The overnight trip went really well. Nico had an absolute blast, and again did not want to leave. Ryan and I had a nice time, though we had some issues with the service.
I’m still caught up in the post-trip recovery, and also in the middle of what is turning out to be a rotten, no-good bed time. So I will keep this short and leave you with this, our view from the hotel bed:
talk about awkward
The movie was ok. It was quick and entertaining and a good watch, but it was NOT scary. I think I also have a hard time being disturbed by supernatural phenomenon. That, and it’s just not scary to me to see a weegy(sp) board catch fire, or a door move. I am glad that we saw it in the theater, as the spine tingling vibe in the room did add some apprehension to the movie. Our surrounding movie patrons DID appear to be in the grips of fear throughout. Overall, I’d give it 3 out of 4 using the horror movie rating system, which I do not use to rate other kinds of movies. For the record, Blair Witch was 1,342,568% better.
Another movie is in the works for tonight, if the timing works out. I surprised Ryan with a night at a local hotel chain that we like, the grandparents are going to watch Nico. It will be the first night of its kind, and a long time coming, so it will be nice. We’ll drop off the boy, have dinner, see Men who Laugh at Goats, and see where the night leads us. Nico is actually looking forward to his visit, what with the cookie making and movie watching and brand new toys and all. But he has assured me that he will not sleep tonight, and I half believe him.
Turns out there’s no end to this gardening thing. Three of our rows are still going strong with fall/winter food production. The other two are planted with cover crops that include fava beans. We’re going to be hauling 2 cubic yards of mushroom compost for the garden next week, so some back breaking labor is still in the works. And I’ll be on slug and bug patrol for the rest of my life. Add to that, I now have to contend with the muddy and wet cloches any time I want to check on/harvest our leafy things, I am amazed by how much damn work a garden is. I love it and I hate it and I recognize that it doesn’t matter how I feel about it because I still have to do it. At least I can blog about it.
Oh I do not like blogging this late, and after a difficult bed time. This is exactly not something that I am interested in doing right now.Payback for yesterdays early post I guess. And, for the nap that Nico got this afternoon. That boy needs to quit with the pre-3am wakeups.
He loved school yesterday. Absolutely did not want to leave, was not excited to see me, and spent the whole rest of the day talking about how he wanted to go back. Immediately. And to never leave again. All very, very good things, though it would have been icing on the cake for the pick-up to have gone a bit smoother. I am deeply relieved and grateful for our new set up. It’s a good fit for him, and a nice transitional opportunity considering I APPLIED FOR SCHOOL for him yesterday. Honest to goodness school for my soon to be five year old. Intense shit man.
Another big change, as I mentioned in the comments yesterday:
Nico likes Ryan
I’ll give you a moment to resettle yourself, I know those are three very shocking words. I wouldn’t say that it’s an all day, every day type of sentiment, but it is dramatically different than, say, 6 months ago. 3 months even. I have some theories about it, but the ultimate reality that I am presented with is this: by tomorrow, I will have seen 2 (two) movies within 2 (two) months of each other. With a friend. With Ryan putting the boy to bed. CRAZY! And, I’ve met a couple of people in the evening for drinks and grown up chit chat, or just some time alone. My life seems to have entered it’s magical phase.
And so, off to look up Paranormal Activity show times. Maybe I should be doing some kegels so I don’t wet my pants, I hear it’s pretty scary. Though, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Aaaaah, cable free. Only problem, I forgot to install the converter box that enables us to continue on with House and Medium. Probably should have done that BEFORE I canceled, but it’s not like I can’t catch those shows on the internets as well. And, er, it’s just tv. Not really an emergency, though I appreciate you rushing to call 911 for me there.
Guess what I’m doing here, posting right in the middle of the day when I should be raising my child. C’mon, take a guess. How could this be possible? Baffled? Me too.
Oh, wait. School! NICO IS AT PRESCHOOL! Today is his first day at a new preschool that I fell in love with the moment I walked in. Nico’s enchantment blossomed over the internet, when I showed him the schools web site, and then solidified into true love when he came by for a visit a couple of weeks ago. We’ve been talking about it nearly everyday, excited as could be, and today he virtually flew out the door to the car so that Ryan could take him. Ryan reported the drop off was just as quick, with Nico barely waving a goodbye as he immediately picked out a new friend and started playing.
I can not WAIT to hear how his day went.
In the meantime, I have been on the phone all day trying to sort out insurance bullshit that continues to hang over my head months and months after the service. Having an employer that is self-insured might have it’s benefits, but so far the experience has been a pain in my ass. I’ve also cleaned the bathroom, done some kitcheny things, and am working down the usual list of “Wednesday Chores” that are just plain weird to be doing without a kid underfoot. I think I had a romantic notion that I might do something fun, something me-me-me related, but I’m glad to have some solid chore time. And, with this out of the way I may be able sneak in some gaming during my usual blogging window.
So, I better cross this off and move along to the next thing. See you tomorrow.
For as strangely excited as I was to get it, my love of cable was quick to wane. I’m not sure what the appeal was to begin with. Maybe I thought I was missing out on something? Maybe I was struck with a case of All The Cool Kids Have Its? But it didn’t take long to recognize that, $100 bucks a month later, we were still watching the same old shows, on the same old broadcast stations. Or else, we were watching netflix or the occasional internet screening of Weeds. Or we’re playing video games.
Even after the painful acknowledgment, I have still been surprisingly resistant to canceling cable. Or not resistant, I guess, since I fully accept that I could and should make the call, and I WANT to cancel. But, I haven’t. Months and months later, we still have it and we still don’t use it. Except maybe as super fancy antenna.
That was, until I got the magical email. Netflix was pleased to inform me that I could now begin watching streaming movies using my PS3. MY PS3!! Ryan and I have been instant netflixing on my laptop for years, much to his dismay. I usually try to multi-task on the computer while the movie is playing, which I fully realize is super irritating when the screen is the size of a dinner plate. Imagine my delight.
ON MY PS3!
Bonus that this helps to justify my rather extravagent purchase, bought without spousal permission so that I could play the newest version of my favorite game.
We got everything set up a couple of days ago and it has been sooo frickin’ cool. So, tomorrow, TOMORROW! I swear, I am going to cancel Comcast. Mark my capslock.
Lastly, I must say that we have been watching some serious funny tv lately. The funniest tv of my entire tv watching life. So funny, that I am about to turn this into the most BORING post of my entire posting life by actually making a list of my favorite, most funniest shows. In no particular order.
The IT Crowd – We’re watching these on instant currently, just finished the first season. This has such a high baseline of laughter it’s almost painful to maintain through the 23 minute episodes (also the prime length of any tv show to be, imo)
Spaced - This was such a short, sweet, hilarious series. In addition to being uproarious, the writers actually planned out how to END the series (which I think was only one season) so it was satisfying right up to the final episode. Ryan had a particularly funny reaction to this series… before each episode he took to kicking his legs up and down with true, uncontrolled excitement. He had no idea that he’d even started this amusing practice.
The Sarah Silverman Program - Oh holiest of funny shits. I was hesitant about this one. I’ve been burned by too many women comedians who base the bulk of their material on fat jokes and dating mishaps. No so, Sarah Silverman Show. The first season stood way above the second, but I’m still eagerly awaiting the day that season 3 is available on netflix.
I also feel like mentioning Dead Like Me, even though the funny doesn’t compare on any level. But there, I’ve mentioned it.
Note, the British. WHO KNEW!? Definitely not me. I was raised on OPB mysteries and Britcoms, which while sometimes charming, are NOT funny. Not serious funny at all.
And this concludes my venture into the forbidden realm, the subject that I swore I would never broach after listening to mom drone on and on and on about her “shows” and the countless conversations with inlaws about funny tv commercials, and cute little vignettes that they saw on tv. I am officially old.
Posting every day sure is a great reminder of how little there is to say. Not from lack of thought or activity, fact or feeling. But from a lack of privacy. Tricky tricky privacy. Too much, and I miss my chance to rock the world with my powerful thoughts and keen insights. Too little, and the filters kick into gear and my Brilliant Brain remains locked up in its lofty tower. Add to that my general anxiety over boring people, over not saying things precisely the way that I mean to, over going too deep, in not enough depth. Perpetual paralysis. Infinite kid pics. Never ending garden updates. Silence.
I’ve been writing a little. A very little. Another dream-reveal that gave me the very loose structure of an idea, that maybe perhaps possibly could evolve into a story if ever I spent more than 20 minutes every month into it. So, not very promising.
Blogging has not been satisfying me on any kind of level lately. I can’t commit to the purpose here… do I want to connect with people on a personal level? on a more general level? Am I trying to keep my fingers flexed, my mind limber? Am I trying to develop story ideas?
I think the allure of the blog is that on the surface it seems like the perfect place to do ALL of these things. But it’s become more and more clear to me that I’m quite succesfully accomplishing none of these things, simultaneously, true to multi-task form. I have a harder and harder time with the realization that any energy I put in here, even my most dedicated, my most focused, is going to be magically transformed into something half-assed because it’s time that I’m NOT dedicating to making and maintaining honest to goodness, true, loving friendships. It’s time that I’m not dedicating to a book idea that I’m going to keep plugging at day after day. It’s time that I use to satisfy those needs which I don’t want to fully entertain, those need that I just want to satiate and forget about for one more day. So that I don’t have to risk committing to friendships, committing to plans, committing to ideas that might just fail. And so, perpetual paralysis. Infinite kid pics. Never ending garden updates. Silence.
I’ve been toying with the idea of a computer free life. Even just a computer hiatus, not counting work hours. I would write on <gasp> paper. I would learn to use the phone again. I would spend more time with my kid and my man and dazzle acquaintances with my spectacular awkwardness. It’s an idea that’s been rattling around for a good long while, with no real hint of actually going anywhere. And the zillions of reasons why it likely never will are well, in the zillions. But it’s there, and now I’ve even blogged it.
That’s all I got.
As I rather expected, our last day has so far been our best day. Seems like right as we’re getting a serious groove going is when it’s about time to leave. Not that most of our trips haven’t been awesome from the start, but these rougher trips frequently seem to take a few days to iron out.
As it is, the house has been vacuumed and scrubbed, most of our stuff is out in the car, and I’m just waiting for the bedding and dishes to finish drying so I can make the bed and restock the cupboards. Then we are off. Of course, with the house sparkling clean Nico has been struck with undeniable desire to play with the ‘moon sand’ that Grandma keeps for him here. “Turn your living room into a sandbox, instantly!” Oh well, there’s nothing else to do while we wait and that’s what vacuums are for.
I wonder if this will be our last trip here. This really has been a nice little getaway, especially considering all of the Mommy and Nico trips that it has enabled. It’s harder to justify the week long trips without Ryan if we’re going to have to pay for hotel. We have that New Years Eve visit planned, but if the house sells before then I won’t expect them honor our “reservation”.
Oh well. Time to check on the laundry and maybe take in a few quiet moments watching the boats come in.
A very bittersweet day. Obviously because it was our last. Not so obviously because we spent the first half of it wearing our Grouchy Gus faces before finally snapping out of it and enjoying ourselves. I can never tell who starts the crabby moods since we’re both so malleable to each others vibe, but I tend to accept that it’s probably me, being the crotchety oldster that I am. And I will admit having had a few cane-shaking moments this trip. Thank goodness we were able to snap out of it fairly early today, and thank goodness the rains cleared so that it was that much easier to do. A trip to the playground is balm for both our souls (so, thankgoodnessx3 that I was able to eventually find one.)
I've been thinking about making one big post featuring all the things Nico has been drawing/writing lately, but that would really take some organization on my part. Lately he's been really into connecting his letters, almost like he's trying to write cursive. wtf? who teaches him this stuff, seriously. Oh, and this says "I love you" in case you can't tell. You'll note that I take pictures of this particular message a lot, however it's not all that he writes.
I had to pull out the ice scraper this morning before I could drive us out to breakfast. At the restraunt, I didn't think any of it when he told me that this was a sky scraper. However, when he started shoving it around in the air and said, "see! I'm scraping the sky with it" I did have to chuckle.
blessed playground
Where do you live Nico?
Beach Boy
Concentration
I Love You
He started following this group of older women for a while. Maybe because they walked on one of his "i love you"s. Maybe because they were cute? No clue.
He asked me to draw a "talking bubble" and a "thinking bubble." and then wrote "I love you" and "I love you too." in their respective places.
Beach Boy
Oh that kid. He pulled a little girl aside at the aquarium climbables so that he could tell her, in a very important voice, “I love my mommy.” She somehow seemed very reassured to know this, go figure.
More photos below. (Not that you can’t see them with your own eyes. Apparently I think this is a work email.) I’m giving up on the damn galleries. Also, I feel less sick and am going to draw the unscientific conclusion that I was cured by miso soup. Science abhors conclusions anyway, so that’s totally kosher. Enjoy!
nico loves the big red dog
eat you up
this time I'M in the mouth. Nico actually got a bit weirded out. he told me to get out and we ran away.
Nico figured out a way to chocolate-up his cookie.
what the hell dragonfly pond!? i know it's a stretch. but i honestly had to read this over and over and over again to finally figure out that it did NOT say wth
Twits
you said it