Seriously?

 It's barely 8am and all I want to do is just crawl back into my heated mattress pad warmed bed and pull the weighted blanket over my bedraggled head and my mascara smeared eyes... 

First off, what is it with me and electronics?  I only half joke that my magnetic personality is wreaking havoc in the world.  I know how to work the television.  I don't watch a LOT of television, but I know how to work the effing remote!  Alas, I turn on the tv to attempt to watch the weather.  Why did I do that? Who knows.  It's cold.  It might snow.  There might be wind.  Whatever, I truly knew that already - so why was I even trying to turn on the tv?  And why was the tv only working at I want to wake the dead level of volumes?  Literally.  The tv now has mute and I'M SCREAMING volume levels.  Mind you the screaming was when the remote showed it was on a volume level of ONE! Yes, one.  1. 

Fast forward to a teen on the phone when he shouldn't be (note to self adjust his downtime limits by another 15m), one grumpy pre-teen who has a paint splatter on her leggings and can't decide which shoes to wear to school when Jango comes out of the litter box with a piece of poop stuck to his butt fluff.  It's just a pebble Mom say the kids.  Ha ha ha.  So, I grab a Kleenex and try to catch the cat.  The cat is now running and leaping because the dog thinks, yay - my play toy is moving, I must chase it.  I sort of catch Jango and attempt to grab said pebble with the tissue.  Oh no, all I manage to do is smush it into his fluff and piss off the cat who's trying to get out of the way of the dog.  I pause briefly to yell at the kids to go brush their teeth.  One kid listens and heads upstairs, the other attempts to help control the dog so I can chase the cat.  I reach for the kitchen scissors thinking - screw it, sorry kitty - I'm just going to give you a wee little trim.  Dog is barking, cat is hissing, more cats come to see what the fuss is all about... I manage to snip the fluff BUTT (ha, see what I did there...) the smooshy, trimmed, poopy tush fluff is now hanging and not falling.  For Pete's Sake...I toss the scissors down and reach for another tissue.  The dog is now jumping, the kid upstairs is shouting for the other one to come brush teeth before the bus leaves them both, I'm chasing Jango with the scissors in hand AGAIN.  I've now trimmed even more fluff and I think I've gotten the majority of it... kid 2 runs upstairs and then back down about 45 seconds later.  Kid one now thinks they are the parent and wants to know why kid 2 only brushed for 30 seconds.  Dude.  If your teeth and breath stink then so be it... just grab your Chromebook (you know, the one you forgot to charge last night), some shoes - why are you putting on your OLD shoes?? Whatever, I give up... okay - shoo, go, up the street - go go go.  Why is Atticus halfway up the street without a jacket?  It's 20 maybe outside?  Insert eye roll... Oh, and I was also trying to order school lunches in the middle of all of this too because oh yeah, it's now a new month and I'm guessing the kids want to eat something at school because I sure as heck didn't get anything packed!!!  I need to wake up earlier - but that just sounds like a terrible idea.  

So now, it's 8:30.  I'm half caffeinated.  Queso is napping on the sofa.  Jango and his trimmed butt fluff is hiding, probably trying to make himself presentable.  The television is off.  My calendar just dinged.  I'm supposed to be at physical therapy in 30 minutes.  I'd better go throw on some workout clothes and brush my teeth!  Oh, and hope that work doesn't notice that I'm not logged into our big kickoff activities because I'm trying to revive a blog.  

And I should probably feed the fish.  I doubt anyone thought to feed them yesterday...

We Survived!

 I haven't officially measured the snowfall, but I think we got off fairly easy with a mere 18 inches or so.  The puppy is in heaven.  I'll try to add a quick video clip to the post so everyone can see Queso romping in the snow.  Give the girl a stick and some snow and it's pure puppy happiness.  

On Sunday, the kids and I tossed the sled in the back of the car and went to meet friends at the middle school.  There are some good sledding hills and several folks had the same idea.  If the wind wasn't trying to freeze our faces off, it would have been a wee bit more enjoyable!  Greg was stuck with the snowblower and the awesome job of shoveling out the 4 cars in the driveway!

Bomb Cyclone is Coming

 Batten down the hatches.  2 feet of snow is on the way.  Well maybe not.  Oy.  Weather patterns are so unpredictable....  Every few hours the weather predictions and forecasts are changing.  It seems like we will get snow, but I somehow doubt it's really going to be THAT bad.  Of course, snow is truly only useful when you find yourself at the top of a ski lift, but I digress... I do think it will be fun to witness Queso romping around in all the fresh powder.  She may be the most excited out of all of us.  I'll be sure to get a video or two of the pure puppy joy.  

There is enough snow predicted that Atticus's track meet in Providence, RI has been cancelled.  Not that I'm all that sad about not driving close to 2 hours each way even if the experience is good.   Alas, we still have New Haven, CT to look forward to.  

So... I sit here at the kitchen table trying to think of all the kazillion things there are to update you on.  I mean obviously you know about the world's fascination with Wordle.  It's amazing how quickly that website has gone viral!  Apparently many of us have been searching for a way to use our brains and stretch our vocabulary skills.  Even Atticus has gotten in on the trend - so it must be sort of cool if the teenager is doing it.  He thinks everything is a waste of time.  Like coats.  Total waste of time.  It's only 4 degrees before the wind chill.  He'll only be standing at the top of the hill waiting on the bus for "like a few minutes max"... so why in the world would he wear the new Columbia coat that I bought him after he insisted that last year's coat was too small?  How dare I ask these logical questions.  

Follow up post to come with actual results.  :)

Long Johns

Oh for the love of goodness.. what in the world will I do with Atticus?

I dropped the kids at school for their early morning club - Bagels and Board Games.

I went to school just after lunch to help out with the 3rd graders Halloween parties.

I collected Wren and went to the office to wait for Atticus at the end of the day.

He walked up carrying his backpack and wearing - no joke - his long johns and his jacket.  I laughed out loud.  I mean, what in the world was he doing?  Why was he wearing his underwear and no clothes?  Why was he wearing long johns in the first place under his clothes?  I tried explaining to him that what he was wearing was unacceptable but he totally didn't get it.  Just kept telling me that he was hot in school (no kidding dude - what were you thinking)!

Goofball.

One Apple, Two Apples, Green Apples, Red Apples

This year's apple picking expedition included friends!  Many thanks to Jen M and her awesome family for joining us for a morning in the orchard and then lunch.

This year, we went to Boston Hill Farm in North Andover.  It's a small family owned farm relatively close to us.  (It's closer than gymnastics anyways!)

Our drive over to the farm was a bit of an adventure as power was still out to much of Andover and North Andover meaning the street lights were OUT.  Not even flashing.  OUT.  As a public service announcement before I even go any further -- dude, people, we need to talk.  When you are in a car and approach a light that has no power what's the proper way to proceed?  Treat the bloody intersection like a 4 way stop!  Do not blow through the intersection thinking woo hoo -- no light for me!  Because let me just tell you that some other idiot going the other direction is thinking the same ***** thing and while I'm a firm believer in the Darwin theory, there's no need for me to witness a massive traffic accident when I'm on my way to the farm!

Backtracking a bit... WHY was there no power you ask?  Well, there was a bit of a commotion on last Thursday afternoon.  Columbia Gas starting experiencing explosions all over Andover, North Andover and Lawrence.  It was chaos.  It's still chaos.  70+ explosions all over town.  And no one knew what was causing them or how to stop them.  We were fine at our house - we have our own propane tanks, so we're not on the city's gas line.  There's now a lawsuit and so many people still don't have the gas fixed at their house.  The neighbors are all jumpy every time they think their house is going to explode!

So - in an effort to return to normalcy and still spend money at small local businesses, we decided to go ahead and meet friends at the orchard.

We now are the proud owners of a half a bushel of Courtland and MacIntosh apples.  That's a LOT of apples folks.

Unlike the orchard we went to last year in Westchester, this orchard didn't require any crazy tools to reach the apples.  It merely required Wren to climb onto Greg's shoulders a couple of times!

We got really lucky with the weather and while it was warm - it was overcast and we didn't melt!  Yay.  

It was a great morning and lunch and I hope we're able to make it a tradition with our local friends!  

Sprinkler Woes

One of our sprinkler heads hasn't been rotating properly.  It's been on Greg's to-do list for a while -- ever since the company we had come to turn on the system and check the heads did a crappy ass job.  Ugh.  But anyway...

We ordered some new parts and Greg set off to change the head this afternoon.  He ended up digging a freaking trench trying to get to the base of the thingy.  Then water and dirt were everywhere.  Greg was using the cleaning tool from the fish tank trying to siphon (syphon?) the water out from around the thingy so we could put the new part on - and that was working about as well as you'd think.  Not at all.  So, he trudged off to Home Depot to purchase a shop vac!  I suppose on those rare occasions when something is overflowing, we'll be really really glad we own a shop vac?!?

Fun times at the Badens.

On the upside, the sprinklers are now all working and hopefully the reseeding of our lawn will take hold this time!

Knock Knock.

Funny how feeling emotional makes me want to spew everything on paper.  Or virtual paper as the case may be.

Ugh.  Some things that aren't shareable are really getting under my skin at the moment and we're working on a resolution.  Hopefully it's water under the bridge soon and not even worth a mention.

In school news, the kids have begun the 2018-2019 school year.  This is Atticus's last year in elementary school which I can hardly believe!  How is it possible I'm the parent of a 10 year old?  I mean - wow, time flies when you're adulting.

We've begun the process of getting Atticus evaluated at school to see if there are other things we can do to help his learning.  He's a smart kid, but has difficulties getting this thoughts and knowledge out of his head.  I say he's more of a slow cooker kind of kid.  Things go in -- and they just need to stew about for a while before he's ready to discuss or give you an answer.  Nothing wrong with that, it's just how his brain works.  So, we're looking at different solutions and options that may help him learn to manage his expectations.

Atticus has also decided that he'd like to play the trumpet!  Oy!  He was playing the baritone in NY, but that wasn't an option here - so I'm currently researching where to rent/buy a trumpet.  Music class for him will be on Monday mornings at 7:30AM.  Oooof.  Although I suppose this will help prepare us for the 6:30AM bus once he's up in the middle school.

Wren was not thrilled with her teach assignment for 3rd grade.  From what I hear, the parents love her and the kids not so much.  She's strict.  Personally, I'm okay with that.  It's good for the kids to have guidelines and rules and structure!

Since Wren has also been complaining of being bored at school for the past year, we've opted to enroll her in a local after school program called Russian School of Math.  She claims to not enjoy math, but she's good at it and this will ensure that for at least 2 hours a week, she's not "bored" and "not learning anything".  The results from the students as they age is impressive.  Is it weird that I wish I'd had Russian Math as a kid?  I mean, I took math classes for easy A's at the University of Texas!  Math is awesome.

The after school programs are also starting back up with a vengeance.  Track, gymnastics, ninja classes, Hebrew School, chess -- and we're just getting started.  :)

Here's to another trip around the sun...

Here's to consistency and knowing that we're not changing schools...

Emotional Weekend

For me, parenting is not particularly enjoyable.  I know there are highs and lows - blah blah - and while it's not really acceptable to say out loud, it's been a tough journey for me.  I love my children to the moon and back, but at the end of the day, I still don't enjoy parenting.  I see all the Facebook posts about how someone's child was the bestest and most amazing thing that ever happened in their lives and I think, hmmm.... that's just not me.  I love my children, but I'm not all googly eyed when discussing being a mom.

But - I still am ferociously protective and want nothing but the best for my kids.  It's weird.  I should probably see a therapist to discuss further...

So, I found out that Atticus was purposefully NOT invited to one of his "friends" birthday parties last Friday night.  My heart was crushed.  Atticus considers this boy to be a friend.  Atticus would never think to not invite him to our parties!  The silver lining is that we were in Boston and couldn't have gone anyways -- but just knowing that he wasn't invited was a blow to the chest.  I may not enjoy parenting, but I still want to shield him from the cruelty of the world and mean kids.  I know we can't always invite everyone to our parties, it's not practical, it's not the real world, it's not always financially optional -- but to exclude someone on purpose hurts.  It hurts when you're 9.  It hurts when you're 40+.

But the weekend continued...

We drove back to NY so that Atticus could race on the 12th in a qualifier race.  To qualify, Atticus needed to be in the top 30 finishers (out of 107 runners) or his team needed to be in the top 5.  Neither of those things happened.  Atticus had a good time of 15:51 in his 3k which put him in 77th place out of the 107 runners.  Tailwind B Team of 9-10y Boys came in 10th overall.  Tailwind did absolutely amazing as a whole.  45 out of the 49 athletes competing on the 12th qualified for the meet this weekend in Rhode Island.  Which meant that 4 kids didn't make it.  How absolutely gut wrenching.  This travel meet in Rhode Island was going to be Atticus's last hoorah with Tailwind.  He was looking forward to the camaraderie much more than the actual race -- but we just assumed that Atticus would qualify!   And then he didn't.

News came today that one of the other 9-10y boys can't make it this weekend to the race which has opened up a spot for Atticus.  He's going to be over the moon excited when I tell him after school.  I don't really have the time to be jetting off to Rhode Island at the moment - but it would have been crushing to not go.  Atticus is looking forward to swimming in a crappy hotel pool.  To having a team dinner.  To sleeping at a hotel.  To racing with his friends...

So, here's a toast to being a good parent -- and to Rhode Island.  I've never been to Rhode Island.  I suppose we can check that off the bucket list now...

The Treat Fairy

They're seriously still falling for this stunt?  

The night of Halloween, the kids leave a bag of candy out for the "treat fairy".  The naughty fairy visits overnight, eats the candy often leaving a huge mess... and then she feels terrible and gives the children a gift in exchange for the candy she's eaten.  

This year, the treat fairy left Atticus the Toilet Trouble game.  A horrid game where you spin the roll of toilet paper, and then flush the handle and hope you don't get sprayed in the face with water.  

While I wasn't looking, Atticus decided to build the game all on his own.  Somewhere along this process the flusher stopped flushing.  Not that I was going to complain, but since I'd just spent $18 on the thing at Target -- I kind of wanted it to work!

So, after trying two different sets of new batteries, I figured the thing was defective and off to Target I went this morning to exchange the game.

Now that I'm over getting yelled at by the random angry dude on Boston Post Rd -- I'm going to try and set up the new game before continuing on with my day!  

Here's to a working toilet.  Oy vey.

Road Rage

Wow.  I was just on the receiving end of my first bout of road rage.  I was returning home from Target where I had just exchanged our Toilet Trouble game (more on that later).  A fire truck was backing up and doing something in the middle of the road - and the firemen stopped me and another car so that the truck could do whatever it was doing.  During this time, the light for me turned red and then turned green for the oncoming traffic.  A man, I won't call him a gentleman, drove up within inches of my car, rolled down his window, began screaming at me and waving his arms.  I smiled and pointed at the firetruck blocking my way.  This did not amuse him and he continued screaming and laying on his horn.  I smiled.  I waited for the firetruck to move and I kept heading home, singing to the radio...

I hope someone pays him a random act of kindness because goodness knows he could use it.

Perspective people.

Where's My Timeturner?

I know I say this often - but holy moly, life is moving at the speed of light right now!

Let's see what's going on right now...

Organizing the upcoming author visit for grades 3-5 this Friday!
Arranging the pack and load of the storage unit.
Arranging the pack and load of the house.
Drafting a letter to the current landlord to see if he's okay with the proposal of subletting.
Purging.
Organizing.
Figuring out upcoming track schedules.
Looking for new sports teams in MA.
Looking for a new orthodontist.
Looking for a new oncology team to monitor me.
Purging.  (Did I say that yet?)

G'ahhhhhhhhhh....

Adulting

It's time to admit it.  Me (and by default - nearly all of my friends) are now adults.  There are a few things we need to be doing...

Create a Savings Account.  You should have a rainy day/emergency fund.  This is something we've been working on with the kids for a few years now.

Create a Monthly Budget.  It's nice to know where you're spending money, so that you can appropriately utilize the savings account (and keep saving perhaps) and maybe, just maybe, plan for a vacation or two!

Create a Will.  You have things.  Monetary things.  Sentimental things.  Children.... there needs to be some sort of record of what should happen to these things in unfortunate circumstances.

Let's get to it folks... people are depending on us.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I was given the opportunity to show my children that even people you know don't always do the right thing.  It sucks.

On Friday afternoon I arrived school to start setting up for Scare Fair.

2:07 I texted Greg a photo of a bike that was in the used sports good sale asking if we should get the bike for Wren.

2:15 I spoke with the Dad in charge of the bike sale and said I was interested in a bike.  He said great.

3:00 In anticipation of Greg's response, I wrote "SOLD BADEN" on the tag hanging from the handle bars.

3:10 Wren came over excited that she saw the SOLD sign on the bike.

3:59 Greg replied OK.

4:00 The kids and I had to go to Wren's taekwondo belt test.  I did NOT take the bike with me.  I figured that I had written my name and SOLD on the tag.  I just didn't think about it.

Saturday morning at 9:15 I arrived at school to do the heavy set up for Devilish Delights.  I walked through the sports good sale with my arms full of bake sale items and noticed the bike was missing.

I spoke with the Dad who looked a bit mortified and said he may have sold the bike to another mom.

We figured out who it was sold to and I went to talk to her.

I calmly explained that I had written our name and sold on the tag.  She looked me straight in the eye and first claimed that she actually bought a different bike.  She didn't.  Then she said that it didn't say my name on it.  It did.  Then she said that she'd already brought it home with her (totally my fault for not taking it at 4pm) and that it was hers?

Now I have to explain to Wren that her friend's mom took the bike I bought for her home and that she's not giving it back.  That sometimes, people don't do the right thing.

Apple Picking For The Win

On a whim, after seeing some photos from friends - I decided to take the kids apple picking.  I mean, who doesn't need 15 pounds of apples?  There are so many amazing farms within 30-45 minutes of our house, it seemed silly not to go.

The plan had us headed to Harvest Moon Orchard.  I knew the traffic would be a bit crazy, so we took the prior exit and used Waze to wiggle over.  And well, after following a line of cars, we ended up at Outhouse Orchard!  Eh - that worked out well too.

 

The map of the day said that we'd be picking Macintosh and Idared varieties.

The kids were smarter than me and both wore baseball caps for the day!  

He dropped the one he had been eating!

The highlight of the afternoon was using the 10 foot long apple picking stick!

Hayride?  Sure!  We were able to see more of the orchards this way.

Singing cowboy, Orville Davis was along for the hayrides.

I just did a quick google on Mr. Davis and it seems he's done a right plenty in his time here on earth.  Here's an article on him in the New York Times.

Now it's Monday morning and I'm staring at a huge bag of apples.  The kids each took an apple in for snack today and they each brought one for their teachers as well.  I've also spent about an hour peeling apples and tossed them into the crockpot with some sugar and cinnamon to simmer for the day.  Hopefully we'll all be having applesauce for dessert.  Tomorrow, I'll branch into apple cakes and apple muffins...

Heartbreaking...

What a way to wake up.  The news pouring forth over the news is horrendous and terrifying.  I find it even more upsetting as our family just attended Yom Kippur services the day prior.  My kids and I have spent the past 10 days since Rosh Hashanah talking about being a good person and what that means, how to be a better sibling, how to be a better friend, how to be a better person in society.

When will the majority of this country start talking about mental heath and gun control instead of what they perceive as an insult to the flag?  I just can't imagine the horror of being at the concert last night.

Do something good today.  Prove that there are good people out there.  Smile at a stranger.  Hold the door for someone.  Something.  Anything.

Jango

We have a new rescue.  His name is Jango.  He's orange and fluffy and looks like a little lion.  And he purrs like no one's business!

Little Jango had quite the adventure getting to the Baden house.  He was found outside of MacKenzie and Casey's house in Oklahoma!  Then there was a quick jaunt down to Texas.  Then a few hour flight up to LGA.  Whew.  And now he's settling into life indoors.  I think he likes it.  :)

Welcome home Jango.

Tzedakah starts at home

The past few weeks have given us plenty of opportunity to talk to our children about giving back and helping others.

I wish we could help everyone, but I'm happy knowing that we're trying.

Atticus and Wren planned on having a lemonade stand to raise money to go to Rye Playland which is a small local amusement park.  Then came the hurricanes.  Hurricane Harvey hit several of our friends hard.  Several had damage.  One college friend lost her home.  My cousin works with two nurses who lost everything.  The kids and I talked and we decided that any money raised at our lemonade and bake sale would go instead towards gift cards to help our friends rebuild.  In exchange, Greg and I promised to take the kids to Playland without them having to spend their own money.  (Little did we know the theme park was already closed for the season!  That part stinks as it still feels like summer outside and we totally could have gone for a day of fun.)

 

Other friends also decided to hold a lemonade stand.  Then, a local benefactor sent us an additional $100!  We were able to send a grand total of $400 in gift cards to our friends.  

Super proud of of all the local kids who are helping do good things!

Moving at the speed of light

Well, it seems that the owners have accepted our offer.  Next up - finding a home inspector.

I'm a little nervous that we were only in this house for a grand total of 15-20 minutes before making an offer, but at the same time -- it was definitely one of the best ones we viewed.

I'm already making plans and updating a few things in my mind.  Things like relocating the office and the guest bedroom.  Adding a shower to the half bath that's on the main level so that we can have a main floor guest room.  Adding a half bath to the lower level so the kids aren't having to traipse upstairs every time they need the loo... Yes, I do want to redo the kitchen layout - but for now, I'll work with what's there and see how it goes.

The other big decisions require a floor plan, graph paper and some creativity.  What goes in the great room?  What should be in the formal living space?  We don't need a formal living space?  Is there enough room for a library instead?  Do the funky columns in between the dining room and the formal living room neeeeeeed to be there?

There's a lot going on to say the least.  It's going to be a busy end to 2017!

On the Move, Again...

I know.  You're shocked.  Surprised.  How can it be you think?

Greg has accepted a job as the General Counsel for a small(ish) software firm in Andover, MA.  Since we're leaving firm life, we've got fingers crossed that moving in house will bring a bit more stability to our day to day lives.  A little more family dinners and a whole lot less weekend stress.  That's the game plan.

Boston.

Never thought my kids would grow up in Boston, but then again - why not Boston?  I am definitely drawn to college towns and relatively large cities.  If it's by a body of water, even better.  The  Boston area definitely checks all the marks.  Oh, and there's the added bonus of some pretty cool US history too.

Now, it's as much a mental leap as it is a physical one.  Sure, there's the usual drama of packing, unpacking, trying to rearrange furniture that was bought in one location into another... but it's the mental game that has me up thinking these days.  Will I find friends?  Andover is much more rural than I'm used to.  I mean currently, I can walk to a plethora of coffee shops, pizza, bookstores, the train.... How am I going to cope when I put the kids on a school bus and then that's it?  No walking the kids to school.  No bumping into other moms outside the flagpole on a daily basis.  Eeeek.  I guess we'll take it day by day and just keep swimming!

Usborne Book Lady

I've gone and done it.  I agreed to become a distributor for Usborne books.  There's a decent back story to my love of these books.... ok, not really all that interesting, but here goes:

I lived in London for two years with my husband and our two young children.  I frequently visited the  bookstore, Waterstones, on St. John's Rd nearly weekly.  I fell in love with Usborne books - the sticker books, early readers, the travel sized activity books.  Seriously, right up my alley.

I've been back in the States for a little over a year now and I was always looking for something similar here without luck.  Then, I was contacted by my friend Lacie Glenn who also lived in the UK for a while about hosting an online Usborne book party on FaceBook.  Hosting a what?  I said...

That's when I learned the secret.  Usborne books are available here in the US if you know a distributor!  Woot woot.

I also learned they have amazing books for the older crowd which is great as my two are getting into science and grammar etc etc.

So - I bit the bullet and I've signed up.  I don't know yet if I'll be hosting all sorts of online things or just doing a table here and there at book fairs/science fairs -- but if you want a great book for your little one, or baby shower gift, or something that isn't a toy for your niece/nephew - give me a call.

x. Your new book lady