Tag Archives: nablopomo

Scary Puppy Construction

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Every Thursday Kurt cooks dinner for us and then entertains the kids for a couple hours so I get a break. Last week, after discovering Lukas’ love for ABBA, Kurt decided to see what other music our dancing queen might like. Lukas seems to have an affinity for classical music, which means must have been switched at birth because that shit makes my ass twitch. I don’t know what it is about classical music, but without even knowing what is playing I start to get nervous. It drives me nuts when a teacher for a lamaze class, for example, says they’re going to get everyone to relax. I know what’s coming and it just doesn’t work for me. It’s like telling any mom, “Don’t worry.” Instant worry, never fails, and there’s no getting rid of it. But I digress.

Kurt had both kids on his lap. Sophia watched the music videos he found on YouTube and he had Lukas movin’ to the music. One of those videos was Thriller. Kurt did the right thing and stopped it at a point and explained that it might be scary, but Sophia insisted that she wanted to watch, “Scary puppy.” That kid ain’t scared of nothin’.

On Friday we had a couple people over to repair a couple places on our floors where the wood had expanded too much and buckled up. We watch Holmes on Homes all the time so I didn’t have to explain very much to Sophia, just that they were there to fix the floors.

“They are breaking the floors. Then they fix the floors.” She said to me.

“Yep.”

“They are breaking floors with nails. Then they fixing floors with nails so scary puppy don’t get in, so no animals get in.” I think she thought the crow bar was a big nail.

“No, no scary puppies will get in.” I don’t think she was actually scared of werewolf coming in our house, but I thought I’d reassure her anyway. We must have recently watched an episode of Holmes on Homes where there was an animal infestation. Or maybe it wasn’t so recent, the memory this kid has is unbelievable.

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Silly Lukas Monkey Antics

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Lukas is a silly little monkey. Since he was about five or six months old, he has had the same silly cute going to bed ritual. When I lay him down, he straightens his legs in front of himself (making the letter “L”), turns to his side, and then pulls the blanket (“Friend”) his paternal grandmother made for him up to his nose and breathes in deeply. He doesn’t seem to have the attachment to “friend” that Sophia did, but he does sleep with it every night and seems more comfortable in the car when I bring it.

Also starting at about that age, anytime I pick him up because he’s been crying, or just needs to be comforted he reaches up and holds the braid I keep my hair in. Usually he’s reaching across the front of my neck to reach my braid because I hold him on my left side, but for some reason my braid is always on the right side.

At ten months, the Silly Lukas Monkey finally became mobile. He’s a butt scooter just like his sister was. I’d say it doesn’t get much more silly than that except a couple days ago I saw him putting the coins from Sophia’s toy cash register on his head for the sole purpose of letting it slide back off and then laughing about it like he just invented gravity himself.

Smiley Lukas Monkey

Today the silly monkey spent about thirty to forty-five minutes tossing the orange ring from the graduated ring stack toy. I’m fairly certain his goal was to make the ring roll on the floor because on the occasions he was able to do it he laughed and smiled. I told Kurt and I don’t think he really believed me. He watched Lukas for a few minutes, then saw what I was talking about, and exchanged that knowing look. We have another one of those. The drive and tenacity separate our monkeys from the rest. I’m doomed. I’m pretty sure with each child my brain shrinks and I’m equally sure the older monkey knows this.

Silly Lukas Monkey

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Dealing with Departures

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Our cancer patient, husky, died in July of 2010. We took her to the vet and said our good byes. We didn’t stick around for the deed. Neither one of us wanted to see that.

I thought making the decision would be the hardest part, but after leaving the dog at the vet Sophia kept asking me, “Were shan?”. I didn’t know how to answer her. From what I understand, in general, children at her age don’t understand the permanence of death, so I had no idea what to say. I didn’t want to tell her Chelan went to sleep and then have her freak out when I try to take a nap or something, so I did the major cop-out. I told her that Chelan was staying at the vet’s office because she’s sick.

A healthy Chelan in 2005

Her usual pose

Camping at our property after diagnosis

Four months later, November 2010, I took our cat Bailey to the vet for a routine exam and shots. Not thinking about what I had said about Chelan I told her that Bailey had to see the doctor. “No! Sah-phia’s cat!” She protested.

I wonder if she still remembers that. When I took Bailey to the vet recently to get his teeth fixed I thought of that every time she asked me, “Where’s Bailey?”

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All About Kurt Share

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Here is another tagging meme from Facebook. I posted this in my Facebook notes on Friday, February 20, 2009, which by the way was five days before our eleventh anniversary…

Here’s a chance to see how well you really know your wife/fiance/girlfriend or husband/fiance/boyfriend. Cut, paste and fill in the answers, then forward . . . shoot, you know what to do. The real challenge is to send it to your significant other to see how right you really are.

  1. They’re sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
    History Channel – stuff about WWII/Hitler/Guns/Swords
    Kurt will sit there and argue with the TV about getting the facts wrong.
  2. You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing do they get on their salad?
    Kurt doesn’t usually waste space on rabbit food especially if we’re at a buffet (we usually only do buffets in Vegas). But if he did have salad it’s usually a Caesar.
  3. What’s one food they don’t like?
    I think it would be easier to list what he does like. Kurt can’t handle spice and doesn’t like it when I get all ethnic and make Menudo (it’s a soup not a band of perpetually young boys). He also doesn’t like tomatoes – it’s a texture thing. He will eat salsa, tomato sauce and tomato soup.
  4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What do they order?
    Non-alcoholic: he gets a Pepsi or Coke if they don’t have Pepsi.
    Alcoholic: Jack and Coke or some soft of amber beer on tap
  5. Where did they go to high school?
    *name of small town* Michigan
  6. What size shoe does (s)he wear?
    I donno. I don’t buy his shoes.
  7. What is their favorite type of sandwich?
    I donno. I try not to pay attention to what he eats when we’re out. The nasty greasy things he orders make me twitch.
  8. What would this person eat every day if they could?
    Pizza and or lasagna
  9. What is their favorite cereal?
    Chocolate Rice Krispies, or Coco Puffs, or Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. All the nasty ‘kids’ cereals that I don’t really want to serve Sophia but will someday have to cause her dad has it. *grumble*
  10. What would they never wear?
    Kurt will wear anything. I have pictures of him in a dress. Seriously.
  11. What is their favorite sports team?
    Kurt watches motor cycle racing. He likes Valentino Rossi (so do I but for different reasons from Kurt…I hope, the man did wear a dress after all.), Eric Bostrom, and Nicky Hayden.
  12. Who did they vote for?
    Obama of course
  13. Who is their best friend?
    Do guys do the whole ‘best friend’ thing? Gah – I guess it would have to be his high school buddy Jeremy.
  14. What is something you do that they wishes you wouldn’t do?
    Obsess over the crap that’s put into packaged food.
  15. What is their heritage?
    Danish
  16. You bake them a cake for their birthday; what kind of cake?
    If I’m making it, it’s going to be carrot cake. I have no idea what his favorite is, probably chocolate. I’m horrible aren’t I?
  17. Did they play sports in High School?
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA you’re fuckin’ funny. Kurt was in band. He played the French horn.
  18. What could they spend hours doing?
    Playing City of Heroes
  19. What is one unique talent that they have?
    He can bend his fingers and touch the back of his hand. It’s really gross.

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The ’25 things’ list

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I’m clearing out everything I’ve put in Facebook because I plan to close my account there. I’m not sure when, probably not for another few months. I don’t actually want to get rid of everything, so I’m putting it here. I posted this in my Facebook notes on January 29, 2009…

I’ve been tagged with this three times in two days, so I guess I’ll give it a shot.

Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

  1. I’m a huge geek
  2. My dad taught me binary when I was five.
  3. When I was five I would sit for HOURS typing in zeros and ones in order to get a program to work on a machine that only had RAM (no hard drive). If I made a mistake, I had to start all over again.
  4. I have almost nothing in common with my mother.
  5. There were four blissful years where my mother didn’t even know where I lived.
  6. If there had been a creative spelling class in high school, I would have aced it in ways no one else could. Spell-check is like a godsend for me.
  7. I wish I had been related to George Carlin.
  8. I’m an only child.
  9. I wish I had siblings.
  10. I love to clean, but this doesn’t mean I judge people who don’t keep their house tidy. Like most people, I’m more comfortable in a healthy clean as opposed to a sterile clean environment.
  11. My grandpa taught me how to play cribbage.
  12. I double skunked my grandpa at age seven. He said, “Damn it I taught you too well.” He was not one to let someone win, just because.
  13. I was born and raised in Alaska and I miss it there, but I know it’s because I miss the nostalgic childhood stuff about it not because I want to live where winter weather is twenty below zero without wind-chill.
  14. I’m a frickin’ lizard, I don’t do well in cold climates.
  15. I was always in the lowest level reading classes in school.
  16. I have a very hard time getting ‘into’ a book.
  17. I didn’t discover the joy of reading until I was 16-ish when I discovered true crime books, specifically serial killer books.
  18. I would have discovered serial killer books when I was ten but the librarian who was also a nun nearly shit herself when I asked for a book about Jack the Ripper. She said they didn’t have any. I’m pretty sure she lied. Bitch.
  19. I sneer when I hear stupid shit.
  20. I sneer A LOT.
  21. I can’t lie. I can withhold truth, but cannot actually lie. So I haven’t bothered trying since I was a kid (about 14).
  22. I don’t dream very often, maybe once a year.
  23. I dwell on things A LOT.
  24. I have a very good memory especially for things I hear.
  25. I ace lecture classes, unless the teacher is a total ass hat and doesn’t test on the lectures.
  26. I curse A LOT.
  27. I don’t follow rules that I think are stupid hence, I’m on number 27 and won’t be sending this to 25 people. Deal with it. That’s right, I’m a rebel. I’m a wild woman. Can’t hold me back now. Ok, I’m done.

About number 6, now that my daughter is in preschool and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing how people in the real world are spelling the names of the children the supposedly love, I’m not so sure I would have aced a creative spelling class. I honestly would have never come up with an apostrophe in the middle of a name.

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55 Flash non-Fiction Friday: Photo is in

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I knew that taking the preschool photos would be like herding cats. Unfortunately, I was right. The circles around her eyes aren’t from a lack of sleep. No, the puffiness is from crying. My guess is that taking photos went much like the trip to the doctor and trying to get her on the scale.

Sophia's preschool photo

55 Flash Fiction Friday

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Baby Turkey

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This time last year, I was two weeks away from delivering Lukas.  I was so worried that he would come early that I planned and began making mini Thanksgiving meals the week before the Thanksgiving week.  I love Thanksgiving food. I didn’t want to miss out and even though I’m sure the hospital would provide a Thanksgiving themed meal I’m equally sure it would not compare at all. The first day of my mini Thanksgiving dinners week I made herb-roasted turkey breast and apple-cranberry dressing.  The recipe for the turkey breast is from Ina Garten and was published in the November Costco Connection.

Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast

  • 1 whole bone-in turkey breast, 6 1/2 to 7 pounds
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
  • 2 teaspoons dry mustard
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons good olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 cup dry white wine

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place the turkey breast, skin side up, on a rack in a roasting pan.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, mustard, herbs, salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice to make a paste. Loosen the skin from the meat gently with your fingers and smear half of the paste directly on the meat. Spread the remaining paste evenly on the skin. Pour the wine into the bottom of the roasting pan.

Roast the turkey for 1 3/4 to 2 hours, until the skin is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest and meatiest areas of the breast. (I test in several places.) If the skin is over-browning, cover the breast loosely with aluminum foil. When the turkey is done, cover with foil and allow it to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Slice and serve with the pan juices spooned over the turkey.

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Food for Gumming

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I told Sophia we had to take Baily, our cat, to the vet so that his teeth can be fixed. “But I don’t like shots.” She said.

“You’re not getting shots. We’re taking Bailey in to get his teeth fixed.”

“But Bailey doesn’t like shots.”

“No one likes shots. Bailey isn’t getting shots. The doctor just needs to make Bailey’s teeth stop hurting.”

“Teef hurt?”

“Yes his teeth hurt.”

“Well my teef hurt.”

“Maybe we should take you to a dentist then.”

“But I don’t like shots.”

Oh when will I be able to have normal conversations with her? She makes my head spin.

The cat wasn’t being compliant about entering the kitty kennel for his short car ride to the vet so I wound up somehow holding his four paws with one hand and shoving him head first into the crate. I don’t know how I did it really but I know the cat wasn’t happy about it and it made Lukas laugh. Now that the boy butt scoots, he’s good at herding cats to me. It’s amazing what a semi mobile baby can do.

The ladies at the veterinary office thought I was quite a site. I had Lukas in the Ergo baby carrier, clutching a cat in his kennel, and a four year old wearing a purple and blue horizontal striped dress with a solid blue shirt over it, and green and white horizontal striped knee length shorts. She was also sporting one white sock and one pink black bear print sock from Alaska plus carrying her stuffed polar bear who now wears a butterfly print shirt and a diaper. But her hair was brushed and that was the important part.

We dropped off the cat and for the rest of the day I kept hearing, “Where’s Bailey?”

“We left him at the Vet’s office so that they can fix his teeth.”

“Can we get Bailey?”

“We’ll get Bailey later today.”

When the time came to pick Bailey up I told Sophia, “Ok let’s go get Bailey from the Vet’s office.”

“Hhhmm maybe later.” She said. Oh that kid kills me.

Bailey is back home safe and sound. They removed his fang-like K9 teeth. His teeth were rotting out of his mouth and quite infected. He’ll be on the nasty smelling canned cat food for a week and then he should be able to gum the crunchy kibble food.

Bailey after the vet visit

Speaking of gumming food…Lukas was eleven months old as of November 1st and the boy still doesn’t have a single tooth. Not one. This is fine on the breastfeeding front but I’m running out of things to give the growing boy that he can gum.

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