Charlie Brown Sighting

It's a sign.

Is that what I think it is?

Mary Jo Coady is not the only sacred seeker. I was just playing around with a homemade chocolate sauce. The bottle just fell on this brown lunch bag!

Travel Tips - Boston Edn.

It's that wicked fun time of the yeeah, enjoy and benefit from my pain.

• Traveling with a little kid? Bring treats!
• Don't eat yourself into a food coma.
• Eat as many whole belly clams as you can - they don't have them anywhere else in the country.
• The breakdown lane is frequently used as a merge lane. I never got used to driving in Boston.
• Public transportation in Boston is the BEST.
• I would've planned to be born later if I knew how easy a GPS made driving in Boston.
• Sarah Palin is not here!!
• Playing The Quiet Game isn't a popular choice after two hours in the airport (when it is needed most).
• Clean tarnish off pennies using various packets of condiments in a weak attempt to entertain your child (acidic things work well).
• DO lock the door in the airplane lavatory. Really.

Hi mom

Hi Mom!

I find this hilarious

On the way home from work today, the woman driving the car in front of me was making her Jetta jostle about apparently trying to impress her passenger. Likely chair-dancing to music. Such joy. I was envious.

When I saw this sign, I found it funny. Not bouncing-the-jetta-funny, but funny. Just thought I'd share.

Fun with measurement

Trying to stem the tide of the expanding middle of middle age is the motivation of today's post.

Dusted off my ancient Polar heart monitor, changed the battery and wore it for the past few days to see what various daily activities register for cardio potential.

Bad news:
• Eating bagels with cream cheese is unlikely to result in dramatic weight loss.

Good news:
• Raking tons of leaf biomass is pretty good.
• Walking at a good clip is pretty darn good exercise too, but, don't walk too slow or you could die!
• The original (and free) stairmaster - stairs - is pretty amazing at getting some serious beats per minute during the day.

Other observations:
• Sitting at an excruciating luncheon in which all the people seem to cause severe angst results in an elevated heart rate. I not sure if it is enough to cancel the calories eaten because you're scrambling to keep your hands busy during the painful periods of discussionless discomfort.

Any other activities you want me to measure?

Suze!

The wife and I had a brilliant idea to keep the cat's stuff away from the dog. A baby gate where just one baluster removed would provide sufficient filtering to allow just the cat in and not the dog.

I think Suze dislocated a shoulder in order to get her portly self in there. She was clam happy. Don't worry, she only smelled the cat poop. Even Suze's palate has matured.

The night was bad. Like Jack Woltz bad.

I think Suze was trying to send me a message last night.

I nestled into bed for a much needed rest. The weekend was fun, but tiring. Lots of leaves. The dog, wife and Fuzz all together and Fuzz bouncing around the room (after helping Frankie get to sleep). I rested my arm on the top of the covers and shut off the light.

Moisture? I put my hand in some kind of a wet spot. Maybe some residual moisture was on my hand from brushing my teeth? No. Lots of moisture. I dabbed my hand in it a bit more and raised it to my nose ... pee?! Ahhh, ahhhh, ahhhh (could be heard all over the estate).

Today I'm home with a sick kid, 8 tons of bedding to wash, a dog staring at me and a cat pouncing on his head. I think the dog is a little tired of the cat's antics.

update Suze just ate a Reese's cup that was left unattended.

Honey, where's the dog?

These leaves used to be in the 6 oaks dotting our yard. They come in handy cooling the house; our a/c bills are small. I figure it costs about 8-10 hours of gathering in the Fall.

I'm not supposed to blow 'em in the ravine, so I store them in front of the house and dispense them to Rumpke 5 containers at a time. In the meantime, I'm hoping no one hits the pile with their car.

We should all have lists like this

Another note found.
I didn't realize it, but this note is on a calendar page.
Monday: She had a kind of a midterm for spelling.
Tuesday: She was going with Mom to vote.
Wednesday: Gymnastics at WendysGymnastics.com
Thursday: She had math homework due.
Friday: She had a night at Wendy's Gymnastics where they play and watch a movie.
Saturday: Stay home day, all fun.
Sunday: Stay home day, all fun and torturing Papa (i.e., more fun)

She's kinda smart.

Predinner entertainment

On inheritance

The scariest part of parenting (after the first day the kid is in your care - sans nurse) is the realization your child will inherit things from you. What's scary about that? You have no control over which things they will inherit.

I'm a list person. Notes and lists script my life. I jot down lots of stuff:
- search expressions throughout the day (today's is "site:npr.org momofuku"),
- things to pick up on the way home (floss),
- what's for dinner that night (seared scallops on a bed of arugula, buy arugula),
- new food experiments (steamed, pork-stuffed dim sum) ...

The notes are often cryptic; only things meaningful to me really. It may sound counterintuitive, but my note liberates me so I can walk around mindfully and not get hit by a car walking across High St.

Tonight I saw this on the desk and I paused. She's going to be a list person. Borderline Type A I fear. I know I'm responsible, but don't regret it. I know nothing can be done, for better or worse.

For the cat who has everything (even herpes)

Frankie may not be able to go to college, but her cat will be well-cared for. He's been having sneezing fits. We brought him in for his diagnosis of herpes (and, of course an antiviral treatment that may decrease his viral load during flareups but not kill the virus). Fuzz doesn't seem to care. He's still swooping around the house bearing his fangs and extending his arms full out to attack anything in his path. He's sitting on a heating pad in this image. He likes it alot.