In my head, the success of a day is measured by whether the dogs get a walk. On most days -- at least as of late -- they don't. I'm in the Month of Insanity at work, so my kids are raising themselves, and the dogs are misbehaving (digging holes, eating rugs), and Tom is on the road. The dust is definitely piling up, and even Max told me the other day that one of our bathrooms needed cleaning. (That's rough when the 5-year-old notices...)
So yesterday, I walked the dogs! We've had lovely 60-dgree weather all week, and I've barely looked out the window. I had no business choosing the dogs over business, but I couldn't stand it any longer. I even invited my friend Daria to join us, so I was able to squeeze in 30 minutes of social. Bonus.
Of course, when 4:30 p.m. rolled around -- with three work projects, a taekwondo class, dinner and a pie for a school fundraiser still on the docket for the evening -- I wasn't so sure that dog walk was worth it.
Today's a new day though. No dog walk yet, but I did fix a picture that had fallen from its mat. It hangs in our entry way, and has been skewed for a couple of months now. I've looked at it every day, and every day, I've rolled my eyes at myself for not fixing it. It's done now, and my head is just a little clearer.
I also took a little time out today for a book club kickoff with a team of readers in Will's class. (We're reading Because of Winn Dixie, written by one of my favorite authors Kate DiCamillo.) I was pretty stressed when I left the house, but 30 minutes with four cute and curious fourth graders fixed that. More clarity.
Followed by a 10-minute rock session listening to Pete Yorn, and I was almost ready to walk the dogs. But the emails started piling up and the deadlines starting poking at me. No dice for the dogs. But I'm not giving up on calling it a good day. They didn't get their walk, but that picture got fixed, book club got started, and I'm offering up some of my favorite advice to myself: Appreciate what you did get done today, not what you didn't.
(391 words)
Friday, November 7, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Rock the Vote
Kids today....
...at least my kids...seem so much more politically aware than I was at their ages. They've been talking about the election for weeks. Local candidates have visited their school. They've made posters that hang in their school hallways. Mia is studying the electoral college in her enrichment math program. And today, Mia and Will are both voting in mock elections. I don't remember any of this from my childhood. The only thing political that I remember from my formative years is this:
"Grandma, what's the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?"
"It doesn't matter. You're a Republican." End of conversation.
Oh, she's rollin' in her grave today!
So this morning, I reminded the kids to vote sensibly today.
MAX: "Who are you voting for, Mom?"
ME: "Barack Obama."
MAX: "Who did Dad vote for?"
ME: "Barack Obama."
MAX: "I thought he voted for Pollina." (Our independent candidate for governor.)
This is funny, of course, because Max is five, and he knows the names of our candidates -- even if he's a little confused on who's running for what.
Maybe it's Vermont that makes politics so accessible. "Vote for [Me]" signs are everywhere. We often see candidates -- even gubernatorial ones -- waving to cars on street corners. Heck, the hotel where Howard Dean announced his run for the presidency a few years ago is just down the street. We love our politics here.
So Will and I sung the Schoolhouse Rock "Preamble" song this morning. And the kids asked me whom I was voting for. I told them, in my best Martin Luther King, that I was voting for Hope, Change, and the People. It's truly an exciting day, and I hope with all my heart that I feel the same tomorrow.
...at least my kids...seem so much more politically aware than I was at their ages. They've been talking about the election for weeks. Local candidates have visited their school. They've made posters that hang in their school hallways. Mia is studying the electoral college in her enrichment math program. And today, Mia and Will are both voting in mock elections. I don't remember any of this from my childhood. The only thing political that I remember from my formative years is this:
"Grandma, what's the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?"
"It doesn't matter. You're a Republican." End of conversation.
Oh, she's rollin' in her grave today!
So this morning, I reminded the kids to vote sensibly today.
MAX: "Who are you voting for, Mom?"
ME: "Barack Obama."
MAX: "Who did Dad vote for?"
ME: "Barack Obama."
MAX: "I thought he voted for Pollina." (Our independent candidate for governor.)
This is funny, of course, because Max is five, and he knows the names of our candidates -- even if he's a little confused on who's running for what.
Maybe it's Vermont that makes politics so accessible. "Vote for [Me]" signs are everywhere. We often see candidates -- even gubernatorial ones -- waving to cars on street corners. Heck, the hotel where Howard Dean announced his run for the presidency a few years ago is just down the street. We love our politics here.
So Will and I sung the Schoolhouse Rock "Preamble" song this morning. And the kids asked me whom I was voting for. I told them, in my best Martin Luther King, that I was voting for Hope, Change, and the People. It's truly an exciting day, and I hope with all my heart that I feel the same tomorrow.
I'm going to I'll listen to a lot of Bruce Springsteen today...
(307 words)Sunday, November 2, 2008
Halloween Letdown -- or Not?
I'm afraid Halloween was a bit of a bust this year due to my sinus infection, Mia's virus, and Will's headache. (Geez, we sound like a bunch of delicatos, don't we?) Our favorite holiday passed by without frosted pumpkin cookies or cupcakes, our "scary dinner", the spider web strung around the house, and the black curtains I usually hang on the front porch. I felt a little bad, but I had to go with the good old "there's always next year" approach.
We did manage to set up our Halloween village, carve pumpkins, and rally for the "hayride" in our pickup truck with friends. (My friend Daria has some good pics of our trick-or-treating crew on her blog: http://www.dariabishop.com/dariasday.htm). Will was a skeleton guy, Mia a wizard, and Max a clone trooper.
After a week of lying on the couch, Mia tried to mobilize for trick-or-treating, but she made it to only three houses. Will went home with a headache after about seven houses. (I fed him a hamburger, and he instantly recovered. Wish I would've done that before he went out...) Max finished off the night with the rest of the kids, running a mile a minute up and down the long driveways in our neighborhood. At the last house, he finally told Tom he was ready to go home. In bed by 8:00; probably sleeping by 8:03.
After the festivities, the kids immediately filled up bowls with candy they didn't want and put them on the porch for the Great Pumpkin. We discovered about four years ago that if you do this, the Great Pumpkin exchanges your candy with a gift. I only know of one other family that does this, and it's interesting that the kids (Will and Max) haven't realized that this isn't a global tradition. Or even a local one. I would think that if this only happens at your house, you might catch on...
On the other hand, if you catch on, maybe you don't get that gift anymore!
So despite the lack of our typical Halloween celebrations and our fragile states of health, the day came and went, and everyone was still happy. I started collecting all the Halloween decorations today to make room for the turkeys that Max has started making. We already have four hand turkeys, a toilet paper roll turkey, and a turkey that he colored and glued together yesterday. I haven't pulled out the paper plate turkey idea yet...maybe next weekend.
(414 words)
We did manage to set up our Halloween village, carve pumpkins, and rally for the "hayride" in our pickup truck with friends. (My friend Daria has some good pics of our trick-or-treating crew on her blog: http://www.dariabishop.com/dariasday.htm). Will was a skeleton guy, Mia a wizard, and Max a clone trooper.
After a week of lying on the couch, Mia tried to mobilize for trick-or-treating, but she made it to only three houses. Will went home with a headache after about seven houses. (I fed him a hamburger, and he instantly recovered. Wish I would've done that before he went out...) Max finished off the night with the rest of the kids, running a mile a minute up and down the long driveways in our neighborhood. At the last house, he finally told Tom he was ready to go home. In bed by 8:00; probably sleeping by 8:03.
After the festivities, the kids immediately filled up bowls with candy they didn't want and put them on the porch for the Great Pumpkin. We discovered about four years ago that if you do this, the Great Pumpkin exchanges your candy with a gift. I only know of one other family that does this, and it's interesting that the kids (Will and Max) haven't realized that this isn't a global tradition. Or even a local one. I would think that if this only happens at your house, you might catch on...
On the other hand, if you catch on, maybe you don't get that gift anymore!
So despite the lack of our typical Halloween celebrations and our fragile states of health, the day came and went, and everyone was still happy. I started collecting all the Halloween decorations today to make room for the turkeys that Max has started making. We already have four hand turkeys, a toilet paper roll turkey, and a turkey that he colored and glued together yesterday. I haven't pulled out the paper plate turkey idea yet...maybe next weekend.
(414 words)
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