I must have somehow anticipated the current economic crisis because I am in a good position to save money on poinsettias this year: I still have mine from last year. Actually, I think I'm less of an economic soothsayer than just plain frugal. My poinsettias held up pretty well after the holidays last year and I didn't have the heart to throw away healthy plants. So I moved them to my kitchen windowsill where they flourished. Now the only trick is to get them red by Christmas. I googled "how to turn poinsettias red" and learned that they need 12 hours of darkness at a time in order to turn red, starting in September. I did not speed things along by placing them in a closet before daylight savings time ended, but they're getting 12 hours of darkness now so hopefully they'll be red at some point before December. If not, I'll just have green poinsettias--how could I bring myself to buy new ones at this point?
I also canceled HBO today--I'll reinstate it when Entourage starts again, but in the meantime, I'm saving $18/month.
H is a teenager in an 8-year-old's body. She had a meltdown yesterday because she was frustrated that (i) she broke a stupid toy dinosaur from the American Museum of Natural History ("it was a special keepsake from New York and I'll never get another one," she sobbed), (ii) she could not get her diary to lock and (iii) her room was a mess. It was a complete emotional breakdown and a scary foreshadowing of her teenage years....
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Dandrew
Watching Dandrew on The Amazing Race is just painful--please, please get eliminated already. On the other hand, I think Dallas and Toni are becoming one of my all-time favorite teams. I have a lot of admiration for the great job she did raising him to be such a solid guy.
Christmas season is soon upon us and the kids and I have talked a lot about how fortunate we are, and how we already have lives of excess. T has said that he only wants 2 things for Christmas: a kiss from me and a kiss from daddy. He didn't even want to put up his stocking for fear that Santa might inadvertently leave him something. I kept telling him it was OK to maybe get a couple things (I have the Wii and some games and accessories waiting!), but he's adamant about not getting anything. I'm curious to know if he'd really be OK with having nothing under the tree Christmas morning. H, on the other hand, is such a material girl. She understands that she doesn't need anything, but there's so much that she wants, and she's having a hard time giving that up.
Entourage is on hiatus until the summer, and I think as part of my recession plan, I'll cancel HBO until then.
Christmas season is soon upon us and the kids and I have talked a lot about how fortunate we are, and how we already have lives of excess. T has said that he only wants 2 things for Christmas: a kiss from me and a kiss from daddy. He didn't even want to put up his stocking for fear that Santa might inadvertently leave him something. I kept telling him it was OK to maybe get a couple things (I have the Wii and some games and accessories waiting!), but he's adamant about not getting anything. I'm curious to know if he'd really be OK with having nothing under the tree Christmas morning. H, on the other hand, is such a material girl. She understands that she doesn't need anything, but there's so much that she wants, and she's having a hard time giving that up.
Entourage is on hiatus until the summer, and I think as part of my recession plan, I'll cancel HBO until then.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Amazing Race
I still think Terence is a big wuss who's too in touch with his feelings, but Sarah kinda grew on me and I was kinda sorry to see them eliminated (though I knew from the get-go that he would wuss out on the eating challenge, even before I knew he was a vegetarian). Definitely sorry to see them eliminated ahead of the frat boys, who not only manage to be unlikeable because of their utter doofiness, but also because of pretty much every other character trait they have. I don't even feel bad that the divorcees mocked them. Dandrew give not only frat boys a bad name, but also nerds and Jews. I generally like the other 3 teams, so if these idiots somehow end up in the finals instead of one of the teams that actually deserve it....
H is really into finance lately. She watches Squawk Box with A and announced today that she knows what a bailout is. The kids both noticed that a nearby bank changed to a Bank of America, so we talked about how companies merge sometimes because one company is not strong enough to survive on its own, but if it merges with another, they can save money and continue. T then commented that he was sad that the local Carvel (which closed a couple months ago) could not merge before it went out of business.
H is really into finance lately. She watches Squawk Box with A and announced today that she knows what a bailout is. The kids both noticed that a nearby bank changed to a Bank of America, so we talked about how companies merge sometimes because one company is not strong enough to survive on its own, but if it merges with another, they can save money and continue. T then commented that he was sad that the local Carvel (which closed a couple months ago) could not merge before it went out of business.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Return of the Critters
Camelback crickets, ladybugs and black flies, oh my! Thank goodness the Orkin man is coming tomorrow.
I've connected with a bunch of old high school and college friends on Facebook. It's amazing to me how great everyone looks. But then again, I assume people on Facebook are largely a self-selecting group--I highly doubt I would put myself out there if I had gained a ton of weight or not aged particularly well....
I've connected with a bunch of old high school and college friends on Facebook. It's amazing to me how great everyone looks. But then again, I assume people on Facebook are largely a self-selecting group--I highly doubt I would put myself out there if I had gained a ton of weight or not aged particularly well....
The Discussion
Here's how it went, with a big preface about how this was very mature conversation, and her friends might not know it and it wasn't meant to be gossip fodder, and she shouldn't go around telling people what she knows, but if her friends ask, she should tell them to ask their moms:
Me: PMS stands for pre-menstrual syndrome.
H: What's a syndrome?
Me: A syndrome is like a, well, a sickness. No, not really a sickness, more like a condition.
H: Like Down's syndrome?
Me: How do you know about Down's syndrome?
H: It was in the Main Street book I read. Let me show you.
[H jumps out of bed and to her bookshelf to grab the book. I'm breathing a sigh of relief thinking our PMS discussion is over.]
H: See, here Robby has Down's syndrome. He was very excited to get cupcakes, but he's 16. Most 16-year-olds wouldn't be excited about cupcakes, right? So people with Down's syndrome act a little young?
Me: Yes.
[Silence]
H: So what's the rest of it mean?
Me: Have you heard about periods or menstruation?
H: Only from Jessica [a babysitter], when she told me she got her period and asked me if I knew where you kept some stuff.
Me: Oh right [I forgot about that and avoided the discussion then]. Anyway, when girls are ready to have babies, and their bodies may be physically ready as early as 11, but that doesn't mean you'd have a baby then....
H: Yes, like that girl on American Idol who was like 18 and already had babies, but then you couldn't go to college or do other things.
Me: Right (thinking how did we get on the topic of teenage pregnancy?). Anyway, the uterus prepares each month with a lining that has nutrients for the baby, but if there's no baby, the lining is shed, and blood comes out your vagina.
H (contorting her face in horror while simultaneously stifling giggles): OK.
Me: So before you get your period, some women get puffy and cranky, and that's called pre-menstrual syndrome, and that's PMS.
H: OK. So what does it mean in the song? You PMS like a b****.
Me: PMS can make you cranky.
H: OK.
THE END
Me: PMS stands for pre-menstrual syndrome.
H: What's a syndrome?
Me: A syndrome is like a, well, a sickness. No, not really a sickness, more like a condition.
H: Like Down's syndrome?
Me: How do you know about Down's syndrome?
H: It was in the Main Street book I read. Let me show you.
[H jumps out of bed and to her bookshelf to grab the book. I'm breathing a sigh of relief thinking our PMS discussion is over.]
H: See, here Robby has Down's syndrome. He was very excited to get cupcakes, but he's 16. Most 16-year-olds wouldn't be excited about cupcakes, right? So people with Down's syndrome act a little young?
Me: Yes.
[Silence]
H: So what's the rest of it mean?
Me: Have you heard about periods or menstruation?
H: Only from Jessica [a babysitter], when she told me she got her period and asked me if I knew where you kept some stuff.
Me: Oh right [I forgot about that and avoided the discussion then]. Anyway, when girls are ready to have babies, and their bodies may be physically ready as early as 11, but that doesn't mean you'd have a baby then....
H: Yes, like that girl on American Idol who was like 18 and already had babies, but then you couldn't go to college or do other things.
Me: Right (thinking how did we get on the topic of teenage pregnancy?). Anyway, the uterus prepares each month with a lining that has nutrients for the baby, but if there's no baby, the lining is shed, and blood comes out your vagina.
H (contorting her face in horror while simultaneously stifling giggles): OK.
Me: So before you get your period, some women get puffy and cranky, and that's called pre-menstrual syndrome, and that's PMS.
H: OK. So what does it mean in the song? You PMS like a b****.
Me: PMS can make you cranky.
H: OK.
THE END
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Mmmmm
Cosi Greek salad. Yum. Cosi bread. More yum. I'm in a happy, happy place right now. It will be hard to face my Lean Cuisine again tomorrow.
It was also nice to leave my office to get lunch. If I hadn't, I would have never seen the woman in the building wearing a dress with a cut-out back (no joke). There was a diamond cut out in the middle of her back--it spanned the width of her waist and was probably about 6 inches at its tallest point. Now I don't know for sure that she was wearing this to work, but considering it's noon on a Tuesday in a downtown office building, it's likely. My office's fashion guidelines include this summary: if you would wear it to a club, you shouldn't wear it to work. Never really thought that needed to be articulated--until now.
Also saw more than one woman with bare legs. I'm a big proponent of bare legs and will even go bare in the winter with tall boots on occasion. But come on people, it's 30 degrees outside--put some tights on with your skirts and pumps!
God I sound like a fashion fuddy duddy....
It was also nice to leave my office to get lunch. If I hadn't, I would have never seen the woman in the building wearing a dress with a cut-out back (no joke). There was a diamond cut out in the middle of her back--it spanned the width of her waist and was probably about 6 inches at its tallest point. Now I don't know for sure that she was wearing this to work, but considering it's noon on a Tuesday in a downtown office building, it's likely. My office's fashion guidelines include this summary: if you would wear it to a club, you shouldn't wear it to work. Never really thought that needed to be articulated--until now.
Also saw more than one woman with bare legs. I'm a big proponent of bare legs and will even go bare in the winter with tall boots on occasion. But come on people, it's 30 degrees outside--put some tights on with your skirts and pumps!
God I sound like a fashion fuddy duddy....
Hot 'N Cold
Thank you Katy Perry, for making me have to explain to my 8-year-old daughter what PMS is. I wasn't quite ready to open the door to discussions about the birds and bees, but I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. But I was hoping for later.
In other news, I think I've hit saturation point on the Lean Cuisines. It's getting harder and harder to get excited about what's in my freezer. So I think I'm taking a break today and treating myself to a store-bought lunch. Cosi salad, here I come!
In other news, I think I've hit saturation point on the Lean Cuisines. It's getting harder and harder to get excited about what's in my freezer. So I think I'm taking a break today and treating myself to a store-bought lunch. Cosi salad, here I come!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Obama
So the election is over and we have a history-making president-elect. On the one hand, I'm excited because Obama inspires so many people to aspire to be and do so much more. On the other hand, I do not envy the situation he inherited and I have my doubts (as I always do) about how much change one man can truly effect. Especially since at the end of the day, I believe that politicians are politicians. Maybe I'm cynical, but McCain is someone who I always thought broke the politician's mold, and look how that turned out. Anyway, I was in NYC on Election Night and it was electrifying to see how passionate and excited people were--from the cab driver listening to election results on our ride in from LaGuardia, to the throngs in Times Square.
More than anything, I'm glad the election is over. I was getting really tired of it all. Good luck President Obama.
More than anything, I'm glad the election is over. I was getting really tired of it all. Good luck President Obama.
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