Pancakemama proud of Pancakepapa

Last night...hubby's last night of school. He is now on the road to teacher-dom. Over the next month, he will be making the transition from waiter to teacher. This also means we get to make the transition from seeing each other two nights a week to ALL OF THEM. WE HAVE NEVER, EVER HAD NORMAL NIGHTS TOGETHER IN THE ENTIRE SPAN OF THIS RELATIONSHIP, WHICH IS 16+ YEARS. Wow. I'll get to see how the other half lives.

Boo, I'm proud of you. I'll be jealous when it's you and Kidlet traipsing about the desert all next summer, all day, every day.

Oy vey, this means it will soon be my turn to attempt to finish this school thing. Lessee...my goal is to be done by the time I'm 45, so I've got mmm...6 years to go. Wish me luck.

I need a vacation

Random thoughts of the morning or tell me how you really feel

--I hate feeling Kidlet getting stressed about going to school because I'm the one who said 'oh yes, I think she's going to love this' and now she tells me 'I don't like school' and holds back her tears to put on a brave face when I drop her off. I can't wait for this 'summer day camp' to end and have the real school start. Ok, just had to get that off my chest.

--Had to take an exam this morning. It was like pulling teeth to get me there to take it. I had planned on taking this thing way back at the end of May. Well, I didn't find out until I was there, taking the test, that I had studied for this thing totally wrong. I have taken this instructor before and he usually wants the grandiose theme-and-scheme of things. Well, today it was all nit picky stuff like "what's Alexander Hamilton's mother's maiden name?". A full 20% of my grade, right there...down the drain. At least I have a very solid 'A' on my written assignments to balance it out (a little).

--On the way back to my car post-exam, I walked through a neighborhood in which I would love to live (except for the fact every third house is a rental for partying college folks). Sitting under a huge pine tree next to one of these charming houses, there was a lovely elderly woman. Something about her really struck me...don't know if it was her friendliness, her beauty or her bright pink lipstick. Felt like I just wanted to invite her out to a cup of tea.

--Now I'm totally wiped out from the test taking. Looking forward to a quiet evening with my tiny family. Usually, we are only able to all get together twice a week since hubby has been "all school, all the time" for the past year. But next week, that will change. I can hardly believe it. Tonight: glass(es) of wine and knitting. Tomorrow: back to the writing assignments for school.

The Bonus Round...Seven Random Things About Me

A few months back I answered this question but I'm pretty weird and random so answering this is like selling lamb tickets at a wolf carnival. So Emily, I'm more than happy to come up with another set!

1--My not-so-guilty pleasure in music is uber-cheesey 70's soft rock. Think "Evil Woman" by E.L.O. , "Sister Golden Hair" by America, "More than a Feeling" by Boston. Oh yes. I revel in this stuff. I grew up listening to AM radio where these were the staples.

2--Somewhat related...my first LP was John Denver's Greatest Hits, my first 45 was "Le Freak" by Chic and my first tape was Golden Years by David Bowie.

3--I've met Charo. On several occasions. She is the sweetest, tiniest, bustiest woman you could ever hope to meet.

4--Somewhat related--I have a small reputation for refusing famous people. I've (tried) to kick out Jimmy Buffet from a high-falutin' cocktail lounge for violating the dress code (but the manager didn't have my back, he let him stay). I refused to serve Sting at the restaurant I worked at because we were closed and I had had a bad day. ("Not even a bowl of soup?" he asked plaintively.) Must have been a bad day because I do love The Police. Lastly, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top asked if my friend Mikey and I wanted to go bar hopping but again, I was tired and cranky from a long night at work and said no. Gotta say, Billy Gibbons is one very nice, cool cat.

5--When I get dressed, I have a theme in mind. It could be "summer in Stockholm" or "Amelie", but I'm positive my end result looks nothing like my inspiration.

6--If I could live in any other time, it would be in a 1930s screwball comedy ala The Thin Man or My Man Godfrey. I wouldn't want to live in the actual 1930s (you know, the Great Depression, between World Wars, all that biz), but the sparkling drinking and dancing at supper clubs with gobs of money...that, I like.

7--I currently don't have a favorite color. This month I just really love them all. Last month, it was pink. (via gardenhoe/sara)

Sorry I'm so wiki-happy today. I got a little out of hand. I'm not sure if anyone really reads this poor little blog much anymore, so I'll just assume if you are reading this...consider yourself tagged!

Have a lovely weekend, all. I'll give it my best shot but I'm going to be studying for an exam on Monday (bleh!), but at least I'll study with a glass of wine in my hand (yay!).

Papa

I was going to write a post yesterday in honor of my Dad's birthday but it seemed like everything I wanted to do was too emotional, too over the top. He's been gone now for...what...2 years now? Crazy. I still can't believe it.

I just got an email today from the New Orleans Saints organization (yes, I'm a football fan despite how sexist and evil the culture surrounding it can be) reminding me that training camp time is here. It got me thinking about how excited I get for football season and how my Dad and I used to compare notes. He'd bet on college football. Me, I'd bet on the pros. We'd discuss our 'systems'. He'd do something crazy with percentages and I'd do research on wins/losses and how particular teams would come out post win/loss on home or away turf. Neither of us won much with football. There was one year when I was very very close to winning $35,000 in the big 'pick your pros' contest but alas, I dropped the ball...no win. Papa would occasionally win a hundred bucks playing the poker machines (when he, ahem, wasn't supposed to be playing the poker machines. Ha ha! A secret revealed, Mama!). But no big wins, no early retirement.

Let it suffice to say, I miss him and love him dearly, kooky fella.

It was a very good day...

Being in the mix of one of the more stressful summers on record, I'm trying to take my vacations where I can. Whether it be 15 minutes in my book before I fall asleep at night or 3 hours at my Mom's house on a late Sunday afternoon, taking a break from all the pressures that are crowding in on me is a necessity.

Last night, Kidlet and I went to my Mom's house. She bought the grooviest kid's pool that looked like a crab, had a tiny BBall hoop and sprinkler fountains. We all splashed around, drying our feet on towels and blankets that I hadn't seen about 20 years. We opened one of my Dad's good wines (a 1997 red from Spring Mountain...amazing, I tell you). We ate shrimp, fishstix, salad and bread. I baked a berry pie. I forgot all my troubles for three hours. I call that a very good day.

92.31% of the way there...

From Dominique up in Canada. Love love love these colors. Also I like how one can interpret the shape in many different ways...sun, beach ball, swirl of a soft serve ice cream cone...
She wrote me a very sweet note on the reverse about my photos and knitting. :)

From Sanne in England. This one is amazing. The fabric on the card is an apron that she has cut up and made into a skirt. It reminds me of the song "Cactus" by The Pixies (one of my fave songs ever).

From Marieke in the Netherlands. Daisies hold a very special place in my heart; daisies are my mom's favorite and she carried them in her wedding. So there you have it. I love this.

From Diana at popcorn and sushi. The papers on here are beautiful and I LOVE the 'ideal girl'...I keep trying to figure out where she came from.

From our lovely swap mistress, Andrea. I can't believe she made 77 cards. Because I've seen them floating around flickr and you can tell how much care she put into these. The note on the back was so thoughtful and lovely and in the coolest handwriting ever. Can't believe it. Beautiful.

So I thought I had received them all but it turns out there's one lone card still wandering the summersphere. And that's just fine with me. It gives me hope that my mailbox will not just be full of bills and coupon mailers until the end of time.

Sit down, I'll get you a cold beverage of your choice.

Sorry I haven't been the good blogger lately. You know, things have been so busy. Work is kookoo. I'm dealing with the stresses of the tot going to her new school. (Oh, it's actually getting much better, thank you.) I miss my husband desperately as we see each other only on Saturdays and Monday nights. I need to get my sweet dog Nora to a vet to...sigh...get another lump looked at (and probably taken off for $500). But I still consider us lucky. Nora has had the cancer for a year now and seems to be doing really well. She spent all last night in the backyard chasing from one leafy nook to another, hunting birds. Speaking of the yard, it is a shambles. Dry, dusty and crispy. Our hill is eroding away and turning to a pile of crusty, desert dirt (very light on the organic matter) at the bottom of the hill. Can't decide if I just want to let it ride til next year or attempt to fix it during the hottest days of summer. And me? Let's see...I'm still dawdling over taking my exam for school (big surprise). I think I'll just make an appointment today, you know, just to have a deadline. I work better with those (sometimes). I started doing a little sewing. Yeah, crazy, eh? I started hand sewing a sock kitty from this book. Cute book. If only I had more time. Haven't knit a stitch in over a week. Very sad as I'm just a few inches away from finishing the socks.

Oh yeah, you might want to stay your distance. I'm sick. Sick in 100 degree weather with no air conditioner. Awesome!

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Last order of business...

I received the last of my postcards from the swap. Sigh. I'm going to miss the race to mailbox to see what treats are ensconced within. I've been feeling completely beat up so I haven't managed to scan the cards yet, but hopefully in the next day or two. If you are wondering about your cards, YES! They have arrived and they are all beautiful.

Imagine this...a crafty post

We went to a little tie-dying party last week and while my creations did not come out as proper tie-dye (more Jackson Pollock, as Kidlet might say), it still added some color to some plain white stuff. When I saw the end result of Kidlet's tank top, it had a big white spot on the chest. It was crying out for adornment. I decided an applique was in order. Kidlet picked the fabric and shape, and I got to sewing. Granted, my work is simple but it really felt good to sew. I can definitely see doing more of this in my future. It was quite nice to start and finish a project within a half hour. If you are wanting any applique inspiration, try and get the book Applique Stitchery by Jean Ray Laury on ebay or at the library. It's awesome. I first heard about it here.

Even the back came out somewhat tidy. Success? We'll see how it comes out in the wash.

Thanks for the memories...

I've got more than my fair share of good 4th of July experiences. Here's a smattering...

--my dad, back in the 70's, wearing his British flag shorts. They were covered in itsy bitsy Union Jacks. I knew this was scandalous, but being 5 years old, I wasn't sure why.

--shopping for fireworks with my dad. Sure, there were the roadside stands by the grocery store, but we'd go to the bricks-n-mortar real-deal firework store.

--going to the 4th of July parade in 1976. My mom made a red, white and blue quilt that year (that is now a very very very shred-y affair and rides in my car for impromptu picnics). I think that's the year we all got sunburned feet because we were all wearing sandals. We put our feet in my kiddie pool for relief and ate hot dogs.

--watching fireworks go off over Dillon Reservoir. They filled the valley perfectly and were reflected in the lake. The sound would reverberate against the mountains, making it seem like four times as many had gone off. And we'd always smirk at the day tourists who didn't realize that, yes, a wool sweater was de rigueur for the evening as it would be about 40 degrees.

So, go eat your hot dogs (or Smart Dogs, in our case), drink a beer, and don't start any fires.

Three posts in one day. Have I lost my mind?

A.M. Fireworks

There's always the first firework where you aren't sure if it was the crazy kids down the street lighting off their own, or if it was an official firework but a bit of a dud.

Ooooo...

Ahhhh...

Then the overblown finale. It's always too much. Kind of ridiculous, really. They could have spread them out for about 5 minutes and I would have been happy.

My favorites are the sparklers.

The past couple of days, I have been in super-stress mode.

Kidlet. Started. School.

Day One--the drop off went surprisingly well.

Day Two--the drop off went perhaps-not-so-surprisingly bad.

Day Three--today. No school. Thank goodness for small things.

I'm not sure what to think of it all. The first day we picked her up, they were watching a movie which surprised the hell out of us as it was stated in their handbook that they were anti-TV. Not that we're anti-TV, we just were surprised. The morning teacher hasn't been there when I've picked up so I haven't been able to ask how it's going. I have to get my accounts of the day from a rambling 3-year old. I have to remind myself that this is their 'daycare/summer camp' session and that it's not officially school. The 'real' teacher comes in next week and they'll start steps toward the Montessori materials. It also makes me feel a little better that another mom that I ended up talking to on day one said that her daughter was having some issues with coming back on day two. As my very wise Grandmother says "Wait two weeks. It will be fine." And so the wait begins. Sigh. I'll be happy when my insides start to unknot.

The Postcard Swap--Round 2

How can you not smile when there's a recipe for play dough included? Leonie thoughtfully supplied one for me, knowing I have a tot. The tot also really like the sparkly flowers (as do I...mmmm....shiny!).

This collage is so beautiful and if you didn't know, we're all about the birds in this household this summer. This is from Rebecca.

This scan in no way can convey the delicateness of the drawing. It's a pair of peaches rendered on a page from The Joy of Cooking (jams and jellies section, of course). The reverse can be seen here. From Stephanie at ruby crowned kinglette.

I just received a couple more cards but I will wait just a tiny bit longer before I just go ahead and post them. I have to say, I'm happy that some of the cards are taking longer to get to me to stretch out the fun just a little longer. Then it will just be stinkin' old bills after that. Sigh.

And now for something completely different.

Getting ready for the 4th of July?

At least a half dozen times a day, Kidlet's new question is "what is freedom?"

No, not for the holiday. We are reading Disney's The Little Mermaid, over and over (and over) again. Ursula the Sea Witch takes away King Triton's freedom in exchange for Ariel's. Kind of a tough one to answer, eh? Or is it just me tying freedom up (ha ha) with other concepts? Funny how a 3-year-old can make you think about things.

Oh. Didn't I mention I was crazy? Well, now you know for certain.

Whew. Thanks, Dominque, for letting me know at least one of the cards made it! Hopefully, it made it in one piece. If I do this again, I'll put it in an envelope (or make them more durable) so that I don't question it all to the end.

Lately, I've been having a good number of anxiety attack flare-ups. Nothing too unusual there...every few months I seem to get several bouts of the wooziness, the falling sensation, the pounding heart. I feel pretty confident I'm having a hard go of it right now because we are just about to (slow down, pounding heart) start a new school for Kidlet next week. We adore our current situation and we really lucked into it. It makes me wonder "Am I really this crazy? Why do I want to change up a good thing, especially when we had such an awful experience in the daycare previous to our current one?" Right now, Kidlet tickles the babies' toes and has booty-shaking parties with her buddy. What will she be doing next week? Gardening, doing schoolwork, wading in kiddie pools and making new friends? Crying for eight hours a day? Oh dear. I keep hoping Kidlet's claims of "I love my new school" aren't just idle chitchat.

Ok, now that I've got myself worked up into a frenzy, let me tell you something kinda cool. Yesterday as I was driving to work (after I dropped off a happy Kidlet at her current daycare), I was overcome with a feeling of absolute calm and contentment. It was strange as it was sort of what one might expect before they die (little life scenes passing before one's eyes) but it was good. I felt like I had done life right. I had an overwhelming gratefulness for this life that I have. I tell you, if you can wrangle up that feeling, I highly recommend it. I really have no idea what brought this about; I was driving, thinking about nothing in particular and then bam! It wasn't something that I carried throughout the day, but I could recall it.

Wow, now that I've revealed my absolute craziness to the rest of the world...ummm...have a great day, eh?

Just an ounce of stress...ok, more than an ounce

So, I'm seeing mentions of folks receiving postcards from the summer swap in their mailbox. The thing that's starting to freak me out is that I'm starting to think mine got lost in the mail. I sent them out from work in a batch on the first day of summer and usually that's a very safe option but I haven't seen any mention of anyone receiving my cards. Oh dear. If I could hear a shout out from someone that they received a card, I'd feel oh-so-much better. Thank you.

Back to your regularly scheduled program.

The Postcard Swap--Round 1

Can I start to tell you how fun this all is? All I can say is I hope Andrea does another one of these. I love mail.

In order of receipt...

Love the yucca-like yellow side parts (I'm so descriptive, eh?). This is from Kristen from Sticking to the Point.

This is from longtime bloggy pal, Nina. I'd show you the back too but you know, there's the whole address thing. She's got the cutest writing and she drew the best little squigglys. On the back, she listed some of her summer faves (see the rest in this post):

1. Glasses of wine after the kids go to bed

2. Bathing suit wedgies on my girl

3. The sound of the ice cream truck

4. Triming the hedges

5. The smell of tomato plants on my fingers

Emily from Shining Egg must be on my wavelength...she digs Mary Oliver too and she put in a quote from this poem. The title of this collage is...you guessed it, right? Watermelon!

And this is too dang cool. Cathy is from right here in my town and she sent this amazing card. On the verso: "Summer Checklist: walk on the beach, watch the stars, eat a peach, swim, have a drink at sunset, picnic, lay in a hammock, campfire."

I'll post the next 3 rounds as they come in. {heart, heart}

The Days of Wine and Roses

Yesterday...a day full of non-working technology. The end of the working day rushes up to greet me and I'm running late to pick up Kidlet.

I walk outside. Warm breeze, golden sun. A butterfly twirls about me. First Day of Summer.
I catch my breath for a moment. My race to the car slows a little.

I'd like to say I was able to continue with that feeling that started to melt my tensions away but after I picked up Kidlet, there was still a lot of the hustle 'n bustle left in me. But I was able to recapture it in tiny moments: sipping (gulping, just kidding) down rose at dinner while I watched Kidlet play with the bearded babies (since she ate so much bread in the car on the way home from the store, she couldn't eat dinner, just a popsicle...but I digress), deadheading the roses, crawling into bed earlier than I should (as I should be studying for my test) just to read my book. There was one other little bit of summer too...my first summer swap postcard! I'll post it in a separate post, after I get to scan it.

Here's to hoping all of our summers are less about the hustle 'n bustle and more about the butterfly.