Sunday, December 31, 2006
Christmas Is Not Over!
Every year I am bugged by the fact that on December 26th, all Christmas themed items are moved off of the shelves to make room for Valentine's Day junk. Ok, all of you folks who believe in the ficticious "war on Christmas", where are you now? Why are you not complaining about stores who wipe every little bit of evidence away midnight December 25th. December 25th is the first day of Christmas and it lasts for twelve days thereafter. January 6th is the official end of Christmas time with the beginning of Epiphany. If my trees are not too dry, I like to leave them up until then along with my decorations. I hate this feeling that it is all over with when it has just begun. Remember the song, the twelve days of Christmas---yes?
At any rate, a couple of articles grabbed my attention which fit the idea of "Only In Seattle" so here goes:
1. Only in Seattle do they measure what ends up in our great Puget Sound. I have written before how all of our coffee is caffeinating our water. Evidently at Christmas time along with the coffee, we add vanilla and cinnamon. Our orcas and our fish are now experiencing a full fledged Starbuck's Christmas latte without having to go through the drive through. All is delivered right to their noses compliments of our storm drains and sewers. I do not really want to think about exactly how the vanilla, cinnamon and coffee ends up--well, you know.
http://www.king5.com/localnews/environment/stories/NW_122506ENBcookiesKC.44fff1d7.html
2. Only in Seattle do we require names for our storms. In fact, there is now a contest to name our freakishly powerful December 14 storm. You see, in the past our storms seemed to be connected to a memorable day---like the "Election Day" floods of 2006, the "Thanksgiving Day" windstorm of 1983 when everybody's turkeys went bad when the power went out, or the "Inauguration Day" storm of 1993 when the power went out the minute President Clinton began his speech. Someone suggested the "Twelfth day before Christmas" storm. I like this choice because it reminds people of the twelve days of Christmas issue. I will post the winner when it is chosen. But it seems to me it needs to be an immediate moniker and not made up a month after the fact.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=namethatstorm30m&date=20061230&query=Name+the+storm
3. And finally, only in Seattle can we purchase fire place logs made out of coffee grounds. Supposedly, your house will smell like Starbuck's. Mine does anyway. I am not sure about this idea. Because if we start burning our coffee grounds instead of washing them into Puget Sound, our fish, our orcas, our crabs and possibly the sea lions will all revolt. I do not think they will be happy with simply vanilla and cinnamon without the buzz.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=tester07&date=20041107&query=coffee+grounds+fireplace+logs
Happy New Year! And remember, it is still Christmas!
Every year I am bugged by the fact that on December 26th, all Christmas themed items are moved off of the shelves to make room for Valentine's Day junk. Ok, all of you folks who believe in the ficticious "war on Christmas", where are you now? Why are you not complaining about stores who wipe every little bit of evidence away midnight December 25th. December 25th is the first day of Christmas and it lasts for twelve days thereafter. January 6th is the official end of Christmas time with the beginning of Epiphany. If my trees are not too dry, I like to leave them up until then along with my decorations. I hate this feeling that it is all over with when it has just begun. Remember the song, the twelve days of Christmas---yes?
At any rate, a couple of articles grabbed my attention which fit the idea of "Only In Seattle" so here goes:
1. Only in Seattle do they measure what ends up in our great Puget Sound. I have written before how all of our coffee is caffeinating our water. Evidently at Christmas time along with the coffee, we add vanilla and cinnamon. Our orcas and our fish are now experiencing a full fledged Starbuck's Christmas latte without having to go through the drive through. All is delivered right to their noses compliments of our storm drains and sewers. I do not really want to think about exactly how the vanilla, cinnamon and coffee ends up--well, you know.
http://www.king5.com/localnews/environment/stories/NW_122506ENBcookiesKC.44fff1d7.html
2. Only in Seattle do we require names for our storms. In fact, there is now a contest to name our freakishly powerful December 14 storm. You see, in the past our storms seemed to be connected to a memorable day---like the "Election Day" floods of 2006, the "Thanksgiving Day" windstorm of 1983 when everybody's turkeys went bad when the power went out, or the "Inauguration Day" storm of 1993 when the power went out the minute President Clinton began his speech. Someone suggested the "Twelfth day before Christmas" storm. I like this choice because it reminds people of the twelve days of Christmas issue. I will post the winner when it is chosen. But it seems to me it needs to be an immediate moniker and not made up a month after the fact.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=namethatstorm30m&date=20061230&query=Name+the+storm
3. And finally, only in Seattle can we purchase fire place logs made out of coffee grounds. Supposedly, your house will smell like Starbuck's. Mine does anyway. I am not sure about this idea. Because if we start burning our coffee grounds instead of washing them into Puget Sound, our fish, our orcas, our crabs and possibly the sea lions will all revolt. I do not think they will be happy with simply vanilla and cinnamon without the buzz.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=tester07&date=20041107&query=coffee+grounds+fireplace+logs
Happy New Year! And remember, it is still Christmas!
// posted by Janet @ 11:58 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Getting our Christmas Trees
We waited for our kids to get home before cutting our tree. Then I decided I wanted two trees--one for upstairs and one down. I took this photo at a Snohomish tree farm.
Pretty people Kaley, Magali, Dave, Lucas and Christophe
By the way, Kaley's band, "Further Down the Field" is on Youtube. They have several songs there and they wrote them except for "Freefalling". Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQg08f_y8aI&mode=related&search=
We waited for our kids to get home before cutting our tree. Then I decided I wanted two trees--one for upstairs and one down. I took this photo at a Snohomish tree farm.
Pretty people Kaley, Magali, Dave, Lucas and Christophe
By the way, Kaley's band, "Further Down the Field" is on Youtube. They have several songs there and they wrote them except for "Freefalling". Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQg08f_y8aI&mode=related&search=
// posted by Janet @ 2:17 PM
1 comments
Saturday, December 16, 2006
More Storm
I still cannot believe we did not lose our power. Over a million people were without power during this storm. Sea-Tac airport had the biggest gust ever recorded at 69 mph. True, this is not hurricane nor tornado strength but you have to realize we are the land of the big trees and the land of a billion big trees. When soggy soil is combined with major wind, down they come.
When we first moved to Mukilteo 18 years ago the power went out constantly with the weakest of windstorms. My theory is that finally all of the damaging trees that would affect our electricity have already fallen and the new trees are not yet big enough. Also, people I know have taken measures to remove gigantic trees next to their houses. We did this a year and a half ago and thank goodness we did. The giant doug fir and hemlock in our back yard would probably have been through our roof today. It cost us nearly $2000 to have it done. Right at this moment, this may have saved us thousands more.
In a four block radius around my house, five big trees had tumbled and two of them blocked roads. Luckily, none of them hit houses. But all over the entire Puget Sound area, trees smashed houses and cars. Four people died. Lots and lots of folks were lucky.
My chimney cap was nothing--even if it did scare the bejeebers out of us when it crashed on the roof.
Downtown Seattle (King5, Pete Cassam)
University district, Seattle (King5, Chadrick Ashby)
Seattle suburb (King5, Justin Hawkins)
UPDATE---December 20: Still, folks are without power. One of Kaley's good friends in Edmonds just had their power restored yesterday. They were having to shower and cook with friends in our neighborhood. All of this makes me feel uncomfortable. A major disaster cannot be handled by any American city these days. All of us are one step away from New Orleans. So far we have lost 14 people in the aftermath. Many of these deaths are carbon monoxide due to charcoal grills or gas generators inside. Many more have been sickened. Virginia Mason hospital's hyperbaric chamber is going non-stop trying to save people's lives. In less than a week they have treated 68 patients when usually it is less than 10 a year.
Intersections scattered around are without lights. Restaurants and businesses have had to be closed during their normally most profit making time. Tree removal services, however, cannot keep up with the demand. I passed more than one yard in my neighborhood today with neatly stacked woodpiles and signs offering free wood. We may need it because they are predicting yet another windstorm tonight. Even though expected to be weaker, many loosened trees will come down and new power outages will be at the bottom of the priority list.
I still cannot believe we did not lose our power. Over a million people were without power during this storm. Sea-Tac airport had the biggest gust ever recorded at 69 mph. True, this is not hurricane nor tornado strength but you have to realize we are the land of the big trees and the land of a billion big trees. When soggy soil is combined with major wind, down they come.
When we first moved to Mukilteo 18 years ago the power went out constantly with the weakest of windstorms. My theory is that finally all of the damaging trees that would affect our electricity have already fallen and the new trees are not yet big enough. Also, people I know have taken measures to remove gigantic trees next to their houses. We did this a year and a half ago and thank goodness we did. The giant doug fir and hemlock in our back yard would probably have been through our roof today. It cost us nearly $2000 to have it done. Right at this moment, this may have saved us thousands more.
In a four block radius around my house, five big trees had tumbled and two of them blocked roads. Luckily, none of them hit houses. But all over the entire Puget Sound area, trees smashed houses and cars. Four people died. Lots and lots of folks were lucky.
My chimney cap was nothing--even if it did scare the bejeebers out of us when it crashed on the roof.
Downtown Seattle (King5, Pete Cassam)
University district, Seattle (King5, Chadrick Ashby)
Seattle suburb (King5, Justin Hawkins)
UPDATE---December 20: Still, folks are without power. One of Kaley's good friends in Edmonds just had their power restored yesterday. They were having to shower and cook with friends in our neighborhood. All of this makes me feel uncomfortable. A major disaster cannot be handled by any American city these days. All of us are one step away from New Orleans. So far we have lost 14 people in the aftermath. Many of these deaths are carbon monoxide due to charcoal grills or gas generators inside. Many more have been sickened. Virginia Mason hospital's hyperbaric chamber is going non-stop trying to save people's lives. In less than a week they have treated 68 patients when usually it is less than 10 a year.
Intersections scattered around are without lights. Restaurants and businesses have had to be closed during their normally most profit making time. Tree removal services, however, cannot keep up with the demand. I passed more than one yard in my neighborhood today with neatly stacked woodpiles and signs offering free wood. We may need it because they are predicting yet another windstorm tonight. Even though expected to be weaker, many loosened trees will come down and new power outages will be at the bottom of the priority list.
// posted by Janet @ 11:46 AM
2 comments
Friday, December 15, 2006
We Have Power!!!
But we do not have a chimney cap. Last night the rain was pouring through three of our windows and the wind was battering our house. I placed our four foot lighted Santa on his back on our upper deck so he would not come crashing through our window along with the water. He was a-dancing around like he was walking on hot coals. Towels were soaking up water on our southwest facing windows when we went to bed. Lights were flickering the whole time and my trusty radio and flashlights were handy. Of course, it is Christmas time so I have candles all over the house if I need them.
In the middle of the night a loud clangy crash hit our roof. Somehow we had managed to fall asleep even though it felt as if a freight train was plowing through our yard. We both jumped out of bed assuming it was our plum tree or the weeping cedar out our bedroom window. But no, they were whipping around but still standing. We even walked outside but it was so black we couldn't see anything and there were no lights on Whidbey. Our power was still intact. Back to bed; back to sleep as the outside calmed.
My plan was to take my friend to the airport. She called to say her flight had been canceled due to power outages at Sea-Tac. Outside I went to figure out the crash. Hmmm. I thought our chimney looked a little shorter than normal. There were no newspapers in my driveway and King5 later reported the Seattle Times and PI had no power so no newspapers. A little more light and I explored around our house again and there it was---a perfectly intact metal thingy tucked behind the weeping cedar.
I found "All About Chimneys" in the yellow pages and gave them a call:
"Hi, yes, this is Janet Eaton and the top of my chimney blew off."
"Oh my God, are you ok? Is anybody hurt?" replied a concerned woman.
"Oh no, I found it in the yard," I admitted.
"Do you mean your chimney CAP blew off?" she inquired.
"Oh, is that what it is--the metal thingy?"
"Honey, there's a big difference between a chimney cap and the top of your entire chimney...(laughter)..."
Then I asked, "Doesn't that keep the rain from coming down the chimney? Is that what it is for?"
"Yes, this is correct. We may be able to get to you today because we have scheduled work in Mukilteo. But if we can't because of all of the downed trees and power lines, I promise you can go a day or two without your chimney cap." At this point, I got the giggles. You gotta admit it is a little easier for Santa without the chimney CAP.
"Believe me, I realize this is minor compared to a tree through the roof--I just thought I'd find out if this quick fix could be fit in among everything else. I mean the screws are all still there and everything."
"(More laughter and laughter from the background)...Yes, this will not be difficult--we'll try to get to you today. $39.95 to put up the ladder. Will you be home?"
My Chimney CAP!
Yep, I'll be here--cleaning beard hair out of bathrooms and changing sheets and looking for more pillows in anticipation of my French and American kids arriving this weekend.
I am amazed that I had this little problem and there it was in the yellow pages--a chimney fixer.
Man, I wish I could find a window fixer for $39.95.
But we do not have a chimney cap. Last night the rain was pouring through three of our windows and the wind was battering our house. I placed our four foot lighted Santa on his back on our upper deck so he would not come crashing through our window along with the water. He was a-dancing around like he was walking on hot coals. Towels were soaking up water on our southwest facing windows when we went to bed. Lights were flickering the whole time and my trusty radio and flashlights were handy. Of course, it is Christmas time so I have candles all over the house if I need them.
In the middle of the night a loud clangy crash hit our roof. Somehow we had managed to fall asleep even though it felt as if a freight train was plowing through our yard. We both jumped out of bed assuming it was our plum tree or the weeping cedar out our bedroom window. But no, they were whipping around but still standing. We even walked outside but it was so black we couldn't see anything and there were no lights on Whidbey. Our power was still intact. Back to bed; back to sleep as the outside calmed.
My plan was to take my friend to the airport. She called to say her flight had been canceled due to power outages at Sea-Tac. Outside I went to figure out the crash. Hmmm. I thought our chimney looked a little shorter than normal. There were no newspapers in my driveway and King5 later reported the Seattle Times and PI had no power so no newspapers. A little more light and I explored around our house again and there it was---a perfectly intact metal thingy tucked behind the weeping cedar.
I found "All About Chimneys" in the yellow pages and gave them a call:
"Hi, yes, this is Janet Eaton and the top of my chimney blew off."
"Oh my God, are you ok? Is anybody hurt?" replied a concerned woman.
"Oh no, I found it in the yard," I admitted.
"Do you mean your chimney CAP blew off?" she inquired.
"Oh, is that what it is--the metal thingy?"
"Honey, there's a big difference between a chimney cap and the top of your entire chimney...(laughter)..."
Then I asked, "Doesn't that keep the rain from coming down the chimney? Is that what it is for?"
"Yes, this is correct. We may be able to get to you today because we have scheduled work in Mukilteo. But if we can't because of all of the downed trees and power lines, I promise you can go a day or two without your chimney cap." At this point, I got the giggles. You gotta admit it is a little easier for Santa without the chimney CAP.
"Believe me, I realize this is minor compared to a tree through the roof--I just thought I'd find out if this quick fix could be fit in among everything else. I mean the screws are all still there and everything."
"(More laughter and laughter from the background)...Yes, this will not be difficult--we'll try to get to you today. $39.95 to put up the ladder. Will you be home?"
My Chimney CAP!
Yep, I'll be here--cleaning beard hair out of bathrooms and changing sheets and looking for more pillows in anticipation of my French and American kids arriving this weekend.
I am amazed that I had this little problem and there it was in the yellow pages--a chimney fixer.
Man, I wish I could find a window fixer for $39.95.
// posted by Janet @ 8:52 AM
5 comments
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Only In Mukilteo
Those of you who have read this blog before know that I do "Only In Seattle" lists. This morning I am doing an "Only In Mukilteo".
1. Only in Mukilteo does one see an airplane before Christmas pulling a banner that reads: "Give Apples. Give Washington Apples as gifts!" I am not kidding. I had no camera because I was in my car on Mukilteo Speedway. Talk about a traffic hazard trying to read the thing. You see, Mukilteo is next to a large non-commercial airport. Boeing uses it for testing the airplanes they build and it serves as a private airport for private jets, blimps, and apparently airplanes pulling giant pictures of apples.
2. Only in Mukilteo do they need a special helicopter to repair a deteriorating sewer pipe. We are a town of gulches. The biggest one is Big Gulch and our back yard borders it. At the very bottom along with a salmon stream is Mukilteo's main sewer line. All of the floodiness we had lately exposed the pipe making it vulnerable to rupture. The thing is, it is impossible to get down to the bottom of Big Gulch easily by foot or truck. A very special helicopter had to be brought in from Oregon to transport materials to the spot that needs fixing. Yep, inaccessible wilderness right here in the "city".
picture taken from my back door yesterday
3. Only in Mukilteo do we make a prestigious list in Business Week Magazine. Evidently, we are considered one of the top 25 suburbs in the entire United States. The story was in the Everett Herald today. Yikes! I'd like to keep this a secret. Our traffic is bad enough and our property taxes are going up, up, and more up as our homes all become worth a million and more. But on the other hand, look at the competition and compare:
Would you rather live here??
(picture taken by Apolo and me yesterday three blocks from my house)
Or here which is Shawnee, KS and also on the list??
I lived in Kansas City for 5 1/2 years and I know what Shawnee, KS is like. Though you may be able to buy a fancier house for the money in Shawnee, you will never find a water and mountain view no matter how hard you try.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/nov2006/db20061116_063534.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/12/09/100bus_a8mukilteo001.cfm
The question in my mind is: Are we really a suburb? Mukilteo is a ferry town with a lighthouse and our existence began independent of Seattle.
Those of you who have read this blog before know that I do "Only In Seattle" lists. This morning I am doing an "Only In Mukilteo".
1. Only in Mukilteo does one see an airplane before Christmas pulling a banner that reads: "Give Apples. Give Washington Apples as gifts!" I am not kidding. I had no camera because I was in my car on Mukilteo Speedway. Talk about a traffic hazard trying to read the thing. You see, Mukilteo is next to a large non-commercial airport. Boeing uses it for testing the airplanes they build and it serves as a private airport for private jets, blimps, and apparently airplanes pulling giant pictures of apples.
2. Only in Mukilteo do they need a special helicopter to repair a deteriorating sewer pipe. We are a town of gulches. The biggest one is Big Gulch and our back yard borders it. At the very bottom along with a salmon stream is Mukilteo's main sewer line. All of the floodiness we had lately exposed the pipe making it vulnerable to rupture. The thing is, it is impossible to get down to the bottom of Big Gulch easily by foot or truck. A very special helicopter had to be brought in from Oregon to transport materials to the spot that needs fixing. Yep, inaccessible wilderness right here in the "city".
picture taken from my back door yesterday
3. Only in Mukilteo do we make a prestigious list in Business Week Magazine. Evidently, we are considered one of the top 25 suburbs in the entire United States. The story was in the Everett Herald today. Yikes! I'd like to keep this a secret. Our traffic is bad enough and our property taxes are going up, up, and more up as our homes all become worth a million and more. But on the other hand, look at the competition and compare:
Would you rather live here??
(picture taken by Apolo and me yesterday three blocks from my house)
Or here which is Shawnee, KS and also on the list??
I lived in Kansas City for 5 1/2 years and I know what Shawnee, KS is like. Though you may be able to buy a fancier house for the money in Shawnee, you will never find a water and mountain view no matter how hard you try.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/nov2006/db20061116_063534.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/12/09/100bus_a8mukilteo001.cfm
The question in my mind is: Are we really a suburb? Mukilteo is a ferry town with a lighthouse and our existence began independent of Seattle.
// posted by Janet @ 9:44 AM
2 comments
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Memories
Now that the weather has returned to normal and I have been able to do a little Christmas shopping, my thoughts have turned to my children and when they were little. How did these years go by so quickly? It seems like such a recent blur trying to buy Ninja Turtle items and American Girl dolls before Christmas. One of the fun things about Thanksgiving was the conversation about childhood and the stories. Now that my kids are adults, I love hearing their version of childhood events.
I have specific memories about my kids that stand out more than others. The highlights are due to either laughter or amazement or both. My brain chooses not to remember very well the times they were extremely ill or hurt. Those are the situations that caused me anxiety I'd like to forget.
1. Lucas: He walked before he was ready and well before his first birthday. Actually, he didn't walk, he would run. One time in our house in Seattle, he took off down the hall and hit the couch face first and then slid to his bottom. It left him with a lovely carpet burn from his forehead to his chin. Thankfully, I had an understanding pediatrician who knew immediately that I had not thrown hot coffee on my baby's face. But I'm not sure about the folks in the waiting room.
2. Lucas: When Kaley was a baby and had some sort of bug, I was disturbed by the color of her bowel movement while changing her diaper. It was a little greenish. Lucas age 4 and Kaley's third parent, started running around the house yelling, "Call 911!! Kaley's poop is green! Call 911!" I found out years later, he actually attempted to call 911. I am not sure what I would have told the paramedics.
3. Kaley: Our old house six blocks up the hill was brand new when we moved in. It took us a couple of years before we had any furniture in the living room. Kaley was about 2 and she loved to scribble on everything. She was very adept at handling markers. To her little brain, the empty room with white walls was crying out for a mural. After a time of uneasy quiet, I discovered my little artist had taken a permanent red marker to create a large masterpiece.
Thank goodness the builder had left us extra paint because it took at least two or three coats. She then did the very same thing with a red marker on the wall at Dave's office at UW---while he was sitting right there. After that, I had an unlimited budget for art supplies, paper, and coloring books.
4. Kaley: When Kaley was 3 and Lucas was 6, we traveled to Washington D.C. with Dave. We were staying in a large hotel in the middle of things. Both of my children were Disney babies and raised with the animated movies and sound tracks and toys. In the elevator at the hotel one of the buttons in addition to "Lobby" was labeled "Ballroom". I assume Lucas was reading off every button but Kaley was picking up on words, too.
For a day or two, she kept asking if we could push the "Ballroom" button. Finally, we said yes and the elevator whisked us down to the ballroom. The doors opened to a large unattractive empty dark room with tables pushed to the side and chairs stacked on top of the tables. Kaley was completely devastated. Immediately, I realized that my darling little girl had fantasized the ballroom way out of reality. She expected to see a fancy room and perhaps a beautiful princess in a gorgeous dress dancing with a handsome prince.
5. Lucas: Lucas had three imaginary friends named Gickey, Goosey, and Boo Boo. It wasn't so much that they were invisible and he played them, but rather he told me elaborate stories about their adventures. His imagination running wild, he would tell me with great detail about these creatures. When he was four and we had moved to our house in Mukilteo, I realized I hadn't heard much about Gickey, Goosey and Boo Boo lately. When I inquired about their status, Lucas calmly replied, "Oh, they got sucked down the heater." That was the last he ever mentioned them.
6. Kaley: I can picture it like it was yesterday---Kaley with her long beautiful blonde hair in a little blue dress and white tights. She was about three and she had plopped herself on the floor in the entry way. For some irrational reason I still do not quite understand, she decided to have a semi-fake tantrum. Was it because I had taken a toy away or not allowed her to eat a cookie? Oh no. She decided she wanted a pet seal. She didn't want a stuffed one; she wanted a real one.
When I said, "Well, sweetie, you have a big dog--you do not need a seal. I'd like a seal, too, but they are wild animals and we cannot have one as a pet," she became even more furious. There was no reasoning with her. So what did I do? Yep, I grabbed the video camera because I was laughing hysterically. And what does that do to a strong-willed three year old having a tantrum? Well, yea, let's just say if the tantrum wasn't quite real to begin with--it ended up as a doozy.
Lucas and Kaley and the Thanksgiving wishbone.
Now that the weather has returned to normal and I have been able to do a little Christmas shopping, my thoughts have turned to my children and when they were little. How did these years go by so quickly? It seems like such a recent blur trying to buy Ninja Turtle items and American Girl dolls before Christmas. One of the fun things about Thanksgiving was the conversation about childhood and the stories. Now that my kids are adults, I love hearing their version of childhood events.
I have specific memories about my kids that stand out more than others. The highlights are due to either laughter or amazement or both. My brain chooses not to remember very well the times they were extremely ill or hurt. Those are the situations that caused me anxiety I'd like to forget.
1. Lucas: He walked before he was ready and well before his first birthday. Actually, he didn't walk, he would run. One time in our house in Seattle, he took off down the hall and hit the couch face first and then slid to his bottom. It left him with a lovely carpet burn from his forehead to his chin. Thankfully, I had an understanding pediatrician who knew immediately that I had not thrown hot coffee on my baby's face. But I'm not sure about the folks in the waiting room.
2. Lucas: When Kaley was a baby and had some sort of bug, I was disturbed by the color of her bowel movement while changing her diaper. It was a little greenish. Lucas age 4 and Kaley's third parent, started running around the house yelling, "Call 911!! Kaley's poop is green! Call 911!" I found out years later, he actually attempted to call 911. I am not sure what I would have told the paramedics.
3. Kaley: Our old house six blocks up the hill was brand new when we moved in. It took us a couple of years before we had any furniture in the living room. Kaley was about 2 and she loved to scribble on everything. She was very adept at handling markers. To her little brain, the empty room with white walls was crying out for a mural. After a time of uneasy quiet, I discovered my little artist had taken a permanent red marker to create a large masterpiece.
Thank goodness the builder had left us extra paint because it took at least two or three coats. She then did the very same thing with a red marker on the wall at Dave's office at UW---while he was sitting right there. After that, I had an unlimited budget for art supplies, paper, and coloring books.
4. Kaley: When Kaley was 3 and Lucas was 6, we traveled to Washington D.C. with Dave. We were staying in a large hotel in the middle of things. Both of my children were Disney babies and raised with the animated movies and sound tracks and toys. In the elevator at the hotel one of the buttons in addition to "Lobby" was labeled "Ballroom". I assume Lucas was reading off every button but Kaley was picking up on words, too.
For a day or two, she kept asking if we could push the "Ballroom" button. Finally, we said yes and the elevator whisked us down to the ballroom. The doors opened to a large unattractive empty dark room with tables pushed to the side and chairs stacked on top of the tables. Kaley was completely devastated. Immediately, I realized that my darling little girl had fantasized the ballroom way out of reality. She expected to see a fancy room and perhaps a beautiful princess in a gorgeous dress dancing with a handsome prince.
5. Lucas: Lucas had three imaginary friends named Gickey, Goosey, and Boo Boo. It wasn't so much that they were invisible and he played them, but rather he told me elaborate stories about their adventures. His imagination running wild, he would tell me with great detail about these creatures. When he was four and we had moved to our house in Mukilteo, I realized I hadn't heard much about Gickey, Goosey and Boo Boo lately. When I inquired about their status, Lucas calmly replied, "Oh, they got sucked down the heater." That was the last he ever mentioned them.
6. Kaley: I can picture it like it was yesterday---Kaley with her long beautiful blonde hair in a little blue dress and white tights. She was about three and she had plopped herself on the floor in the entry way. For some irrational reason I still do not quite understand, she decided to have a semi-fake tantrum. Was it because I had taken a toy away or not allowed her to eat a cookie? Oh no. She decided she wanted a pet seal. She didn't want a stuffed one; she wanted a real one.
When I said, "Well, sweetie, you have a big dog--you do not need a seal. I'd like a seal, too, but they are wild animals and we cannot have one as a pet," she became even more furious. There was no reasoning with her. So what did I do? Yep, I grabbed the video camera because I was laughing hysterically. And what does that do to a strong-willed three year old having a tantrum? Well, yea, let's just say if the tantrum wasn't quite real to begin with--it ended up as a doozy.
Lucas and Kaley and the Thanksgiving wishbone.
// posted by Janet @ 9:03 AM
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Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Set Up
This past weekend we began the yearly home Christmas decorating. This was the first year I did not have either of my children home to help me set up our Christmas town. I wasn't sad for three reasons. First, my kids were home for Thanksgiving and it is not long before they will be home for Christmas. Second, I have my own ideas about how I want all of the little ceramic houses arranged. Probably, the children will rearrange it all when they get home but I enjoyed lining things up the way I wanted. Finally, the view out my window was stunning on Saturday evening as I set up Christmas town.
We have 19 houses and businesses. My sister-in-law made us a ceramic church over 25 years ago. When Lucas was two, I bought a little house to go with the church. Every year since we have purchased one addition so our town has grown quite a lot in 19 years. I have written the year of acquisition on each one and this year I found a little winery/tasting room. It is perfect next to the coffee house and bed & breakfast. Creepily, it looks like a minature version of Port Gamble, a "real" town across the water. I have written about this before on this blog.
Anyway, here is my attempt to capture the peacefulness of sunset over "Eatontown" on Saturday evening. I was sitting on the floor of my dining room and I did not think any of the shots turned out but this one was ok:
Sunset over Eatontown
This past weekend we began the yearly home Christmas decorating. This was the first year I did not have either of my children home to help me set up our Christmas town. I wasn't sad for three reasons. First, my kids were home for Thanksgiving and it is not long before they will be home for Christmas. Second, I have my own ideas about how I want all of the little ceramic houses arranged. Probably, the children will rearrange it all when they get home but I enjoyed lining things up the way I wanted. Finally, the view out my window was stunning on Saturday evening as I set up Christmas town.
We have 19 houses and businesses. My sister-in-law made us a ceramic church over 25 years ago. When Lucas was two, I bought a little house to go with the church. Every year since we have purchased one addition so our town has grown quite a lot in 19 years. I have written the year of acquisition on each one and this year I found a little winery/tasting room. It is perfect next to the coffee house and bed & breakfast. Creepily, it looks like a minature version of Port Gamble, a "real" town across the water. I have written about this before on this blog.
Anyway, here is my attempt to capture the peacefulness of sunset over "Eatontown" on Saturday evening. I was sitting on the floor of my dining room and I did not think any of the shots turned out but this one was ok:
Sunset over Eatontown
// posted by Janet @ 8:46 AM
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