Arrrrrrrrrh!

The Monkey & The Wombat were pirates for Halloween. I bought the costumes last year on clearance at Old Navy. Next year we've promised the boys they can pick out their own costumes. I can't wait to see what they come up with!

Playdate

The Monkey has his very first playdate today. He is super excited, but being playdate newbies (despite The Monkey being 4 1/2 years old) neither The Scientist nor I has any idea what the playdate etiquette is. All of our other playdate experiences have been with friends where the purpose of the playdate was more to allow the parents to get together than to have the kids play - it was just a side benefit. Do we just drop him off? Do I stay over? I don't know the parents very well, although they seem nice. My social anxiety is going into overdrive for this. I know the solution is to just ASK but I'm hoping I can be a little subtle in the interaction.

Important Halloween Questions from a 4 Year Old

Last night at bedtime after we finished his story, The Monkey sat on my lap in the dark for a snuggle before going into his bed. He had a lot on his mind, namely if mummies were real. We discussed that they were real (anyone else's 4 year old fascinated by death?) and that they were people who had been wrapped up after they were dead. He wanted clarification that real mummies didn't walk around.

We pondered mummies for a while and then the Monkey said, "Vampires aren't real. But umpires are."

I agreed with him, smothered my laughter, and put him into bed with a kiss. Then I shut his door & broke out into giggles. It took me four tries to tell The Scientist the story because I was laughing so hard.

Row, row, row your...

At 2 1/2, The Wombat is discovering humor. So far it's been limited to bodily functions, pratfalls, funny noises, and Dory speaking Whale in his favorite movie, Finding Nemo.

Last night, the boys took turns sending each other into fits of giggles by identifying various household objects and body parts and declaring them made of dirt.

"Your head is made of dirt!"

Hysterical laughter.

"The house is made of dirt!"

Hysterical laughter.

"Mama's neck is made of dirt!"

Hysterical laughter.

"The chair is made of dirt!"

Hysterical laughter.

This went on for a while before The Scientist and I separated them for bedtime stories (at their soon-to-be-patented Early Bedtime Hour). The Wombat eventually settled down, but not before naming another dozen items made of dirt (cue hysterical laughter).

When the stories were over, I turned off the light, wrapped him in a blanket and sang him a few bedtime songs in the rocking chair. The last one was Row, Row, Row Your Boat. He sang along with me, getting most of the words right and requesting an encore performance.

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily.
Life is but a dream.

The room finally quiet and peaceful, he looked up at me as I rocked him. In a moment surely to bring tears to the eyes of other parents and destined to be featured on a Hallmark commercial, he declared,

"I have a butt."

Life is butt a dream, indeed.

The Roof Is...

The roof...

The roof...

The roof is...LEAKING. With a rare February thaw today, intermittent drizzle during the day, and thunderstorms predicted for tonight.

I am not happy.

Work is crazy busy. The Scientist was out of town last week, goes out of town again this week, and then again next month. And now the roof is fucking leaking.

I just got an inheritance from my grandmother's death and instead of saving for a down payment on a bigger house (The Scientist's goal) or a remodel of our main floor bathroom (my goal), we are buying a new roof. I am glad we have this windfall just in time to spend it on something necessary. It's much less stressful than going into debt, but it still sucks. Before the leak, I had one contractor over to give us an estimate and hopefully the 2nd contractor will call me back today to schedule their estimate and I can give my business to whoever is cheaper.

25 things meme

Cheating & posting my Facebook time suck of the week her too.

25 random things about me

1. I am tired of email.
2. If I could only eat one food, it would be chocolate.
3. I thought my 2nd child was a girl (he wasn't).
4. I am lactose intolerant.
5. I would really like to get more sleep.
6. I hate trying on jeans.
7. I love snow as long as I can observe it from inside.
8. I totally stole a bunch of [my friend who sent this to me]'s answers.
9. My job is ok, but I wouldn't do it for free.
10. I wish we could visit Alaska this year.
11. My space-heater rocks.
12. I read Hollywood gossip online when I get bored during conference calls at work.
13. I don't like grapes but I do like raisins.
14. I like organizing things.
15. I don't like cleaning.
16. I think my sons are even more stubborn than I am (scary).
17. I am not afraid of confrontation.
18. I don't really like using the phone even though I like talking to people (and spend hours on the phone at work).
20. I am a huge fan of Target.
21. I played the piano seriously in elementary school and junior high - now I can't even really read music.
22. I'm not into computer games at all.
23. I like my family.
24. I can only do wimpy girly push-ups (but I'm working on it).
25. I have post-apocalyptic dreams on a regular basis. They usually involve what I will pack if I have to take my family & live in the woods.

Insured

My brother has no health insurance.

He is a single 30-year-old freelancer. No employer to offer him insurance. Too old (and graduated from college) to be a dependent on my parents' insurance plan. Too single to tag onto a spouse's plan. He made a few dollars to many (literally) to qualify for our state's low income subsidized plan.

This article by Atul Gawande is a fantastic explanation of how we could get to universal health care, partly based on what the state of Massachusetts has done. I believe the time has come in the United States for universal health care. I hope President Obama is the one who can make it happen.