This is the week before Christmas, right?

... the reason I ask is that it's 65 degrees outside and sunny with blue blue skies.  Oh, there's a puffy white cloud over my car, but other than that...

The idea of driving back to CT tomorrow morning with these conditions shining down upon me - well, that's not so bad.  The problem comes with the fact that the rest of the country (or at least the part that I'll be traversing) is covered in multiple inches of snow.  

Don't get me wrong, I love a white Christmas.  

It's been a year, however, since the last time I made this drive - and being out of practice, I'm a little nervous about the drive to begin with.  After all, not only is it a hellishly long trip, I'm doing it with Alexandra, two guinea pigs, two hamsters, and the puppy.  The hellish nature increases exponentially with each being.

At the end of journey, we will be rewarded with seeing our friends and family back home, catching up, and relaxing of a sort (okay, I have some writing to do too).  

Then, two weeks later, we'll do the trip in reverse!

Happy Holidays! - Our Digital Christmas Letter

Happy holidays from our family to yours!  

Welcome to our digital Christmas letter!  It’s that time of year again – and we’re trying something a little different. 

As technology advances and we’re brought back into contact with so many people in our lives,

we’re trying a more techno-savvy method of conveying our holiday greetings to everyone we love!

(I’ve been assured that this is acceptable and not tacky by multiple people…)

2008 has been an interesting year for us, filled with all kinds of highs and lows.  My teaching assistantship ended last year, which found me working for the graduate assistant union in the spring semester and scrambling for employment in the fall.  I found it at the campus Starbuck’s – as well as a great appreciation for teaching! Since I started there, my constant latte addiction has been cured.  I’m much better now about going without my coffee!

Alexandra finished up her first year at St. Andrew’s school with an excellent report card and jumped right into second grade with gusto.  She’s still taking her regular dance classes (advanced ballet as well as jazz/hip hop), participating in the Southern Illinois Children’s Choir’s Apprentice Choir, active in Brownies (I’m her troop leader), and simply being the crazy kid she was born to be! 

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the year for us was a trip this past summer to Australia to visit our family – and, of course, do some sightseeing.  We spent five weeks visiting Sydney, Toowoomba, Lismore, and Canberra, with trips to Burleigh Heads, Hervey Bay, the Big Banana and Australia Zoo!  While the experience of traveling to Australia itself was definitely incredible, getting to spend time with our family there was certainly the best part for both of us.  It was so wonderful to spend time with my cousins – as well as finally meet all the children!  Alexandra also adored meeting all of her Australian cousins for the first time – and hasn’t stopped talking about them since!  According to her, we’ll be going back every year.  According to me, we’ll see.

My fourth year at SIUC has found me starting a new program here – working on a second MA in Linguistics, specifically Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).  The new department is really welcoming and I’m enjoying working on my skills at teaching English.  I can’t wait to apply what I’m learning in this program to what I’ve already gained through teaching English to native speakers.

This past autumn has also brought us to a new home – Alexandra and I moved out of the student housing where we’d lived for three years and into a house about twenty minutes outside of Carbondale.  Alex is most appreciative of the big yard that came with the house (not to mention the fact that she has her own room plus a playroom!) and I’m still in my honeymoon phase with the laundry room!  Just before we moved, I managed to break my wrist, putting a damper on the whole moving adventure.  Five weeks later, two days after I took the brace off, I fell and sprained that same wrist.  Oops!  This autumn also brought a new addition to our family – we adopted a very sweet little beagle puppy, Violet Whey (aka VW Beagle), who has since kept us very busy.  She’s quite the handful, but a wonderful playmate for Alex and such a loving little girl!

From Alexandra, Violet Whey, the hamsters (Hannah and Lily), the guinea pigs (Hermione and Gigi) and myself, we wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season with all the love and joy that accompanies this time of year. 

With love, Kylie, Alexandra, and all the girls

 

Papers are all handed in...

... and except for a quiz in Phonetics tomorrow morning, this semester is over for me!

There are a couple more things that I'd like to get done tonight, but I'm not overly concerned whether that happens or not.  I still have my hours at Starbucks to spur my daily trips into town and, of course, Alexandra has to go to school until the end of next week.  

Now that things are handed in, though, I'm trying to map out my activity for the next few days.  The hours that have been spent on school work can now be applied towards preparing for the holidays - with gusto!

I'm looking forward to completing the photo albums in the next couple of days and am contemplating making some cards as well.  While I'm not going to send out cards this year (after all, every year I get the cards and usually forget to mail them) - I'm trying to come up with some creative way of wishing everyone who's important to me a very happy holidays.  The problem lies in the fact that so many people whom we love are scattered all over this planet.  We can't very well deliver a plate of cookies to people in Japan, Australia, and Germany (if I'm forgetting your country and you're not close, then I'm talking about you too!).

Of course, avoiding the obligatory Christmas cards also means avoiding writing the obligatory Christmas letter... which may actually be of use this year (especially considering we moved rather suddenly in October).  

I guess I'm just torn about the card issue after all.  We'll see what I decide.  

If I don't have your current address, though, shoot me an email - just in case!

xxxooo

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

... at least, that's what "they" say.

At present, though, I'm overwhelmed with too much worked that's piled up on me throughout the semester.  At least for the next two days, I'm SWAMPED.  

My thesis is written and handed in to my committee.  I'm still operating under the assumption that I'm defending next week - no date has been set yet, though.  

I'm sad to note that my work hours will be cut with the end of the semester - after all, no students means a lot less work.  The extra time at home is nice, of course, but the smaller paychecks really aren't.

Alexandra is an activity magnet during the weekends leading up to Christmas!  This coming weekend brings her First Reconciliation, marching in the Lights Fantastic Parade, and a Brownie Troop dinner.  I also have my work Christmas party - and did I mention that all of this occurs on the same day?  

Next weekend is even more busy with activities completely filling Saturday and Sunday - two Christmas concerts, a birthday party, and two scheduled shopping dates.  

In the midst of all this hoopla, I'm trying to adopt a new Christmas outlook.  Yes, Alexandra will get presents from me and from Santa.  However, most of the other people in our lives will be receiving baked goods (oh yes, there will be cookies!) and handmade photo albums.  We're embracing the idea that Christmas should come from the heart - and so are trying to cut down on the "stuff" that the holiday has become.  

I won't lie and say the economy hasn't spurred this change, but I'm not upset about it either.  I really like the idea of putting the effort to make the gifts for everyone rather than looking for stuff.  

That said, I'm enjoying Sirius' 24/7 Christmas Carol station and trying to psych myself up for a joyous season (provided I get all this writing done soon!)...

Is 32 too old to go "emo"?

Fourteen years ago, I fell in love with a vampire.  Brad Pitt stole my heart in the movie version of "Interview With A Vampire" - and I was hooked.  I could still probably recite the entire film.  

A few years later, I began reading the Anne Rice books and found myself immersed within worlds of witches and vampires - living so well amongst the rest of the world.  I read every book she wrote - and I think owned them all too.  I'm still regretting the fact that a few of those books got sold in a yard sale just prior to my moving to Illinois.  

However, they were in that yard sale for a reason.  I'd outgrown such romantic fantasies as vampires and I was a much more practical adult moving on with her life.  Those that didn't sell got packed up with the rest of my books - those that did, I hope they bring joy to whomever is reading them now.  

I'm too much of a grown up to be pulled into such wonderfully fictitious worlds.  

A few months ago I started seeing all these mentions of "Twilight" scattered around Facebook.  Ah, the next teenage girl thing, I thought.  A movie based on a young adult book - yeah, there's such a dearth of those.  

Then the buzz reached some of the undergraduates I know.  Okay - they're still fairly young, though, right?  I'm above such things.

Then the buzz landed on a friend, older than me, in an administrator position.  She lent me her copy - which landed in a pile of books that "I'll get to when I have the time."  It sat there.

Twilight, the movie, was released on Friday to scores of lines and sold out theatres.  By now, I knew it was a teen vampire flick; the book remained unread, unopened, now in a box that moved with us into our new home.  

I agreed to succumb to the hype to watch the movie 

- vampires can be a pleasant distraction, right?  

Saturday show, 4:00 pm.  Lots of previews and then....

It's now 4:03 on Sunday afternoon.  Exactly 24 hours ago, I was settling in to my seat at the movie theatre, about to watch a fun vampire movie.  In the past 24 hours, I've watched the movie, read the entire first book, dreamed of my own personal vampire, and become obsessed with the book's main character.  I won't run to the movies practically every night for the next three weeks (okay, yes, I MAY have done that with Interview With A Vampire) - but I'm anxiously awaiting the movie's release onto dvd and I may allow Alex to see the movie (so I can watch it again).  I am, however, jonesing for the second book...

So how is it that this movie has thrown me with such vehemence back into my vampire lust of ten years ago?  The book is excellent, I think.  While the story is centered around the angst that is adolescence, I think the writing is more compelling than I remember Rice's series.  

My solution to my obsession?  

Well, I want to read read read - which I don't really have a problem with.  

And then shrug and embrace it.  

Since the only other option is to dye my hair black and attain a level of "emo" that I would never have even reached at the peak of my emotional youth, I'm already practicing my shrug.

A Quick Word to the Wise...

While I'm always a fan of a good movie, I discovered that there is a time and a place for all such movies.  That is, even good movies should be watched only in an appropriate context.

I'm a single mom - and as such, I spend most of my time (when we're not in school, that is) with my darling daughter.  Tonight, however, Alexandra is at a sleepover birthday party.  She went home after school with her friends and will be picked up tomorrow morning around 11am.  I haven't seen her since dropping her off at school this morning.  On days like today, I miss the little kid.  

I decided tonight, though, that I could go see a movie without Miss Alex - a grown up movie.  I'd wanted to see "The Changeling" since discovering that Jeffrey Donovan was in it - and this was my chance.  I roped a friend into seeing it with me and we planned for the 10pm showing.

This is where I should have done a little more planning, or at least reconnaissance, before going to this movie tonight.  

Don't get me wrong - it was a really good movie.  Donovan played a prick, yes, but whenever I see him, I picture him doing situps up an incline and eating blueberry yogurt.  I love that guy.  Jolie was good as well, as was Malkovich, but I have my favorites....

I digress - this was not the movie to see on a night when I don't have my daughter.  A movie based on an unsolved missing child case is never a good idea on nights when she's not safely tucked in bed in the room next to mine.  

Now What?

I spent the past three months anxiously (no, not in a good way) anticipating my phonetics presentation of Dutch.  I finished that yesterday.  I also had to put together a micro teaching demonstration in French - did that this morning.  My thesis has been looming over my head for a year and a half and I am now at the end - I'm defending in about three weeks (probably a little less).  I'm sitting at Panera, having soup for dinner with Alexandra, before a Girl Scout council meeting ... and it just hit me.

Now what?

Of course, life goes on and I need to keep looking for gainful employment (emphasis on that gainful part) and what not.  I still have a paper and a bunch of smaller assignments that I need to get done over Thanksgiving break, as well as my pre-defense revisions - but all of a sudden I feel as though a rather large weight has been lifted from me.  I fear that it may be that all my stresses have finally numbed me?  

I guess that I'll just take this moment - be it fleeting or lasting - and savour the hugs and snuggles from Alex, the facepainting decorating my right hand, the sourdough goodness encompassed by chicken and wild rice soup.  I'll go to this meeting, then go home and enjoy the peacefulness that is my existence this evening.

I may actually take tonight to read for ... wait for it ... PLEASURE.

"The Holidays" are approaching...

... and no.  I'm not the least bit freaked out.  Okay, maybe a little.  

I just have to keep reminding myself that the lowering gas prices are going to make it all better.  After all, isn't that what this latest attempt at economic stimulus is supposed to do?  It's no longer over $40 to fill my car's tank.  Yesterday I did it for under $20.  Is that enough to really help people, though?

I suppose the extra $20 is a boon and all - and it does relieve a certain amount of anxiety.  I'm still on the hunt for another job, though - not to replace but to supplement my current employment.  

So with all this economic malarkey (and really, what else can it be called, the present US economy), Thanksgiving and Christmas and all that are just around the corner.  Alexandra and I will not be having Thanksgiving dinner with our family this year - the trip back to CT would be too much of a hardship financially, not to mention the annoyance of the long trip, the missed school for Alex, and the stress of moving a veritable zoo of animals 1000 miles for a week.  

We're cool with that, though, and are planning to have friends over to our house for the holiday.  I'm not making the turducken I'd originally proposed - especially not after finding out how expensive those are!  A traditional turkey, with Kylie's special stuffing, will suffice as the main course.  

What we're doing for Christmas, however, is still up in the air.  As Starbucks won't be offering me any hours while they're closed for break, the viability of remaining in Illinois for the break is ... well, slight.  I guess it all hinges on whether I find another job today.  My day's goals do include filling out some applications.  It was pointed out to me, though, that the ever-decreasing gas prices will at least make the trip more affordable than I'd originally planned.  

All will be okay, I know - but I'd prefer to live without such stress.

... at least Alex just wants Uno and Scrabble for Christmas :-)

Do I Expect Too Much?

I was explaining to someone today how Alexandra was so offended that she couldn't vote - how it really wasn't fair that adults who don't know who Obama and McCain were could vote while she couldn't, even though she'd been following the races since before the primaries, because she's seven years old.

"Why doesn't that surprise me, coming from your daughter?"

I advocate social responsibility - and I do so in my daughter.  Voting is a privilege that should be cherished - and something to be viewed, not as a chore, but an opportunity.  

I hope that I'm instilling such values within Alexandra.

I was more than a little shocked to be confronted with so many people today who had not voted and were not going to vote - and who were not even registered to vote.  

I guess I shouldn't take offense at the flippant remark - after all, she is a politically aware and socially responsible child - and a child of whom I am extremely proud.

Are You a US Citizen? VOTE ON TUESDAY!

About a month ago, I commented to Alexandra (who has been very invested in the Obama campaign since Clinton removed herself from the democratic race) that she wasn't able to vote in this election.  There were many tears and she raised some good points - she's paid attention to the newscasts, the debates, the candidates.  She knows who she supports.  Why can't she vote?  

The day before, I'd overheard someone talk about who they were going to vote for: "you know, that guy who elected that woman for president."  How could I then disagree with her words?  She knew more about what was going on in US politics than adults who would be voting.

She'll be with me as I cast my vote in the morning.  She'll also get to vote in a mock election tomorrow at her school.  Her vote, however, won't be counted in the general Presidential election.  

I have family on the other side of the world - some of whom have pointed out how, really, unfair it is that the whole world can't vote in the US Presidential elections.  While it's true that our president is OUR president and so should only be elected by the US citizenry, our choice has repercussions that are felt throughout the world.  There truly are people all over the world who would like to be able to vote in this election.

I received an email today from moveon.org.  I'm not a huge fan of moveon.org - I've just been too lazy really to unsubscribe from their emails.  However, I really appreciated today's email:

Dear MoveOn member,

You don't live in Ohio. You don't live in Florida. The chance is pretty small that Illinois will decide the presidential election. So: Why vote?

Here's why. This list is important—so please read it, and then pass it along. And remember: To find out where to vote, what you need to bring, or when the polls close, click here: www.voteforchange.com.

The Top 5 Reasons To Vote In Illinois 
Or: Why It Still Means A Thing Even If It Ain't Got That Swing

1. Big margin = big mandate. The popular vote doesn't put anyone in the White House, but it affects what presidents can do when they get there. Want Obama to be able to actually do the stuff he's been talking about? Pass universal health care? End the war? Then we need a landslide.
   
   
2. The other things on the ballot matter! For example: Congress. Without more support in the House and Senate, Obama will have a hard time getting progressive laws passed. Plus, there are other important local races and ballot questions in some places. 
   
   
3. If you don't vote, everyone can find out. Voting records are public. (Not who you voted for, justwhether you voted.) Pretty soon, finding out whether you voted could be as easy as Googling you.
   
   
4. Help make history. You could cast one of the votes that elect the first African-American president. If we win, we'll tell our grandchildren about this election, and they'll tell their grandchildren. Do you really want to have to explain to your great-great-grandchildren that you were just too busy to vote in the most important election in your lifetime? 
   
   
5. People died so you'd have the right to vote. Self-government—voting to choose our own leaders—is the original American dream. We are heir to a centuries-long struggle for freedom: the American revolution, and the battles to extend the franchise to those without property, to women, to people of color, and to young people. This year, many will still be denied their right to vote. For those of us who have that right, it's precious. If we waste it, we dishonor those who fought for it and those who fight still. 
   
   Live your values. Love your country. Vote.

I can't stress enough how much I want everyone to go vote tomorrow.  While I have my own opinions as to who to vote for, I'm not even asking that everyone go vote for the candidate I support.  I really just want to stress over and over and over that we should all get out to vote.  I've pointed out in previous blogs the struggles women went through in years past to get us the right to vote - now I'm pointing out the privilege we all have in being able to vote tomorrow.  Take advantage - be proud of what we're able to do - VOTE.

Did I Step Into an Alternate Reality?

The economy sucks.  It finally hit me – at the bottom of the economic barrel – recently.  I get it now.  The economy sucks.  Even Alexandra is aware of this – offering to bust open her piggy bank to pay for food.  The economy sucks.

 

I ventured for the first time today to DCI Biologicals.  Those people who are in Carbondale know what I’m talking about.  It’s that big stone building that I’ve always thought looked abandoned.  I’ve never seen a person walk in or out of the front doors – and it’s always looked kind of seedy.  When I told friends that I was going to go there, they made comments about meth addicts and the like.  Oh boy, I thought.

 

Well, okay – this isn’t the cream of the crop of society, to say the least.  I’ll grant them that.  I don’t see anyone around here who look like they’ve been ripping the skin off their faces, though.  There are remarkably quite a few normal looking people here – of course, a number of college students. 

 

I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

I walked through the doors and blinked repeatedly.  At 11 am, there were no free seats in the lobby area.  I’d say the room holds (seat-wise) about 30-40 people.  I couldn’t believe that it was full.  Wow.

 

After waiting a while, I at least got to fill out my first form and talk with someone who works here.  I smiled and said it didn’t look like the crashing economy was hurting them in anyway – that, if anything, it looked to be helping them.  She laughed and said they’re now getting all kinds of phone calls asking what other things they’ll buy.  I shudder to wonder what, beyond plasma, these people want to sell.  

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

We're having an issue lately in our house: an issue with telling the truth.  Alex has never been the kind of child who tells wild and imaginative tales - she's always been the tattler in most situations, really.  Or, if she isn't telling on someone to the authority figure relative to the incident, she's likely to tell me about it later that evening.  

Last year, at just about this time, they had a speaker at her school, the local DARE officer, who talked to the younger grades about alcohol awareness.  Alex was honest at that assembly to the point of over-sharing.  I was the parent in charge of the event, the only parent at the assembly, and wishing I could drown my embarrassment in a really big strawberry margarita.  

So who is this kid who has taken residence in my home, who looks just like my little girl, who cannot tell the truth if her life depended upon it?  

Alexandra, did you feed the guinea pigs?  Yes.  Then why don't they have any food?  Oh.

Alexandra, did you take a shower?  Yes.  Then why is your hair still dry?  Oh.

Alexandra, did you do your homework?  Yes.  Can I see it? *tears* I forgot what I was saying!

When I got to her choir rehearsal tonight, I noticed a little stuffed animal on her desk.  I beckoned her over (they were still in their break) to let her know I'd gotten there and to give her a hug.  

Did you get a new stuffed animal?  No.  What's the animal on your desk?  I don't have one!

She walked back to her desk and took the animal from the desk and, reaching under the desk to her friend sitting in front of her, passed it away from her in what was an obvious attempt to hide the thing from me.

I've had a few people now tell me it's a phase and that she'll grow out of it.  It's so unlike the Alexandra I've known ... well, since her birth ... though, that it's driving me absolutely batty.

To Wax Political for a Moment...

There is an anti-abortion organization that has taken up protesting outside of where my classes are held.  For the past two days, images of aborted fetuses have been erected in comparison with images of the holocaust.  They're in the free speech area of the university - and they're being sponsored by an RSO.  They can be there and they can display these images.  

Yesterday, at the same time as local elementary schools were letting out 5, 6, 7 year olds (okay, all elementary school aged children), this organization thought it appropriate to drive a truck bearing these images throughout the town.  They went beyond the university - the presumed target of the protest - and happened to pick the same time that elementary schools let their children out nationwide.  "We weren't specifically targeting 5 year olds" was the response I received upon challenging the ethics of doing so.

Protests like these - specifically those that attempt to engage the entire community, regardless of whether that engagement is appropriate - get my dander up.  It's not so much the issue - in fact it's an issue that I remain constantly torn about - as their methods.  My daughter goes to a conservative Catholic elementary school.  Oftentimes I even shudder at how conservative it is.  She takes the bus to and from school every day from our church parking lot.  The bus is owned by the school and is driven by one of the parents with a CDL.  At school she is not allowed to watch anything rated higher than PG.  In order for her to watch even PG, I had to sign a blanket permission slip at the start of the year.  She exists ( at least when it comes to school ) in a bubble.  Yesterday, as she got off her bus, she was met with these images driving past the parking lot.  

Again, the issue itself is something with which I continue to struggle.  My own beliefs dictate that life is sacred and that I would NEVER have an abortion.  So, in my own life, I am pro-life.  I would never advocate that another individual have an abortion.  However, I would also NEVER want my beliefs forced upon another individual in the same way that I would never want someone else's beliefs forced upon me.  I would (and do) support any woman's informed choice in the matter.  

I've been attacked a couple of times recently for calling my daughter a choice.  Perhaps I misspoke.  She is my daughter, the most important person in my life.  HAVING HER was the best choice I ever made.  

My lunch is now over and I have to go back to work.  

xxx ooo

My Adventures into the Land of Cooking...

Alexandra discovered one of the greatest delights in Australian cuisine this summer - sausage rolls.  They're a pastry covered sausage - no casing on the meat.  I'd had them before and never really liked them, but this time even I appreciated them heartily.  

When we discovered that we would have to bring something to an international potluck this weekend, Alex and I immediately figured we'd make little sausage rolls.  After all, the Australian part is our heritage and they're yummy!

Last night, while we bought our supplies, I hit snag one.  The only uncased sausage we could buy was bratwurst.  While we both love bratwurst, that wasn't quite the flavor we were looking for.

I was reminded by a friend, though, that in order to make these accessible to all the attendants of the potluck,  I should avoid making anything with pork.  Okay - we'll be making the final batch with ground beef, I guess.

I discovered today, while making my first attempt at these tasty treats, that filo dough is NOT as hard to work with as I'd heard.  Even with one hand immobilized in a cast, I was able to maneuver the sheets of pastry, brush melted butter, cut them, and roll the sausage up in it.  I will admit that turning the rolls in the oven, later on, did prove to be a bit challenging...

I've tested the first batch on a few of my coworkers - all of whom appreciated the bratwurst snack.  However, the overall consensus is - after all my work with that filo dough - I should use crescent roll dough.  While that may make them quicker to make, it also means that I'll have to cook the meat ahead of the rolls.  Filo may stay in the oven for long periods of time to cook the insides, but crescent roll dough doesn't do well past about 7 minutes.

Perhaps I'll look around online for a recipe for sausage rolls...

Really, I'm Okay...

Though, granted, I can't type too well at the moment.

I will, however, catch up on blogging at some point fairly soon.

I gave blood yesterday afternoon because... well, because that's what I do. If there's a blood drive, I'm a groupie. Hey - it's for a good cause. 
In retrospect, I should have eaten first... but I hadn't scheduled that into my "day off."

I passed out as they were finishing me up. Yeah, I was the crazy lady laying upside down in a gurney with a wet paper towel on my forehead in the middle of the student center...

I felt better - I had to! - and I went to get all the stuff for the Brownie meeting that afternoon at Alex's school. There were groceries and oodles of papers because we were preparing dinner for the girls' parents and then having a quick meeting for them to let them know what's going on with our troop for the fall. 

Coordinating ten 7,8, and 9 year old girls to make a dinner and all feel included was not as simple as I'd thought it would be. It went off well, though. I was a little dizzy still from the fainting, but not too bad. I even got to eat about half a cup of baked ziti once everyone else was served (busy busy busy). We had a quick ceremony for the parents, then the meeting with the paperwork.

Cleanup was pretty simple and everyone was out pretty early. I had to carry out all the filled out forms back to my car, as well as various other papers. It was while I was lugging all that outside ...

Did I mention that I was wearing my usual non-Starbucks footwear that consist of approximately 3" heeled sandals?

I stepped weirdly, twisted an ankle, fell over, and put my right hand out to catch myself.

I now have a fractured wrist, a big bruise on my knee, and another humongous bruise across my hip.

I feel foolish, but I'm okay. The timing just stinks because we're trying to move next weekend which means I need to pack!

... and then I remember how little she is.

Alex hasn't been well since Thursday.  Friday morning found her vomiting (though she was hiding it in the bathroom at school so she could go on her field trip...).  She was sent home from school after throwing up on the ride back from the orchard.  

All weekend, she's been not-Alex.  Whinier than usual, lethargic (she slept for almost 48 hours straight), disoriented, and complaining of dizziness.  My girl's been ill.  This morning she appeared to be over it - she was perky and acting more like the kid I know her to be.  We went out (I didn't know until we were outside that it was during the remnants of the hurricane) and had lunch, then went to Petco and Barnes & Noble.  It was at Barnes & Noble that she suddenly broke down, crying, complaining of weakness and feeling dizzy.  By the time we got to the car (and I carried her from the store to the car), she was a wreck.  She alternated between sobbing and sleeping all the way back to the apartment.  

Okay - prompt care at our doctor's office was booked for the rest of the day and didn't have access to MRIs etc today anyway.  They recommended I just take her directly to the emergency room.  My first inclination was to agree, but I took a moment and instead called a friend who is a nurse and who works with pediatrics.  

Pedialyte (the clear kind that is most like water), vanilla Carnation breakfast mix in her milk, and calorie rich food was pretty much forced into my still discombobulated baby.  Needless to say, she was less than thrilled, but if it was between that and spending the night at the hospital, I chose the forcing fluids and foods down her.

The result?  Well, she seems better tonight, as she's finally settling down for the evening.  I'm hoping (praying is actually a better word for it!) that she's well enough for school tomorrow.  

But how weak and exhausted she was after only two days of being sick makes me realize that despite how grown up she's becoming, this little girl is still little ... and she's still my baby.  And on that note, I think I'm going to go give her a cuddle before she falls asleep.

She's Growing Up So Fast...

She's grabbed the phone and wandered into the other room, having a very in depth conversation with a friend.  I'm not privvy to such things anymore.  

Her recent fascination with bras has resulted in her owning a few little sports bra type garments.  They aren't going to hurt and they're appeasing her constant desire to wear a bra.  I suppose they're the modern day equivalent to the Wonder Woman underoos  I had as a child.  Those, however, weren't touted as a bra and panties set.  *sigh*

Last night, before she fell asleep, she was laying in bed, reading a chapter book, without pictures.  I almost burst into tears.  

Where did my baby go?

Toothless Wonder!

Alexandra lost her second tooth this evening, as she lay sick in bed, watching Monk on the computer. She was excited and perked up for about three minutes, before falling back into her pitiful sick little kid routine.

What's funny is that the tooth above the missing one looks missing too. Actually it's just being pushed out to the side by her grownup tooth coming in...


Of course, the tooth was promptly washed off and placed in a tooth fairy approved receptacle. Alex is looking forward to collecting her money in the morning... There was no thought whatsoever to the promise she made to Auntie Tracey, my cousin, that in exchange for money while in Australia, she would send her next lost tooth to her.

I love the picture I snapped of her just after the tooth came out - really, does that little girl look like she's been home, sick in bed, all day??

I guess braids make me look young...

This morning, between classes, I felt the compulsion to pull my hair into two neat braids.  I usually wear it up in a makeshift bun, or just down and loose.  I was feeling a bit Gwyneth Paltrowesque from Sliding Doors, though, so the braids were done.  

After braiding my hair, I had multiple people I knew (well!) walk past me completely not recognizing me.  As I walked through the student center to clock in to work, I had a young girl, probably a freshman or sophomore, stop me and ask me if I'd registered to vote yet.  It actually took me a moment to comprehend the question.  I blinked at her before saying "uhm, yeah, when you were like four."

I guess the braids make me look different - and apparently younger.  One of my co-baristas suggested that if the 'do makes me look 18, I should stick with it.  I think I might.

Really, why do any of us think we're so smart?

A friend of mine in college used to point out that we thought we were smart because our parents told us we were.  We would laugh at that - after all, don't all parents think that their children are geniuses - or at least of above average intelligence...?

Tonight I cleaned out the guinea pig cage and gave both piggies a bath.  I'm probably the most compulsive guinea pig bather in the world - but their lack of hygiene in their habitat makes me need to bathe them.  So, the baby shampoo comes out, and they get a good washing...  

I think they looked lovely by the time they'd finished drying, snuggled deep within a terry cloth towel burrow.  They snuggled with me; they even snuggled with Alexandra (who cried because one of them moved and her hind claw touched her leg...).  They were so sweet.

These are the girls after their bath and their cage cleaning... Gigi is the brown and white one on the left; Hermione is the black and white one on the right.  You can't see her cool auburn eyepatch over her left eye in these pictures...

Anyway, so they were clean and I went into the bathroom after all of that and... the bathtub wasn't letting out its water.  I grabbed a plunger and fought with the drain... to no avail.

I don't actually own a plumber's snake (not being a plumber and all...) but I tore apart a wire coat hanger and attempted to use it as a snake.  For two hours I fought with that drain.  I finally walked away, assuming it was just slow and it'd empty tonight and I'd call someone to fix it in the morning.  I didn't think the university would appreciate, however, the plumbing emergency caused by guinea pig fur...  After all, that could be the only cause of this, right?

I checked the tub later on, assuming the water would be gone by then - and to my dismay the level hadn't decreased at all.  Egads!  What was I going to do about my own shower in the morning??  I wasn't about to stand in dirty guinea pig water, after all!  I grabbed the plunger and my makeshift snake and prepared to do battle again.  I plunged and I plunged...  and my hand banged into the toggle switch that closes the drain.  

At least it didn't hit it too badly, though.  After all, if the switch had been down, it would have been painful.

That was when I realized that at some point I had closed the drain.  I flipped the switch down and the water all whirled away.  

Over two hours trying to unblock a closed drain.  One flick of the switch to let all the water out of the unblocked tub.

At least the guinea pigs are happy and clean!