Little House on the Quarry

Last Lecture

2008-07-25T13:49:00.004-05:00

So I'm sure you've seen that Randy Pausch passed away today. And, if you're anything like me, maybe you feel a little bit like, "Who the heck was he and what's the big whip with this 'Last Lecture' thing he delivered???"

Bear with me...
Apparently Pausch was a computer science and computer human reaction professor and did tons of work with virtual reality and he delivered this "Last Lecture" speech last September as part of a series of lectures from top academics about really achieving your childhood dreams, or what you would say in a final talk to the world, what wisdom would you like to impart to the world if you had the chance?

So there's a couple quotes here and there, excerpts from his "Last Lecture" that have somewhat resonated with me in light of recent events in my life and in the lives of my loved ones. Here's a few:

* "...when you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering you to tell you anymore, that's a very bad place to be. Your critics are the ones telling you they still love you and care."

* "It's not about how to achieve your dreams; it's about how to lead your life. if you lead your life the right way, the dreams will come to you."

* "...'when you're pissed off at somebody and you're angry at them, you just haven't given them enough time.' Just give them a little more time and they'll almost always impress you."

* "Loyalty is a two way street."

* "People have to help you...I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short term. Earnest is long term."

* "Anybody can get chewed out. It's the rare person who says, 'Oh my God, you were right.' As opposed to, 'no, wait, the real reason is...' We've all heard that. When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it."

* "Find the best in everybody....You might have to wait a long time, sometime years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side..."

Broken Promise

2008-07-24T22:31:00.003-05:00

So ages ago, when I started this blog, Shan told me that she'd be pissed if I became one of "those" people that doesn't talk to anyone about what's going on in my life, and instead refer everyone to check out the blog to find out how our weekend trip went, or funny things the kids say or do, or whatever. I promised I wouldn't become one of "those" people.

I realized this week that I totally lied to her, or broke the promise, or whatever...

My Aunt Lil and Uncle Don were in this week from New Jersey (Um...I don't have any evidence of that visit, since my camera just sat on the table instead of me taking pictures). I realized that I no longer send out big announcement emails most of the time because I put stuff on the blog, and assume everyone reads it. I don't email or mail out pictures of the girls because I assume everyone reads the blog. Because I think I'm Dooce or something...

Apparently I haven't reached that status, as Aunt Lil had NO idea that I was staying home with the girls (which became a reality, officially, last November!!) and had not really seen pictures of the girls (not since Charlotte's Valentine's Day picture of 2005!!!).

Eek, to say the least.

So, Aunt Lil, I hope you saved the slip of paper with the blog address scribbled on it and check this out. Because I don't know if, at age 32, I'll ever get better about sending out information or pictures or funny anecdotes, but I do usually just slop everything onto this blog and let everyone just sort through it!!

Pillars of society

2008-07-23T13:04:00.002-05:00

When we were leaving the park district after Tot Time today, we were hanging out side with Jill, and she and Charlotte were telling me about a caterpillar they saw. We looked around, didn't see it, and then suddenly it appeared. We were watching him, and then saw another. And another. And another until we had a count of FIVE caterpillars inching along in the grass and towards the park district garage. WEIRD.

I think they are American Dagger Moth caterpillars, from a quick search online. One of them excreted some strange bright green jelly-like substance - poo? chrysallis? - and then started to nibble on it. We felt somewhat disgusted, but didn't know if we should be or not.

Charlotte

2008-07-23T12:43:00.002-05:00

C: Mom, did you know that some girls can have mustaches?
Me: Sure, sometimes they do, but they usually try to get rid of them
C: Well, I'm going to be the kind of girl with a mustache.
Me: Hmm, okay then.
C: I mean, not til I'm way older like 8 or so.

Skunk update

2008-07-23T08:47:00.002-05:00

So the house is still faintly stinky. I put out bowls of cider vinegar with baking soda last night. I don't know if they worked. I don't know if the smell is just taking up residence in my nose.

It's for sure apparent that Millie did not get a direct hit from the skunk, and it seems like the smell just seeped in, perhaps under the house through the coal room initially, but the basement doesn't reek so that theory could have some holes in it.

Thankfully it isn't too warm out today, so I am just going to crank the windows open and see if we can't get the smell to dissipate a little further. Blech.

Gang Problem in McCook

2008-07-22T22:33:00.004-05:00

OK, I think there's a band of skunks being hooligans in town. They were reported first by a family friend on the "other side" of town (aka 3 blocks away). Then someone said that one was found on the lawn of a house a block away. And now, tonight, I'm innocently sitting online, Mike's at trivia, kids are asleep, Millie's outside...suddenly there's a rank smell in my nose, kind of like burning rubber or plastic.

Panic mode sets in. I comb the house looking for any sort of fire, electrical issue, frayed cord, anything that could cause the smell. I go outside. WAY worse out there. I look on Joliet Road. Did a truck lose a flaming tire? Nope. Snuffy's parking lot? Nope.

I go inside and google "Skunk AND 'burning rubber'" and learn that that is what they really smell like, kind of. Not the kind of appealing (in a gas at the pump way) smell of roadkill skunks.

I go back out to reassess....My back door? Yard? Yep. The dog????? Eeehhhhh, can't tell. She isn't rubbing her eyes. Didn't yelp. Not oily. Doesn't smell really strong, just like she is outside in the stinky foul air.

Two flashlights in hand, I go trolling the driveway, terrified of getting skunked or Millie getting skunked (If she did, I think I would dig the microchip out of her body and just let her go stink for someone else). Then I get kind of used to it and wonder if it was a tire burning nearby? I text Mike at trivia (Poor guy) and let him know what I suspect.

So nwo I'm waiting for him to get home. Back inside (obviously) and the smell is kind of back in the house. I'm now having awful fears that the skunk has made its way into the coal room and stunk up the joint in there. You'll recall that that is where a rat crawled in to die last summer when I was hugely pregnant and it just rotted in there, stinking up the whole house until Mike got home.

He's here! BOY JOB!

UPDATE: So Mike came home, did a perimeter check, and was really hoping there would be a burning tire somewhere. But there wasn't. His next instinct and statement was AWESOME:
Maw, Get my gun!
Like a far more attractive Elmer Fudd, he went skulking with his shotgun into the basement to investigate if a critter was lurking (and stinking) in the coal cellar. I, being clueless, asked if you can just shoot a gun, should I call the police to let them know we're shooting a gun, but just at a skunk so not to be concerned? (He told me yes on the former, no on the latter.)

Well, nothing in there. He checked the side of the house and walked towards my late great aunt's house next door and said it was REALLY strong over there, so perhaps a skunk tangled with a cat or rat or something and it ran over there or something, he'll investigate in the light of day.

I am sitting in the house right now with Kleenex wadded up my nostrils, forming a loopy mustache of ridiculousness. Mike is maintaining that he'd take this acrid, burning chemical smell over the sweet smell of death that emanated from our coal cellar last summer when we had the dead rat epidemic of '07.

CUCUMBER CITY!

2008-07-22T15:54:00.002-05:00

What is up with our crazy garden? Check out the yield of cucumbers the trips, Char and I just grabbed out of the garden.

Preparing for the B-Day

2008-07-22T12:06:00.002-05:00

Preparing for Ellie's first birthday bbq next month, and I'm totally swiping a chapter out of Sara's playbook and attempting to make Bakerella's Cupcake Pops/Bites for the party.

The cake is baking now...and I have to search for the right cookie cutter size to smoosh them up. We'll see how it pans out when all is said and done. Thankfully, Aunt Lil, Uncle Don, and their friend Pixie are in town this week, so I'll be able to have a test audience to try them out, instead of just popping them in my mouth non-stop for the next day or two.

Wish me luck!

About time!

2008-07-21T10:20:00.001-05:00

Ellie is now holding her own bottle! About time, especially since we'll be cutting her off the bottle in a few weeks when she turns one, anyway.

Mike and his girls

2008-07-20T22:51:00.003-05:00

I love my husband. My girls love their dad. I mentioned last weekend that Michael took the girls to Michigan to visit his folks. They had a BLAST. Their house is in the middle of corn and soy fields, and I guess it was very peaceful and quiet - quite a switch from the Joliet Road truck traffic that we're so accustomed to around these parts.

I sent the camera along, and had visions of pictures on the beach (They couldn't go, it was rainy), visiting the pony down the road (the horse wasn't out and the owner wasn't around), picking apples in a basket or something like that (that's my own delusion, not something based on any facts), and so on.

Here's the photo log of the weekend:

Gramma and Ellie chilling out. I think that with the two kids and hanging out they were having too much fun (and perhaps had their hands full) to whip out the camera for a lot of pictures.

The girls had fun, as did Mike, and I'm so happy they had the weekend together.

Bountiful Harvest

2008-07-20T22:46:00.002-05:00

The garden is rocking and rolling! The tomatoes are still completely out of control and it is somewhat frightening to put your hands into the jungle of plants to harvest those sweet little red tomatoes that you just POP into your mouth - mmmmm. Mike brought home a bunch of mozzarella last week, and now that our basil is thriving again, we can't wait to make caprese paninis, which we did a lot last year because our basil was massive.

Something continues to nibble at our strawberries, and I think the raspberries are a lost cause for this year but hopefully they'll do well next year? The 3 strawberries we've harvested (Seriously, 3) have been delicious. I think Dominic said, on the 4th, that it was the "best, freshest strawberry" he's ever had. Hurrah!

I think we're going to start some carrots and a second round of lettuce and squash for a fall harvest. And then start tearing up the ground for next year's garden. EEK!

The zoo (before the sting-ray massacre of aught-eight)

2008-07-20T22:37:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago (not even, it just feels like it was a LONG time ago) my sister and the boys came out and we went to the zoo. The kids got to see and touch the sting rays (well, Ellie and I waited outside the exhibit), which I'm glad we did before they shut it down.

Of course, it ended up pouring rain for part of the day, but it was still pretty warm out so it wasn't so bad, though I did feel bad for Ellie.

She didn't seem to mind.

Gramma Ar sent along ice cream money (for the kids, not me and Jill. Phooey to that, we got cones anyway. Bwa ha ha). As you can see, the kids were super happy for the treat.

It was a fun day, though it is always like herding cats when we have the crew together, and pictures are nearly impossible to get with everyone looking/smiling/etc. It doesn't help that my camera is super slow - we need to have Auntie Kar along - her pictures always rock and she gets the good shots. And of course the kids smile for her EVERY TIME. Sigh.

I feel like it's been awhile

2008-07-20T22:32:00.002-05:00

Since I last posted. Once again, it's one of those things where I have to go through my pictures to remember what has been going on that I wanted to post about. Is the memory really the first thing to go???

So here's my favorite picture on the camera right now:

Or maybe this one:

Or perhaps this one:

Charlotte has commandeered some old sunglasses that I had in the car as "emergency shades' in case the other 8,000 pairs of sunglasses I have were all MIA. Lord knows I would never wear them unless it was an emergency, and never out of the car, so they are always in there. Or were, anyway.

I went to my mom's and to visit Rosie tonight, and Mike, Joey O. and the girls were hanging with Jerry, Bev, and Jon outside while grilling. Char took over the camera and, as usual, took a bunch of self portraits. Like mother, like daughter, I suppose.

How to piss off an 11 month old...

2008-07-14T16:45:00.002-05:00

Well, 2 days short of 11 months, anyway.

When I cleaned out the pantry (see 100 posts below), I found the giant baggy of baby proofing stuff. Charlotte wasn't a nosy baby, so we didn't need half of the stuff. Plus we have no coffee table or other low, square items (so no need for the sharp edge bumpers), about 3 outlets in the whole house that aren't blocked by furniture. So clearly babyproofing is not our bailiwick.

So I blocked the offensive outlets. And then I found one of those locks for side-by-side cabinet doors, and put it on the tv stand doors that Ellie always opens and ransacks. Since I put it on, she's given me several dirty looks (honest to God), after each she turns around and tugs and tugs and tugs on it. Then she'll do a "BABABABABABA" angry babble, shoot me a look again, and then resume tugging. Twice now, she's pretty much crawled away in disgust. Hee hee hee.

Why would she know this?

2008-07-14T12:46:00.002-05:00

So I'm cleaning (the house since I didn't this weekend) which means that the girls get a mini-tv bonanza.

Char just picked Batman (old school Adam West), and when the DVRed show ended, she requested another one. All of a sudden, iCarly was on the tv, and Charlotte stated that she'd like "This! I want to watch this! I love iCarly!" which I believe is about like a 10 year old who has a webshow.

WHy is Charlotte aware of this show and how is she suddenly into it? I feel like I never knew my kid at all.

New water park

2008-07-14T09:11:00.003-05:00

A lot of people that grew up around here talk about the ol' Cermak Pool, which apparently was located in the forest preserve on Ogden Ave in Lyons-ish. I never heard of it, had never been. It's been closed for a long while, I hear.

There's been some buzz that they were going to reopen it as a water park geared for kids under 12. And the rumor is true!

According to the Forest Preserve of Cook County web site, the Cermak Family Aquatic Center. It opens on July 24th at 2pm, and admission is going to be free for summer of 2008!

I dare say I'll give it a whirl. Specifically geared for younger kids, really close to home, and free all summer? I'm in for sure!

I already said it! DUH!

2008-07-14T08:15:00.002-05:00

Charlotte is watching a Diego, the one with Tuga the Sea Turtle (an episode I dislike more than most) and at the beginning, Alicia and Diego tell the kids to "Say Sea Turtle!" and then Char said it. Then they said it again, and Charlotte said, with total attitude, "I SAID IT ALREADY! GOSH!"

I would pray that this is a sign that the Diego phase will finally come to an end, except I have no idea what will follow, and we all know it could be something worse.

What is it they say about the enemy you know?

How much do I love this man?

2008-07-13T11:17:00.003-05:00

OK, so I really missed Michael and the girls this weekend. I'm leaving to pick them up in a few minutes. On my list, I accomplished the following:

Nothing.

EEK!

I realize that he likely knew it was Fest weekend when he picked the date to go to Michigan because A) unless you grew up in Westchester, the Fest is not "all that and a bag of chips" and I get that. B) I think he wanted me to just relax and have fun and not fret about getting stuff done around here.

Mission Accomplished, sir.

I slacked a lot. Met up with a friend on Friday night, yesterday ran errands and shopped,then cleared out the pantry, documented it every 3 minutes, and then Fested it up, and got home at like FOUR AM!!! EEK! Slept a couple (literally like 2) hours and then started back on the pantry of doom. So here's the finished product:

And, again, here's the BEFORE:

So it isn't great, still. And I took a lot of stuff out that I have to ditch. I saved a ton of stuff that was my gram's (Did I already post this? I'm having deja blog...) but that I haven't used once in my 6 years here - her old MixMaster, her double waffle iron, percolator coffee pots (Yes, plural) and so on. (SIDE NOTE: Omygosh, the smash hit song "Percolator" was on at the bar last night after the Fest. The DJ was all "Free beer for anyone who can do the Percolator!" and I never ever realized it was a dance. I was so naive at age 15...Time for the percolator...time for the percolator..percolator, percolator. AWESOME!)

Anyway, if I had a big kitchen with the soffits open above the cupboards, I would totally do a retro decorating thing and put the mixmaster, percolators, old school blender (which I do like for mixing drinks - simple on/off switch, total retro). But, as we know, my whole kitchen is about the size of the pantry, so no room for unnecessary flair in there.

What to do? Will a consignment shop or like Jackson Square Mall accept stuff like this to sell? Craigslist it? I love the sentimentality of keeping it, but there's just reason to, and I don't have the space for it.

FESTO!

2008-07-13T04:30:00.005-05:00

Oh my gosh, how this never occurred to us in the past is beyond me!

As we (Me, Carolyn (Kelly's sister), Kelly, and Karyn) walked into the fest, we pondered how quickly we'd see "The Beast" a guy we knew in high school who was Big Man on Campus back then, but pretty much peaked at age 18 and has been trying to recapture it, but is, really, just "That guy" at the fest. At every fest.

Anyway, about 2 seconds after we approached the fest, Carolyn spotted him. We all saw him and then thought, "Wow, we should have a game where we mark the people we see at the fest." and then we decided on a BINGO-esque format, which I promptly drew on my hand, and called it FESTO (later turned into W-FESTO when we came up with some new squares to cover).

Unlike traditional BINGO, you don't have to get a line across, diagonal, or vertical. We just had a bunch of squares with different Fest-ites or Fest types and kept a tally as to who saw what. Here's a sample of what was on my hand (I think I have a picture on my phone, but it is blurry):

So here's some of the highlights:
Beast sighting
Talking to the Beast
Inappropriate touch or comment from the Beast
Mullets
Loopy Armed Tank Top
Big Gold Chain
Old ladies with WAY fake tans
HUGE boobs hanging out
Socks and sandals
Little kids out way too late
Members of 2 of the local families with huge broods
Fanny packs

You can tell the Beast is pretty much the highlight of festing season for us. He was at the bar after the fest, too, despite the fact that he had been banned for there for the last 10 years. Kelly dared me to go find out why he was allowed back. I asked him, and, after the obligatory inappropriate comment, he told me that he's been banned from there three times. When I asked how he got back in, he said, "Because I'm John Doe!*" like I'M the idiot for not knowing he gets reprieves.
LOVE IT!

*Names have been changed to protect the non-innocent creep

Off to the Fest!

2008-07-12T20:16:00.003-05:00

Off to the fest...running late due to some complications with a drill while trying to get one of those white wire shelving thingies attached to the pantry door. Sigh.

Anyway, Smashmouth at 10pm, Westchester Fest! Whoo hooo!!!

Pantry Raid: Phase One

2008-07-12T12:42:00.010-05:00

Clearing it out.

Going through the canned foods, here's a couple randoms I came across which at best befuddled me and at worst...somewhat terrified me.

Can of shredded sauerkraut
Can of cranberry sauce (the jelly kind! EWWWW)
Can of German Potato Salad
Can of baby corn (which I don't even like! Why is it in my pantry?)
Jar of artichoke hearts (We did go through a phase of making artichoke dip, I guess?)
TWO cans of...baby clams. HURL HURL HURL. Clearly a Michael purchase, but that doesn't make it okay. BLECH.

EDIT: 12:54pm
Major problem with a big pantry that is disorganized: Duplicates. I'm a huge proponent of having back up items for frequently used items/food, but come on!
For example, does anyone need:
3 boxes of chocolate chunk low-fat granola bars?
3 cartons of organic chicken broth (with a nearly full one in the fridge?)
3 jars of applesauce (which we rarely eat, I use it more for baking)?
2 full, unopened boxes of reduced fat Wheat Thins?
6 (SIX) boxes of fruit snacks, each with varying degrees of fullness?
5 bags of Goldfish crackers (1 pizza, 1 plain, 3 baked cheddar)?
2 boxes of graham cracker crumbs (I don't bake pies that often)?

EDIT: 1:07pm
Seriously? Should this restaurant size tub of mayo exist in ANYONE'S pantry?
I'm hoping Mike got it from work and we didn't intentionally purchase this thing. Perhaps we planned to bathe Eleanor in it, once empty?

EDIT: 1:16pm
SPAM? I now suspect that Michael is going out, finding creepy stuff, and planting it in the pantry to prove the point that I don't know what is in there. That's it...his welcome home dinner will be SPAM and baby Clams!

If anyone wanted to come over and motivate me to stop taking picture/blog breaks, that would be great. Just call me and tell me to clean the pigsty. EEK!

EDIT: 1:29pm
Canned Oysters? DUUUUDE!
I don't eat anything that lived in water, so maybe I am just not in the know. Is this acceptable to eat?

EDIT: 1:46pm
2 bottles of FISH SAUCE. I believe Mike uses this in some Asian dishes. Two bottles, though? Eek.

EDIT: 4:05pm
OK. Everything is cleared out. Our kitchen table, counter, and under the table - filled with stuff. Living room floor is littered with small appliances and serving plates I deem too fancy/delicate to use most of the time.
Here's the empty pantry:

I slapped a coat of paint on it from a random basement can (It's the living room green. I had thought it would be the bedroom blue, but, alas, I was wrong). I don't love it, but it is different at least? So I'm off now to pick up some bins/baskets for organizing the hell out of the pantry. I think bins will be the solution to everything. Again, any suggestions are totally welcome.

Tony Snow died!

2008-07-12T11:59:00.002-05:00

I don't know if it was because he came on board after mega-douche Scott McClellan, but I liked Tony Snow as press secretary for G.W. even though I am NO fan of G.W., as most people know. But oftentimes he wasn't even such a big fan of him, either!

I think it is impossible to NOT have liked him, his style and smarts made him likable, whether talking for the White House, chatting with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, or facing Tim Russert on Face the Nation.

I was sad when he stepped down after his cancer diagnosis and treatment last year, but had no idea he was in such bad shape and that he would pass away so soon.

I feel like we've had a couple of significant deaths here, with Tony Snow and Tim Russert both passing on. Both were stand up gentlemen in a field where it isn't so easy to be respected by everyone.

Ummmm.....

2008-07-12T10:32:00.003-05:00

So, I haven't done anything yet around the house. And I've created more squallor. EEK! I'm going to get off my butt and clear out the pantry right now. Debating painting it (We have so many 1/2 cans of paint in the basement) with the mentality of "maybe we'll keep it neater if it looks nicer" like I thought with the back stairs (Um, which remain unfinished, no pictures hung, etc.)

I went to dinner at my friend Lesli's house last night, which was awesome. I haven't just hung out with her and caught up on life in general, and really had a great time. Ran an errand after dinner, then came home, tried the "Ped Egg" on my feet while watching a show, and then went to bed.

So far today I stayed in bed, with no guilt (kind of) until 8:30, got up, did a little shopping (again, with no guilt), and came home and played with Millie. By the by, I'm pretty sure that Millie is suspicious of me being the only one home with her. I think she thinks Mike took the kids away so I could chop her into pieces and bury her in the all the holes she has dug in the yard. I'm not saying she isn't justified in this mentality.

I seem to have no choice but to get to work. Everyone who has a blog I normally stalk has been slacking on updating, so I can't even kill time stalking them. SARA & HER BLOGROLL: I'M TALKING TO YOU!!

Off to the pantry!!

Top Ten Things Michael Thinks I'm Doing This Weekend...

2008-07-11T17:43:00.002-05:00

I just dropped off Mike and the girls at Union Station for their big train ride to Michigan to visit his folks. I was sad, watching them trundle away with an umbrella stroller, a rolling duffel bag, and a car seat and booster seat attached to the duffel bag. Oh, and a backpack forced onto Charlotte's back.

I've stated that I have lots to do around the house, but he's pretty sure it isn't going to happen. He hasn't listed a full 10 things he suspects I'll do, but I think he's mentioned about 7:

10. Amy will have the pantry, basement, and cabinets cleaned up and organized
9. Amy will replace the kitchen floor
8. Amy will finish painting the back stairs
4. Amy will be on an internet binge
3. Amy will watch seasons 2, 3, and 4 of 24, in real time
2. Amy will trash the house and just live in a hotel for the weekend
1. Amy will be on a 3 day bender at the Westchester Fun Fest

The discrepancy in the numbers above is a result of the fact that he's pretty sure 10-8 will NOT be happening at all, and it's a crap shoot as to which of 4-1 will happen.

Grass-f'ing-Hopper

2008-07-11T17:39:00.002-05:00

Props to Shan for the following:

This morning on WGN's morning news show, David Carradine referred to himself as "legend-f***ing-ary" after stinky Robin Baumgarten called him "legendary" - HI-Larious!

Funny that when Larry Potash admonished him, Carradine said, "But you said I could!"

Annoying, however, that after that, Robin started chanting "we're gonna be on the internet, we're gonna be on the internet!"

Story from the Trib

Didn't find video yet...