Trick or Treat

Owen's favorite treat of Halloween 2006, a glow stick he found on the sidewalk. Oona is so entranced by her big brother, he can do no wrong in her eyes.


Oona, the ultimate lovebug


Owen my happy little dragon, even though he was a little unhappy returning from trick or treating with Dad because everyone kept saying what a cute dinosaur he was.


My minions run off to gather candy for me. Just kidding, Oona stayed in because it was cold and rainy. I'm kidding about the minon part too, I'm the subordinate of the house, except when it comes to dessert : )

Hydrangeas

Here are some close ups hydrangeas from one bush in the corner of our front yard. I can't believe how much variety in color there was on one bush. Unfortunately the other two hydrangea bushes didn't bloom at all. I think I didn't prune them properly, but that didn't seem to have any adverse effect on this bush. Oh well, maybe next year for the other two.

Oona, the burgeoning fashionista

Here's Oona in her new snowsuit, courtesy of her Grandma Cat, which I absolutely love. It's so bright and happy, just like her. And it's Hanna Andersson, one of Oona's pricier pieces of clothing - so it better last forever and get a good price when I sell it a couple years from now. She's using a wipe on the dirty old hand me down chair - can't say I blame her but a fire torch might be more useful on that crappy piece of furniture. I should be thankful that my in-laws gave us the chair and sofa, they were Toby's Nanny and Pappy's and we got the furniture after they died. The sofa and chair are very comfy, it's a big plus to have a sofa that Toby can actually lie down on without his feet hanging off of one end. It's just that they are so ugly, and not even ugly in a cool way just plain godawful ugliness.


Uh oh, there's Oona going into her favorite cupboard. The one that contains the bunch of yummy Belgian chocolate we got from Toby's host parents when they visited a couple weeks back, of which the supply has rapidly dwindled thanks to yours truly. I just love this little skirt that I got Oona at H&M. I think the cats with balloons on their tails is so kitschy and I love the bright colors, this seems to be a theme with me. I bought her another top that matches the skirt but it's even louder color wise; purple & pink stripes with an orange, pink, purple and white heart on it. I even bought orange, purple & pink striped tights to go with the outfit but I think she might meet the color saturation limit with all 3 articles of clothing on at the same time. Who knows? I know she doesn't look too hip in this but it's a comfy outfit and my Grandma loves to see Oona in the skirt, which looks a bit like a fifties poodle skirt. Oh this shot also gives me yet another thing to complain about in our house - don't you just love how the veneer on the side of the cabinet is a totally different color than the cabinet itself?! In our kitchen there are two cabinets with veneers too dark and this too light veneer. I don't know how the previous tenants didn't notice this but then I reflect back on all the amenities they brought to this home - the twister sized polka dots painted on the kitchen walls and the lovely cloud vanity in our upstairs bathroom. I guess I should be thankful they weren't more industrious with respect to home renovations.

List of books I'd love to read, once I have time

1. A million Little Pieces by James Frey - So much controversy! A 'memoir' that a recovering addict wrote. I'm not offended or surprised that the guy exaggerates or lies in certain instances. I think that's par for the course with a former addict in recovery. I know Oprah was embarrassed by this one and had to shame him publicly on TV which I think is rather petty. It's not like he was writing for the NY Times or like he lied about weapons of mass destruction to America. How many people in the government lie to us on a daily basis - and I'd say those lies are more like to have detrimental consequences than James Frey's memoir. Let's give this poor guy a break. See how compelling this book is and I haven't even read it yet?!

2. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs - awesome title, although I'm more of a 'walking with erasers' girl. need to read this before seeing the movie, shouldn't be too hard since having kids I catch every movie I want to see once it's out on DVD

3. Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie- provocative but I'm going to need to be very alert and not in my fuzzy mother-induced brain mush mode which I seem to have been in since, oh I guess since Owen was born four years ago. Maybe I'll read it after taking smart pills, saw some article in Scientific American about some such pills - imagine?!

4. Any/all of Dickens and Dostoevsky - would probably have to be incarcerated in order to get around to these two. But I do feel like something is missing in my life having not read either of them

5. anything by William Faulkner - see #3 about needing smart pills before reading

6. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl - this girl is supposed to be the new hot young thing in literature

7. White Teeth and On Beauty by Zadie Smith - sigh, another precocious, attractive, successful author

8. Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - murder? magic? madness? I should be running out the door to buy this one

9. Atonement & Saturday by Ian McEwan - love his early works that I've read

10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Safran Foer - heard good things about this spry young author too, God I'm starting to sound like my Grandma

11. And finally, Shantaram by David Gregory Roberts which I bought my husband years ago and which he really enjoyed but when will I find time to read a 936 page book. I'd have to go on a major crime spree that gives me ten years in one of those 'genteel' prisons in order to get around to this one as well as those written by Dostoevsky and Dickens

sleep deprivation inebriation

I'm so overwhelmingly exhausted with watching two children, doing the domestic stuff attached to being a stay at home Mom, while trying to make jewelry for an upcoming craft show I'm in and visit my Grandmother a few times a week. I don't know how I'm able to still be semi-literate at this point. And my son wants a new fish and cat since our fish Orca died a couple months ago, our neighbors dog and hermit crab (named crabby owen in honor of my son) died the same day as Orca. Poor Lily held on a few more weeks and then she died too. I just don't think I can handle a new cat and fish, since I will be handling cleaning and feeding these two, until after my Grandmother passes. Until I'm well rested I think I've reached nuture overload. Sad to say that the only times I've gotten a great amount of sleep have been the two times I went to the ER for mysterious stomach pain and vomiting. The residents would look at me baffled and somewhat annoyed that none of the medications to curb vomiting helped me. Like it's all a sick ploy for attention on my part. But when they'd notice how much pain I was in when these awful pains gripped my belly, like someone was stabbing me with a knife made of acid, they gave me Demerol. YUM! That demerol would let me drop off into a blissful sleep where I couldn't feel the pain anymore. And both times I got to stay in the hospital for an additional day for testing, which wasn't so fun, but I managed to cram a ton of sleep into those 36 hours. And they never did figure out what was wrong with me. I guess that's my poor person's version of a get away spa.

Grand Opening!

Here's Oona rocking a Carol Brady look. All that's missing is a shag hairstyle but poor Oona is a bit challenged in the hair department, like her Mom that way. At this point in Oona's development it's all about stretch pants. She received a pair of jeans for her 1st birthday which I had to return they dug into her belly so horribly. I figure she has a lifetime to try and squeeze herself into too tight jeans if she wants, at this stage in her young life it should be about comfort.

My first official post, how monumental! My Grandmother moved to Pittsburgh last week. My Mother came to the tough decision to move her closer to family, that would be me, so that I can visit her a few times a week to check on her and make sure she's doing okay. I say this decision was difficult because she was met with much resistance on the part of her two sisters and feels that her relationships with them will never be the same as a result. It's sad really because she was only trying to do what was best for her Mother and I can't really understand her sisters objections - don't they want their Mom to be visited by a family member 2 to 3 times a week rather than 4 times a month? Isn't it beneficial to have someone 15 minutes away rather than a plane flight away? My grandmother is 91 and since Grandpa died back in March she's been hasn't been doing so well. She gets very lonely and is having problems with dementia - she took a test which said her results would qualify as a positive diagnosis of Alzhiemer's except for the fact that she's older than 99.9% of the test subjects so her results aren't as clear cut. I think that given her age she's doing remarkably well. She does repeat herself a lot asking how old my children are or what is my husband's name but I don't mind telling her again and again - being a Mom to a 4 year old and 1 year old I'm used to repeating myself a lot. The difficult thing I come across is not knowing what to say or ask of Grandma and the others at this assisted living facility that specializes in dementia and Alzhiemer's. I went to visit her last night for their Oktoberfest party and I was going to ask the lady next to my Grandmother how long she's been at Sunrise but then thought better of it as my Grandmother moved in last Wednesday and already thinks she's been there 3 or 4 months. My Grandmother, such a formal proper lady, has become obsessed over her urinary incontinence due to a prolapsed bladder. It's something she talks about constantly and she insists on wearing pantyliners rather than resorting to Poise pads or, God forbid, Depends diapers. When I came into her room yesterday she had used a pantyliner to stick up a note (rather ingenious really) on her closet asking the staff to 'please not remove any clothing from this closet for laundering'. I have to hand it to her, she didn't have any tape in her room so it was a good way to post the note but I think of how proper and modest my grandmother used to be - she'd be mortified at anyone even seeing her pantyliner much less having it taped on her closet. Oh well, I know it was worth it moving her here just to see the smile on her face when she sees Oona & Owen. Everybody at Sunrise gets so elated when they see children. And to think the place my aunts were going to put Grandma in would have isolated her from family the first month and asked that family visits be kept to a minimum - it's complete quackery. Alright time to step off my gerontology soapbox and get my son from Pre-k.