Hanging With Little Boo

Edwin has been out of town, and goes out of town again next week, so it's just been me and Little Boo. My little Annie-addicted Boo. In the morning, as soon as I lift her out of the crib she's asking "Watch Annie? Watch Annie?" As soon as I pick her up from Marion's house it's "Watch Annie? Watch Annie?" I do let her watch Annie, more than Edwin would let her, I'm sure, but it's never enough for this girl. Of course I use this to my advantage ... it's amazing how quickly and cooperatively the baths go when Annie can be watched immediately afterward.

Over the weekend I stopped at a garage sale and found some CDs for Anna ... they're by the Sugar Beats and describe their music as "Fresh and Funky Retro Pop for Kids and Parents" and I must say, so far, so good. I got three, fify cents a piece. What a deal! All the original songs are fun as they are, to be sure, but these look to be great collections and all very singable. The Sugar Beats even remade "Jive Talkin"! LOL! Anna heard the first couple songs on one of the CDs and liked it right away, so I'm hopeful we can expand our song knowledge beyond Annie. I'm looking forward to "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

Speaking of Little Boo, here are some more words that I don't think I've covered yet:

popcoats = popsicles
Mina = Marion
opee = airplane
pittoe = pillow
fruitcaks = fruitsnacks
brella = umbrella

Tonight Anna and I went for a walk, stopping at Great Harvest (bread) and the playground before going back home. Great Harvest always has samples available ... Anna got a piece of some kind of cookie, I got a large piece of nutty bread which helped tide us over until we returned home. I love how several of the local businesses have play areas--Linhoff Photo, Great Harvest, Dunn Brothers all have toys for kids to play with while there. The toys at Great Harvest are in pretty bad shape, but Anna doesn't seem to mind. We'll certainly be going back in October--the cookie of the month is pumpkin white chocolate chip--doesn't that sound heavenly?

I've had "The War" on in the background every night so far this week. I've been taping it, too, but there's always been an encore after the first showing so I think I've caught most of it through the encore presentation. Edwin is most interested in the Normandy invasion, which I believe is covered tomorrow night. I know I've already taped a different documentary just on that invasion, as well as the Battle of the Bulge. I'll have to dig those out for him. More another time on this, how can one not be moved?

So Work Really Sucks Right Now

I think that's all I can say. I can't even articulate how frustrated and betrayed I feel right now. Just how much am I supposed to take?

In the end, I am proud of my work and haven't done or said anything for which I need to feel ashamed. I wish I could control my emotions better, so be it.

Quick Reminder

Ken Burn's series, The War, his documentary about World War II, started last night on PBS. It's 14+ hours in total, but I'm sure it'll be a worthwhile event for those interested. It'll air tonight (Monday) through Wednesday night, and next Sunday night.

Neverending

So, we've started to get estimates for more work on the house. Understand why I called the title to this post is called "Neverending"??

We no longer need the two built-in air conditioners (in our kitchen and family room) and removing them is the highest priority. We suspect there is water damage in the family room wall, and both are A) ugly and B) quite energy inefficient in that during the winter if you put your hand up in front of either of them you would feel a breeze. I can't wait to get rid of them. The wall in the family room should be able to be patched well enough, the kitchen should be fine as well.

Also on the list is replacing some of the water pipes in the basement, which we expect to greatly improve our water pressure both inside and outside the house. Part of the basement ceiling will need to get ripped out, but as the basement isn't really used beyond storage (for now) we don't really care. Edwin is excited about this, it should make it far easier for him to water the grass in the summer.

So, we're keeping our fingers crossed that this all works out, so we can cross a couple more things off our list. One nice thing was that a person who came out to give an estimate the other day raved on about our windows, despite their being old. He thought they were in great shape and were a classic style, which I happen to agree :)

Update

Emilie had her surgery (to remove the cancerous tumor in her abdomen) over a week ago and is now recovering at home. She lost one of her kidneys, but is still pregnant (!!) and though the tumor was quite invasive her doctors feel confident they got it all. I am still scared for her, but am so relieved that things went so well in surgery.

What Happened to My Baby??

Finally I have found the time (and the motivation) to get caught up on some scrapbooking. I've got all kinds of scrapbooking items spread out on the dining room table, and I'm slowly making progress. Priority is Anna's baby album, then catching up with her current album, and then all the rest. Neverending.

I've been reprinting a lot of photos, and having to look through a lot of the pictures we took when Anna was first born. It just doesn't seem real that I was once pregnant and had her little body inside of mine, that I nursed her and kept her so close when now she runs around and says "No no no Mommy!"

Over the weekend I took pictures of a few of Anna's things I hope to sell on Craigslist, the biggest item being her crib. I haven't posted those pictures yet, we haven't picked out a new bed. For some reason the thought of selling her crib really is making me sad. The practical side would love the $$, the generous side would love to give someone anticipating parenthood a great break on something they'll need for their new baby. Sigh!

I have saved many of Anna's clothes, parting with her baptism dress, or that little Winnie the Pooh outfit would just be too much. I didn't realize this part of her growing up was going to make me so sad.

Taking Care of Me

Now that things have slowed down a bit, I'm noticing that I haven't taken the best care of myself lately. My skin is a mess, my hands and feet have been a mess, my weight hasn't moved anywhere despite the trips to the gym, my wardrobe is haphazard. So here I am.

I found a great new product at a mall kiosk a couple weeks ago, I was a pretty easy sell in that it's been something I've been looking for for some time. The package contains a nail file, buffing block, cuticle oil, and body lotion and is called "Seacret from the Dead Sea". I would love to get manicures and pedicures more frequently, but who has the time? Plus, that would get expensive quickly and just not last very long for someone who's washing dishes, cleaning with chemicals, etc. Anyway, this product will give you the look of a mani/pedi (without polish), or at least help your current mani/pedi last longer. The buffing block and cuticle oil are key, they really have made my nails look so much better, and it just takes about 20 minutes or so to buff and massage the cuticle oil into your skin. I purchased my set at the Eden Prairie mall, the kiosk was outside the Eddie Bauer store. Plus, I'm intrigued with the fact that the ingredients come from the Dead Sea, knowing that thousands of people travel there every year for the healing powers from the minerals.

I was pretty excited about the Seacret kit and now just want to take the time to find other products that work well for me. Maybe it's silly for me to feel self-conscious, but I'll have meetings with peers or talk with other moms and just feel like I could do a lot better in this area. I'm feeling a little shabby lately, and that's not how I want to be.

Cute Things Anna Has Done Lately

* sings along to the songs on Annie

* in response to Edwin saying "asha-boosh" says "apple juice"

* after she fell hard on her knees while running around Marion's yard, I offered to kiss both of them for her to make them better. To that Anna sat down, lifted her legs, kissed her knees herself, then jumped back up to continue running around the yard.

* at meal times, insist on doing "cheers" with everyone around the table.

* the last two nights she's sung herself to sleep.

* on Saturday Anna got a "pumpkin shirt" at Target--a black shirt with a cute little orange pumpkin on the front. She wanted to wear it immediately, but I made her wait until I paid for it. Then, she insisted on wearing it the rest of the day, into the night, and the next day. I did let her wear it all that time except for a nap. I'm surprised she let me take it off to wash it!

My Weekend Just For Me

So, my weekend just for me has come and gone. It was lovely, and too short of course. But then again I can't be away from my little Boo for long.

Friday evening after work I headed to the Science Museum, where I had tickets for the Pompeii exhibit. It was quiet at the museum, as I'd hoped it would be. I had read so much about the exhibit when it first opened, that I wasn't too surprised by what I saw. I wished instead of the Omnitheater movie about Greece that the movie "Ring of Fire", about volcanos, was shown again. Still, everything was quite amazing to consider--Pompeii was so sophisticated, contained so much art, the city so well planned--all in 79 AD! Though I knew a lot of what to expect, I didn't go away disappointed.

Saturday I did a few things around the house, went to the movie Once at the Lagoon (thumbs up!) and then met a friend for dinner later that evening. A coworker had recommended Once to me, about a street musician in Ireland who's encouraged by a Czech immigrant to make a recording of his music, how they collaborate and later part ways. Now I want the soundtrack ... if they had sold it in the lobby of the movie theater I'd have it already. Loved, loved the music.

That evening I met friend Melissa for dinner at the California Cafe in the Mall of America. Love that place, too. So many tempting items on their menu, including sangria, which I haven't had all summer. I'd been there before with Edwin, long ago. It's been a long time since I've been out for a nice dinner. Our husbands are a lot alike--I think we're both lucky to have someone to talk to about this! That's all I will say. :)

Sunday morning I picked up some muffins, donuts and scones at Gigi's and headed to Maple Plain to visit Edwin and the girls at their camp site, part of Baker Regional Park. We'd all actually biked near there about a year ago, the infamous bike trip that Saskia's brake malfunctioned and we got caught in a brutal downpour for many miles. It brought me to happy tears to see Anna again, litte Boo running down a hill as fast as she could to give me a hug. She had a blast camping--swimming in the lake, playing on the beach, biking, playing on the playground, sleeping in the tent. She also reminded Edwin--"Papa, careful, hot" when he got too close to the fire. She felt heavier when I picked her up, her appetite has picked up recently so I wonder if she's in the middle of a growth spurt. As I was getting ready to leave, she happily put her helmet on for a bike ride, taking her pal George along.

Later Sunday I did more scrapbooking (I'd started on Saturday) and started watching the Ugly Betty DVDs I'd bought at Target. Sigh! I just couldn't resist. I love that show! I was buying a birthday gift for Edwin when I saw them. So I watched the first 3-4 shows between Sunday night and Monday. One of the shows I hadn't seen before, and there were plenty of other parts I'd missed.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday I got exercise, so I'm quite sore today. I see improvement in my legs, but not on the scale. Oh well. I've left out all my scrapbooking stuff ... now that my nights are relatively free, I'm sure I'll work on it some more over the next few days. I need to finish Anna's baby album this time around.

Faith

Last week I learned that a friend that I'd met through the Knot (a wedding-planning website) long ago, has recently been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in her abdomen. Emilie and her husband Stephen married two weeks after Edwin and I, also on Summit Avenue in Saint Paul. She is mom to a one-year-old son, and pregnant with her second child. And now she may be fighting for her life. The surgery to remove the tumor has been scheduled for Friday.

I am relieved that there are close friends and family to support her during this time, and I'm hoping that all can go as well as it can possibly go on Friday.