Beyond Defensive Driving

Sean and I like to joke about how we are paranoid drivers, which is a step beyond your defensive driver. We assume that everyone is drunk, high, or on their cell phone and expect them to swerve into us at any time. Of course, coming from San Antonio, this was not unjustified. We love that traffic is much calmer here in Manhattan, but I have seen some smooth moves lately.

So a couple weeks ago I was going past Cico Park, which for non-locals means I was on this somewhat divided 4 lane road where if you are headed south you have the right of way at this one intersection to make a left onto an entrance ramp. I am always expecting oncoming traffic to blow that stop sign so am my usual paranoid self there. I see this umm, mature driver, stop and then go through the intersection and I'm planning to make my left since no one else is coming. Then what does my paranoid eye see? Oh yeah, she apparently decided that she meant to get on the entrance ramp also and throws it in reverse and rather quickly goes at least 100 yards backwards to get back to her original stop sign. Hello, would have backed right into me if I hadn't noticed those clever moves.

I have to add that she was only using her mirrors to look backwards too (I was driving parallel with her, remember?), which leads me to believe that she must have taken the most fun sounding Secret Service training course ever! Yes, Monica, tell Dennis that of all the hilarious stories he has told (most unfit for blog discussion), the one that sticks with me the most is how he was trained to drive a course backwards only using his mirrors. Was this combined with learning how to push a disabled limo by ramming it from behind in a motorcade? Okay, that sounds fun too. Anyway, I can't believe we didn't hang on to the Volvo and take it over to some of the unfinished developments around here... all those empty roads, just begging for some driving skills enhancement...

Tip O' the Morning to You

Props to my friend Heather for tipping me off to the concept of keeping one area of your house really clean so you can retreat there when the kid clutter pushes you over the edge. Sean even noticed I was doing this and he likes it too. I rotate which room is clean every few days so eventually everything gets cleaned, but unless we have guests coming it's never all at the same time. Currently it's the laundry room, so if you need me, I'm chillin' in there.

That room was quite the battle too as that's where the kids' art junk is and it's amazing how much they amass. All their papers from school get dumped there also and after they go to bed I try to weed out about 96% of it and hide it in the garbage. I have finally trained them to toss their shoes in the drawers under the washer and dryer, major victory.

Anyway, we just had our first weekend in three weeks where Sean was home. Much like their father, the girls just wanted to stay home and play. They love watching him play his games on the Wii which completely baffles me. I recall seemingly endless nights in El Paso where I was trapped on the couch feeding Megan, watching Sean play whatever game system it was back then. I'm not sure why I allowed this other than the poor guy was rarely home that year (internship). Needless to say, I found other things to do around the house this weekend and I eagerly await nicer weather so we can go to the pool. Just thinking about it has lodged a song from last summer in my head (favorite girl? is that a song title?). Weeee-ooo!

What up summer?

Well, I figured we were going straight from winter to summer as usual but I was wrong. I even put away all the girls' winter clothes and bought them some shorts. Fool, winter is back and the zoo trip was chilly so they cut it short. At least they went, otherwise Megan would have whined about that injustice all weekend long. Bad weather is always my fault, because of course I control that. Yep, I can make it rain but I can't get a 4.5 year old to stop peeing on my bathroom rug. All powerful mom.

Sean is doing his biannual PT test right now and I seem to recall that the one in October was also during horrific weather conditions, so much so that the wind resulted in really slow times on the run and Sean was one of only a few that didn't fail that part. Hmm, just thinking about this makes me tired. I think I earned a cookie too. ha

Oh and Patrick got his first tooth last weekend but I can't get a photo of it because he likes to keep it hidden. He is scooting himself around a bit, would probably be better at it if I took my foot off his back but I'm not ready to buy a gate for the stairs yet. This is a good age, so sweet and happy and tolerant of his crazy sisters. He does have a look in his eye that makes me think I will be fishing a lot of valuable items out of the toilet someday though. He will be potty trained much younger than Anna at least... I am going to hire Heidi down the street to do it for me. And yes, this is news to her, haha!

Face Painter for Hire?

The two Julies and six kids were not brave enough to hit the K-State festivities this past weekend so she did arm painting for the kids and I dragged out the bounce house.

New Babies, What Fun!

I was just lamenting yesterday that most my friends seem to be done having babies, at least around here, so I was delighted to get two birth announcements today. High school classmate Chad and his wife had a boy, Huxley Ernest (seems they are calling him Hux- cute!). ND friend Hans and his wife Emily just had Eleanor B, which was a total surprise to me, out here in Kansas and apparently WAY out of the loop. No idea what the B is, nor what day she was born, or how big she was... but he did mention that she's not going to the baseball game this week, but maybe later this summer. Perhaps if I make it to a football game this year I will get to meet some of these new babies... Tom and Katie up next, and the Suri jokes are in full bloom. Congrats all around!

Let the Tracker Show...

We had perfect weather today. So I think that brings our total for this calendar year to 1.5 days. I forced the girls to play outside every possible minute and then we were too tired for baths so I just washed their feet and faces. Confessions of a lazy mom who wants them to just go to sleep so I can get on the computer...

Tiring out the Grandparents

Here are a few photos from the recent visit with my parents.

Reading with Grandma Marjie

Flying a kite with Grandpa Paul.

Cheap Wind

Well, we did have half a perfect day this week, I added that to the tracker. We also had one of the crazy windy days and it occurred to me while I was out trying to go for a walk in it that I felt like I was walking on the beach. Except when I got home I didn't have sand in my teeth, go figure. We think we saved about a million bucks putting our house here instead of on the beach, which is good because that's what it's going to cost to send the kids to college.

Oh and apparently Megan doesn't want to move anytime soon because the other night I mentioned to my mom that I needed to show her the house we just got (for a summer vacation) and Megan bursts out in tears and sobs that she doesn't want to move. According to Sean we are moving when this one employee retires because she's the only one keeping the department in order. He is also waiting for about 6 of them to retire or quit. The odds don't look good, but neither do most of the other Army locations...

I will post more photos this weekend when the laptop returns from work.

Jude Law's Nanny, Don't I Wish

Okay, I posted that poll before msn.com posted their bit on famous dads who shag their nannies, how timely though. Clearly if I had been Jude Law's nanny I would have made a t-shirt proclaiming such. Why drop names when you can wear one? So now I am wondering who read the poll wrong and thought they had to pick the one job I'd had, hence the data analyst vote. I guess that means someone thought I was too prissy to hold the other crap jobs?

I later realized that I even left off one glorious choice... sales force and bridal registry at Bed Bath and Beyond. Okay, now that was actually a really fun job, it was like I was shopping all day long. And yes, I did set up fake bridal registries for my friends, linking their names to people they weren't even dating. On a really bizarre sidenote, it is also where my friend Mike Moran came to visit me from the future. He is the type to invent a time machine (totally serious) and I had a customer once who looked EXACTLY what Mike is going to look like when he's 45. The guy was wearing an Air Force jacket and his name was Mike Moran. I am not joking, this is all true. I keep reminding Mike that it's time for him to join the Air Force and get this going, only 12 years to get the time machine functional. And yes, if someone is going to time travel of course they will go back in time just to mock their friends at their menial jobs. And pick up some towels.

Back to menial jobs, I will cut Katie off now and admit that I only worked at the Heinz pickle factory for one week. She got me the job one summer during college when she was HR girl there. Quality control, vague memories of being sprayed by a relish machine and of walking past huge vats of pickles in the courtyard on the way in (surrounded by green mud puddles). Which leads me to wonder who in the heck buys the beds from Sundance Catalog that are made out of old pickle barrels?? Oh, I will never forget the warm sour smell of pickle brine, hurl. Not what I want to smell while drifting off to sleep.

After the pickle factory I went to the packaging factory with Lesley and if I get some energy later I will scan in a photo of us all tricked out in our safety gear, putting sparkplugs into their packaging. Oh, those were some good times. Unfortunately I did not have connections in college that could get me a nice cushy internship, those seemed to go to the kids who didn't pay their own tuition. Not that I'm bitter... the loans have been paid off for almost 2 years now.

So my overall point is that I've paid my dues in the menial labor department... mowed yards for 5 or 6 years (all a blur), worked at a produce market (for identical twins who were in a constant power struggle over who was in charge... talk about bad sitcom storyline: conflicting work instructions and unable to remember which one told me to do what), medical transcription (trust me, voice recognition software is a GOOD thing, that job SUCKS), and oh yes, the dining hall!! At the very least, I think I have earned the right to splurge on the margarita machine that I've been eyeing for 2 years. Come on, summer!

Kickin' It at the Carnival

It's not a carnival without lots of tattoos, this time they were at least temporary ones that the girls got. Yes, the Amanda Arnold school carnival was the destination of choice last night and I even saw people there who didn't have to be there, Say family! Yes, I saw you during my mad dash to get the girls out of there before they discovered the cake walk room. Busted.

So, in a burst of cruelity I only gave the girls $3 each to buy tickets and tried to play it off to the bewildered ticket lady (what? who doesn't buy their kids the big value pack of tickets?!) that I was just giving them their allowance and trying to teach them the value of money. Nope, I'm just cheap and not wanting to spend the whole night there spending tickets on Happy Meal prizes.

Speaking of Happy Meal prizes, I feel a little better about lying to my children so frequently about why they don't want to go to McDonalds (I tell them they have Sponge Bob toys at the moment and they think they hate Sponge Bob). Well, judging by the weird Happy Meal toys they won, it does appear that they frequently give out stuff the girls don't like. Or else those were toys from the 2nd and 3rd tier fast food kid meals... Hardees? Jack in the Box? Hot'n'Now? Is that last one just a Michigan one? I know, it sounds like an adult movie but I know 2 people who worked at one, let's see if they chime in and point out that Hot'n'Now didn't have kid meal toys. Now I am feeling sick just remembering all the burgers I ate from there in high school, but I digress.

Oh yes, the carnival. Such a mad house, the girls were a bit overwhelmed. I thought I'd give them a treat towards the end so we got some cotton candy. Megan wasn't sure how to eat it at first, kept discussing how it was like fuzz on a sweater (yes, hence the word "cotton"). Anna wouldn't even try it, was so suspicious. She did finally lick it a little and then they both decided that they didn't like it and much like cats, they tried to clean it off their fingers in a very persnickedy way, however you spell that. Then Megan complained about how she wasted 4 of her tickets on that. Whoa, did I just accidentally teach them something about the value of money?! I then went and taught them about the value of salon services... the tattoos are still intact but I had to wash the pink hair spray out when we got home and the nail polish is chipping off already.

Patrick stayed home with the grandparents, who claim to have suffered through enough school carnivals in their life. I guess Oysterfest down in Texas is all the fun they can handle now!

Carrot 10 Days Away- ALWAYS

Blah, blah, sick of the weather, etc. I have cracked the weather.com forcast code though, in case you are wondering. They always love to predict awesome weather on day 10 of the forecast, yet that awesome weather never makes it closer than 3 days out. I guess they think it will make us less angry to think that within 10 days this cold and dreary (or scorching hot- which is what I will be whining about in a few months) weather will take a break. Last night I went to bed comforted by the idea of 80 degrees and sunny next Sunday. Wake up this morning, we are down to 71 and cloudy next Sunday. I'm not complaining, I'll take 71, but what happened last night that made them decide to change their guess 10 days out? They also downgraded all the decent days in between, but hey... next Monday is going to be awesome. Just hang in there, folks, 10 days from now we are going to be loving it.

On a related note, Patrick loves carrots. I would break out the homemade ones like I made for one of the girls (who reacted so violently to them that we had to get out the videocamera and try them again) but I am lazy. I actually must go walk... in my winter coat. I will report back later on the school carnival torture that was last night.

"OH DUH" moment of the week

This morning I heard this chirping sound and couldn't figure out what it was... whose phone is that? Looking around the house, so many electronic devices, what could it be. I ask my mom if it's her phone, she thinks maybe it is a bird outside. A bird? Oh, yeah... birds chirp too... birds also like to scuttle through our furnace vent and trap themselves in the exhaust fan, causing lots of confusion months later when the furnace doesn't work. Birds are great! Until they wake me up before the children do!

In case Megan reads my blog

I can only imagine the drama that would result if she noticed how I have so many more photos of Anna and Patrick... hey, that's what happens when you're off at school all day. This would just make her hate going to school that much more. I am already dreading taking her tomorrow since grandma and grandpa just arrived tonight before bedtime. Anna gets them all day tomorrow until Megan gets home from CCD at 5:30. She works hard for the money. So we better treat her right. (just in case you needed another song stuck in your head besides Manic Monday).

Now this is art

Heavy sarcasm. This is Megan's ratty "busy bee". The fabulous photographer we had come to the house last fall after Patrick was born did a shot similar to this and I really wanted to buy a print of it for Megan since she adores this germ ball, but for the price she was charging I just couldn't do it. I have a hard time spending 5 times as much as the toy for a photo of the toy...

Baby Blues

Blue eyes that is. Poor Patrick is a little out of the depth of field in the 2nd one but I rarely get one where Anna isn't making a weird face or stink-eye, so I had to include it. She refused to wear this dress at first, not even her usual fakey-fake graciousness for presents could overcome her disappointment that it wasn't the same dress as Megan's so I just put it away and didn't push it. Then suddenly the dress was fine and she started wearing it on cold days, so appropriate. To a 4 year old.

Manic Monday

Some San Antonio friends would call today an "Anji Day" in honor of this crazy neighbor who was bipolar and would make huge plans on her manic days. I know, mean to mock those with mental illness but she wouldn't take her meds, would rather we all clean up after her on her non-manic days then (also would clean up after the dog in the closet, but I digress). I have earned the right to mock this particular person.

We started off here at 6am with what I thought was a snack for Patrick but was in fact the beginning of the day. Sean was working the 3am shift so he was up already but too engrossed in work to register the fact that the sprinkler was going off... and he hadn't put the bounce house away the night before. We still aren't sure what the lasting effects of that will be but it is drying out under the porch now. Don't worry, sobbing daughters, I will make Daddy buy you a new one if it's ruined. It is the only thing that really wears them out, worth any price.

So since we were up way earlier than usual I did more before school than I do all day sometimes (minus computer, which is why I was so productive...). The sitter comes on Mondays so I also ran errands, so now we are up to accomplishing more than I usually do in a week. All this after doing "power yoga with rodney yee" yesterday which if you know how weak and inflexible I am, you know how much pain I am in today. I sent that evil dvd back to netflix today, no need to injure myself more. I think I need a Jude Law movie to soothe myself.

Anyway, bad news about the new car. They could only find one with leather and it is not red. I guess Honda didn't think people who buy a cheap compact car would actually want leather seats, so they are hard to find. Yes, we are odd ducks. It is blue which Sean is fine with as he doesn't care as long as the windshield wipers work. Oh and I merely had been joking about keeping the car 10 years so imagine my surprise when we got the title out for the volvo and found out that we actually did buy it in 98. Sean had to call me to find out what year and model it was while doing the negotiating. Doesn't he read my blog?! 94 baby.

In all fairness, I have my memory lapses too. The girls were watching Tarzan this weekend and Sean mentioned how we saw it in Indy at the drive-in. My first thought was, "I've seen this movie?" followed closely by, "there's a drive-in in Indy?!". Yes, I was the one Sean took there, vague memories are coming back now. We like to keep track of these incidents so that when we're old we'll realize that we don't have dementia, we've just always been this way.

And in the "not sure if I should be insulted or not" category, we have what will be called the country club incident. I stopped by there today to pick up applications for a couple people and as it is under construction and a real mess I didn't know where to find the office and thus was wandering around. I saw a sign about applications somewhere so figured the office was at least in existence. So this guy who seemed to know what was going on asked if I needed help and I said I needed to pick up an application. He is kind enough to take me to the office and it becomes clear that he thought I meant an application to work there as they are hiring summer help right now. He was mortified by his assumption when I mentioned I needed membership applications. So I am going to pretend that he didn't think I looked like I needed a minimum wage paying job but rather that I looked young enough to work the pool. I have just deleted a rather accurate description of a group that is at the pool on the weekends and how I'm glad to not confused with one of them at least! Never know who is reading what on these blogs. Bottom line, I think this really means I should go out and buy some nicer clothes.

Anyway, even on a Manic Monday I still have stuff left to do, so I must tear myself away from my beloved "puter" as Anna calls it and get to work. Laundry, sweet, laundry...

Cancun Update

Okay, I can't resist posting a quick update on the trip where Sean's college age cousin went to Cancun with her parents during spring break. This is where I will find out which family members read this... Anyway, Aunt Kathy got sick from the food there and spent most of the week in the room so that left Uncle John and Jenny to go out together and enjoy the week. Are you getting a visual here? Apparently more than once someone asked them if they were on their honeymoon. Oh the horror! Even worse though is that Jenny didn't have a wedding ring on but Uncle John did! Yes, the trophy girlfriend. Sean said that this is the stuff good sitcoms are made of.

Megan's New Car

Yes, in a mere 10 years Megan will be the proud owner of a Honda Civic! In the meantime Sean will take good care of it. He almost got the hybrid version but it didn't come with leather. Apparently those who care about the environment don't kill animals to upholster their car interiors? Well, we care more about that annoying shock you get every time you get out of a car with fabric upholstry (sorry animals). Mileage is decent anyway, 36mpg vs 45 mpg. With Sean's commute being so short it would take a long time for gas savings to cover the higher price anyway. He is picking it up early next week and is hoping for red but may have to settle for silver or navy. The place here didn't have any with leather so they have to go pick it up someplace else.

I feel like we should sweep out the garage in anticipation of its homecoming. Only happens once a decade, folks, it's a big day.

Accepting Nominations

Yes, the time has finally come... the cheap cheap Keenans are breaking down and getting Sean a car with windshield wipers that work and that doesn't shake violently whenever you go over 65mph. The bank is trying to give us twice what we want to spend but seeing the monthly payments on that amount is making me a little nauseous. The cheapest man we know, Christopher J. Mullins, there is your shout-out, has recommended anything Hyndai (I can't even spell it). We are used to Hondas so that's our first thought. Definitely considering something used, but no older than 2006. If anyone has any suggestions for cars they love, please let us know! Also, any dealers to avoid here in Manhattan??

What is there to blog about?

Sean mentioned my blog at lunch today and I know the guys were wondering what in the heck I have to blog about. Here goes:

1. I have been advised to not explore south of the railroad tracks in Manhattan. I just assumed nothing was there because I have this sort of tunnel vision when it comes to driving through town. However, I did glimpse some normal looking houses (who lives that close to the train??) when I dropped off recycling yesterday which is right near the tracks. I thought about heading down there but Kitra assured me that the Cheesecake Factory is not there and I need to just go the other way.

2. Yes, I made the quarterly trip to the recycling center. Didn't want my parents knowing the last time it went they were involved (at xmas time). I did unearth a few Miller Lite cans at the bottom of the huge box of Dr. Pepper cans, so that does prove it has been since my dad was here! That's right, we won't even water the plants with that "beverage". Anyway, it is also obvious from the frightening number of catalogs that the word has gotten out... my name has been sold far and wide as someone who actually shops from catalogs so everyone wants me now. I was irate a few weeks ago to see this catalog full of old lady clothes and trinkets. I mean really, how did I get on that list?! Then I noticed that it wasn't for me, it had accidently gotten shoved in some other mail of ours. I took it upon myself to not track down that lady for fear that she would buy the horrible, horrible botantic themed outfit that was featured. The write ups for this stuff was hilarious, like J. Peterman, yet aimed at the retiree lifestyle. "Friends and family will flock to you when you wear this sweatshirt embossed with lifelike images of seagulls". I had to send it to Bridget in Iraq for some comic relief, otherwise I would have more examples.

3. I had lunch at the hospital cafeteria today and without any prompting the surgeon mentioned how expensive the gourmet burgers are (two fifty!)-- and he was serious. When he found out I had a blog he asked if I had ever mentioned him in it. Well, I have now, but perhaps he was afraid I would mention his reputation for going to the bars in Aggieville on wet-tshirt contest night. No worries, BRAD WOODS, your secret is (not) safe with me. I do hope the new fiancee doesn't read this now, ha!!

4. OH hey, I do hope they still invite us to the wedding. Then I will finally get to try the famous gourmet burger!

5. Photography class ended last night and the teacher gave us lots of ideas of places to go shoot around Kansas, mentioned places with cute B&Bs that we could go to for weekends and explore. I really would like to see more of Kansas but can't fathom how this would work with children. I think only someone without kids would suggest this stuff. That's a whole different life. We went from Indiana (no kids, no money, no time), to Texas, (kids, still no money and no time), to Kansas (more kids, more money, slightly more time but not as many things to do nearby...). I guess we just need to make sure we are living someplace with tons of stuff to do once the kids are off to college (before the money runs out) to make up for all this.

That is all, I guess I will get back to my seemingly boring life now. Why, what is this... a bowl of chocolates, a sleeping baby, and a good book? Hmm, too bad I'm not in clinic dealing with whiny patients, that would be so much more exciting.

Exploring the Lil' Apple

It has now been 2 years since we first came to Manhattan house hunting and we figured it was time to go north of Kimball Ave. The kids aren't good enough in the van to just go out for drives around town so we rarely venture outside our scheduled routes. Tonight we had some extra time after dinner so figured maybe it was time to go see the other side of town, rather than go home to see screaming children. We learned a few things:

I. An alarming number of trailer homes up there
A. These are old school single wide homes
i. proof that a tornado hasn't hit this area in a long long time
ii. weren't all these shipped to Iraq for officer quarters?
B. More lower income people here than we thought
i. Then why isn't there a Goodwill here for me to dump old junk at?
ii. Why do they have nicer cars in their yards than the one Sean drives?
II. There is a body of water up there
A. Could this be why former neighbors bought a boat more appropriate for drug running?
i. Doesn't seem to be anything around it but rocky, barren slopes, no place to run drugs
ii. Maybe that is why neighbors moved?
B. Appears to have a dam at one end, could this be the legendary Tuttle Creek Reservoir where teachers and students go to make headlines?
i. Several carloads of students were seen driving around up there, looking for the unlucky couple? ha
ii. The dam had a sign that said the road over it would be closed if there was an earthquake
a. WTH? What are the chances of an earthquake in Kansas?!
+I thought it was tornadoes we were supposed to fear?!
b. Won't it be obvious if there is an earthquake and the road is GONE that it is now closed?
c. I guess that would be bad news for the RVs at the little park beneath it
+ Mom and Dad may want to keep RV in our driveway
III. Things we did not find
A. Restaurants
i. High end chains
a. Cheesecake Factory
b. PF Changs
c. Bravo
ii. Old Texas Favorites
a. Silo
b. Boudros
c. Rosarios
d. J Alexanders
e. Chuys
f. EZ's
g. Papasitos
h. PeiWei
i. Central Market
B. Tourist attractions
i. Sea World
ii. Six Flags
iii. Are you getting the point here?

We really do love living here but it seems no one wants to visit us for more than 48 hours. So the question remains, do I have to wash the sheets in between visitors if they only slept on them briefly?