Cough, Round 237

Ugh. It's back. The cough. It's driven H to sleep in the baby's room, driven me to sleepless nights and I've driven myself to the doctor's office to plead for some codeine relief. Nothing works.

And on the nothing works front, we awoke to some veery interesting noises coming from our heating unit this morning. Short answer is that sucker is slowly dying. To the tune of lots of dough, since the builders in the early 80s in their infinite wisdom wedged a large heating system into a tight closet, leaving no room for said units to become obsolete and need to be replaced by bigger/different sized things. Such is the way my Thursday is going. This day can't end soon enough.

Well, if you insist...

Daniel is actually pretty up on the whole idea of "please" and "thank you." And he's even moved into using "you're welcome" without my really trying - just the osmosis of hearing me use it. What cracks me up is when he gets absorbed in something like Curious George, or driving many of his 8,459,876 cars around and we have an exchange that goes something like this:

Daniel: More MILK!

Me: Don't you mean, "More milk please?"

Daniel: OK.

Like the whole milk thing is totally my idea. Toddler psychology. Gotta love it.

Girlfriends

Daniel and a little girl we met at playgroup have taken a shine to one another. It's nice, because her Mom and I have met outside of playgroup now, as well as just coordinated times to visit in the playspace. I like the consistency, and it is fun to hear Daniel pipe up with, "Where's Marisa?" He's still in that stage where he plays around other kids, but I am seeing more and more actual interaction. I found the two kids flopped on pillows in the reading corner and giggling together the other day, and wished I had brought a camera with me.

And we Moms can use it to our devious advantage at times, when it comes to easing transitions from one activity to another: Oh look Daniel, Marisa and her Mom are leaving! Let's go too! (And vice versa.) Someone (usually Marisa, I think) suggests holding hands and Daniel thinks that's OK, so we all grab hold and troop in a conga line out the door to the cars. No fuss, no muss - Yay!

************

I finally caught up with Pamela, one of my bestest girlfriends, the other evening for a dinner out. She and I met at work years ago, and have been friends ever since... A general gabfest over crabcakes and short ribs and followed up by a luscious "peanut butter thing" dessert is good for the soul, don't you think?

An unexpected song

Out of curiosity I sometimes start cruising the shopping websites before upcoming holidays. Biggies like Amazon, smaller spaces like Etsy and lots of things in between. Part of the fun of gift giving for me is finding that perfect something that just reminds me of the person I'm shopping for... like the Star Wars notecards that just absolutely reminded me of Pamela.

And I'm always a little amazed at the "perfect gift lists" that are published, pushing iphones, flat screen TVs, expensive jewelry as the must-haves for those people on your gift list.

Valentine's Day is a low-key affair around our house: nice chocolates, romantic cards, maybe some flowers. It was a wonderful surprise that H gifted me this year with two tickets to see Teddy Goldstein at Club Passim at the end of this month. It has been ages since I have seen some live folk music - and Club Passim, around for more than 40 years, is a wonderful venue. I can't wait!

Sprucing Up The Place

You may have noticed a few changes around here. Don't things look purty?

Awhile back I was having some serious design cravings regarding my blogs: a fresh look, some more space, a third column. The Universe must have decided that yes, I needed a bit of renovation because not long ago I received word that I had won a blog contest - and the prize was a redesign package from RS Designs. The lovely Revka worked her magic in a timely and professional manner, and as a result I have this beautiful new space on the web! Check it out!

Help, I'm slipping into the Twilight Zone...

Cah-ray-zee weather lately around here. I guess it pretty much amounts to "snow squalls." The sky suddenly darkens, huge fat flakes fall to the ground (or sideways if the 40-mile-an-hour winds gust up), thunder, lightning, and over in half an hour. It lasted a bit longer tonight, just in time to complicate a drive home from my mother-in-law's house.

From the "What Were They Thinking?" Files: There is a restaurant on a corner of Main Street in our little town. It used to be a Thai place, but not too long ago changed to Italian. I'm quite sure that running a restaurant is not an easy business, so I've got to hand it to anyone who tries. But they've been putting a mannequin out front, dressed in a chef's outfit, with a big "Welcome" sign between his hands. I wish I could figure out a way to drop an anonymous suggestion that it's just, well, creepy.

Roller Coaster

I have been incommunicado for a bit, basking in some family love and vibes via a visit from Mom and Dad from Wisconsin. We've simply been spending time, having dinners, playing ball across the kitchen table and enjoying the time together. It's a little thrill for me that despite the gaps between visits, Daniel is screechingly overjoyed to see his Grandma and Grandpa. When I told him the night before that we were going to have to drive to the airport to pick them up, he said, "Sounds FUN!" And then asked, "Andy too?" So I know he thinks of his Uncle Andy as well.

I am OK with living as far apart as we do about 95% of the time. Departures are hard, but the zipping through the airport to drop them off left little time to feel down about it. I started catching up on some bloggy stuff yesterday afternoon to discover that I won a blog contest hosted by Elizabeth at Table for Five. That was a nice little surprise to start my week!

The intention was to hop over to a local church playgroup with Daniel this morning for a little R&R. We have been butting heads most of the morning. On every. Single. Thing. It's making me a bit crazy. When I can step back, I recognize that he is probably missing the Grandparents, and can't necessarily express it. And of course there is just that toddler/preschooler testing the limits phase. The trip to the grocery store got jettisoned for all the screaming on the outside landing. When he flung his coat off, and then flung himself to the ground as well it was two choices: coat on and store and be calm, or back inside for a nap. Back inside we went. It is hard when they can scream long enough and loud enough that they can reduce you to tears. I keep saying that this determination and focus will be great traits once he's 18 and headed off to college, but as a two year old he's really able to dance on Mama's last shreds of patience.