Harvest Festival

We had a lot of fun today at a harvest festival nearby. It was like a small scale county fair - and almost completely kid oriented. Lots of small animals to pet, games, clowns, wagon ride. We missed the big event of the birthday party for Brittany the Pig, but Nathan got to paint a pumpkin and play lots of games. Plus, my Dad is up for a quick weekend, so he got to tag along and help with the kid wrangling. I don't think I would have made it past the second hour if he hadn't been there to help.

Round one goes to the playground

 
I've learned two things from the picture. The first is obvious - watch where I'm going. The second is that I really need to invest in make-up and skincare products. Now that I'm looking for work, I'm thinking about my appearance again after a long hiatus. I really didn't fuss much at the Hyatt, since I wasn't in a customer service area. But I'm getting older, and it seems that the medications I'm on are contributing to the red splotches. What to do, what to do.

I really don't know where to start. My skin has always been shiny and weird, the glasses complicate things, and my mom was not a good role model in this area. (blue eyeshadow and too much blush) The only thing I have in my house is some Dove spf face cream. So, I figure I have three choices.

1. Read some magazines or websites, go to the drugstore and hope I make the right choices.
2. Find a Mary Kay or Avon rep to do a full work-up for me.
3. Go to a department store for a makeover.

Will options 2 & 3 actually work well, or will I just come home with $400 worth of stuff I'll never use? 

Highs and Lows of XM radio

We've had XM for about two years now, and I just started using one of the functions a few weeks ago. I discovered that if you push a button while a favorite artist is on, the radio remembers and will tell me when that artist is on another station. So I can turn my radio into an almost constant stream of Grunge rock by flipping the channel to Nirvana, Chili Peppers, and Green Day, occasionally interrupted by some classic favorites like U2 or REM. This has it's problems, such as when I flipped to the 80's channel to hear Meditate by INXS and then got blindsided by Milli Vanilli. This also means that I'm really limiting my music knowledge, I rarely remember the names of new bands or singers, I'm so stuck in my Lollapalooza ways. What will I do when my kids regard my music as "oldies" or "classic rock?"

At least we're not listening to the Disney Channel. Although that brings up other issues. Like today, I thought I hit the jackpot when one Channel played the Femmes "Add it Up" right after another channel played "Blister in the Sun". But, here I am in the car with the kids. What to do when the third verse comes on? Usually I don't think the kids really pick the swear words out of the songs, but this is pretty explicit. So I turned down the volumn and sang it in my head instead. What do you think that says about my parenting style?

Actually, my parenting style is probably better reflected by what happened after we got to the playground. The family we were meeting wasn't there yet, so I was playing catch with Nathan and ran headfirst into a support beam. I think that's the only time a hit has knocked me off my feet. Kind of like being clotheslined, but with the splitting pain and the giant goose egg on my head. Good times. If it's really black and blue tomorrow I'll post a photo.

Eeeek!!!!

 
This is Teeny, or Tiny, not sure which. We took two female mice home from the pet store, saving them from a short life and a trip through a snake's digestive system. They're very cute, and quite active. Nathan says they woke him up "a hundred times" last night, but I'm sure he'll get used to it. He's always asking to hold them, but we've been telling him the mice have to get used to us before he can do that.

We did discover pretty quickly that he's not quite old enough for a pet. He decided to carry the cage to our room this morning. He dropped it in the kitchen and broke it open, but the mice were too scared to make a run for it. We're also keeping his bedroom door closed so Sprite doesn't get any ideas. 

Look out Vera Wang

For everyone who liked the duct tape prom dress, I give you Toilet Paper Bride!!!



I bet Joy and Christy are kicking themselves for not doing this.

I can't belive there is no Duct tape in this house.

 

Nathan's settled on being a Knight for Halloween, so we were working on the costume today. He's had this tunic and cape, plus a sword and shield for awhile, but the look isn't complete without some armor and a helmet.

My first attempt at a helmet based on a milk jug was disastrous. The person who posted it on about.com must have a child with a smaller head. So, tomorrow we're getting supplies to try a hat from this site. I should probably plan on making two, in case the first doesn't survive until Halloween. Anyone who thinks we could make the helmet and then immediately put it safely away does not know my son. And I can't wait until the last minute, because if it comes out like crap, I need time to order one online.

For armor, I'm planning on being creative with duct tape, but amazingly, we don't have any in the house right now. I'm going to take a belt and hang strips of doubled-over duct tape from it to make an armor skirt. He also has a horse with a burlap head that is ripping. If I use the duct tape to fix that up, we can pretend his horse has armor too. 

Claire's Hair

 
Are men incapable of putting hair in elastic bands? That's the debate around the house these days. Claire's hair is at the point where she can't see when it's down, and Dan just can't put it up in a ponytail. He did make a valient try sometime last week, but gave up after ten minutes. Of course, Claire is not very cooperative about sitting still for this manuever either. Dan tries little hair clips to get the hair out of the way, but she's adept at pulling those out.

So that leaves me as the only one who can make her beautiful in the morning, and honestly, I don't always feel like my fingers can manage this. Especially when they're swollen, like today. How can I teach Dan to do this? 

Other Saturday travels

I don't know what I was thinking trying to cram three days worth of outings into one day on Saturday. No wonder the kids were starting to melt down. Besides the reception, we also went on a two hour hike and spent a few hours at my cousin Jeanne's. She's another person who I can go years without seeing, but once we get together we just chat about everything and anything. We missed seeing much of her son, who's just a few months younger than Nathan, because he was napping. But her older daughter and my kids got to tear up the playroom for awhile while we talked. Maddie looks soooooo much like Jeanne.

More Pictures

I really don't have the hang of my camera yet, so I didn't get many good pictures. I was also a little distracted by the kids, as you may have noticed. But here's a few.

Seven Things I learned at Joy's Reception

1. Rosemary is not the youngest person I've ever known to have an ulcer, she's really had appendictis for 14 years.
2. Next time I take a long drive, someone has to remind me I have cruise control.
3. If you have a common name (cough MARK cough), then when you post in a blog, be more specific about who you are if you want your friends to recognize you.
4. Seven hour drives are much better if you fuel up with Dunkin Donuts first.
5. We've been on Mrs. Krystock's bad side for twenty years because she thinks we wanted to hire a stripper for Ellen's birthday. This memory is seared in Ellen's mind, but no one else remembers it at all. (Christy? Joy?, do you remember this?)
6. Michael "Kramer" Richards buys cheese at Whole Foods
7. Just because two people are standing close together and smiling, they are not necessarily posing for pictures. They may just be in love..




And.........
8.Christy and Joy are not the only ones reading my blog. So, I want everyone else, spouses too if they want, to add a comment of a few things they learned at Christy or Joy's weddings.

What a thrilling life I lead

The big excitement today was that I bought a new remote control. What makes this news thrilling is that we are now back down to one remote to control four components. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!

I had to manually program every button to get it to control the Tivo, but it was worth it. Now, as long as it doesn't go to the black hole where it's predecessor currently resides, we'll be fine. I really don't have a clue where the last remote disappeared to, we think Claire threw it away.


In other news, I need Restaurant names. I got very excited about the name Allium (Latin for Onion), but a restaurant in Ottawa is already using it. Any other city, and I wouldn't care. But too many of our target customers go to Ottawa for day trips and cultural events. Oh well. In that same vein I was thinking of Caridea, which is part of the classification name for shrimp. This would work if we keep with the Southern theme, since shrimp is on several apps and entrees. Any other ideas?

Restaurant Death watch part deux

Went and peeked in the windows today. They've been closed for a few weeks due to a "death in the family". They've also been served an eviction notice from the leaseholders and have bounced payroll checks. It's possible that there is now an arrest warrent out for the owner. Not a good businessman.

It's a great building. I meant to bring the camera, oops. Maybe this will help.



We could see two small dining rooms that looked perfect, one with a fireplace. There's also a small ballroom on the righthand side, behind those trees, but it's been painted a garish pink and has Mexican decor. I think the kitchen is pretty small, not good. And there's a bar somewhere, but we couldn't see it. Apparently there is also a bowling alley downstairs. The location is great. Half a block off Main St., and just around the corner from a courthouse and other county buildings. It's a little further to the university, just over a mile.

It's such a big building that the lease is probably going to be very high, but we're wondering if we'd be able to live upstairs for a few years until it was profitable. And we're curious about how much of the fixtures and furnishings would remain. Dan's already been e-mailing the person who handles the lease (friend of the family, of course!)

The big problem of course is that we have no money. None. Nada. If this were any other business, our ideas and skills might be enough to get funding. But restaurants are considered such a risk that it's hard. It's a slow slog to get a return on the investment, not a sudden windfall. We've got to start gathering hard data to see just how much we'd need for the first year.

I want this place. I don't think this is just us getting caught up in the romance of it. I KNOW it's not romantic, the reason the last two owners flamed out was because they got divorced. It just seems right. Now that we're back here, it feels like home. We want to stay.

The Great Outdoors

Since we're done with swimming lessons, we have some freedom to go out and about each day. Instead, we've spent many days home or at the mall. Yuck. Gotta get out and enjoy the great outdoors, and now that the Enbrel has kicked in, we can.

Found a great trail the other day that was converted from an old railroad bed. Nathan was more excited about the bits of rusted iron than the
geocache we were in search of. I just thought it was a great view, passing by a wetland and then into the woods. The cache was at a point where an old, abandoned road went through the woods, and we could just barely see the remnants of it. I'll go back with Dan to see the foliage and make sure to bring the camera.

Went on a second geocache hunt today. Had the camera this time, although it wasn't as scenic. But at least I could bring the stroller and our feet didn't turn black from the dusty trail. This is a town maintained rec trail that was built next to a golf course. There were hundreds of little frogs hopping around, and Nathan was very disappointed that none of them would be his friend. At least he got to take home a silly toy robot. Which he seems to be french kissing in this photo.


We've also found a great playground at the elementary school, but we really need to stop going there because.....
Nathan had made friends with the boy who lives across the street from our local playground, Sunny. But Nathan and Sunny had swim lessons at different times this summer, so we've barely seen that family since July. Today, I slowed down and and looked to see if they were at the local playground before going to the bigger one. Alison (hippie british mum) saw me and got the kids in their shoes to come play, only to find that we'd driven away. I've really got to learn to pick up the phone and make playdates.

Fake picture of me

I want a picture with my profile, but clearly don't want one of me with my prednisone bloated face and weird haircut. (Please let it grow out a bit before Joy's reception.)

Thought I'd go with one of these instead.

Nathan's got religion

I almost forgot about this.....

Nathan likes churches, because they look like castles, and he loves castles. But as far as I know he's only been in two churches, once for a concert with Grandma, and once with me to look at the stained glass.

As we're driving through town today, he's asking me about the buildings that are made of brick, and wanting to know what brick is made of. I make something up, but it rings true and is just like what Elmo learned on Seseme Street, so I must have been close. Then he sees the church made out of brick. (Actually, sandstone, but close enough). And of course he wants me to tell him what churches are for. Errrr.

Me:"Churches are where people get together to help each other and help others".
Him:"And someone lives there."
"And he's invisible."
"But he's not real."

Eeeeek, is he talking about Jesus! Where'd he pick this up from! Then, the finale.....
"Cause he's a droid. And he's small. And his name is R2-D2."

Restaurant Death watch

There's a building in the next town whose fortunes we've been following for a few years. It was a dinner club for decades, then it was vacant. Two fine dining restaurants came and went and then it was vacant again. About 3 months ago someone opened it up as a Mexican place, but the grapevine says they're not going to last long. They keep going to another chef in town to ask basic questions, like how to handle inventory. They're overpaying their staff. And recently they started food shopping at BJ's instead of through a wholesaler.

This has Dan (and I) thinking brave thoughts. The building is owned by the local university, and it seems that they want a good restaurant in town because they need a place to do entertaining. This is the same college that my MIL graduated from, that FIL taught at, and the Dan went to for 3 years. Plus, there are lots of family friends who have always wanted Dan to come back and cook in town.

With that in mind, we're going to start preparing a business plan for a restaurant. I don't know when (or if) the current restaurant will fold. I'd rather wait until the kids were in school, but if an opportunity comes up, we want to be prepared to seize it. Dan is excited about the idea of doing Southern food. We could have a lunch menu that is heavy on the BBQ for the college students, then go to a more refined menu for dinner.

I was going to post the menu Dan has knocked up, but I'm feeling proprietary. And they're Dan's recipes to share, not mine. Although, if anyone is interested in being an investor, I'll gladly send you a copy of the menu.

RA Update

Went to the Doc last Wednesday. I didn't think I was doing better, but then he read back the notes of my last visit when EVERY single joint hurt, and I realized that I am doing better. So, I guess the Enbrel is working. Too bad I won't be able to afford it for much longer. I'm actually not even sure I have Health Insurance right now. We were getting kicked off the free insurance as of the 31st, and I sent in the paperwork to switch to the other HMO. But I screwed up and sent the wrong proof of residence, so I don't know if we got everything processed in time. I haven't gotten a new card yet. Yikes, better not fall down any stairs.

Doc was great, as usual. I started crying while talking about how I wasn't sleeping, so he prescribed an anti-depressent that also will help me sleep. It's working pretty well, I've definately been waking up more refreshed. But then, Dan's also letting me sleep until nine most days, so that's nice too. Plus, I'm back on 5 mg of prednisone, because I still have pain in my ankles and elbows and hands sometimes. But I think the swelling in my joints in the mornings has decreased. I've even been knitting again, trying to get incremental increases on the shawl I'm making for myself. It's got about 200 stitches across now, so it takes a while to do each row.

Our plan now is to keep on the Enbrel for six more weeks. If it's working well, then I'll switch to an infusion medication that works in a way similar to Enbrel. For this, I'd go to the hospital for a few hours and get an IV, I suppose it's similar to getting a Chemo treatment. Because it's a hospital procedure, it's billed to the insurance differently. I'll probably have a $100 co-pay, but I won't have to worry about maxing out my $3000 prescription cap on the Enbrel. Insurance companies are stupid, by putting in this cap they're going to be paying thousands more for me to get the infusions. That is, if I have insurance. Hmmmm.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

I know it's a little early to be doing Christmas shopping, but I just found a great website for handmade items, Etsy.com They've got scarves, pottery, artwork, soap, cards, etc. etc. I found one person with a lip-balm of the month club, she'll send three balms in flavors such as Chocolate Orange, Cream soda or Cantelope. Yum. I think Dan would love this.

Okay, I just went back to the site and spent about 20 more minutes browsing because they have so much stuff. Handspun wool, jewelry, dolls.

Aaahgh, just got sucked back in looking at purses.