Piggy-wigs

This is what IEM calls EPM's ponytails. We think it's pretty funny.

Yesterday, I was reading the letter IEM's Montessori school teacher sends home each month. In it, I learned that the kids have been learning the continents and are getting ready to bring out the flat maps (aren't you excited, Ponts?).

I asked IEM if he knew the names of the continents. He got six, leaving out Antarctica.

So I gave him a hint.

"It's a cold, cold continent with a lot of snow and ice."

He thought for a second or two, then grew bright as he figured out the answer.

"Michigan!!!," he yelled.

Well, close.

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Call Betty Ford

I've developed a new addiction.

First, let me say, I do not normally become addicted to anything but in Michigan I've developed a fondness for Kream Nut peanut butter, capilene long johns, silk camisoles (thanks, AuntiMe) and good snow boots. I've been known to go out of my way to get to Sweetwaters for a latte and brioche. And I slap your hand away if you try to touch the iPod (just kidding).

But now I think I am really addicted to the television show "Battlestar Galactica." That's right. BSG. A TV show on the Sci Fi Channel.

I've been reading about this show for two years in "Entertainment Weekly" where Gillian Flynn and Dalton Ross must have pajama parties on the nights it comes on. They are always raving about it.

But I've never watched it, figuring I have enough on my plate with "Lost" and whatever HBO series is current. I've never gotten into 24, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives...none of it.
I'm just not that into TV. Until now.

A few weeks ago, we were channel surfing and the original miniseries/pilot was airing so we taped it to watch later. Well, I watched it one night when Zack was out and I was hooked.

So now I've been reading on Wikipedia and scifi.com to catch up and have actually...yes really...downloaded episodes...and watched them...on the iPod. (Does all that make me more of a geek?)

In all seriousness...because this is a rather silly addiction...it is a great story about love, survival and the general messiness of the human race. It's not about lasers (they don't have any) or such.

Check it out...I'll be waiting for you in Rancho Mirage.

Thanks for stopping by.

Playswap

My neighbor has a son in IEM's Montessori, and the two boys get along as well as two four-year-old boys can.

So we've decided to do a playswap two times a week. On Mondays, she'll pick IEM up from school, feed him lunch and do an activity with them. On Wednesdays, I'll reciprocate for some at-home play while Her Highness takes a nap. I'm hopeful that it will work out...the challenge for IEM going to school half-day is that he is on a roll and then has to put on the brakes for a few hours while his sister naps.

Today, I could not believe how much I got done while EPM napped and IEM was out. I cleaned, checked emails, researched some stuff for our trip to Amsterdam and Istanbul, made two pans of homemade moussaka (from salting the eggplant to making the bechamel) and read.

The other night Zack and I went out and saw "Dreamgirls." It was entertaining, and Jennifer Hudson is all that the critics say about her. We saw the preview for Mira Nair's new film, "The Namesake," which is in my top-five of all-time favorite books. So I'm rereading it.

Which makes this whole day seem even more circular. When I first read "The Namesake" I was pregnant with EPM and begged Zack, for Valentine's Day, to send me to a hotel for a night...by myself. I was reading this book at the time. And I remembered watching "Girl with a Pearl Earring" on HBO in the hotel. Which is set in Holland. Which is what I was also reading about today.

OK, so I'm tired.

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I feel like a kid again! (Too bad my joints don't feel so young.)

So if you are among the few people who have not heard my complaining from where you live, we were without power for three days this week. Three. Days. In sub-freezing temperatures.

The fun started about 2:30 a.m. Monday morning during a freak ice storm. I say "freak" because when we moved up here to Michigan, we were told over and over that Ann Arbor had lots of snow but rarely any ice. And they rarely lost power during the winter.

That being said, we were lucky enough to have a place that was warm to stay (thank you, Beaubiens!) and the power did come back on.

Today, we were back on schedule which was nice. It snowed today, which brings me to the title of today's post.

We decided to take the kids sledding. I mean for real, not just in our backyard. So we took them to Veterans Park, which has the biggest, steepest sledding hill I've ever been on.

When I was a kid in Virginia and Maryland, we always used a Flexible Flyer sled, the type on runners. Today's sleds are made of plastic and absolutely fly.

For the first few runs, I really couldn't believe I was going downhill with IEM not in full body armor. You go that fast. The kids were all having a blast. I felt for IEM; he didn't want a snack and if you think that hill was high going down, you should have seen it on the return climb. I could have stayed out there all day; I used to love to sled as a kid. Too bad my back doesn't feel so young as my spirit. I had one good tumble and I'm feeling it now.

That's about it here. We're staying warm and enjoying this time. It was such a treat for Zack to be home today by 3 and for us all to be doing stuff together. You can't put a price on that.

Thanks for stopping by.

Laundry

It seems as though I am always doing laundry. I did laundry at my folks' house at Christmas. Then I did more laundry at my in-laws' just before we came back to A-Squared. I had more laundry (much of it summer attire from Buenos Aires) waiting for me when we got back here. And now, just three days after putting the laundry away, I can see more piles in everyone's baskets.

I try to do laundry every other week. With the huge laundry room and the a better way of sorting and folding, we can get it all done in a day or two at the most. In Memphis, it was a looonnnggg day of laundry because I had a) no place to sort it and b) a closet for a laundry room. That I had to share with Sawyer for his litter. Oh well. If I get nothing else in the next home, I will get a laundry room. And a playroom. And another bathroom. I'd better stop.

Speaking of laundry, here's a list of what I missed about Ann Arbor while we were gone. It makes me sad to think of leaving. I immediately felt at "home" when we got back after Christmas. I don't know if IEM did or EPM did but I think both parents were glad to be back.

1) The Y
I missed going to the Y so much. Not so much for the workout (which is always marginal, at best) but for EPM's routine and mine. She loves ChildWatch and it's a great way for us both to get out of the house and interact with people other than each other. It is such a wonderful facility. Today, all of us spent an hour in the family pool. What better way to spend a 30 degree January day.

2) The grocery shopping
Oh my. I am REALLY going to be missing Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Hiller's, Arbor Farms, Fresh Seasons, etc. etc.

3) Getting from Point A to Point B
When we were in Memphis, I told Zack that I had spent more time in the car in two days back then I feel like I had in five months in A2. I love that everything we need is so close. If we were here permanently, I would definitely invest in bikes and a trailer and ride a lot during good weather.

4) The social life
Now don't get me wrong. It's not that we don't know a lot of great people elsewhere in the world. Or that we haven't met some duds up here. It's just a lot easier, it seems, to meet people. That, or we've just lucked out. It also just seems easier to get together. I swear, to get together with some of our friends in Memphis took months to plan. People were just that busy, I guess. Here, we say "We've having pizza night next Friday. Hope you can come." And there's usually a full house.

5) Figure skating around the corner
OK, so that's not something I really "miss" when we're not here but hey! how cool is it that IEM and I ran up to the local ice park this afternoon for a half hour skate. Well, I skated, he watched. But I am proud of him; he put on the skates and helmet without complaint and tried. If he'd had a skating aide (kind of like a walker to help you balance) I think he would have done just fine.

Gotta run. Stories to be read, sheets to be folded.

Thanks for stopping by.

We're back...sort of

Well, Happy New Year all.

It has been a wild month. Lots of travel. Lots of family. Lots of friends. Lots and lots of food. And LOTS of time in the car with the little ones.

Zack and I were calling our whirlwind December "From B.A. to B.G. in three easy steps."

The B.A. refers to our trip to Buenos Aires. Fabulous. A vibrant city and lots of great restaurants and shopping. Hard to believe, at times, that it is a developing nation and considered third world. Then at other times it wasn't that hard to believe. All in all, we had a great time on the trip and would love to go back. I'd post photos right now but we took the 35 mm camera and I haven't downloaded the photo disc as of yet.

The B.G. refers to Bowling Green, Kentucky which is where we spent the night on the road on the way to Birmingham. In between were stops in Houston and Detroit, another quick trip to Detroit to take Mimi and Pop (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING CARE OF THE KIDS!!!!) to the airport, followed by a quick stomach virus (EPM), a delay in the departure while waiting to see if anyone else got it (not here but Mimi and Pop got it that same night), then a long day in the car to Bowling Green.

Christmas was a lot of fun...lots of magic in my parents' house with three little ones. Zack and I got the stomach bug as did our nephew but fortunately all were well before Christmas. We left Bham the 28th to go to Memphis to visit friends and family. Now we're back in A2 but still trying to settle in. Oh the toys. The A2 Salvation Army is going to love us when we leave here. I'm so purging and organizing over the next month.

Tonight we're meeting up with the Fellows to catch up and meet the two newbies. And IEM returns to school (and we all get back to our routine) on Monday.

That's about it. Leaving Tuesday for my grandmother's funeral in Arlington but back Wednesday. Will post some pics later in the week.

Thanks for stopping by.