First we got the pleasure of rotavirus.   Nothing like a week for the nastiest, poopiest diapers to make me wish I could let Magnus run bare [...]]]> Magnus has been battling bug after bug this is month.  We have been out and about a lot since the July 4th weekend & he has paid the price.

First we got the pleasure of rotavirus.   Nothing like a week for the nastiest, poopiest diapers to make me wish I could let Magnus run bare through the yard all day & hose him off at night.  Just as the rotavirus disappeared we saw a runny nose start. This lasted a couple days; then appeared to go away.  Unfortunately it came back with a vengence… Runny nose, cough and general crankiness has ensued.  In the meantime a new tooth has appeared.

After a couple days where Magnus appeared to be getting better,  the goopy eye appeared.  I gave it a couple days but there was no improvement so today began with a trip to acute care.

Magnus is a trooper and was so good with all the stethoscopes & ear probes that he more than earned a special treat.  We decided that some alphabet blocks would be perfect.  Magnus loves anything that can be stacked (and then knocked over) plus we already like to practice singing our alphabet….  Well I sing,  Magnus just bobs along with the music.  Still there is no such thing as starting too early (provided there isn’t crazy pressure to be a wunderkind).

Anyway, we purchased the blocks & as I prepared to open them I took a closer look at the description on the packaging.  Imagine my surprise when I realized there are only 20 letters in the set.

That’s right folks, apparently nobody is smart enough to figure out how to squeeze in the last 6 letters of the alphabet.  That means after “T” your kids are plain out of luck when using this nifty little alphabet blocks set.  Seriously, I don’t see how there isn’t some sort of disclaimer on the package.  At the very least it should say: “Warning: Partial alphabet, not really good for learning.”  I can’t even use these blocks to spell my kid’s name!  Not only am I missing a letter from his first name but I can’t spell his middle name either because there’s a letter missing from that as well.  Good grief!

After opening the package I was confronted by the following…

Can you spot the problem with this partial alphabet?  It’s bad enough that they can’t manage to get all 26 letters of our alphabet into a single set (I wonder where the letters U-Z end up?  Isn’t this discrimination??  I’m writing my congresspersons…certainly this is racisim.  I mean how dare these toy people leave out U, V, W, X, Y & Z??  It’s ridiculous! Who is to say that the other letters are more important & worthy than the final 6 letter??  Hey we can even hold a rally & chant.  ”Free the Final 6” or “We want the Final 6”).  Apparently the person (or machine) that places all these blocks isn’t smart enough to know that “M” comes before “N” & that “Q” is facing the wrong way.  Certainly if all the blocks were random I wouldn’t deign to comment, but since every letter but two are in the proper order & direction (not to mention the sudden breaking of the color pattern) why not get them all the right way?  Seems silly to disrespect “Q” by removing it from it’s proper place & directional orientation.  Of course maybe the goal was to send a subliminal message to all children playing with this set of blocks… I mean if you look carefully at the bottom row it clearly states that “Mrs” is the goal of life.   Either to become one or to have one.  Certainly no toy manufacturer really thinks they can coerce our children into such traditional roles.  That’s ridiculous & frankly insulting… I mean, seriously, the gender typified role of being a married woman is archaic at best?!? (For those of you just joining in: I am a stay-at-home, married mother of two.)

Maybe this is all just so much tempest in a teapot?  Could it be that I’m jumping to wild conclusions based on nothing more than conjecture, crazy theories & a desire to find scandal where none exists??  Surely it isn’t that…

On a serious note though: I do wish that all the letters were included. It is a rather half-assed thing to present the alphabet missing any of the letters.  My son is just a year old, where else on his path to learning will I find gaping holes in the fundamentals that he should be learning?

First a warning: if you are not a parent, don’t wish to be a parent, or just generally don’t like children this post is NOT for you.  This post will contain graphic language & description of what can only be described as the single most disgusting moment of my life.

As you may [...]]]>

First a warning: if you are not a parent, don’t wish to be a parent, or just generally don’t like children this post is NOT for you.  This post will contain graphic language & description of what can only be described as the single most disgusting moment of my life.

As you may remember from previous posts, I am a farm girl. This means I have helped pull piglets (I was about 3 years old so I don’t have a very clear memory of it.) from the sow; watched cattle be dehorned & banded and seen dead, bloated animals scooped into the rendering truck. None of that compares with the mucus incident.

I was slightly propped up in bed, Magnus was snuggled close with his head on my chest. We were dozing in the quiet of the morning when Magnus started to cough a bit. Soon his cough escalated into a great heaving & gagging.

Suddenly I find myself covered in long, green ropes of mucus. Magnus has been congested and his little lungs decided they needed a purge. There aren’t words to describe the warm slimy feeling of all that junk oozing across my chest, down over the back of my shoulders & into my hair…As I ran for the shower (crying Magnus in tow) the muck continued to slither down toward the small of my back.

It took a long time under hot water, several applications of shampoo, and a lot of dancing around exclaiming “Ew, ew, ew,… Gross, gross, gross ” before I was able to declare myself slime free.

Even thinking about it now makes me feel slightly disgusted. Oh the joys of parenthood…

As I mentioned in my last post I’ve taken to running around sans pants.  Combine our current heat wave (August, I don’t care that you’re the home of “the dog days of summer”, you can just behave yourself) with an increasingly prominent baby bump and pants are even less appealing than normal.  The heat index [...]]]>

As I mentioned in my last post I’ve taken to running around sans pants.  Combine our current heat wave (August, I don’t care that you’re the home of “the dog days of summer”, you can just behave yourself) with an increasingly prominent baby bump and pants are even less appealing than normal.  The heat index today was 107.  Really it isn’t the heat… (all together now) It’s the humidity….

Anyway, I am much more in a nesting mood with this pregnancy than I was with Magnus.  I find myself flipping through my Betty Crockery cookbook circa 1950 looking for something new to try.  Lately I don’t get beyond looking because really I don’t want to be found by paramedics.  It would be seriously mortifying to come out of a heat-induced faint, in a pantsless condition, surrounded by EMTs.

Most days find me puttering about the house trying to keep the mess under control. I haven’t been very successful the past few weeks but I’m slowly working on it. Magnus happily plays & follows me about the main floor. He likes to chatter to me & is really starting to dance when certain music plays. We usually snuggle in the recliner for an afternoon nap.

Many days I do a load or two (if I’m really ambitious…lugging baskets up & down two flights of stairs is hard work) of laundry. I’m sure I make quite a sight out on our front porch hanging clothes… barefoot (possibly sans pants), bending over to grab stuff & then straightening up (obligatory hand on the small of my back); my tank top failing to conceal the growing baby bump.

I’m fairly content when I have days like that. Like maybe I’ve got a bit of life in some semblance of order… That I’m not a total disaster…

Off I went to my desktop pc and logged into my webhosting site where I contacted the live support person. They [...]]]>

Over the weekend I was informed by my sister-in-law that my blog had been hacked. Not the best gtalk message to receive as my pillow was getting fluffed just right on Saturday night.

Off I went to my desktop pc and logged into my webhosting site where I contacted the live support person. They immediately directed me to submit a help ticket request to the tech support center.

I submitted the help request, changed my password for the blog site and headed back to bed. Of course my brain was on overload at this point so I was rather wide awake. I went to check my blog from my phone (from whence I am composing this missive) only to find that it had been hijacked yet again. By now I was really pissed off.

Abe was awake and we were talking about what a hassle the whole thing was and how silly that I had gotten hacked. I started to think of all the websites out there on the interwebz my little blog got hacked. I mentioned how it was nearly worthy of a “REALLY?!?!?!?” segment a la Weekend Update. Abe laughed and told me I had my next blog post…so without further ado here it is.

The following text was basically what appeared on my blog. It was white text on a black background & there was a stylized skull and crossbones in the center of the page.

{#} Team [redacted Middle Eastern Country] hacker{#}
{#}The [redacted] hack{#}
This What We Do Hacking all The Time
Just open your eyes you fucked
Team [redacted Middle Eastern Country] hacker We Never Play
See ya

Saturday we celebrated my nephew Micah’s 1st birthday.  Everybody (well nearly everybody) got together to eat, visit & watch the little kids zoom around.  My sister-in-law Jennifer did an excellent job of putting together the party.  The food was excellent & the cake was super fun.  I’m going to have her attempt a [...]]]>

Saturday we celebrated my nephew Micah’s 1st birthday.  Everybody (well nearly everybody) got together to eat, visit & watch the little kids zoom around.  My sister-in-law Jennifer did an excellent job of putting together the party.  The food was excellent & the cake was super fun.  I’m going to have her attempt a guitar cake for Magnus’ birthday…he is our little rock n’ roll baby after all.  Anyway, after the party we all headed out to Mom & Dad’s farm to witness the demolition of the silo.  Dad had been wanting to do it for awhile now but wanted us to be there to see the big bang.

First they had to cut off some of the metal wires surrounding the silo & knock out the staves.

Then Dad got the telehandler out & Dan climbed into the bucket for a ride up to attach the guide cable. They needed that to help guide the direction of the fall.

Slowly the staves were knocked out. Dan, Andy & Grant took turns swinging the sledge hammer.

They needed to take a pause & figure out the best way to get the staves out evenly.

Dan & Andy were alternating knocking out a couple staves at a time. Andy was the one that finally got it to give.

When the silo began to give way you could hear this LOUD cracking sound as the concrete started to crumble. It stalled for a minute but Dad used the telehandler to pull and down it came.  If I can get some of the video that was shot I will add it.  There was a lot of noise, some very funny comments from the gathered spectators & a major cloud of dust.  It was fun to watch & something my niece & nephews will remember for a long time.

The Republicans don’t like anybody from the Democrats. The Democrats detest anyone who is conservative.  Then there is [...]]]>

Today is May 25, 2011… There are 531 days until the November election in 2012.  I’m already so sick of hearing about it that I’m tempted to delete anybody from my online life that talks about it.

The Republicans don’t like anybody from the Democrats. The Democrats detest anyone who is conservative.  Then there is the in party fighting…

The candidates barely announce their intention to run before they are cannabalized by their own so-called supporters.  Frankly it sickens me.  I understand the need to be critical of the next leader of our country; whether it be our current president gaining a second term or a new face.  We need the best person for the job.  I think everybody can agree that there’s a lot wrong in our country and our government as a whole bears the responsibility.

However, I really don’t think that it is productive to look at a potential candidate and poke fun at how “exciting” he may or may not be. (See Exciting Things About Tim Pawlenty ).

Now I’m not endorsing Mr. Pawlenty (or anybody else for that matter). Rather I want the focus to be on what can be done NOW for the many people who have suffered devastating losses due to natural disasters. We have seen cities flattened, counties flooded and people left with nothing. Meanwhile the main focus on the news seems to be the latest Presidential faux pas in Britain & the retirement of Oprah.

I feel frustrated at the disconnect I see between what happens in our everyday lives while our government is concerned with random shit. I don’t care if a candidate is exciting or comes from an exciting state…I care what practical ideas they have to fix what’s wrong: high unemployment, higher fuel prices, communities trying to rebuild…

So excuse me while I skip the crazed early days of 9,000 candidates. I’m looking for a little less excitement & a hell of a lot of substance.

Our time up north had [...]]]> Easter weekend found us traveling.  We spent a large portion of the weekend visiting family near Duluth.  It was SO good to see them & the time was far too short.  Still it was fun & Easter Sunday was a warm, sunny day.   Indeed a day to celebrate life.

Our time up north had to end so we said our goodbyes to the niece & nephews and headed for home.  We decided that it was early enough in the day that we could take the time to stop & visit Abe’s mom.  Originally we had not planned on a trip to the Cities but travel was going well & I’m not supposed to sit for too long (Dr’s orders).  Abe’s mom was pleasantly surprised when we stopped by.  Magnus was all dressed up in his Easter shirt & a bunny hat.  Being the charming little boy that he is Magnus crawled around & showed off all his best tricks.

As we were getting ready to leave my MIL mentioned that she had something for us.  Thinking that it was some small Easter trinket for Magnus I happily accepted the plastic sack.  Then came the explanation.

“Here’s the jar of alfredo sauce that we’ll never eat.  Mike bought it but I don’t like this brand so you can have it.  Also, here are the vanilla beans we bought in Mexico”  (side note:  I won’t even go into why I got beans rather than pure extract.)

I thanked MIL for the vanilla beans as I will find a use for them.  I was very pleased to have the beans…I’m experimenting with being an actual cook after all. So I’m thinking this is it when MIL pipes up again.

“Oh and there’s also a jar of mayonnaise…it’s a little out of date but I’m sure it will be fine. It hasn’t even been opened yet so just be sure to use it up quickly.”

I stood there, mouth agape for a minute while I searched for the words that would allow me to decline the mayonnaise. After opening & closing my mouth a couple times (without making any intelligible sounds), I weakly said “Ummm, thanks”.

Seriously how do you politely decline the unexpected gift of expired mayo? I could really have used Emily Post’s advice on the matter. Unfortunately she isn’t around to help me out.

Too bad I don’t have some slightly questionable Easter eggs that need to be used…I could make egg salad or deviled eggs. Anybody want to play salmonella roulette this weekend? Party is at my house.

The year of 2010 was one of huge changes for me.  First we moved from our home near Duluth, MN to a town near [...]]]> Since it is de riguer to do a retrospective post I could hardly swim against the current (I don’t swim with the current either…I prefer the beach) so here’s my recap.

The year of 2010 was one of huge changes for me.  First we moved from our home near Duluth, MN to a town near Sioux Falls, SD so that Abe could find work.  We sorely miss our life in the north woods of Minnesota.  Not just the places but the friends & family we don’t get to see nearly often enough.  Our nephews have grown so much in the last 12 months.  This was the first year we missed any of the major events in their lives & wow did we miss a ton!  The oldest one went off to kindergarten this past fall & the younger nephew is full of all kinds of antics.

The biggest change of course was becoming a mom. So far it is the most difficult thing I think I will ever do. He is a pretty good baby but I’m looking forward to the first teeth (eyeteeth for my child…of course, why go for something easier?) to finally break through. Magnus is an active little guy. He loves his exersaucer & can really get to bouncing & spinning around in it.  He can sit up alone but doesn’t like too because it limits his ability to move around.  Magnus much prefers to lie down so he can roll around and inch-worm his way into mischief.  The dogs are interested in him but Magnus is positively enthralled by them; reaching to latch onto whichever one might be closest.  It’s been an adjustment to have another person to feed & clothe but so much fun to nibble little toes & kiss the soft downy head as he falls asleep in my arms.

We moved a second time in 2010—this one was a much smaller move from one small town in the Sioux Falls area to a beautiful farm house in the country but much closer to shopping.  I love being back out in the country & not having neighbors be right on top of us.  Plus we get a beautiful view all around which is just the thing for cold winter days.  Magnus adores lying on our bed & watching the wind whip the weeping willow tree.

Sadly we missed out on a lot of our traditions for the various holidays.  We didn’t get to go shopping for Halloween costumes with our nephews for the first time.  We also missed their birthday parties, hiking/trips up the North Shore, getting snowed in on New Year’s Eve and mostly we missed all the random times we simply decided to make the drive to Cloquet just to see what was going on.

I am hoping for a fairly quiet 2011.  Time spent with family & friends…watching Magnus grow and explore…hopefully finding my depression ease a bit…maybe continuing to write.