Jul. 19: Excitement!

 

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Jul. 7: Super terrific happy thing #18

Today’s super terrific happy thing:

Seeing one’s child reach a milestone that absolutely thrills them.

The last time I took Katie shoe-shopping, she wore a kids’ size three. We had a hard time agreeing on which shoes were right for her because so many were babyish, and the ones that were age-appropriate were hideous. That was my opinion, anyway. We usually do okay shopping together—her tastes aren’t too far off from mine—but finding shoes has been a real struggle over the past year. She’s gone shopping more frequently with her grandmothers since then, and quite frankly, I haven’t paid any attention to the size shoe that currently fits her.

Last week I took Katie shopping for flip-flops, and she found a super-cute pair in a ladies’ size five. A FIVE! And they fit! My little girl is in big girl shoes! This is HUGE.

I remember making the transition from kiddie shoe sizes myself, and how suddenly fun it was to go to shoe stores and try on the highest heels I could find. My very wise mom knew better than to let me get them, but I loved looking at my feet in heels in the shoe store’s low angled mirrors. I felt like such a grown-up from the calves down! Best of all, even if I couldn’t go home with the shoes I really wanted, I wasn’t forced to buy anything that a three-year-old would wear.

Once we discovered that Katie had moved into adult sizes, it didn’t take much encouraging to get her to try on a pair of high heeled shoes. Her grin was enormous. When she begged to buy them, I told her they weren’t very good for running around, and to prove me wrong, she ran from one end of the shoe department to the other in four-inch heels. The shocking part is that she did it without tripping or twisting her ankle. Still, the girl inherited my clumsiness; it’s only a matter of time before those heels would hurt her and hurt her good. You know it and I know it.

I’m hopeful that a new size range will expand our shoe-shopping possibilities (in a good way) in future years. We shall see. For now, I’ll enjoy the super terrific happiness of my girl and her “big” feet.

Aug. 23: Sunday a.m.

Too busy for a real post. Sorry.

• Jack and I spent most of Friday in the car. We drove down to Cottage Grove to meet Mom—that’s the halfway point between here and Medford—and get Katie back from her. On our way back, we stopped in Salem to see Loveliest Lori. Jack stole many cookies and hung out under Lori’s desk like the strange little boy he is.
  
  
  
  Milkshakes at Sonic on the way home? Of course! I know if they had one closer than Wilsonville that I wouldn’t think Sonic was so special, but I do loves me some fresh banana shakes and tots.
• We’ve been doing some clothes shopping for the kids. Both of them got shoes that I do not like and the fact that I’ve allowed the purchase makes me the best mom ever, I’m quite sure. I don’t know why I’ve always disliked  Chuck Taylors, but I have; they’ve both asked for them in the past and I’ve directed them toward shoes I like better. This time I didn’t. See? Best mom ever! Jack got some charcoal-grey Chucks. Katie’s shoes are actually Skechers Twinkle Toes and are as girly as girly can be. And I still don’t like them. But both kids are thrilled with their shoes and I’m dealing with it like a big girl. (Also, thank you, Mother Mary!)
• We spent yesterday prepping Jack’s bedroom to be painted today. The color he chose is a butterscotch-y brown, or as he calls it, “Indiana Jones.” What-ever!  We’re trying that new kind of Behr paint they have at Home Depot, the one that’s supposedly primer and paint in one. It costs twice as much as the regular Behr, so it better be worth it. This “Indiana Jones” color is dark enough that I really do need primer, so if it doesn’t cover well I’ll be a bitter woman. A bitter woman going back for another gallon of the regular Behr to paint on a second coat of “Indiana Jones.”
• We’ve been waiting to hear from the school on Katie’s and Jack’s classroom assignments for this next year. It seems like they’re usually sent out mid-August, but when the announcement of more district budget cuts came out on Friday, it made sense that letters are late this year. They’re advising that class sizes may be in the low 30’s, something that makes me not one bit happy. This last year they were in the mid 20’s, and even that was too high. But as long as Jack has Mr. N and Katie’s got Parker and Sophie in her class, I’ll keep my big fat trap shut. Actually, I’ll probably keep my big fat trap shut anyway…
• … because a Facebook quiz I took yesterday told me I’m 75 percent asshole and I’m going to prove it wrong. I mean, I know in my heart that’s probably a low estimate for my actual asshole-ness, but I don’t like it being that obvious to everyone else.
• My nephew’s band was written up in the Denver Post on Friday as “Denver’s next big thing.” Color me proud, and check out the little widget on the left side of the blog to hear the Rouge-y goodness.
• My bloggy friend Jen E got me playing Farkle on Facebook. It’s addictive and I can’t stop! Just like most of those games, I’ll probably not care about playing it after a couple weeks, but right now… I’m dreaming about it, can’t wait to get home to play it, downloading the iPhone app, sending chips to all my FB friends, etc. (Could that be contributing to the asshole-ness??? Loveliest Lori, feel free not to answer that one.)

Vic just yelled down that he’s ready to start painting. Gotta go.

Jun. 5: Gratitude

Sometimes I feel grateful for things. And sometimes my friend Sherilee reminds me to blog about it.

This was a busy week, and to be honest, not the best one. If I don’t have time or energy to blog, then you know it had to be hectic ‘round here. But the worst is over—it has to be; it’s Friday—and now I can simply sit back and reflect peacefully. This bowl of ice cream in my lap helps too.

On Monday I saw my doctor to follow up on my sinus infection. The antibiotics did what they were supposed to, but there’s still lots of inflammation in my sinuses. This explains so much, especially why I sometimes feel grouchy every second of every day; I can’t freakin’ breathe! The good news, really, is that I actually feel fine and I haven’t been able to say that for a very long time.

I went almost two weeks being able to sleep only by sitting up straight on the couch with a heating pad on my back. I do not sleep well in that position. I really did a number on my spine with all that yardwork, and it took my body a long time to recover. The back pain isn’t completely gone, but thankfully, I’m able to sleep in my bed again, sometimes even without a heating pad. To make sure I don’t ever have this kind of injury again I’ve made an appointment to have my spine removed. I feel it’s best for everyone involved, namely me.

Work on Monday was good. Work on Tuesday sucked big-time. I came home grouchy, wanting to kick the dogs and lock the kids in the closet. I had spent the whole day trying to fix a broken database, unsuccessfully, and was not looking forward to tackling it again on Wednesday. But tackle it I did, and guess what? I fixed it. Yay me! I left with a huge sense of relief and a hope that I never have to see that client again because if I see that client again it means the database is broken again and I hate that particular database when it is broken because it makes me want to kick the dogs and lock the kids in the closet. Grr, I say.

I rewarded myself on the way home Wednesday with shopping trip that resulted in a new pair of shoes. They’re nothing exciting—just walking shoes—but I deserved them. Yup, I did.

Victor took Thursday off from work so he could see Jack’s class perform their school plays. After getting the kids off to school in the morning, the two of us went out for breakfast and ran errands—a task made enjoyable by the peacefulness a kid-free back seat brings. The plays were a lot of silly fun, and the first graders loved their big audience. By mid-afternoon it was uncomfortably hot and muggy, and we decided to escape the misery by going to see Up again. We walked out of the theater just before 6 p.m. and found ourselves right in the middle of a huge thunderstorm rolling through the area. There were small tree limbs and all kinds of debris on the roads, and I was scared to see what our yard would look like when we got home. Fortunately most things were just beaten down, but nothing was broken or had to be taken out to the field and shot.

Hey, did you know that stainless steel is the new avocado? If not, you probably don’t want to ask. But I’ll say this: Facebook is a big ol’ time-suck and WAY too much fun. It was a week full of exciting discoveries, fun conversations, shared graduation photos, and lots of hilarious private messages. <singsong voice> Love it!

A while ago I wrote about the field trip that wasn’t a field trip. We chaperones were given another opportunity to ride the Sternwheeler, good for tomorrow only. With the Rose Festival going on right now, and the Navy ships visiting, there ought to be a lot of good things to see while we’re out on the river. The weather isn’t so great right now, but the company will be—Lovely Lori H, Cassie, and Christina and their families, as well as whoever else shows up. Dinner afterward? Oh yes.

Things are better. This is good, because the depressing anniversary of my dad’s death is coming soon, and it helps to go into it with a somewhat decent outlook.

Peace.

June 23: Jellied piggy balls

Kate Spade, designer of fabulous handbags, has expanded her line in recent years to include shoes, home décor, eyeglasses, and many more desirable items. There are few things she’s done that I don’t completely and totally covet as my own.

These new little sandal-y things are, for me, her only true question mark thus far. At first glance they’re adorably girly and I love the big jewel type of thing on the strap, like jewelry for my piggies. But then I look closer and see that these are freakin’ jelly shoes. Like the jelly shoes I wore in high school. The ones that made my feet smell like old French fries. You know what I’m talking about. Jellies.

And because they’re transparent, you can see what the bottoms of the shoes look like. Oooh, traction! At least, I hope those ridges are on the bottom of the shoes. If they’re on the foot bed I think they would hurt my balls. (The balls on my feet, of course. I don’t have the other kind of balls. But if my feet are sore, I do like saying “My balls hurt!” when walking around in public. It’s fun. Try it sometime.)

Besides possibly being uncomfortable, these jellies are $60. That seems steep. They’re designer shoes, I know, but they’re still the freakin’ jelly shoes I wore in high school. Have you already forgotten that part?

Opinions, please. On the shoes, not the inappropriate public outbursts.

Thank you.

Aug. 15: A lesson in footwear

In no way do I claim to be a fashion goddess, nor do I think anyone will ever mistake me for a credible fashion critic. But there's one thing I simply cannot abide: shoes that don't fit.

So you're a celebrity. You're wearing a $40K gown, whether you paid for it or not, and you've hired a gaggle of artists to make you look perfect. And just before you head to your awards show or movie premiere or charity auction, you slip on your shoes. Shoes that cost nearly as much as your gown. Shoes that you hope to GOD you don't have to walk in for very long because they're already killing your back. The fact that your toes hang over the ends gets by all of your beautifiers, and you proceed to your event where your picture will be taken by hundreds of cameras, all documenting your perfectly manicured toes hanging over the ends of your gorgeous shoes.

What are you, some kind of idiot?

Here's what I'm saying. If you're wearing shoes like this and your feet don't look like this in them:

CHANGE. YOUR. SHOES.

You're scaring the children. And me.

One more thing. Trim your toenails. You look like a velociraptor.

—Jen (yes, I'm a beeyotch today)