The Big Move

On the way down to TX in the first 100 miles the trailer our car was on got a flat and we had to call a pit crew to fix it which knocked us off schedule for the rest of the trip. Shortly after we made it back on the road the apartment building office of the new place called to say that someone had driven a car into out building and wanted to apologize for all the noise and let us know they would be fixing it this week. We stayed the night in a Howard Johnson's where I shared a bed with the dog to make sure she didn't get up without me in the middle of the night especially since I didn't tell the front desk clerk we brought her and the next day we drove and sang and finished the trip home to the freshly smashed up apartment.

We unpacked the first three fourths of the truck on the first day and I worried the furniture wouldn't fit but as I began to unpack boxes and find homes for things I relaxed. On day two we were able to get Ella's bedroom set up and the truck emptied and made a giant trip to the dumpster where we threw most of our emptied boxes along with the moving truck keys into the compactor. On day three Dan went back to work, I cooked a lovely dinner and things felt a little normal until we had to tear the apartment apart looking for the moving truck keys. Eventually I called the emergency road side number and they hooked me up with a fella an hour away who would make new keys for me at no charge as long as I picked them up and while I was at it I decided to stop and get some very scrumptious Shipley's cinnamon rolls for him in hope of banking some good karma.

After returning to the apartment with the new key and then spending another hour and a half returning the moving truck we arrived back at the apartment to find a small line of tiny red ants marching into the living room and attacking a lone bit of potato chip on the carpet. Dan and I vacuumed them up and wondered if these were the fire ants we'd heard so much about. Dan had a bowl of cereal on the couch and we went to bed. On day four at about 6am, before Dan left for work, I asked him to please bring the dog out for a walk as we have been dutifully re-housebreaking her in the off white carpeted apartment and we'd been doing well. Dan lifted his shirt from the night before off the floor, slipped it on and put the dog on a leash. I stepped into the bathroom in my underwear and thought about making a little cappuccino for the two of us while Ella still slept.

At approximately 6:01am Dan whipped his shirt off and ran to the shower, the fire ants that had enjoyed the cereal bits left in his shirt the night before also enjoyed all giving the signal to bite Dan all at once delivering a fiery 30 or so tiny blisters to his torso by the end of the day. The shirt sat on the back patio until yesterday at which time I shook it out and promptly put it in a wash load of very hot water and towels. the exterminator arrived the same day upon my insistence with the main office who wanted to send him on the regular Monday but re-thought it when I told them I had a child and a small dog and a living room full of fire ants. I also bought a can of poison that I liberally sprayed all over the place I'm sure ingesting enough to piss fire ant killer. For the next few nights I made sure to turn on the flash light and check the perimeter of the bed before falling asleep. Apparently new construction kicks them up out of the ground and makes them angry and of course we live in the newest building. The exterminator will be here every Monday for the next three weeks.

Finally things are settling down, though the dog is having a terrible time. I tried to crate her in the kitchen and she's torn herself up biting at the cage and trying to dig her way out. I tried a different crate and then washed the other and still she makes a mess and hurts herself. Yesterday I called a local vet in frustration wondering what to do and was referred to a doggie shrink. One of the perks of living in a big city is the availability of Dog Psychiatry. A very dear women named Connie talked to me and insisted I trash the crate and trust the dog, before as a last resort putting her on doggie prosac. I am trying to trust the dog but it's off white carpet. I installed a gate so she is locked in the kitchen with a pillow begrudgingly sacrificed from my own bed but today after pool time with kiddo I arrived to see the dog greet me wagging at the door and the gate laying on the floor. I am still hesitant to leave her out and will continue to try the gate however if there are no messes on the carpet at the end of one month I will trust her.

Tonight I have one big project left, hanging art on these off white walls. Dan will be home soon and we'll set to work making this place our home with family photos and paintings at which time I'll finally take some photos for the blog and get them all posted so you can see what a wonderful place Dan picked out. On Saturday night, Dan's birthday, after dinner and a movie, we drove down to the coast and looked out into the ocean, though it was dark and we couldn't see much. Galveston looks steeped in history and old buildings as well as rich in culture and the beach is only twenty minutes from us. My favorite was the sign we passed just before arriving in Galveston reading "Welcome to the Village of Tiki Island" yes, it's a real place. On Sunday because it was Father's Day we drive around Houston and found two war game shops Dan will frequent. Again I am astonished by the construction of 6 story highways with steep climbs and turns. It's like downtown Milwaukee gone amok.

Yes, it's hot. Today it's up to 97 with a heat index of 105 however the ocean breeze cools the sweat on your brow so fast that when in the shade one barely notices the heat. We also have a pool, we've been there every day this week and as soon as I resolve my issues with the dog and stop jumping anytime I feel something crawling on my leg and we all feel comfortable and home Ella and I will venture down to the coast some morning and dip our toes in the warm gulf waters and build sandcastles for a few hours.

Below: Gateway to the West, Houston Highways, Our Driveway, Ella & I in the Pool

Ella Sings When We Get Here

Mango Salsa

1 Mango diced
3 Roma tomatoes diced
1 Small onion diced
Fresh cilantro chopped
Cinnamon
Garlic
Habanero
Salt

Bite sized tortilla chips

First Impressions

Shipley's Do-Nuts - yum.
Fire Ants - exterminator on the way.
My dog - good one.
Sushi - so fresh.
Constant breeze - lovely.
Sunshine - blinding.
Clothes - too many.
Furniture - all fits comfortably, but still to many boxes of computer cords and dishes.
Radio - one jazz station, one hipster rock station, one oldies station, one samba station, so far.
Freeways - like six story roller coasters winding through the concrete landscape.
GPS - saving my ass daily.
Produce - abundant, cheap and juicy.
The ocean - calling my name.
Downtown Houston - also calling my name.

It Only Takes One Person to Go First

Live from Houston

We made it. It's really sunny and the apartment is beautiful. I'm on day three of unpacking and today I should be hanging art and later venturing out to the grocery store where everyone will know I'm from elsewhere because my legs glow in the dark. We ordered Chinese last night, the walnut shrimp was fresh and the crab puffs (crab rangoon) had actual hunks of fresh crab in it. I'm going to dip Ella in sunscreen and take her over to the pool today. Later, if I can find my camera cord I'll post some pictures.

Pecatonica, Illinois

This is the last post from Pecatonica, IL. A giant thanks to everyone that came and helped us get it all in the truck. We'll see you all later.

Moving

We're going to get the moving van this morning. People are coming around 9 to help us load up. It's raining.

Petit Soprano

Ella is singing opera in the tub - she's practicing her vibrato and it has a pleasing echo.

The Last Strike

The lightning storm finished with a single flash and an immediate crack at 4:45 this morning. That's when I fell asleep wondering if it was our lightning rod it hit or a tree outside. At 7:15 I found the answer in no less than 15 fire trucks and an unreal amount of firemen standing around on my street. Ella's preschool is on fire. Of course we pulled on sweatshirts and went out on the front porch to investigate and then wandered a block to see what we could see and then finally wandered into the local one-stop and heard about a probable lightning strike to the building and how four foot flames were shooting from the roof at 5:00 this morning. Careful checks of surrounding roofs prevented any spreading like the last time downtown burned decades ago. On the way home, I broke the news to Mrs. Neighbor standing in front of her place we were leaving on Saturday and she bid us good luck while hiding a small pleased smirk.

Land vs Sea

I was talking with a friend last night about if my recent situation was a string of bad luck or good luck or what. The catalyst for the move was bad, but the move is good. I'll miss my friends and family but it's not like I'm going to live on the moon, we'll still talk and I'll still see them a few times a year when they come down and I come up. The thing that was the hardest to deal with was the thing I needed to get a handle on the most - the house and all the stuff in it. What was total chaos is now neatly packed into boxes and sorted, ready to go, what was garbage is on its way out of my life and what things I could give to others I did. For years I've talked about wanting to live near the ocean and now I find myself on my way there where wonderful new things await. So really, I don't think it's any kind of fortune, either way. It's like trying to decide if ostriches are good or bad in comparison to fractions; the only real conclusion I'm comfortable making is it's just different.

Things I Can't Take with Me

I'm trying to watch all my DVR'ed stuff before I turn the box in and go to basic cable. It turns out I watch a lot of crap and can only handle consuming it in small doses, trying to have a Make Me a Supermodel marathon actually kills brain cells.

Indi Anna Jones

Feministing this morning posses the question "If you could sit in a story meeting with Pixar or Disney and pitch a feminist heroine for their next blockbuster film, what would you pitch?" and I've been thinking about this for some time. I don't have a good story to pitch but I do have a good idea about what I'd like to see. I really think it's as easy as flipping the genders when casting. For instance imagine Raiders of the Lost Ark with women in it, Indiana is a rugged smart strong woman and every man in the movie is now a woman, every fainting woman instead a meek guy needing to be saved, would it change the story that much? Probably not. And while I love a "feminist movie" to me it doesn't necessarily mean I need the story to be raging against the machine, it just means there needs to be women in it. I like a good escapism adventure story too. is Twelve Angry Women really that different from Twelve Angry Men? So my answer is this: cast women and girls in the lead and supporting roles of a blockbuster, tweak the story a little and that's what's going to work for me.

Still Moving

I'm almost done packing. I'm down to deciding what I need to leave out so we can live for the next few weeks and what I can pack today. So that's good. I'm almost ready to start washing the inside of the house top to bottom and now I wish there were floor drains in every room so I could just hook up a hose and power wash the place in an afternoon. I think I'm going to venture up to see my Grand parents soon and then we wait. The big pack will be on the 13th and the morning of the 14th we drive.

Good Advice

The best advice we received after getting laid off was call your creditors and tell them. Credit card companies waived payments for a few months and even the bank that has our home loan made alternate arrangements so that we won't have to make a payment until August. I thought it was important to put that out there for you all to know.

Memorial Day 2009

Book Ends

It will rain today just like it always does and then clear up in time for the parade. Today is the last annual memorial/margarita day parade at the casa de Bombadee. I am trying to commit to memory every moment of today. At 8:30 this morning the neighbors lined their chairs and blankets up in front of their houses and claimed thier viewing spaces. This is the first year Ella can remember not being in it. It's my 16th year sitting on this front porch on this day and Dan's 20th.

Thanks' George for putting this parade together year after year. When I speak of tiny town this will be one of the things I tell.

Make Me an Offer

We found an apartment. We'll get a twelve month lease on a two story, three bedroom with a study. Ella and Dan will get a room for their toys and I'll have space for my computer and easels. It has a pool and is about 15 minutes from the ocean and 15 minutes from the city. Dan is going to be looking at it when he's down there and signing a lease and then he'll fly back up and we'll load the truck and go. Ella and I will be here for a bit to finish packing and get the house clean. Now the last piece of the puzzle is selling the house. I need someone to make an offer.

How I Almost Got Arrested at Monkey Joe's - Kid's Play Place

On Tuesday we were invited over to Monkey Joe's to celebrate our pal's 4th birthday. We brought him a few very loved stuffed animals that belonged to Ella but she decided her pal would like to have them instead of packing them for the big move to Houston. Also in the bag, and a homemade card and necklace and a promise to send something cool from the Houston Space Center when we get all settled. At the door, we signed all our rights away and traded Ella's shoes for some jumpy castle fun. The adults sat down at a lovely table in the center of the facility. The kids never looked back.

As we sat and visited, Sarah the manager came over to our quiet conversation to ask if the bag on the table was a present. I answered with a puzzled yes at which time she insisted my friend then bring it out to the car as we weren't allowed to exchange gifts unless we booked a party room. (Now it was just one bag and the two of us sitting there, we didn't exactly bring in a cake and twenty kids and a sack full of wrapping papered boxes.) I quickly back tracked and said "well really then, it's just a bag of stuff I'm giving to them" and Sarah the manager said "You already told me it was a present; someone has to take it out of here - now." My pal took it out to her car.

This was when I decided I was going to do a blogular review of Monkey Joe's jumpy fun place. I took a few of pictures of the jumping kids mid air, I took a picture of the rules posted, I took a picture of Sarah the manager, I took one of the snack bar, and Sarah the manager came stomping over yelling "Did you just take a picture of me?!" Now I could've easily said no, but I was a little amused at this point and said yes. Sarah told me I wasn't allowed to just take pictures of people without their permission and she was going to call the police if I didn't delete it. This is when I started laughing, a lot. I think I even said "Really?! You've got to be kidding" and then Sarah said that if I didn't delete the picture of her right there in front of her she would ask us to leave AND call the police, then she turned to the lady at the counter and said "Call security."

This is when I did a quick review of my options

A) Stand up for myself and let her call the police who would also laugh at her but still get kicked out and the kids all cry.

B) Tell her what a rude and stupid person she was and inform her about a person's rights when they are in public and how it doesn't include being paparazzi free, but still get kicked out and the kids all cry.

C) Delete the stupid picture let the kids play and write this review.

At this time my pal told her she was a real "killjoy" and I had enough time to decide on option C. I deleted the picture while Sarah stood over my shoulder watching. It wasn't enough because she accused me of actually not deleting it and indignantly demanded I give her my phone. I handed it to her and she proceeded to delete the pictures of the jumping kids mid air, a picture of the rules posted, and one of the snack bar. I told her I would be writing a review of the place, without those pictures. She pointed her finger and said "You'd better not write anything slanderous about me, the authorities will find out, and you'll have to remove it." and I laughed again and asked her if she was implying I would lie about her on the internet. She said no and stomped away mumbling something like "You'd just better not."

A little later she appeared again to hand me her boss’s business card and say she already informed her boss of the whole situation, I thanked her and told her I would be informing the internet. I think she was trying to apologize, but I didn't actually hear the phrase "I'm sorry" what I actually heard was more threats about writing this piece. I wanted to tell her - if you don't want people to think you're an ass then you've just gotta not act like an ass, but the afternoon really wasn't about me and I was pretty sure I couldn't put the toothpaste back into the tube if I said it, so I didn't - I just nodded.

The rest of the visit was wonderful for the kids and I really considered live blogging it from the free high-speed internet next to the recliners and the big screen TV in the adult relaxation area while the kids burned off whatever endless energy they had flinging their bodies about and sliding down giant inclines, but I was really trying not to get kicked out at that point. I didn't know if Sarah would come stomping out again and read what I was doing over my shoulder at the computers, so I just sat at the tables. When we finally left I asked the lady at the snack bar for the manager's name and she said she couldn't tell me what it was.

So after all that, my conclusion - I recommend Monkey Joe's, but not Sarah.

(Rockford franchise on Tuesday, May 19th between 10:30 and 1:00pm.)

I'll catch you up.

I'm frustrated I haven't had time to write.

I almost got arrested at Monkey Joe's yesterday (I wish I was joking.)

I've found some of the coolest things while sorting (lost jewelery, money, letters and pictures from politicians - including Rod Blagojevich .)

It' surprising what I've decided I can't live without and am packing.

The experience of packing is like having your life flash before your eyes, only it's not a flash, it's a long grueling process.

I miss skating.

I finally got sick of the "Beastie Boys" station on Pandora I've been mostly listening to since I started packing and switched to Led Zepplin/BobMarley/Rolling Stones.

The Little Bistro

A few weeks back I helped Ms. Quik write a business plan for her new restaurant, The Little Bistro right in front of the farmer's market in Beloit, WI. She'll feature Paninis and gourmet burgers along with the best potato salad I've ever had in my life, home made potato chips that are to die for and various beer and wine. She'll also have jazz and art and wine tasting on Friday nights, it's my kinda place for sure. I won't get the pleasure of being here on opening day, July 1st, but I did get to sample some of her genius today. She invited folks over and taste the menu as well as all the wines and beers she's trying to choose from. It was simply the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon with pals.

2,000 Books

It was a frenzy of family and friends today grabbing armloads and for some carloads of books. I only have two shelves left and they are select war and history volumes, odd encyclopedias and text books, some musty novels form the seventies, and poetry. I have gratitude today, standing in the empty library. Yesterday wondering if all my books would go to a Goodwill or the trash made me feel sick but today seeing people I love, happy to be adopting them and willing to read them was beyond what I hoped for. The poetry will get a good home and as for the odd encyclopedias I wish I could keep them and may hang onto them until the auction, but the rest will likely go to Goodwill on Monday with another giant bag of clothes and I am ok with that.

Four Things I Discovered Today

Sorting through things has helped me find stuff I've been looking for (Grandma's cookbook!)

I own too many pars of black shoes, anyone close by me a size 8 - 8 1/2?

I'm going to need a new swimming suit.

I have seven rolls of film to develop. I haven't shot a roll of film since 2003, when I went digital. I have no idea what is on these.

Lone Star

Dan arrived in Houston on Tuesday and had a great interview with a company that he didn't like and on Wednesday had a great interview with a company he loved. The company he loves has a cowboy that runs it and the cowboy says things like "We don't work Saturdays, Saturdays are for your family" he also said things like "I'll pay you more than you made before plus some to move" and "We'll pick up 100% of your family's insurance." Today I am sorting through junk drawers trying to figure out which light bulbs I should pack and exactly how many bottle openers we need. On Saturday at 1:00 friends and family are coming over to claim armloads of books we are not taking. The following two weeks I'll be fitting everything I love and can take with me into a twenty six foot space. At the end of this month Dan will drive the minivan filled with essentials to the South East end of Houston and start spending his days working with the cowboy. I'll stay in the house with Ella and finish packing and cleaning until somewhere around the 12th at which time Dan will fly back up and we'll load everything into a truck and hug our families before we drive towards the ocean. What's left behind will get auctioned in our absence including the house. I don't want to be here to see my piano go for a dollar I just need the auction house to send me a check for new furniture next to the ocean. I've read this area is the number three place in the world to raise your family, the number two place in the job market, everyone is polite, the school systems are wonderful and there is roller derby. I also heard one must carve the air out with a knife and chew it to breath. What I know is they want us to come, I love the ocean, and when I get home sick for the leaves and fall air in October I can catch a train from New Orleans to Chicago for $108.00.

Gray

Dan is in Texas doing interviews and I thought Ella and I would have a wonderful time going to the park and eating subway sandwiches and jumping on the bed but she came down with a fever yesterday and so we are sitting on the couch on this gray rainy day cuddling and watching our 10th movie in two days.

Heard in the Living Room After Dinner on Mother's Day

Me: Are we gonna make S-M-O-R-E-S?

Dan: Yep, that's what I got.

Ella: Great! 'Cause I am O-A-R.

Me: What does that even spell?

Ella: I don't know.

Me & Dan: (laughter)

Indignant Ella: What?! I don't!

Happy Mother's Day

I have a hard time being mushy and sappy, but this is why I have Ella, she is awesome at it and what she says completely applies. So Mom, I love you more than the moon and the stars and the sun and the universe and a that's hundred infinities much, because you are the best Mom ever. Thank you for being so spectacular.

May is Motorcycle Awareness Month

DD Hunter t-boned a full sized Chevy pickup doing 40mph on her motorcycle yesterday. The driver who pulled out in front of her said he didn't even see her. I spent over an hour with DD's husband pacing the floor with no idea what was happening behind the fortress they call the emergency room "We're still running tests" was the only information we could get. Eventually we were allowed to see her. She broke her left orbital bone (eyebrow area) and will be consulting with a plastic surgeon today. She filleted her pinky finger, sprained her hip, has leather glove embeded into the back of her hand, a gash in her thigh and may have bruised her spleen. The doctors locked her in the high tower over night for observation. The guy in the truck drove away after the accident and for DD, there are stitches, bruises, a banged up helmet, clothing they cut off and one totaled motorcycle.

I'll say it again May is Motorcycle Awareness Month.

MW/SBO/BAHC (Migrant Worker/ Small Business Owner/Broke Ass Hungry Chick) The Saga

I sat down this morning with Pam over at the Illinois Small Business Development Center and she was absolutely awesome and helpful in every way and best of all FREE! So if you need business advice (Mike) make and appointment and go talk to her. So anyway, she helped me refine my plan of world domination and sent me back to the drawing board and now I am more excited than ever to get this shindig started. I think I'll still be building the Laser of Debilitating Fun but it's going to be in a different format and more powerful and hey the only thing better than more powerful lasers is being able to strap them on the heads of sharks. So yay me.

What else, Dan has two different interviews with two companies in Houston now, apparently it's a very successful and needy city. There's also an interview tomorrow in Madison for a company in Eau Claire (about four hours from here.) I'm told the yearly high in Eau Clair is 88* so the snow pants will have to stay and in fact should we move there I may invest in a variety of lovely snow pants (bleah.)

Today just for good measure, I'm sorting through old clothes and tossing anything that needs sewn and giving away gobs of stuff (Heather have a few tubs for you) and then I'll sell some on e-bay 'cause extra money sounds good right about now. We are also tossing all sorts of odds and ends and unfinished broken projects, lamps we planned to fix and toys that need to be glued. The good news is even if we don't go anywhere we'll be lighter for it.

We tried to do the right thing and called Chrysler yesterday to see if we could get a deferment for 90 days on the car payments and they laughed at us and called the pitbulls to the edge of the fence to chase us away. Today the lackeys are calling the house for their money and we are waving our butts in their general direction until next Tuesday at the earliest when Dan flies down to Texas and we know more about how long we need to make what we have last. In other broke ass news, we went to Aldi's yesterday and bought three bags of processed carbs and some grapes so we're not starving yet.

Job Update

Hey kids, the good new is Dan will be setting up an interview on Monday with a very reputable company doing what he does right now. The bad news, it's in Houston Texas. They're calling him Monday to arrange a day flight down. Not that Houston is bad news, there's all sort of lovely things there - the ocean for one, liberals, art, a space program, Spinster Aunts, a university, roller derby, and the internet (so hey, we'll still talk.) And of course the troubles are as I've said before selling this crazy house and leaving 36 years of friends and history and of course family here. Although our parents have collectively encouraged us to spread our wings as long as we fly home twice a year.

Fun with Markers

Migrant Worker/ Small Business Owner/Broke Ass Hungry Chick Update

So the head hunters have started to call and interviews are set up which is great because yesterday was spent putting out resumes and the phone was eerily quiet - Yikes! So it was a relief to hear it ring this morning. Now I just hope the calls are coming from Northern IL and then I can exhale. The really big deal for us is this, we live in our dream house. It's an old church built in 1887 with 8" by 8" beams and limestone bricks four feet thick and it's a behemoth to take care of or even pay a heating bill in but the ceilings and the windows and the light is magnificent. And in the housing market I have no idea who would buy such a place. So even if we need to move two hours away I'm feeling a little sweaty about it.

Plus we've filled this place with stuff - lots and lots of it; paintings, toy soldiers, barbies, roller skates, couches (we have 4) and I don't know if we'd ever be able to find a house to hold all the stuff. Of course I've walked around and looked at all the stuff deciding what I'd take and what would go and surprisingly what I would take is pretty sparse. A lot of what's here is pretty specific to the house. If I had to start over in a new place with only what I couldn't part with, it'd be modern and small and functional not giant, ornate and fancy. Think Eams instead of Rococo it's easier to dust.

I am still working on my plan of word domination and it's looking quiet nice. I would share it but then you may beat me to building the Laser Beam of Debilitating Fun so I feel I must keep it to myself.

Why Ella Cracks Me Up

Also - do you know what these are?














No, not bendy straws taped to Tinkerbell socks on my five year old's feet. They're "Bird toes" duh! And they belong to this bird.

It's Not All Rainbows and Lollipops All the Time

Hey cool kids. So here's the news, Dan got laid off yesterday. Sure the construction industry is stinky in Northern IL, but dang it if we hadn't thought we'd gotten over the lay-off hump. So there are a few choices for us, take a job offer in a far away land where construction still exists, switch industries slightly and take a pay cut, find investors and execute my plan for world domination now. I'm shooting for the later, I'm reading all sorts of fun stuff about small business loans and grants and am hoping to meet with someone at the Illinois Small Business Development Center this week. You see here's the thing, I've spent years helping other people make their businesses successful, and since Ella was born, building and growing not for profits, I know how to do this. I just need backers. So today my blog changes.

It'll either be a diary of the beginnings of a small business, a diary of migrant worker, or a diary of a broke ass hungry chick.

I'm a Dog Person

My dog is so spoiled she takes the green scooby treats outside and saves them. She takes the red bone shaped ones and eats those right away and she takes the red square ones and brings them into the dinning room before deciding if she's going to eat it or stash it away under the table. I'm just saying, you have to be a fat happy dog to decide when and where to eat your treats. I'm not going anywhere in particular with this, I'm just loving my dog today.

Divas vs Flyin' Squirrels

I'm alive. The bout went better than I expected. We lost 107 to 227 to the Flyin' Squirrels. I think I broke my finger in the first period about five minutes in, somebody fell and hit my hand on the way down and my ring finger bent backwards, it was pretty numb for most of the game and I tried to keep lots of ice cold things on it that night (beer) but the next day after a long hot soak in the tub it swelled up and turned purple. I'm not taking it to the doctor as it still bends and I don't plan on doing anything differently and today it's less swollen - so there.







Here's me blocking the jammer with my butt (woohoo!)







Skateymates from both teams sang happy birthday to me in front of a cake at the afterbout and then I tryied to take a bite out of the side of the cake and ended up with a faceful, frosting up my nose, behind my ears, in my hair - fun stuff. The bar was great, free jukebox all night, allthough I never did get it to play any Beastie Boys, there were probably 400 songs in cue. I won a free t-shirt from the bartender (yay free stuff!)








This is me getting focused right before my big scoring jam.





There are a ton more pictures here from Moosie who is an amazing sports photographer (and by a ton I mean like about a thousand) Thank you Moosie for all you do for us and the sport. XOXO!

Passion

Today I am 36 and today I am going to worry about the million things that happen on bout day. The Paper valley Flyin' Squirrels are getting in their cars shortly to make the drive down. I need to wash my uniform still and I need 80 volunteers and roller girls to all come together at the same time and do something wonderful tonight for a crowd of 350 tonight. I always tell people it's like planning a wedding only with hip checks. Any number of things can go awry and have before and the amazing part is we always have fun anyway. Because here's the thing, these women work year round learning this sport and they love it so much they are willing to strain marriages and friendships and work, it is their obsession, their passion and even when the amp for the natioal anthem blows out we skate forward and sing if we have to.

The End and The Beginning

This morning we gulped coffee and pop-tarts and rushed down to the school to hang out with 60 second graders. Dan and the kids planted a tree in honor of Jesse who was the mayor here in tiny town for 27 years and recently passed away. Dan grew up across the street from Jesse who ordered 600 trees planted in town, that now tower over us. We told the second graders he was like the Lorax and we put a Japanese Lilac in the school yard for him and next week they'll put a placard up with Jesse's name and Dan will serve his last week as mayor.

back soon

Hey kids, yep I'm still alive. It's day's before the Divas first home bout of the season and I'm swamped. We're sold out and I'll be back soon enough. I promise.

Just stopping in to say... nothing really.

I've got 432 things on my list of things to do today. Ok, ok actually it's like four things but it feels like 432 and so I'm going to complain about it anyway. Although actually I don't feel much like grousing at all, it would just be one more thing to do and don't want to add to the list.

Mud!

It's supposed to be 73° today! I've been hoping for this day for months and now I'm not sure what to do with it. Short sleeves seem they should be first, then I should find some sunglasses. I have actual errands to run, a birthday party present and then the lilacs I ordered on Wednesday are at Grandma's ready to be picked up. So we'll be digging holes in the mud this afternoon and then maybe a little art in the city with pals this evening.

You Can Get Anything You Want

After the movie (Observe and Report - not so recommended, kind of depressing, made my stomach hurt, that's another post.) last night we went and wandered around Big Lots where you can find everything you ever wanted that you didn't even know you needed for like a dollar.

For instance shade grown, fair trade coffee pop:




or Pop with a pin up on it



The drink selections are always the funniest and last night was no exception, after I found Java Pop and ACE, I found the shelves of Hooters Energy Drink, though I thought it would be more appropriate to have Hooter's Chocolate Milk (Bad-ump bump!)



The top shelf was still full of the brunette cans,



The bottom shelf held one lone blond can. WTF Hooter drinkers?! The Blondes taste better?!



Over in the cereal isle I found



and then just before we left the store, the universe leaned over and whispered 'Wolfgang' again in my ear (it's come up in some oddly random ways this week and that's weird - thanks T.)

Last Sunday

On Your Marks! Get Set....

Today I am on the verge of something. I have no idea what it is. I'm waiting to see what could happen. It could just be excitement about practice tonight or nervous energy about some projects I'm working on but I feel like a shaken soda pop with the cap still on all fizzy with energy today.

A Jacket Accident

So I don't know if I've said it or not but Ella wants to design her own clothes. All the time she's drawing patterns and cutting them out of paper and then gluing them together and on more than one occasion I've totally busted her cutting up actual clothing so she can redesign them, including my clothes - sigh. Today when she walked up to me wearing a mermaid skirt over a fairy leotard and a pink corduroy vest resembling the corduroy blazer I sent her to school in today and I asked her what happened to the sleeves on her jacket she said "They fell off" and when I started laughing she had the nerve to get mad at me.

Happy Easter!

Stuff

Rock Collection

I sat up last night until 3 am listing to old rock music and wondering where the Led Zeppelin of the 2000s is.  The Van Halen of 2009? The RHCP of today? Why don't we have a super rock group that is so incredible everyone knows who they are?  I know I'm old and crabbity but even my grandma knows who the Stones are, so come on!  Is it because we have too many choices and they are all available all the time? Is it because the great music machine is churning out American Idol and more dance music than ever before? Is it because rock-n-roll is dead and given way to Akon and Fergie? Or have I just been missing something in a big way because I've had me head stuck in Veggie Tale Movies and Laurie Berkner videos for a half a decade? 

Dear ineternets - who is your modern rock supergroup? Got any? Coldplay anyone? Muse? Whatcha got? 

PS If you're trying to overcome some insomnia, you should NOT sit up and listen to Led Zeppelin.  

My Crowded Birthday Party

The home bout I'm skating in on April 25th is almost sold out. Everyone is turning tickets and money in on Tuesday and from the sounds of it and all the scrambling there won't be any un-sold tickets left to turn in. I have a few to sell for myself and haven't yet called and friends or family. So if you want a ticket from me, let me know by Tuesday. It'll be the Divas vs the Flying Squirrels with Announcer Dick Dragon and the band Unicycle Drag Race for the half time shows (yes there are two half times LOL!) and all of this in front of a sold out crowd on my birthday. Sounds like crazy fun? It's gonna be.

Diary of a Mayor's Wife - Drowning in Stubborn

Shortly after building the new high school it became obvious the grade of the large field surrounding it was incorrect. The neighborhood to the North was flooding every time it rained. Dan consulted with experts and brought it to the attention of the school board who's answer went something like; "Of course the retention pond is fine, there's never any water in it after it rains" to which someone should've knocked their heads together until they realized a retention pond should be full after it rains not the neighborhood's yards next to the retention pond.

The village on behalf of the residents asked the school to get it fixed. In the normal scheme of construction, the school board would contact the general contractor and the general contractor would make the sub-contractor that did the grading fix it, or at the least back charge them for the work, but that didn't happen. The school board hired an out of state general contractor who did some creative paperwork allowing him to subcontract everything for the lowest non-union bid possible and the sub-contractors were long gone by the time the bricks were falling off and the neighborhood was flooding. Besides the school board didn't want to admit it was their fault or try to contact the general contractor anyway and instead waved their butts in the general direction of the neighborhood next to them.

Dan offered a compromise telling the school board, it was going to cost the village and the school board both at least $10,000.00 each in lawyer fees to argue about who would fix it and so he would just take the $10,000.00 and set it aside for the regrading of the school's field and the school board could pitch in their $10,000.00 and that's would cover the cost to fix it. The school board decided that being right was way more important than actually fixing anything or saving the taxpayers any money or being good neighbors and again waved their butts in the face of everyone.

The local news paper hasn't covered any of this. Perhaps it is too hard to make it to the meetings, with all that showing up places, finding out what is happening and writing stuff. In the mean time our neighbors called our house every time it rained to complain that it'd been years and still their yards become ponds when it rained. After every single call Dan would get his coat and boots on and go look at the water and share in their frustration. The two boards are still arguing over who should fix it but now we are done taking the neighbor's calls.

Diary of a Mayor's Wife

My husband is the mayor of our little town and yesterday he didn't get re-elected. Yes, we knew it was coming. For lots of reasons, we knew it was coming and really Dan was thinking he didn't even have time to go out and get signatures so his name would be on the ballot, but one cold Sunday in four below weather he tromped around and got them anyway and that was the extent of it really. He's been working too hard lately to campaign. A few yard signs and a debate (that he totally kicked butt at) a few postcards and that was it really. We didn't have the time or energy or some days the desire to put much more than that into it.

When he ran originally, four years ago, we had a website, buttons, yard signs, press releases, walk pieces, informational handouts and Dan knocked on every door in town and talked nonstop about the things he wanted to do. This year the new kid ran that same campaign Dan did the first time around and we watched him tirelessly do it, knowing it would work.

There's lots of feelings here today, the first of course is being proud of what Dan has done. I've watched him work endless hours, reading every municipal periodical cover to cover and attending every function and meeting he could always thinking of the village first, staying up worrying about budgets, answering phone calls and looking at potholes at all hours of the night. Literally serving his neighbors at every waking moment even when he knew he couldn't make the popular decision. Too many in the past have made the choices that made them popular and Dan swept up that mess and made the hard decisions* that put us back on track. I'm so proud to say, in the last four years he's accomplished every single one of the things he set out to do, or was on track to accomplish them. It's up to the next person and the next board to finish it up and follow through. So today I hope.

Dan also doesn't sing his own songs, he never will, he's that type of fella. He'll do you a favor but you may never figure out it was he that did it. This isn't good if you’re in politics, you must have a media machine behind you and he didn't for reason I may explore later** but I digress. If you are in politics you must never do a good deed without letting everyone know you did and then never letting them forget it. It's the ego building part of the job and my husband has never needed that part, he's just always wanted to serve his neighbors and do what is right.

So anyway the next set of feelings that briefly wash over me are a terrible prediction that the new guy fails and the whole things falls to pieces without Dan. Then I say "Nah-na-na-nah nah, told you so!" After all, isn't that what everyone projects when they leave a job or an organization they gave so much too? Sounds childish, and it is. I realize that I still have to live here and if the whole village goes bankrupt any outstanding bonds will just get added to MY tax bill and I won't be able to afford to flush my toilet anymore. So reality sets in and I hope the new guy is much smarter than I give him credit for. I just can't help but be worried. The fella's been to TWO board meetings EVER. Yes, EVER in the short five years he's lived here. But here I am falling into all the million things I've been screaming in my head about for the last few weeks and it's not going to do any good. It's time too look forward again and hope.

I started this blog so that I could speak freely and anonymously about politics without alienating any of my neighbors and it's grown into a place to talk to my pals, a document of our lives, a hub of news for my family, a daily ritual, a window to you all, and a great piece of entertainment for myself. Dare I say I'm a little freer to say what I want now; though I may just leave it all behind and move forward. Revisiting and wallowing in the nitty-gritty may just make me a bitter person when really I should let go and enjoy the extra free time we'll have, the loss of stress and celebrate where we've been and continue to hope great things for us all. For now, we’ll go back to quietly sitting on the front porch sipping margaritas, watching the parade, all the while remembering how strange it is to be in the parade.

* Some of them weren't such hard decisions but you would be blown away if I told you... well, hell I can tell you now! Dan actually had citizens call and ask him if he could tell the police to stop hanging around outside the bar at 2am because they're scaring the bar patrons from driving home. First of all downtown is only two blocks long and the police station IS downtown and secondly REALLY?! REALLY?! They may have well asked him for an actual “get out of jail free card” it caused quite a ruckus around town when of course he told them no.

** The big daily news paper didn’t even realize there was a Village President race here until the results came in. The three-way Village President race wasn’t on the sample ballot, and the village board members who were listed in yesterday’s news weren’t up for re-election. Apparently no body bothered to actually check with the board of elections.

Early

I woke up to the flutter of wings in a swirl of dream thinking of angels and hearing spring time up close above the bed. Realizing a bird was flying over me and yelling for Dan I hoped it would be an easy ordeal, with Dan opening up the front doors and the little thing flying right out but as usual it opted for bashing itself on each of the windows in our home, none except the tiniest of which actually open and the little thing missing freedom altogether. Dan and I set to work to wear the bird out, Dan with a long stick and I with a silk dress found on the floor, white with black polka dots and red roses. Dan waving at one end of the house and I waving the small dress at the balcony, the exhausted bird flying between the two largest pieces of stained glass in the house, I was resigned to being up early all hopes of crawling back under the covers and finding the dream I couldn't remember had flown. Finally exhausted and bruised the little bird landed in the sill next to my computer and Dan gently picked him up in a sheet and brought him out the front door and set him on the stoop. It flew away.

Things that Ella Says that Probably Make More Sense Her Way:

My dear daughter brushes her teeth with "tooth taste."

Yesterday instead of eating 2 plain ol hard boiled eggs at lunch we had FOUR very fancy "doubled eggs."

Today we are going on a family date to the "movie feeder" where we will consume Monster vs Aliens.

All My Fun Revolves Around Food

Dan went running off to the remote regions of Northern IL with his pals today to play war games so Ella and I have the day to ourselves. We are kicking it off by catching up on our junkie TV and ranch flavored provisions. Later we may round out the day with fort making and fancy culinary feats (deviled eggs.) Dan may be home by then, it depends on how cool the games are and how rampant he feels like running. I am a tad bummed though as we had a couple of invitations form pals that are running some rampant of their own tonight, but alas we try to ration our already sparse baby sitter situation out so that we aren't overextending our resources.

I wish we had a babysitting service around here so that I could just call 1-800-POPPINS any old afternoon and by evening a delightful but stern, background-checked, lady would drop in with her umbrella to sing and dance with kiddo for enough hours that Dan and I could go gambling, or watch some stand up comedy, or eat some sushi or rent a limo and stick our heads out the top and yell "Woooohooo!" as we drive around town downing Champaigne and caviar or ranch flavored snacks and Miller High Life.

I Love You Man

Totally funny movie. Left the theater feeling happy and joking around with my date. Four stars!

Rules of Thumb

I read the entire book and these were the tidbits so unforgettable I felt the need to share them:

Getting Thoroughly Acquainted: It takes 30 hours of conversation to know whether your really like someone. Be wary of anyone who invites you only to places where you can't chat, such as movies, plays or concerts. - B. Bell

Home Run Sponsorship: Putting $1,000.00 behind a sporting event will generate about the same exposure as $10,000 in advertising. -The Wall Street Journal

Blowing Bubbles: One cup of laundry detergent per gallon of water makes spectacular soap for blowing bubbles. - Rulesofthumb.org

Hot Tub Overflow: Soaking in a hot tub adds two to three pints or perspiration per hour per person to the water. - Phil Tomlinson

Movies I'd like to see that will probably play no where near me:

The Hangover

Nursery University

Bart Got A Room

and most of all BIG MAN JAPAN <-- I may buy this one just to see it.

Blog This

So often I find myself not writing about a subject because I feel like other blogger have said it so much more eloquently or with significantly more snark that I can muster. I'm shying from politics because I am pretty happy with the Obama administration and I don't blog about Ella's antics so much anymore because it sorta feels like a permanent invasion of her privacy. So, that leaves my views and projects to talk about and sometimes it's just not that interesting. So so so. That's where I am with this four year long project. Yes, I've been blogging for four years.

The Best Snack Ever

Brain/Blog Dump

Wow people, I've been on the go for days and my brain feels like mush. I've hit the point where I have to start making lists so I can remember put gas in the car. Tomorrow I hope to pencil in a long hot bath and a date with my DVR. I've just got tooo much to do. I just sent a fax and it's 12:13am. Who sends faxes at 12:13am? Fax spammers and really freaking busy people. Anyway I am having a Miller High Life and thinking of staying up until 1:00 to read my dear blogs that I haven't caught up on for days and I'm wondering if all my digital pals are still kickin'.

I find it ironic that my blog's spell check says that "blog's" is spelled wrong.

I liked the movie Watchmen even with it's very Biblical theme. Oh yeah, I said it; Dr. Manhattan represents Jesus and Ozymandias is Judas. Also I am still really upset about the parents who brought their 6 and 4 year old to see it who sat in front of us. And I really think the person who sold the tickets to that family needs a good lecture on how 'it takes a village.'

I can't wait to cook some squash tomorrow night - I've been craving it for days. There must be some vitamin in squash I need right now.

We (The Stateline Divas) won against the Fox City Foxz' Rollergirl Regiment in Appleton last Saturday 65 to 64 and it came down to the last second so it was a super great game and the ladies we played were very nice and the hotel was great and a good time was had by all. As far as I know, no major injuries - Yay! Thousands of photos HERE (I'm #00.) We play in Beloit against the Paper Valley Flying Squirrels on April 25th. Tickets HERE and the fabuous poster I made for it HERE.


Feeling down? Go read THIS it may make you feel better. My favorite: "Today, I was eating ice cream and I noticed some on my jeans so I wiped it off with my finger and licked it. It was bird shit. FML"

Skimping

So I find myself using every last thing in the pantry before going to the grocery. There are tons of websites out there that will find a recipe based on what you have in the pantry or freezer and I've been getting a little more creative too. It's kind of interesting meeting the challenge but today because we were out of town, the cupboards are really bare. Our fridge looks bacheloresque with mustard, a flat two inches of coke in a two liter bottle and left over mostacholi from a week ago. I just fried the last three eggs for breakfast and if we want lunch before we hit the grocery store it'll have to be canned soup or graham crackers with apple slices and peanut butter. So I'm going to the big store in the next town over to do the big shop today. We're also not splurging on Oreos and chips any more. Really week after week my grocery lists look like this:

Milk
Eggs
Butter
Cheese
Veggies
Fruit
Bread
Meat
Soap

Occasionally we have to add flour or sugar or some spice but this is the typical list and everything we eat is formed from these $65.00-$100.00 worth of groceries. Sure the veggies and fruits change according to season but really I think it's the typical American grocery list up there.

***

Read about how restaurants are cutting back on what they're serving, but not what they're charging. Also, food at the grocery is shrinking, cerial boxes are getting smaller and cheese blocks tinier. I wonder if America will loose a few pounds or gain. If people are buying more food in a box (ramen noodles, cheap pizza and mac n cheese) or if we'll grow our own fruits and veggies and cook from scratch... someone should do a study.

To Poo or Not to Poo

So I was reading about this No Poo thing, where people are giving up shampoo. There are several reasons to do it, the first and probably most compelling for me is the news of cancer causing agents in kids shampoos (click for a list.) Here's the thing, I wash Ella's hair at the beginning of the bath and then she is steeped in slightly soapy water with pores wide open, while she plays mermaid until her toes get pruny and the water goes cold. So it's probably not good to soak a kid in cancer causing chemicals. Sure I could go ahead and try to find a shampoo that doesn't contain toxins but a) I'm not a chemist and b) I no longer trust any large company to tell the truth.

So besides all that, there's the plastic which I am trying to give up, and the cost of hair products as well as the argument that un-shampooed hair is sleeker and shinier after 6 weeks, especially if you have coarse kinky hair (which I do.) I've been reading about it and some people use baking soda instead of shampoo and vinegar instead of cream rinse. But there is this 6 week period where your body is re- adjusting it's natural oils and your hair metabolises to the new routine and you just walk around looking greasy and I'm not sure how it works at all if you work out and get all sweaty twice a week like I do. I mean I don't mind living a little hippier but I don't want to smell like a hippy, that is where I draw the line.

So I am hoping to try this out, but I think I'm going to try it when I have a block of six weeks where my hair is long enough to just put in a tight shiny little bun for a month and a half (perhaps this summer.) I also need to keep reminding myself that no shampoo does not mean I don't wash my hair, it just means I will be using a gentler method. I promise if I decide to go for it, I will document in detail every agonizing day and the hopefully shiny results.

Happy St. Patty's

Light

I'm still alive. I've got errands and task coming out the wazoo this week. Everything seems to be getting done and the sun is out so that makes it all the more pleasant to be accomplishing things. I suppose today is as good a time as any to tell you next weekend the Divas are bouting the Fox City Foxes in Appleton WI so I'm also looking forward to that.

Also yesterday I caught Ella opening and closing the fridge very slowly with her eye up to the crack in the door trying to figure out how the light went off. I didn't say anything I just watched her try to figure to out for like five minutes. Eventually I heard a very faint "hmmm" and she walked away.

Still on a Roll

I think it may be a cinnamon roll because today was full of funny. Lunch with my pal who has the best stories ever, Discovery Center with kiddo ala the membership Mom gave us for Christmas and of course roller derby tonight with new skatey ladies. As a bonus the sun is shining again and when Ella's hand rolled lolly pop was dropped in the parking lot and smashed into three pieces, the lolly pop surgery we delicately performed over the open flame of my stove was completely successful and the lolly lasted at least five minutes before it was very purposely crunched and munched up. Yay, for all those cake/candy making shows I watch, reality TV finally pays off.

On a Roll

Ever have one of those day that everything momentarily went right? You hit all the green lights, everyone that called or e-mailed had good news, the sun was out and the house was clean. I'm having one of those days. Good Juju to you folks for reading.

Rules for Uploungy Ball

"First you get a gianormous bed and you put it in the middle of the room, then you jump on it so high you can touch the ceiling fans then you dribble the uploungy ball and if you can dribble it one time you get to keep the ball and you get a point but if you miss the dribble you have to give it to the next person."

Why is a Raven Like a Writing Desk?

On the way home from school Ella and I are talking about show and tell and because we couldn't think of anything impressive to bring to school that started with the letter "U" besides Ella's new umbrella I was wondering what the other kids brought. I'm told one girls brought a stuffed unicorn and another kid brought a ball, then the following conversation takes place:

Me: Ball! What letter does that start with?

Ella: Well, it starts with "B" but really it was an "Uploungy Ball"

Me: An Uploungy [uhp-lounj-ee] Ball? Like for playing Uploungy?

Ella: Yup.

Me: Ok, ok, wait a minute, what does it look like?

Ella: MoooOoooOooom! It's round.

Me: Ookay... what color is it?

Ella: Brown of course. And it goes up and down, up and down and Candice let me play with it, Candice was really nice to me today.

Me: Well that's great, an Uploungy Ball huh?

Ella: Yup.

Moments later we are home and I'm am discussing with Dan what an Uploungy Ball is when I just can't take the mystery any more and I decide to call Miss Preschoolteacher before she leaves school and ask what Candice brought for show and tell, the following conversation takes place:

Me: Hi Miss Preschoolteacher, I have a silly question, I just need your help figuring something out. What did Candice bring to show and tell today?

Miss Preschoolteacher: She doesn't go here anymore, she got accepted to a school closer to home last week and her last day was Monday when Ella was home sick, that's probably why Ella can't think of what she brought for show and tell.

That's when I made this face:

Depression Soup

Because of my new favorite celebrity from Illinois (now in upstate NY) Clara Cannucciari and her You Tube Channel Depression Cooking I've been thinking of this recipe from when I was a kid. It's from my Mom's side of the family and found in the trusty DeCori Family Cookbook, in which the recipe is attributed to Helen DeCori and Kay Nuciforo and so my Mom says it must be a Roman recipe. Menestra Shama loosely translates (as passed down) to "mock soup" or "poor man's soup" or "depression soup" I don't know and no amount of internet searching or English to Italian internet translators can clear it up, so please, if you know someone that speaks Italian or better yet lived/s in Northern Illinois AND through the depression AND speaks Italian, please ask them for me if they have any insight to the etymology of the Shama part of Minestra Shama. So anyway, on to the recipe that taste very yummy, was one of my favorite soups as a kid and costs a total of $4.25 to make.

Tomato Paste 1.25
Ditalli Noodles 1.75
Cabbage 1.25
I assume you own olive oil or some type of oil, salt and pepper.

Minestra Shama
4 qts Water
1/2 lb Ditalli Noodles (or any noodles really)
1/2 Head of cabbage
1 8 oz Can Tomato Sauce or 1 8oz Can of Stewed Tomatoes or 1 Tablespoon of Tomato Paste (whatever you can afford)
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil (or vegetable oil - again whatever you can afford)
1 Tablespoon of Salt

Bring water and tomatoes to a boil, add salt, put in the sliced cabbage (long thin strips), when the cabbage is soft put noodles in and cook until tender. Pepper to taste.

My mom always made it with the tablespoon of tomato paste and more cabbage, less noodles and I suppose it would be good with a little Italian sausage in it as it's kind of yummy as a spicy soup, but really it's best as is with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Stuff

I never watch the Bachelor but last night I was bored and Ella and Dan went to bed early. On the advice of the commercial I sat up and watched the three hour conclusion. Wow! What an entertaining, voyeuristic, awkward piece of television.

***

I love Obama and the things he's getting done.

***

As of labs run yesterday and a low fever, Ella has Influenza A, and despite this story Tamiflu kicked her flu in the ass and she's feeling better in one day. Our insurance only covers so much and there is no generic equivalent so between co-pays and fresh bottles of children's Motrin and Tylenol and new coloring books for time spent on the couch here's the final score: Flu 0 vs Us -$112.63 The flu has taken on another challenger and picked a fight with Dan today but I called the doc and hopefully he'll call something in for Dan. The projected final score for those of you in the sports books biz: Flu 0 vs Us -$162.63

***

Pink Dolphin

Yes, the appearance of Peeps signifies the very height of it

"Mom, is marshmallows in season?" -Ella