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?