Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Obsessive Gene

Can someone please tell me on what chromosome does the obsessive gene lie? I apparently inherited one from both of my parents and it is a dominant part of my personality. How else can I explain why I stayed up late trying to finish my weekly New York crossword puzzle instead of going to sleep, even though I was exhausted?

Now trying to answer the crossword puzzle was not enough. I had to google search the clues I did not know so I could learn new things and actually finish the entire puzzle. Besides Jeopardy, where else I am going to need to know that the resort island near Venice is named Lido, that a long-jawed freshwater predator is called a Gar and that James Agee wrote "A Death in the Family."

In the kingdom of random facts, I would be Queen!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Retirement aka What the Heck Happened to My Parents?




Even though my Dad has been retired for 10 years, my Mom just retired in December. After visiting my family and Kiki's family, they were headed to Florida to escape the nasty New York winter. After stops at the St. Louis Arch and in Memphis to worship Elvis, that this where things started to get twilight zone like.



My Mom got a job at Lowe's because she decided she would be too bored otherwise. The kicker is that she was hired for the garden department. I inherited her black thumb as we both have trouble keeping cacti alive, it is hilarious that she now has thousands of plants to care for.

Then, their social life kicked up. They have been flitting about to poker, bingo, volunteering in the community, choir concerts, and getting up at 3 am to work the water stations at the Disney marathon. WTF? When did they get more of a life then me?



The kicker came one Saturday afternoon when Tom, Sophia and I were hunkered inside because it was snowing and they called. From where you ask? A boat in the Gulf of Mexico! That is just plain cruel!



Finally, don't even get me started on the flea markets and garage sales they attend. My Mom never even wanted to have a garage sale when I was growing up, much less go to one. Again, things get weird when photos of ceramic monkeys strapped into a stroller are sent to me from an unknown phone (aka Mom's friend Joanne). Really? We were very scared, we thought Mom had fallen off her rocker!

Seriously though, I am thrilled that they are enjoying themselves so much. OK, not so much when it is cold or rainy or when I am at work or when I wish I was on vacation. Love ya Mom and Dad!




Tuesday, April 26, 2011

I'm Back! Where Has My Mind Gone?

OK, I know I have been an extreme slacker since Sophia was born, but who knew that bathing, eating, playing and pooping could take up so much time? By the time I sit down in the evening, it is 9:30 and I need to go to bed since I am getting up at 6:06 am every week day morning and I am not a morning person.

I never understood how people became scatter-brained when they had a baby, until I lived it! I mean just this morning, I drove out of the parking lot with my to go cup on the roof, only to find it 100 feet from where I started smashed to smithereens! This is the 2nd time I have done that in the 6 months since Sophia was born. I know I need to do spring cleaning and clean out the cupboards, but my to go cup supply is dwindling rapidly.

If the normal routine was not enough, a sick baby adds to the melee. First, it was roto-virus, which had me running to Babies R Us before our flight to Florida for plastic underpants to contain any possible poopsplosions. Then, there was bronchiolitis, which meant Darth Vader breathing treatments every four hours. What kind of sick joke is it to have to get up every 4 hours and stand over the crib hunched like Quasimodo, while your baby is sleeping peacefully? I mean we got luck with a good sleeper and we still have to get up.

Then, don't even get me started on the wrangling necessary to shove some chalky like antibiotics into a surprisingly strong-jawed little one who detests it. Two people, lots of wipes and hoping that 50% made it in, were all part of the 2, ten day treatments we have had fun with.

So, if I forget something, let's say a coffee cup, you now know why? My mind is full of other more adventurous tasks!