— 1 —
Starting on a somber note today. In kindergarten and first grade (moved shortly after), I had a friend with a name very similar to mine (at least in terms of pronunciation – no chemistry-related meaning that I’m aware of.) I often think about her and what she’s up to. Then it hit me – hey, this is the Internet, and there is Facebook, I should see if I can find her! And so I do a quick search – only to find out that she was murdered in 2005.
Wow. I have been praying for her and her family. But what a strange thing to discover, eight years after the fact. I only knew her a short while but every now and then I picture us clapping erasers outside for our first grade teacher (we were teacher’s pets, don’t you know.)
— 2 —
Two whiskey tango foxtrot stories that happened within fifteen minutes of each other:
I ran into the grocery store for bananas (because Alisdair LOVES bananas and they are a usual pre-bed snack in our house, but when I went for our regular grocery trip we still had a couple left and the ones there were too yellow to last much longer) and the store was almost empty. The cashier wasn’t checking anybody out, but was staring at a package intently when I came up to pay for the bananas. She apologized for the maybe twenty seconds I had to wait (no big) and then we had the following exchange:
Cashier: I just can’t believe how expensive that formula is. [Price - don't remember] to make only a gallon? Wow.
Me: Yes, that is a lot.
Cashier: I was looking because I have a friend who’s having twins soon. I don’t know how on earth she’ll manage.
Me: Well, hopefully she’ll be able to nurse them, and that’s free!
Cashier: *stares at me like I have sprouted three heads* Oh. Well, um, have a good day!
Right. Because breastfeeding is weird, and paying a ridiculous amount for a subpar substitute is what humans have always done.
— 3 —
The other is the weird look I got from a bank teller when I deposited my organized and wrapped coins. Yes, I wrap coins. Coinstar costs money, and this branch doesn’t have a coin counter (nor does any other that I would be willing to drive to). So every couple of months I dump out our change jar and sort and wrap while watching TV. The only other thing I would be doing with my hands is shoveling junk into my mouth, so, you know, looking at how much money has just been hanging out in our house doing nothing is productive. This particular deposit was $18. Not bad, and I still had some left over to use on the rare occasion we need to pay a meter or a toll.
(Is it really that weird that I deposit wrapped coins? Or change at all?)
— 4 —
Alisdair recognizes his name when I print it, lowercase or uppercase. He can identify all of the letters if they are uppercase. Strangely, although his pronunciation with most words is very good, he still pronounces his name “Ah-ah,” the same way he has been ever since he started saying it.
He’s also memorized about six nursery rhymes in full (favorites: “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and “Old King Cole”) and parts of a bunch more (in addition to various other books which he recites for fun from time to time.) He will correct me if I get a word wrong or say anything out of order.
Ian and I have gotten to the point where we spell out certain things so Alisdair doesn’t know what we are talking about, but I think even that won’t last long.
Crazy kid. (And apparently, both Ian and I did this too, and soon after that we were reading. The mind – it boggles.)
— 5 —
Now that our grass is growing, a few comparison pics to see just how much better this is:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
The grass is still a little patchy in areas, but WOULD YOU LOOK AT ALL THAT SPACE?!
I’m telling you, I cannot wait to bring that guy back next year to do the front yard. I will be seriously less embarrassed every time someone rings the doorbell. I know, I know, I don’t HAVE to keep up with the Joneses, but I do like living in a space that is well-kept. It’s inviting.
— 6 —
I’ve been having contractions all week. I had a bit of that with Alisdair – several days before labor actually started, I would have five-six hours of contractions that came pretty regularly, but didn’t really intensify and then they went away when I went to bed. This time it’s a lot more irregular, but it’s been going on longer. Even though I said I wanted McBaby to wait a bit more (and I still do…most of the time) there is a part of me that goes, “Ooooh, maybe this is it!” with each contraction. But then it’s not. Boo.
— 7 —
We’ve been hitting up the park a lot the past few weeks. Gotta love that great weather! (Ian even had a playdate, dad-style, last week when I was at work!)
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
And we’ve agreed that it’s a reasonable standard for our kids when they are old enough to pick out their own clothes – show your team pride, but don’t forget where we are and what we experience at the Mass.)
