10-10-10

How could I not post on this really nifty date, especially with so many interesting things going on in the Hayes household?

Loving the gorgeous fall weather. Vivid blue skies, crunchy, colorful leaves, pumpkins and mums and that crisp morning air. Divine!

We made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch on Friday, mostly for the photo op. The grocery store would be easier (and cheaper!), but some traditions are non-negotiable.

Our house is nearly sold, at last! Don't want to jinx it, but we're due to sign the papers in less than two weeks. Boo-yah! It will be nice to have that stress off our plates.

I have tickets to an Oprah taping on Friday! How cool is that? Now that we're Chicagoites...Chicagoers...residents of the Chicago area, I had to try for tickets, and lo and behold, I scored some through the web site! The taping could be just about anything, I reckon, but just the experience should be once-in-a-lifetime.

Two family birthdays this month, one next month, and company for Thanksgiving. Several work trips for hubby coming up, including another to India.

Oh, and a possible writing breakthrough soon. Perhaps. Time will tell, but it's been a great month so far, so I'm crossing fingers and toes.

The Dangers of Living a Stone's Throw from Wisconsin

Ever since we moved to the Chicago area a few months ago, I've been obsessed with the idea of driving to Wisconsin to tour a cheese factory and eat samples.

This weekend we took the plunge. We came home with smoked cheddar and gouda and farmer's cheese and some other amazing cheese I can't remember the name of. A decent amount of it has already been eaten, mostly by me. I think the original (naive) idea was to "cook" with it, but it goes down just as easily with chips and salsa.

Yum. Several of the cheese factories/retail stores on the oversized tourism board map also serve ice cream and fudge, just in case the cheese isn't healthy enough for you.

I'm in serious trouble.

The Funny Things We Say

Three-year-old daughter:

eppercise = exercise
flamily = family
chocolick = chocolate
ows cream = ice cream
Sleeping Booty (self-explanatory)

Me:

"I'm almost caught up on the laundry." = "I've hidden the laundry in strategic places around the house so I don't have to look at it."

"I'm giving up Pepsi any day now." = "I'll go an extra hour without my sugar/caffeine fix, get a headache, get twitchy, snap at everyone, then lose my resolve and head for the fridge."

"I will no longer obsess about the writing thing." = "I'll bottle it all up then take it out on my poor, unsuspecting flamily."


*My apologies to whomever crafted this Cameron icon. I stumbled across it years ago, saved it to the hard drive for future use because of its sheer awesomeness, and promptly forgot where I found it.

Bits and Pieces

Yay! I made it past the first page of my WIP. \0/

My newest difficulty is nodding off while writing. That's right: I'm boring myself into midday slumber. (It may also have something to do with staying up until 2 am several nights this week.)

Mother's Day was a hit, though DH had to catch a flight to NY in the afternoon. He bought me a skillet and sat there watching me squirm, trying to act excited, until he pulled out a pair of diamond earrings--easily the nicest jewelry I've ever owned, next to my wedding ring. What an amazing guy.

I also had to share this last tidbit about our cornball Middle Child. We were sitting at First-Born's game Saturday in the freezing cold weather (they won!). MC wanted to go sit in the car. I suggested he watch the game to get some pointers, since his first game is two weeks away. He rolled his eyes, flung out his hands and said in all seriousness: "But I'm already fantastic!"

Hee. It's true the kid can hit. His other skills...need work.

Zero help required in the confidence department.

The Winter Blahs

I could really use some flowers and a temperature above 35 degrees. Any day now. C'mon, spring!

Comfortably Numb

Too tired to go to bed. Not tired enough to quit flipping through the mind-numbing array of late-night tv programming.

Cheapskate Sweet Tooth

It's okay to buy yourself Valentine's candy if it's half off, right? I hate to think of all those poor, lonely boxes of chocolate just sitting on the shelf.

If only half off meant half the calories.

A Cry for Help

Have I mentioned that Bejeweled is awesome? Oh, right. Yesterday.

But it tells me I'm excellent and incredible. How many other games are both sparkly and provide an instant ego boost?

Plus the offer we were expecting on the house today didn't come, so distractions were especially welcome.

If I post about Bejeweled again tomorrow, someone may need to stage an intervention.

Distractions

I went for months without playing Bejeweled on my iPod. Now that I'm done with revisions on Killer Earthlings, Bejeweled is my distraction (i.e. time waster) of choice.

It's a simple, slightly addictive way to recharge before I start the next book. It also makes a good distraction when I start obsessing about whether this will be the week we sell the house, or when I freak out if there's a Fruity Pebble on the floor.

Plus those little gems are just so sparkly, and they make those cool pling and goong noises when they collapse.

I'm totally not addicted. I can quit any time I want.

Now where did I put that iPod...?

Sleepy Sunday

I was 20 minutes late for church today because I drove right past the exit because I was daydreaming, and the next exit is 10 miles down the road. This is not the first time I've done this. *shakes head at self and sighs*

Also I wanted to share a cool quote I read on Harold Underdown's site, The Purple Crayon:

"The children know. They have always known. But we choose to think otherwise: it hurts to know the children know. If we obfuscate, they will not see. Thus we conspire to keep them from knowing and seeing. And if we insist, then the children, to please us, will make believe they do not know, they do not see. They are remarkable--patient, loving, and all-forgiving. It is a sad comedy: the children knowing and pretending they don't know to protect us from knowing they know."

-- Maurice Sendak, preface to I Dream of Peace (UNICEF, HarperCollins l994). With thanks to Sara Jane Boyer.

In Which Christine Attempts to Join the 21st Century and Also Make Some Money

I finally caved and joined Facebook. Just what I needed--another way to waste time on the Internet! The hubby raves about it though, so we'll give it a shot.

Have also been doing some freelance writing. The pay is pretty abysmal, but at least it's pay.

Hee

This has to be the funniest (and saddest) email spam subject line I've ever seen:

"BUY a degree--the new way of earning a degree!"

There's a sad commentary in there somewhere about the world's definition of "earning."

Sunday Musings

First off, a summary of our Valentine's Day 2009: sick kids. :(

Though I did receive some gorgeous red roses with the longest stems I've ever seen. Thanks, sweetie!

Speaking of red, winter in Illinois brings an unexpected delight: cardinals. I love glancing out the kitchen window to spot a shock of red bright against the snow or perched among the bare branches. Such pretty things! I had never seen a cardinal before we moved here. They are a simple but striking reminder of God's glorious handiwork.

(This was labeled as a free stock photo. Any infringement is not on purpose!)

Oh, and re: deathmatch results: I don't actually believe there's any fair comparison between the Philippines and ANYWHERE in the US, except maybe the beaches. There's simply no place like home. It was just so strange for me to be missing Manila SO MUCH that it felt like a blog-worthy event. Illinois gets the big, shiny, make-believe belt buckle. Well-played!

Rants, Raves, and Randomness

Oh, dear. I’m definitely one of those bloggers who vacillates between productive spurts and long, dry spells.

I’ll pick up the ’08 review soon, hopefully, maybe. Honestly I’d rather not relive the first half of the year, but I’ll get to it eventually. *makes shifty eyes*

Rave: My big sister came from Denver to visit for a few days. It was so cool to see her. I drove to Chicago the night before her flight arrived to enjoy a peaceful night at the Hilton. It was heaven. After the airport we hit the Ikea, then talked the whole way back to Peoria. Man, I missed you, Sis! Hope we can do it again soon.

Rant: When I worked at Stampin’ Up! there was a woman who sold homemade brown-sugar scrub. It was divine. I’ve never tried a product since that could even come close. With the cold temps here my skin is like sandpaper, so I’ve tried the Wal-Mart brand of hazelnut scrub, which smells pretty good but doesn’t leave your skin any softer. I tried Bath & Body Works scrub, which works well, but I’m having issues with the scents. The first one I bought, Vanilla Blackberry Jasmine or some such thing, gave me a migraine as soon as I opened it. That went back to the store in a hurry. Next came mandarin lime, which has been the best so far, but it was the last one they had, so when it ran out I bought mint. Big. Mistake. I used some this morning and I smell like menthol shaving cream. It’s squicking me out just sitting here typing. Ugh.

Such problems, right? I’m also searching for a decent lotion that lasts a long time but doesn’t smell weird. Curel is the best I’ve found so far, but the hunt continues for that one perfect product. I never thought I’d miss the suffocating humidity of the Philippines, but the one benefit was perpetually soft skin.

Rave: On Monday the kids went sledding for the first time. (Although I think we took the First-Born sledding pre-Philippines, but that was years ago.) Middle Child had a blast. Completely fearless. Baby Screech…screeched. She is not a cold-weather child, which kind of makes sense considering where she was born. We went with the Johnson family and had a really great time, until the very last run when First-Born and my friend Lori had a spectacular crash with a little boy who crossed in front of them. No broken bones, thank goodness, but Lori got a heck of a shiner.

Random: The boys are into Pokemon and are always talking about powers and abilities and battles. They thought up powers for themselves, though I forget what those are, and then they decided that their baby sister has Screech power. Hence the use of her current nickname, Baby Screech. Never before in the history of the world has there been a more appropriate imaginary power bestowed upon such a deceptively harmless-looking child.

Rant: Our home warranty policy bites the big one. Our dishwasher broke a month ago and after several calls, they finally sent a guy out to take a look. He charged us $95 and told us the hard water basically destroyed the dishwasher. He left and we heard nothing for days. We followed up again last night to find out that sediment build-up isn’t covered.

Aaaaaaaaagggggggggggggggghhhhhhhh! Thanks for letting us know, people. And for taking so long to do absolutely nothing except charge us $95.

American Home Shield, I renounce thee! The unhelpful, villainous crooks.

Random: I’m entering two stories in the Highlights Fiction Contest this month. One’s already in the mail; the other will go out this week. It’s not a genre I’m totally comfortable writing. I definitely prefer longer pieces for older readers, but it was good for me to stretch a little. Heck, it was good for me to write, period, since the current work-in-progress has me pulling out clumps of hair.

Random: 30 Rock is a funny, funny show. We caught up on the first two seasons through NetFlix. The Husband tells me that I’m Liz Lemon. Or Tina Fey. Or some cross between the two. Should I be scared that I relate so well to so many of Liz’s dysfunctional traits? Blergh.

Happy Wednesday, World!

Yikes

I had a boss a few years back who HATED creative spellings, like Quik-E-Mart, Skool Dayz, etc. This one's for you, Ann:

My Brain Is Full

You ever get that weight that settles down around you, like something significant is about to happen? It's like sitting poised on a sled at the top of an icy hill. It's like someone reaching toward you with a quilt in her arms--and not knowing if she's going to cradle you or smother you.

Our adoption hearing is three days away. I guess in this case we know something significant's about to happen.

We'll most likely have a few more hearings after this one, but there's also a chance the judge will have mercy and get things over quickly. How soon we move back home hinges on this court date. It feels like we've spent our whole lives leading up to this one point in time. I'm just hoping that Thursday will feel like a step forward, after standing still for so long.

It's not just the hearing on my mind this week. My mom's health is not good. Worse than usual, actually. I hate being so far away and unable to help.

My father-in-law got a concussion working in the yard this weekend. Apparently he went inside after and went to sleep, then later woke up with double vision and drove himself to the ER without alerting his wife or any of his kids. On the way home from the hospital he went to the store. Just another typical day in the Hayes family.

My younger son told me the other day I'm not allowed to call him "Baby" anymore. Sheesh. Kick a girl while she's down, why don't you?

President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away Sunday evening. He was an amazing man. His wit and wisdom deeply impacted my spiritual growth, just as his life and service touched millions across the globe. He will be missed.

And just to keep things interesting: my dad and his wife are coming to the Philippines next week. (This is actually a good thing. Just...Dad? While you're here? I'm 35. I always carry emergency money and lock my doors at night. Come. Relax. Have fun. Enough said.)

Change is in the wind.

And since I'm all about the metaphors and the purple prose: I'm hoping as I sit here at the top of this hill that my sled is the kind with runners and a way to steer, and plenty of room for a passenger. Forget the goofy plastic disk with the flimsy yellow handles. Ditto on the overstuffed inner tube with the poky metal arm that jabs you in the butt; those things toss you off at the first hint of trouble. And don't get me started on the drawbacks of cafeteria trays...

Okay, now I'm just missing the cold weather and getting all maudlin about childhood snow days.

Shutting up.

Insensitive Clod for 1000, Alex

A few days ago I would have described myself as culturally aware. Insightful. Definitely not awkward, insensitive clod.

Then we had a nice Indian family over for dinner--my husband's co-worker plus the man's wife and daughter--and I made a total idiot of myself, exclaiming "Holy cow!" halfway through dessert when I saw the crumbling mess Son #2 had made of his cake.

*facepalms*

I think only the wife heard me, and she was kind enough to pretend she didn't notice. I still wished the floor would open up and swallow me whole.

They've promised to host the next dinner, complete with homemade, authentic Indian cuisine. That's a good sign I didn't scare them away, I guess.

I plan to make sure I'm too busy eating to say anything incriminating.

The Reset Button

I figured I'd better write something to keep my average above one post per month.

Sigh. I had such great plans for the New Year. Yet here I am mid-month, all those good intentions nothing more than a list I made and stuck in a drawer somewhere.

I blame it on that huge red Reset Button (which was pushed against my will, I might add). You know the one where life throws huge, uncomfortable changes at you, new problems and plot twists to throw you off your game, and you adjust, realign, make peace with How Things Are Now, and even manage to make wonderful new friends, amazing friends, and then THEY MOVE AWAY. To CHINA.

I feel like I'm eleven years old, looking out the back window of the car as we drive away from my childhood home to start a new life somewhere else. It STINKS.

Now that I've had my tantrum...

Yes, our most wonderful friends the Openshaws have moved to China. We went to Singapore together, shared Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, went to movies together and played goofy board games and generally commisserated about life here in this weird, weird place. Now we're left behind in the Philippines waiting for the glacially slow adoption process to be finalized before we can figure out where to go from here, and when. The lawyer says plan for June or July. We were hoping for April. And some dark, ominous murmur deep in my gut says it will never be over.

So I blame my lack of productivity on dragging my shredded resolve back together one more time, hitting Reset and gearing up for this final stretch of our time overseas. I have to keep reminding myself that there are lots of good things about being here, that ultimately we're happy, we're blessed, we have our little girl already and are just waiting for it to be official.

Plus there are things to look forward to: the court hearing at the end of January, my dad's visit in February, and a trip to China in March. And if any more Reset Buttons rear their ugly heads in the meantime, I'm slowly learning that instead of reaching for the Self-Destruct I can grab the controls and pull up, dang it, pull up, right out of that tailspin and into the great beyond.

Pocoyo!

As a parent, I've suffered through a lot of terrible children's television.

As someone with an avid interest in children's literature--and, by extension, children's entertainment in general--I get excited when I find a true gem, a show that gets it right in every way possible:

Pocoyo!

It's adorable. It's simple, colorful, playful. Sly. Funny. Gentle. Incredibly original. From the music to the characters' facial expressions and body language...sigh. Masterful. It's never didactic, and it frequently makes me laugh out loud. The web site's nice too (http://www.pocoyo.com/).

Go. Go watch this with your kids, or on your own. It's comforting to see stuff of this quality on the air for the little ones.

Oh, and another great show for guaranteed giggles: Shaun the Sheep. The lettuce-as-soccer-ball episode gets me every time.

Back in the Groove

The bummer about being sick--other than the sick part--is losing my groove: the feeling normal and/or productive groove, the parenting groove, the errands groove and exercise groove and writing groove. By default, grooves that fall a lot further down the list, like the blogging groove, remain AWOL long after I get better.

But there are good things about being sick, such as:

-The glorious feeling of being well again;

-Sympathy presents from your spouse--namely, a nine-foot Christmas tree that fills our front room with majestic, twinkling splendor. And if that sounds overblown, then I'm not even close to doing it the justice it deserves. I love, love, love it.

In other news, now that the kids are on school break we've been looking for things to do. Five minutes from the house is a new little zoo shaped like a life-size reproduction of Noah's Ark. They have tigers, monkeys, birds, a petting zoo, a crocodile, lizards, and...

an orangutan!

I think the kids were there too, and I'm pretty sure I got cute pictures of them with bunnies and stuff, but this is the part I'll never forget. Just...wow. It was awesome. One of the coolest things I've ever experienced.

I might have to go back again next week.