. He likes to walk up and down the small ramp leading up to our back garage door. He likes to visit his sandbox, even though I keep forgetting to get some sand for it. He goes to the two trees where we hang the hammock and bangs the chains around. He has a very special hill leading down to the neighbors' fence that he likes to walk down backwards (this always cracks me up). While doing all of this he is constantly on the lookout for airplanes, and loves pointing them out to me. I usually have a few things to do out there too, like pick up Molly-poop or fill up our birdbaths or weed the flower beds.

But yesterday was so nice, we found ourselves just lying in the new springy grass in the middle of our backyard. It felt so cool on our skin. Every once in awhile a cool breeze would blow. We just sat there and did nothing for a good twenty minutes, which is a small miracle for Gabriel. Eventually Molly and Henry came over and joined us in our lolling about. I tried to get Bones to come over too, but it was more effort than I wanted to exert so I quit. I have a tendency to be sort of manic and never stop moving, and I SO don't want Gabriel to inherit that trait. So it was wonderful to be able to just sit and enjoy being outside. And do absolutely nothing.

The yin and yang of musical tastes

I've been really enjoying listening to classical music all of sudden. I go through waves like this on and off, where that's almost all I'll listen to for awhile. I wonder if it's because something's going on that is stressing me out, and this music has a calming effect on me. I especially like listening while we're eating dinner and while I'm doing the dishes afterwards each evening. The program on at that time is Exploring Music, a syndicated show that takes a weekly topic and delves into it really deeply. I've heard some rare pieces from some of my favorite composers, and I've also liked things by composers I never had any interest in before. Last week all shows were devoted to Stravinsky. Listening made me want to go see a ballet. I like the show also because of all the history the host delves into in between the musical selections.

Oh my God I'm getting so old.

To counter this problem, I'm going a totally different direction in the car. I have Jav's Foo Fighters (the new one), that I love so much but it makes me want to drive fast. I have to make sure I exercise self control when Gabriel's in the car. And I also dug up an old cassette tape I haven't listened to in years - Utopia. Todd Rundgren is the only name I know, and I don't think the band lasted very long. But those of you of the same age group as me - remember the hysterically silly video for Feet Don't Fail Me Now, which I think was their only big hit? What a great song. I was singing at the top of my lungs and trying to dance and drive this morning, with Gabriel in the car. He had a genuine look of concern on his face.

TP Reports

When I went back to work recently, I talked myself into believing that a divine intervention had occurred. I mean, I never had to update my resume or look through want ads or fill out an application. Or have an interview, God forbid. Nope, just a little rearranging of kids and I was raring to go. Although I did have some trepidation. I left there very unhappy for a variety of reasons:

1. Some people in management positions were actually cheering global warming because it was good for business.

2. Management had also recently decreed a bunch of new rules, like you couldn't have more than five personal items in your office, no plants, and no radios.

3. I had very little in common with ANYONE I worked with. I went home for lunch every day, because on the odd day when I stayed for some reason or another, and had to eat with my fellow employees, I felt so lonely and not like anyone else that I just wanted to walk out of the door and never go back.

And, on some level, I must admit

4. I felt I was not living up to my full potential and could do so much better.

So you may be asking yourself, why on EARTH did you want to go back there?

1. It's easy work.

2. It pays well.

3. It works with my schedule and doesn't take me away from my kids for very long.

4. I know they will work with me if one of them gets sick.

Etcetera Etcetera.

And the craziest part of it is that at first I was actually sad that everyone thought of me as "the temp". I'm not included in office gossip. No one can ask me to lunch because I have to eat at my desk everyday due to time constraints. I'm not in on jokes that everyone else seems to get. The company is a family, and I'm just a 4th cousin who visits once a year and nobody can remember my name.

But after about a month, I had the pleasure of realizing how much I have grown up and changed since having my kids. This is a JOB. These people are not my family, or friends. They are work acquaintances. Yes, you spend most of your time with them. And although most of them are very nice people, that doesn't mean I want to be close friends with them. And yes, management does take care of their employees. But everything they do is for the good of the company, not for you. Sometimes the nice things almost felt like blackmail. For some reason, the following song lyric comes to mind: "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." Because here I am back again.

Now they want me to add another day to my two days a week. Make that, the owner wants me to add another day, but this time to help out Sales, who need someone to enter orders and who knows what else. I've seen that department chew up and spit out perfectly good and smart temps just because of a few errors entering orders. The Head of Sales has worked there longer than anyone besides the owner, and she is one of the hardest people to get along with I have ever met. She is childish, spoiled, and uses language that would make a sailor blush. And used to be a pretty good friend. See, there I go using that word again. Now I realize that she was never my friend.

And then also today I find out that the Head of Sales and my current boss are having some kind of squabble. There were doors slammed to offices and muffled shouting heard by those of us in the very open-air cubicles. So much for not being included. But now that I've been sick to my stomach all day after hearing that, I am kind of ready to walk away from the whole thing. Life - and in this case my time with my kids - is MUCH TOO SHORT.

My Waterbaby

Gabriel starts swim lessons for the first time Monday morning, and I get to take the lessons with him. We decided to go with Emler Swim School in Arlington because we got more bang for our buck there. He missed the first 6 weeks of a 20 week session, but they assure me that doesn't really matter at this age. We visited today so I could see the layout and sort of know what to expect, and I really liked what I saw and was impressed with the few people I met (they didn't have a class until later this afternoon). He's only been in a pool once, and it took him a really long time to relax, but I'm hoping seeing other kids moving around will give him courage. I can't wait to see how he reacts. I think it will end up being really fun for the two of us.

Free Spirits

I love my book club. It was my turn last night to have everyone over to eat and discuss my choice, The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. I was just happy to find that they didn't want to kick me out since I've chosen two classics in a row now. I really wasn't expecting to have much of a discussion about the book since I even had trouble finishing it. But the exceptional members of our club surprised me, and we had a great discussion about all kinds of things relating to the story. We discussed how everyone wants to be in the "in" crowd, no matter what age or class you find yourself in. We talked about how difficult it would have been to have the mindset of your whole existance being dependent on catching a rich husband. And we compared notes on why we thought Lily Bart, the main character, made the choices she made in her life - even though those choices led to a tragic ending. (I was so sad at the end of the book that I couldn't even cry. I was just numb all over).

I was much happier, however, with how all the food turned out. I start thinking about food around the same time I choose my book. Since this was the early 1900's in New York, Christi jokingly asked at our last meeting if I was going to do a New England boiled dinner. When I researched the popular recipes at the time, however, that's exactly what I found - boiled meats, vegetables, everything. So I decided to do an updated (and slightly healthier) version of this. I served a rice and fruit salad, cranberry slow-cooker roast, mashed sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts with bacon and caraway seed. My Mom had the great idea of a bread pudding for dessert, so I found this really simple recipe for Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce. The meal was a ton of work, but it's always so worth it when everything turns out well. I've decided that along with having experience in the kitchen, the two things you really need to be a good cook is 1) a sense of what will go together to make a great meal, and 2) knowing how to get everything ready and hot at the same time.

We are about to start our 5th year as a book club (WOW!), despite warnings from a previous member that it would be too hard for everyone to continue with the busy lives we all lead. But I've learned to make time to read and to make time for my book club meetings. They are so much fun and so important to keeping me sane in these days of singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and cracking up watching Mr. Noodle on Elmo's World every day. I can't wait until April's meeting, especially since I can kick back and just worry about eating and talking this time!