Sliders at the playground:
Cousins (Lucy, Jamie, Hannah, Megan, Elliot, Josh):
Happy New Year, one and all!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Last post o' 2012
End-of-the-year greetings. Flickr isn't playing friendly right now, so here are a few pix of recent visits:
Sliders at the playground:
Cousins (Lucy, Jamie, Hannah, Megan, Elliot, Josh):
They're moving too fast to catch w/ the camera. Some serious excitement.
Happy New Year, one and all!
Sliders at the playground:
Cousins (Lucy, Jamie, Hannah, Megan, Elliot, Josh):
Happy New Year, one and all!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Merry Christmas
It's 9:05 am on Christmas morning. Lucy is still asleep. Merry Christmas.
Last night, Lucy informed me that she was going to sleep late (she has a cold). Here's the convo:
Lucy: I'm going to sleep late in the morning.
Me: That's good. You need your rest.
Lucy: And if I sleep late, Santa will have more time. After he leaves my toys, he can sit down in one of our chairs and rest for a while.
Me: (laughing) Yes, Santa will be pretty tired.
Well, at least she's true to her word. You may recall that she actually slept through her first Christmas morning (she had been up all night and then slept from 8am to noon). And this behavior is also in keeping with my own childhood stance that the presents would be there whenever I woke up, so I was going to sleep late.
So while we're waiting for her to arise so we can OPEN PRESENTS, here's a run-down of a recent Conversation with Lucy (TM):
Yesterday, Lucy was very involved in making a rope made from tape and construction paper. She got about 20 feet into the construction process, when she ran out of tape. Here's the conversation with Jake that ensued:
Lucy: I need more tape.
Jake: Let's wait for Mommy; I don't want to run out of tape. [Without mentioning that it's Christmas Eve and there are presents to wrap, and we can't be without tape for that!]
Lucy: Daddy, which is more important: getting you, me, or Mommy out of quicksand, or wrapping Christmas presents?
At least she has her priorities straight.
We're still waiting. Jake's working on the second round of hot beverages. Hopefully she'll wake up soon.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Bonus feature: Here are some of Lucy's drawings of Rudolph w/ Santa's sleigh:
Last night, Lucy informed me that she was going to sleep late (she has a cold). Here's the convo:
Lucy: I'm going to sleep late in the morning.
Me: That's good. You need your rest.
Lucy: And if I sleep late, Santa will have more time. After he leaves my toys, he can sit down in one of our chairs and rest for a while.
Me: (laughing) Yes, Santa will be pretty tired.
Well, at least she's true to her word. You may recall that she actually slept through her first Christmas morning (she had been up all night and then slept from 8am to noon). And this behavior is also in keeping with my own childhood stance that the presents would be there whenever I woke up, so I was going to sleep late.
So while we're waiting for her to arise so we can OPEN PRESENTS, here's a run-down of a recent Conversation with Lucy (TM):
Yesterday, Lucy was very involved in making a rope made from tape and construction paper. She got about 20 feet into the construction process, when she ran out of tape. Here's the conversation with Jake that ensued:
Lucy: I need more tape.
Jake: Let's wait for Mommy; I don't want to run out of tape. [Without mentioning that it's Christmas Eve and there are presents to wrap, and we can't be without tape for that!]
Lucy: Daddy, which is more important: getting you, me, or Mommy out of quicksand, or wrapping Christmas presents?
At least she has her priorities straight.
We're still waiting. Jake's working on the second round of hot beverages. Hopefully she'll wake up soon.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Bonus feature: Here are some of Lucy's drawings of Rudolph w/ Santa's sleigh:
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Christmas-Making continues
The next few days feature a few fun holiday parties (woo hoo). Meanwhile, Lucy's been drawing up a storm.
Suns, stars, and trees have been the big themes:
Stars
May you be of good cheer!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
On Meeting Literary Heroes, Part 2
So you may have already seen last night's post with my photo w/ Mr. King. Or perhaps you woke up and picked up your copy of the Boston Globe, featuring us!
http://bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2012/12/08/stephen-king-umass-lowell/wOTL2T65gxXxyZuheQsHjO/story.html
Needless to say, I had a pretty amazing day yesterday. I still can't quite believe it all happened.
It was my last teaching day of the semester. For the last meeting of my upper-level Gothic seminar, I had students giving presentations on their final projects (on their own selected novel; three had chosen King novels). After they had all presented, I had the unique pleasure of saying: "Great job! Thanks for a great semester! Now let's go see Stephen King!" There were cheers (mine and theirs).
Next, I went to the "green room" where I got to meet Stephen King in order to prepare to introduce him before his talk to our students. Yes, I found out late on Wednesday that I could (if I wanted to) be the one to introduce him for the afternoon for-our-students-only session. It was terrifying and made me queasy. I was worried that I'd be re-creating that scene from King's story "The Body" (also in the film Stand by Me) where a guy sets of a chain reaction of vomit.
So I got some pictures with King, and then a group shot (that's the one in the paper), and I had a personal, one-on-one conversation with Stephen King. He was incredible and lovely and amazing. He asked me what I was teaching in my class! He was just so so so nice. (Did I mention that he donated his speaker's fee and all the proceeds from the talk to scholarships for English majors?)
Then I went over to the room where about 120 of our students (including my own class) were waiting to hear from King. And I got up on stage, behind a podium and microphone, and introduced Stephen King. I was pretty much shaking all over. It was terrifying. And then he came up and talked to our students and answered their questions and was just as lovely as you would never imagine someone who write such terrifying stuff would be.
And then, Jake and Lucy joined me, and we went to a reception for English faculty with Stephen King. And he continued to be lovely and kind and generous. He talked to Lucy. He let people take pictures and he signed things. (I didn't have a chance to get my book signed, but I felt like with all the photos and all the time I'd had with him, I wanted to let other folks get a chance for their books.)
Still pretty much vibrating with excitment, I headed over to the Tsongas Center for the main event: the 3000-member audience for "A Conversation with Stephen King."
Yup, that's King X3: in person, plus half of his giant head on the backdrop, plus him up on the jumbo-tron. It was nuts. He was hilarious.
I feel like this post isn't very eloquent, but really, I was pretty much speechless. It's been tremendous.
Update: there are a ton of great pictures from the event (including a classic Lucy image) here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151143527007694&set=a.10151143371472694.441998.11833797693&type=3&theater
Update: The university is keeping track of all the press (not surprising) but has also begun posting video. If you watch, right at the very start of the 5-minute promo, you'll see the end of my intro for the afternoon event: https://www.uml.edu/News/stories/2011-12/king-scares-up-great-night.aspx
http://bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2012/12/08/stephen-king-umass-lowell/wOTL2T65gxXxyZuheQsHjO/story.html
Needless to say, I had a pretty amazing day yesterday. I still can't quite believe it all happened.
It was my last teaching day of the semester. For the last meeting of my upper-level Gothic seminar, I had students giving presentations on their final projects (on their own selected novel; three had chosen King novels). After they had all presented, I had the unique pleasure of saying: "Great job! Thanks for a great semester! Now let's go see Stephen King!" There were cheers (mine and theirs).
Next, I went to the "green room" where I got to meet Stephen King in order to prepare to introduce him before his talk to our students. Yes, I found out late on Wednesday that I could (if I wanted to) be the one to introduce him for the afternoon for-our-students-only session. It was terrifying and made me queasy. I was worried that I'd be re-creating that scene from King's story "The Body" (also in the film Stand by Me) where a guy sets of a chain reaction of vomit.
So I got some pictures with King, and then a group shot (that's the one in the paper), and I had a personal, one-on-one conversation with Stephen King. He was incredible and lovely and amazing. He asked me what I was teaching in my class! He was just so so so nice. (Did I mention that he donated his speaker's fee and all the proceeds from the talk to scholarships for English majors?)
Then I went over to the room where about 120 of our students (including my own class) were waiting to hear from King. And I got up on stage, behind a podium and microphone, and introduced Stephen King. I was pretty much shaking all over. It was terrifying. And then he came up and talked to our students and answered their questions and was just as lovely as you would never imagine someone who write such terrifying stuff would be.
And then, Jake and Lucy joined me, and we went to a reception for English faculty with Stephen King. And he continued to be lovely and kind and generous. He talked to Lucy. He let people take pictures and he signed things. (I didn't have a chance to get my book signed, but I felt like with all the photos and all the time I'd had with him, I wanted to let other folks get a chance for their books.)
Still pretty much vibrating with excitment, I headed over to the Tsongas Center for the main event: the 3000-member audience for "A Conversation with Stephen King."
Yup, that's King X3: in person, plus half of his giant head on the backdrop, plus him up on the jumbo-tron. It was nuts. He was hilarious.
I feel like this post isn't very eloquent, but really, I was pretty much speechless. It's been tremendous.
Update: there are a ton of great pictures from the event (including a classic Lucy image) here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151143527007694&set=a.10151143371472694.441998.11833797693&type=3&theater
Update: The university is keeping track of all the press (not surprising) but has also begun posting video. If you watch, right at the very start of the 5-minute promo, you'll see the end of my intro for the afternoon event: https://www.uml.edu/News/stories/2011-12/king-scares-up-great-night.aspx
Friday, December 7, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
On Meeting Literary Heroes (Part 1)
While I was an undergraduate, I was a teaching assistant for a class called "Quests and Journeys." In that class, we read a collection of stories by Joyce Carol Oates called Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? I loved it. What was particularly exciting was that the author herself was coming to campus to do a reading and talk, and sign books. I went up to her at the end of the talk with my book in hand, which she graciously signed. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: I taught this book this semester! It was great!
Oates: You look way too young to be teaching.
Sigh. But the campus paper's photographer was there, so I have this documentation:
I guess I *do* look a little young there. But still. I was disappointed.
So my next author encounter was with Margaret Atwood. I was working an awful summer job at a glass factory (there's a longer version of that story, for another post) and a friend let me know that she was going to be reading at a Borders bookstore about an hour from my house. I had just pulled a full shift and was exhausted, but I had to go. I drove all the way there and arrived in time to hear the reading (she was terrific and funny), and then go up and get my book signed. Here's how that exchange went:
Me [barely able to speak, clutching my book]: Will you sign my book?
Atwood: Yes of course. [and she signed my prized hardcover copy of Cat's Eye]
Many years later, I wrote an article about a "witch" named Mary Webster. This Mary Webster was in fact an ancestor of Margaret Atwood, and Atwood wrote a poem about her called "Half-Hanged Mary." In writing my article, I really wanted to include some of her poem. I managed to do this by getting permissions from her publisher (for which we had to pay). In the process of doing that, I had some correspondence with Atwood's assistant, and I asked if I might send Atwood herself a copy of the article. She expressed interest, and while I tried not to get too excited, I was thinking, way down deep in the corner of my heart, that maybe, just maybe, Margaret Atwood would read something that I had written. A few months later, I received this in my mailbox:
This is likely the most exciting thing, ever, to happen to me, writing-wise. And possibly otherwise, too. Margaret Atwood read something I wrote. In fact she "very much enjoyed reading it." I'm still kind of speechless about that.
About a year after I received the note, I went to another of Atwood's readings, and again got her to sign a book. I wrote about that in another post here.
So why am I bringing all this up now?
Well, this Friday, something's happening that's Kind of a Big Deal.
Stephen King is coming to campus. I am taking my class (the one on the Gothic novel) to see him in a small afternoon talk for students, and I am going to his big arena lecture in the evening. But it appears that sometime in between those two events, I am likely going to be at a small-ish reception where I will likely (I can barely type this) meet Stephen King.
If only I could tell my thirteen-year-old self this. Dear Thirteen Year Old Self: I know you just received about a dozen Stephen King books for Christmas this year, and that you literally spent all of Christmas Day, 1987, reading Misery. Just wait til 2012.
Stay tuned for updates, photos, etc.
Me: I taught this book this semester! It was great!
Oates: You look way too young to be teaching.
Sigh. But the campus paper's photographer was there, so I have this documentation:
I guess I *do* look a little young there. But still. I was disappointed.
So my next author encounter was with Margaret Atwood. I was working an awful summer job at a glass factory (there's a longer version of that story, for another post) and a friend let me know that she was going to be reading at a Borders bookstore about an hour from my house. I had just pulled a full shift and was exhausted, but I had to go. I drove all the way there and arrived in time to hear the reading (she was terrific and funny), and then go up and get my book signed. Here's how that exchange went:
Me [barely able to speak, clutching my book]: Will you sign my book?
Atwood: Yes of course. [and she signed my prized hardcover copy of Cat's Eye]
Many years later, I wrote an article about a "witch" named Mary Webster. This Mary Webster was in fact an ancestor of Margaret Atwood, and Atwood wrote a poem about her called "Half-Hanged Mary." In writing my article, I really wanted to include some of her poem. I managed to do this by getting permissions from her publisher (for which we had to pay). In the process of doing that, I had some correspondence with Atwood's assistant, and I asked if I might send Atwood herself a copy of the article. She expressed interest, and while I tried not to get too excited, I was thinking, way down deep in the corner of my heart, that maybe, just maybe, Margaret Atwood would read something that I had written. A few months later, I received this in my mailbox:
About a year after I received the note, I went to another of Atwood's readings, and again got her to sign a book. I wrote about that in another post here.
So why am I bringing all this up now?
Well, this Friday, something's happening that's Kind of a Big Deal.
Stephen King is coming to campus. I am taking my class (the one on the Gothic novel) to see him in a small afternoon talk for students, and I am going to his big arena lecture in the evening. But it appears that sometime in between those two events, I am likely going to be at a small-ish reception where I will likely (I can barely type this) meet Stephen King.
If only I could tell my thirteen-year-old self this. Dear Thirteen Year Old Self: I know you just received about a dozen Stephen King books for Christmas this year, and that you literally spent all of Christmas Day, 1987, reading Misery. Just wait til 2012.
Stay tuned for updates, photos, etc.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Making Christmas
This past weekend, we went to the Lowell Humane Society for their Christmas Bazaar and Pictures with Santa. Check it out:
Awesome.
In other news, we have our Christmas tree up. Here's what it looks like (w/ Lucy this morning):
That is one super-excited child. Seriously, she was bouncing off the walls from Thursday night about getting the tree (which we got on Saturday and didn't decorate until Sunday). She just squeals with delight about Christmas decorating and preparing.
Lucy has been spending lots of time underneath the tree, making Christmas cards. I'd love to say that you could expect one soon in your mailbox, however, she has been very possessive of her cards and artwork of late. I'm not sure what's going on with that. She's been making lovely cards and drawings, but insisting that they are for her or for me or Jake. She's nearly had a fit when I've suggested that we mail them off to our friends and family. So here, for your enjoyment, I'm presenting virtual versions of some of her recent creations. Apparently she's holding out for big collector money once she's famous.
Around Thanksgiving, Hand Turkeys were a recurrent theme:
Prior to that (Halloween) she was on a role with these very cute cats:
She's also into hearts, particularly done with her new metallic-glitter markers:
And this is her interpretation of a Star-On Machine (from Seuss's The Sneeches):
The one recent time she relented on the not sharing artwork was this card she made for our friend Marie; her beloved dog Bizou died this past weekend, and Lucy drew this to cheer her up:
So that's all kinds of heartwarming and whatnot, but here's the conversation that followed:
Lucy: How old was Bizou?
Bridget: She was 16! That's very old for a dog. She was a good dog.
Lucy: Yeah. When Carter dies, we can get a bunny.
Yup, just keeping it all in perspective.
More holiday updates to come, but for now I wanted to get some kind of December post up. Happy Holidays!
Awesome.
In other news, we have our Christmas tree up. Here's what it looks like (w/ Lucy this morning):
That is one super-excited child. Seriously, she was bouncing off the walls from Thursday night about getting the tree (which we got on Saturday and didn't decorate until Sunday). She just squeals with delight about Christmas decorating and preparing.
Lucy has been spending lots of time underneath the tree, making Christmas cards. I'd love to say that you could expect one soon in your mailbox, however, she has been very possessive of her cards and artwork of late. I'm not sure what's going on with that. She's been making lovely cards and drawings, but insisting that they are for her or for me or Jake. She's nearly had a fit when I've suggested that we mail them off to our friends and family. So here, for your enjoyment, I'm presenting virtual versions of some of her recent creations. Apparently she's holding out for big collector money once she's famous.
Around Thanksgiving, Hand Turkeys were a recurrent theme:
Prior to that (Halloween) she was on a role with these very cute cats:
She's also into hearts, particularly done with her new metallic-glitter markers:
And this is her interpretation of a Star-On Machine (from Seuss's The Sneeches):
The one recent time she relented on the not sharing artwork was this card she made for our friend Marie; her beloved dog Bizou died this past weekend, and Lucy drew this to cheer her up:
So that's all kinds of heartwarming and whatnot, but here's the conversation that followed:
Lucy: How old was Bizou?
Bridget: She was 16! That's very old for a dog. She was a good dog.
Lucy: Yeah. When Carter dies, we can get a bunny.
Yup, just keeping it all in perspective.
More holiday updates to come, but for now I wanted to get some kind of December post up. Happy Holidays!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Happy 5th Birthday, Lucy
It's hard to believe, but she's five. FIVE!
We spent the day in Salem, visiting the cool graveyard..
Because really, what else are you supposed to do with a five-year-old on her Birthday? Seriously.
Then we went to the Peabody Essex Museum, where they had an amazing hat exhibit!
Cousin Angela even joined us there!
Then we hit a diner for a late lunch. It was awesomely delicious.
Now we're heading to Paula's house for a double-Birthday party.
What a day!
It really beats the way I spent November 17th five years ago!
We spent the day in Salem, visiting the cool graveyard..
Then we went to the Peabody Essex Museum, where they had an amazing hat exhibit!
Cousin Angela even joined us there!
Then we hit a diner for a late lunch. It was awesomely delicious.
Now we're heading to Paula's house for a double-Birthday party.
What a day!
It really beats the way I spent November 17th five years ago!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Conversations with Lucy (TM)
We just received lovely news that cousin Elizabeth (Liz) is getting married! Cheers! Liz & Luke, we're so happy to hear the news!
We got the news via e-mail, with a photo of the engagement ring that came in Jake's e-mail. Here's what happened next:
Jake: Lucy, do you see that picture?
Lucy: cute!
Jake: That means that Liz and Luke are getting married!
Lucy:[confused]
Jake: Not your cousin, Luke. Luke from the beach.
Lucy: [dawning excitement] Oh!
Lucy: [concerned] Is there a law in this state that says a girl can't marry a girl?
Jake: Nope.
Lucy: Oh! good. I'm going to marry Ruth.
You heard it here first. They are an awfully cute couple:
We got the news via e-mail, with a photo of the engagement ring that came in Jake's e-mail. Here's what happened next:
Jake: Lucy, do you see that picture?
Lucy: cute!
Jake: That means that Liz and Luke are getting married!
Lucy:
Jake: Not your cousin, Luke. Luke from the beach.
Lucy:
Lucy:
Jake: Nope.
Lucy: Oh! good. I'm going to marry Ruth.
You heard it here first. They are an awfully cute couple:
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Previous Post: Still True
On Thursday while I was having a long day at work, Jake sent me an e-mail with this piece of evidence attached:
In case you're not clear on what's going on there, that's an "Incident Report" from Lucy's school. When they give first aid (even a band aid), they fill out one of these so the parents know what's up. In this case, something really was up. Up Lucy's nose. She stuck a bead up her nose. It came out, with some assistance, but no medical personnel were involved.
To be clear, this is NOT a documented problem on MY side of the family. This is all on the Bridge side.
Children are disgusting.
On that same long day at work, I attended a poetry reading (I realize that it's a special thing to be able to go to a poetry reading as part of my day's work; I am not complaining about that). Last weekend, Lucy had announced that she planned to have two jobs when she grows up: a music teacher and a poet. I was taken aback and delighted. So after the reading, I bought a book from each of the poets, and asked them to sign the books for Lucy. I told them about her and her desire to be a poet; I also told them (because they were pretty awesome and fun folks) that Lucy was at that moment recovering from having shoved a bead up her nose. Kindly, one of the poets wrote in her inscription: "To Lucy: Good luck with your nose."
I look forward to the day when Lucy gets to read the poems and wonders what the heck was going on then.
To be clear, this is NOT a documented problem on MY side of the family. This is all on the Bridge side.
Children are disgusting.
On that same long day at work, I attended a poetry reading (I realize that it's a special thing to be able to go to a poetry reading as part of my day's work; I am not complaining about that). Last weekend, Lucy had announced that she planned to have two jobs when she grows up: a music teacher and a poet. I was taken aback and delighted. So after the reading, I bought a book from each of the poets, and asked them to sign the books for Lucy. I told them about her and her desire to be a poet; I also told them (because they were pretty awesome and fun folks) that Lucy was at that moment recovering from having shoved a bead up her nose. Kindly, one of the poets wrote in her inscription: "To Lucy: Good luck with your nose."
I look forward to the day when Lucy gets to read the poems and wonders what the heck was going on then.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Children are disgusting
I pause to share a few great moments in parenting. This Thursday, Lucy was playing with Ruth and Woody at their house. I walked up the hill to pick up Lucy, and I could see and hear Lucy and Ruth and Woody playing outside. When I arrived, Lucy and Ruth gleefully told me that they had just eaten a lollipop. Knowing full well that this is not typical fare at the Kenney household (even on the day after trick-or-treat), I was suspicious, and thus the following conversation ensued:
Bridget: A lollipop? I did you each have one?
Lucy/Ruth: We shared one!
Bridget: Really? That's kind of gross.
Lucy/Ruth: We found it in the tree!!!!
Bridget: WHAT?
Lucy: It was in the tree! We saw it and I climbed up and got it and passed it down to Ruth. And she ate some, and then gave it to me and I ate some! We shared!
Bridget: Was it WRAPPED?
Lucy/Ruth (in unison, delightedly): NO!
Bridget: So you ate some poor squirrel's Halloween treat? Was it, like, half-eaten?
Lucy/Ruth: YES!
So apparently, the children found half-eaten candy in a tree and ate it. Lucy was very emphatic about the fact that they had SHARED the candy.
Bridget: Did you give Woodrow any?
Lucy: No! He didn't want any. He said it was a squirrel's lolly.
Children are disgusting. If you need any more proof, here is another conversation, from the very same day. At breakfast, Lucy began:
Lucy: Mom, what are farts good for?
Bridget: Uh, what?
Lucy: What are farts good for?
Bridget: That's what I thought you said, but I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly. I don't know. What are farts good for?
Lucy (laughing): They're good for stinking up a room!!! I'm pretty farty.
You may recall a post about a previous conversation regarding a misunderstanding of Lucy's pronunciation of the word "thought," which sounded like "fart." In this case, she was indeed asking about farts.
Welcome to our world.
Bridget: A lollipop? I did you each have one?
Lucy/Ruth: We shared one!
Bridget: Really? That's kind of gross.
Lucy/Ruth: We found it in the tree!!!!
Bridget: WHAT?
Lucy: It was in the tree! We saw it and I climbed up and got it and passed it down to Ruth. And she ate some, and then gave it to me and I ate some! We shared!
Bridget: Was it WRAPPED?
Lucy/Ruth (in unison, delightedly): NO!
Bridget: So you ate some poor squirrel's Halloween treat? Was it, like, half-eaten?
Lucy/Ruth: YES!
So apparently, the children found half-eaten candy in a tree and ate it. Lucy was very emphatic about the fact that they had SHARED the candy.
Bridget: Did you give Woodrow any?
Lucy: No! He didn't want any. He said it was a squirrel's lolly.
Children are disgusting. If you need any more proof, here is another conversation, from the very same day. At breakfast, Lucy began:
Lucy: Mom, what are farts good for?
Bridget: Uh, what?
Lucy: What are farts good for?
Bridget: That's what I thought you said, but I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly. I don't know. What are farts good for?
Lucy (laughing): They're good for stinking up a room!!! I'm pretty farty.
You may recall a post about a previous conversation regarding a misunderstanding of Lucy's pronunciation of the word "thought," which sounded like "fart." In this case, she was indeed asking about farts.
Welcome to our world.
Friday, November 2, 2012
RIP, Fozzie the Fish
We're having a rough run here. Once again, one week to the day of arrival, fish #2, a beta named Fozzie, has passed from this earth. So far, trauma has been slightly less than that of fish #1 (Lulu). But still, not a good turn of events. Sigh.
Monday, October 29, 2012
of fish and Frankenstorms and Smurfs
I'm delighted to report that I've just sent off the index for the book, so I am officially celebrating. I have one more round of looking at proofs, but just of the index itself. The end is in sight. Cheers!
In other news, there's a Frankestorm coming. Lucy's very excited and asked me:"Mom, are you ready for the Frankenstorm?" Yes, yes I am.
School closed for today; it's unclear whether they will open tomorrow. This is just fine with me.
In other news, we have a new fish to replace Lulu. The new fish is Fozzie, and he's a beta. He's doing well. Lucy and Jake got him last Friday and it was all very exciting. Fingers crossed on this one, folks. If you have beta-care recommendations, do let us know.
That's all for now. Update as storm events warrant and/or allow. Stay safe out there!
_____________
[Later]
So it's closing in on midnight (no doubt it's Tuesday by the time this will be posted) and things are OK here. It's raining and windy, but we still have power. Not so bad for us. We're not sure yet if my school will be closed tomorrow (there are power issues all over town), or if Lucy will have school tomorrow. If her school is closed, it's going to be a major disaster, because it's the day of the "Pumpkin Party" that she has been talking about for weeks and weeks. We're bringing donuts. She's very excited. And she's going to be very upset if it's cancelled. Also, she told me that we had to bring enough donuts for her whole school (6 classrooms of kids). I asked the teacher about it *in front of Lucy* and the teacher explained, oh no, you just need to bring them for our class; the other classes are having their own party. Afterwards, Lucy told me we should bring enough for the whole school anyway. She's committed to her school community. And to donuts.
Today Lucy spent a good bit of time up at Matt & Mary's, and she and Woody and Ruth watched a bit of TV. More specifically, they watched an old Smurfs movie that's available on Netflix called The Smurfs and the Magic Flute. Lucy had never seen or heard of Smurfs before, and she was pretty excited. Here is our conversation when she came home:
Lucy: We watched the Smurrghs!
Me: huh?
Lucy: We watched the SmuRRRRgggghhs!
Me: Do you mean Smurfs?
Lucy: NO! It's SmuRRRRgggghhtttttttsssss!
Me: uh, are they little blue guys? Because I'm pretty sure they're Smurfs.
Lucy: Yeah, they're blue, but Mommy, they're SmuRRRRgggghhtttttttsssss!
Me: uh, no. They're blue. They have white pants. They're Smurfs. I'm pretty sure.
Lucy [sigh/eye roll]: How do you know?
Me [singing Smurf song]: Laa la la la la la laaa la la la la.
Lucy [in disbelief]: HOW DO YOU KNOW THE SONG?
Me: They're Smurfs.
She's still having trouble saying the word "Smurf," though. She has some funny accent/speech things, and she also has a cold right now and no doubt isn't hearing things quite right. So later in the evening, she was talking to Jake:
Lucy: I like the Smurrrgggghhs.
Jake: Oh, yeah, the Smurfs.
Lucy: They say Smurrrrgggghhs a lot in all their sentences.
Jake: Just a Smurfy bit.
This went over Smurfily.
OK, off to bed. Goodnight, Frankenstorm. Hope you don't smurf us all.
In other news, there's a Frankestorm coming. Lucy's very excited and asked me:"Mom, are you ready for the Frankenstorm?" Yes, yes I am.
School closed for today; it's unclear whether they will open tomorrow. This is just fine with me.
In other news, we have a new fish to replace Lulu. The new fish is Fozzie, and he's a beta. He's doing well. Lucy and Jake got him last Friday and it was all very exciting. Fingers crossed on this one, folks. If you have beta-care recommendations, do let us know.
That's all for now. Update as storm events warrant and/or allow. Stay safe out there!
_____________
[Later]
So it's closing in on midnight (no doubt it's Tuesday by the time this will be posted) and things are OK here. It's raining and windy, but we still have power. Not so bad for us. We're not sure yet if my school will be closed tomorrow (there are power issues all over town), or if Lucy will have school tomorrow. If her school is closed, it's going to be a major disaster, because it's the day of the "Pumpkin Party" that she has been talking about for weeks and weeks. We're bringing donuts. She's very excited. And she's going to be very upset if it's cancelled. Also, she told me that we had to bring enough donuts for her whole school (6 classrooms of kids). I asked the teacher about it *in front of Lucy* and the teacher explained, oh no, you just need to bring them for our class; the other classes are having their own party. Afterwards, Lucy told me we should bring enough for the whole school anyway. She's committed to her school community. And to donuts.
Today Lucy spent a good bit of time up at Matt & Mary's, and she and Woody and Ruth watched a bit of TV. More specifically, they watched an old Smurfs movie that's available on Netflix called The Smurfs and the Magic Flute. Lucy had never seen or heard of Smurfs before, and she was pretty excited. Here is our conversation when she came home:
Lucy: We watched the Smurrghs!
Me: huh?
Lucy: We watched the SmuRRRRgggghhs!
Me: Do you mean Smurfs?
Lucy: NO! It's SmuRRRRgggghhtttttttsssss!
Me: uh, are they little blue guys? Because I'm pretty sure they're Smurfs.
Lucy: Yeah, they're blue, but Mommy, they're SmuRRRRgggghhtttttttsssss!
Me: uh, no. They're blue. They have white pants. They're Smurfs. I'm pretty sure.
Lucy [sigh/eye roll]: How do you know?
Me [singing Smurf song]: Laa la la la la la laaa la la la la.
Lucy [in disbelief]: HOW DO YOU KNOW THE SONG?
Me: They're Smurfs.
She's still having trouble saying the word "Smurf," though. She has some funny accent/speech things, and she also has a cold right now and no doubt isn't hearing things quite right. So later in the evening, she was talking to Jake:
Lucy: I like the Smurrrgggghhs.
Jake: Oh, yeah, the Smurfs.
Lucy: They say Smurrrrgggghhs a lot in all their sentences.
Jake: Just a Smurfy bit.
This went over Smurfily.
OK, off to bed. Goodnight, Frankenstorm. Hope you don't smurf us all.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
RIP, Lulu
Lulu the fish survived exactly one week. I noticed earlier in the day that she was swimming kinda on her side, and as the day wore on she was more and more listless. We talked to Lucy after dinner, and she was pretty much heartbroken. It's been a pretty rough night. We may be making a trip to the pet store tomorrow to see about a new fish or two.
In brighter news, Jake took Lucy to Parlee Farms today, where she had fun in the hay maze:
Lucy got just a few pumpkins:
Yes, she decorated all of them (except the bat, which I did). She went all Warhol on us and was like a machine churning out the smiley faces. We suggested some alternatives, but she had a vision. So, anyway, Happy Halloween!
In brighter news, Jake took Lucy to Parlee Farms today, where she had fun in the hay maze:
Lucy got just a few pumpkins:
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
ROCKTOBER EARTHQUAKE!
So Rocktober really does rock: as in, the earth is rocking! Ack! We had an earthquake 'round 7pm. Admittedly it was nothing compared to what happens elsewhere, but it was the strongest I've felt. Lucy and I were reading a book with Lulu (the fish) in the dining room, when everything started to shake. Scary! It lasted long enough for me to wonder what was going on and begin to think "oh dear, what should we do now?" Then it stopped. Lucy asked "was that an earthquake?" and Jake said he thought it was the washing machine out of balance. To his credit, the washing machine was in fact on, and does sometimes shake a lot. But not that much. I put her to bed before we found out that it actually was an earthquake. She's going to be excited when we tell her tomorrow.
http://origin-earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000d75b#summaryhttp://origin-earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000d75b#summary
http://origin-earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000d75b#summaryhttp://origin-earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000d75b#summary
Saturday, October 13, 2012
ROCKTOBER!
So it's October here at 83 Durant (and, I suppose, in most places using the same calendar as us), and we all just LOVE October. It's the best month. I've already fallen behind on documenting the many and sundry things we've done, but here are a few highlights so far:
Family Day/Fall Festival @UML:
Lucy had a grand time today at the Fall Festival, an event we attended last year, too. Unfortunately, I didn't actually have the camera at the event this year, which I seriously regret, because Lucy RODE A HORSE there. It was great. They had these three small horses, and anyone could get a ride. Lucy was a bit scared, but ultimately delighted. I'm not entirely sure how the pony rides related to the main event, which, thematically, was not (as far as I could tell) at all horse-y. Last year, they did a "Wild West" theme, and they were supposed to have pony rides, but it rained & hence they were indoors. Perhaps this was the "rain date" for the pony ride part. Who knows. This year, the theme was "Anchors Away," and wouldn't you know it, there were pirates, sailors, and fish everywhere. A lot of fish. In fact, we even got to take one home:
Yup, that's a small fish tank. And it contains Lulu, the newest addition to our household.
Here she is:
Carter hasn't noticed her yet. Not really surprising. Maybe if she smelled like bacon he'd care.
Visit to Carlisle (to meet JAMES!)
We had a lovely trip down to stay with my mom over Columbus Day weekend, and Jennifer, Brendan, Luke, and James came to join the fun. It was lovely. James, we're delighted to know you!
See the flickr for further documentation of the fun.
While we were there, Jake participated in the Iron Cross, posting a pretty great time & placing 30th in a field of over 100, even WITH being a good samaritan and helping some dude with a flat tire. Good stuff. We also got to have an awesome lunch at Cafe Bruges just down the street from my mom's house. It was so delicious!
The Warren/Brown Debate @ the Tsongas Center
Ok, so it was pretty appalling, but it was cool to be there, particularly as a follow-up to my previous (and first) attendance at a political debate. We do not (yet) have any political signs in our yard, but if we do, it will be for Elizabeth Warren.
There's lots more on the schedule for October (including seeing Jack Kerouac's first, only, never-before-performed play on stage here in Lowell tomorrow), but you'll have to stay tuned. I hope to have more updates soon.
Family Day/Fall Festival @UML:
Lucy had a grand time today at the Fall Festival, an event we attended last year, too. Unfortunately, I didn't actually have the camera at the event this year, which I seriously regret, because Lucy RODE A HORSE there. It was great. They had these three small horses, and anyone could get a ride. Lucy was a bit scared, but ultimately delighted. I'm not entirely sure how the pony rides related to the main event, which, thematically, was not (as far as I could tell) at all horse-y. Last year, they did a "Wild West" theme, and they were supposed to have pony rides, but it rained & hence they were indoors. Perhaps this was the "rain date" for the pony ride part. Who knows. This year, the theme was "Anchors Away," and wouldn't you know it, there were pirates, sailors, and fish everywhere. A lot of fish. In fact, we even got to take one home:
Yup, that's a small fish tank. And it contains Lulu, the newest addition to our household.
Here she is:
Visit to Carlisle (to meet JAMES!)
We had a lovely trip down to stay with my mom over Columbus Day weekend, and Jennifer, Brendan, Luke, and James came to join the fun. It was lovely. James, we're delighted to know you!
While we were there, Jake participated in the Iron Cross, posting a pretty great time & placing 30th in a field of over 100, even WITH being a good samaritan and helping some dude with a flat tire. Good stuff. We also got to have an awesome lunch at Cafe Bruges just down the street from my mom's house. It was so delicious!
The Warren/Brown Debate @ the Tsongas Center
Ok, so it was pretty appalling, but it was cool to be there, particularly as a follow-up to my previous (and first) attendance at a political debate. We do not (yet) have any political signs in our yard, but if we do, it will be for Elizabeth Warren.
There's lots more on the schedule for October (including seeing Jack Kerouac's first, only, never-before-performed play on stage here in Lowell tomorrow), but you'll have to stay tuned. I hope to have more updates soon.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Cheers!
We just bought our house. Again. By which I mean, of course, that we managed to do a refinance (with these crazy low interest rates) and we closed today! Hurrah! I cannot believe it. It's quite a bit different to sit at the lawyer's office and sign your life away without a moving truck sitting outside. Perhaps you remember how it all started, way back here.
So cheers!
And while I'm here, a few quick updates:
1) We've been out and about in the canoe a few times lately, with paddles on the Merrimack and the Concord. Lucy loves it. We had never taken her out before (in fact, our last trip in the canoe may well have been this one). We've seen a bunch of turtles and a blue heron, and lots of other birds. It's been fun.
2) We had an awesome camping trip at Tully Lake this past weekend. Many thanks to Ian & Elizabeth for bringing us along, and to Matt & Mary for the loan of their cavernous tent. There are pics here of us with the tent, and here of the crazy orange newts Lucy kept befriending. Lucy had a grand time. We even got to experience a thunderstorm (from safely inside our tent); Lucy slept through the whole thing. Ian & Elizabeth did not. Here is a portion of their conversation:
Elizabeth (in Elizabeth-panic): Ian! I think there's someone outside the tent! Do you have your knife?
Ian (in what can only be described as Ian-like calm): Yes.
Elizabeth: WHY DO YOU HAVE A KNIFE IN THE TENT???!?!?!?!?!
So my next writing project is going to be a buddy-cop TV show, featuring Ian and Elizabeth. They're married to their jobs....and each other! It's Mazsa & Mazsa, Crime Scene Investigators. It's gonna be a huge hit.
That's all for now.
So cheers!
And while I'm here, a few quick updates:
1) We've been out and about in the canoe a few times lately, with paddles on the Merrimack and the Concord. Lucy loves it. We had never taken her out before (in fact, our last trip in the canoe may well have been this one). We've seen a bunch of turtles and a blue heron, and lots of other birds. It's been fun.
2) We had an awesome camping trip at Tully Lake this past weekend. Many thanks to Ian & Elizabeth for bringing us along, and to Matt & Mary for the loan of their cavernous tent. There are pics here of us with the tent, and here of the crazy orange newts Lucy kept befriending. Lucy had a grand time. We even got to experience a thunderstorm (from safely inside our tent); Lucy slept through the whole thing. Ian & Elizabeth did not. Here is a portion of their conversation:
Elizabeth (in Elizabeth-panic): Ian! I think there's someone outside the tent! Do you have your knife?
Ian (in what can only be described as Ian-like calm): Yes.
Elizabeth: WHY DO YOU HAVE A KNIFE IN THE TENT???!?!?!?!?!
So my next writing project is going to be a buddy-cop TV show, featuring Ian and Elizabeth. They're married to their jobs....and each other! It's Mazsa & Mazsa, Crime Scene Investigators. It's gonna be a huge hit.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Fans of Fans
We're delighted with our most recent renovation/addition: FANS!
Perhaps you are familiar with the hideousness that was our kitchen light/fan situation:
Yes, that IS a bare bulb on the bottom. Perhaps you would prefer our new addition:
OH yes, much better!
Our electrician neighbor, who did the work for us, informed us that the old fan was held up with exactly ONE screw. Awesome. She affixed this one a bit more solidly, which you can tell by the fact that it is totally sturdy and doesn't sway all over the place when it runs. Nice!
We've also been wanting a fan in our bedroom, as it gets a bit stuffy up there and Jake is a hot sleeper. So we now have this:
So yes, now that summer is over, we have our fans ready. Woo hoo.
In other news, we've been canoeing lately, on both the Concord and the Merrimack. It's been great fun. This weekend, we're going camping at Tully Lake. Lucy is beside herself with excitement.
Updates as events warrant. Hope you're enjoying September!
Perhaps you are familiar with the hideousness that was our kitchen light/fan situation:
Our electrician neighbor, who did the work for us, informed us that the old fan was held up with exactly ONE screw. Awesome. She affixed this one a bit more solidly, which you can tell by the fact that it is totally sturdy and doesn't sway all over the place when it runs. Nice!
We've also been wanting a fan in our bedroom, as it gets a bit stuffy up there and Jake is a hot sleeper. So we now have this:
In other news, we've been canoeing lately, on both the Concord and the Merrimack. It's been great fun. This weekend, we're going camping at Tully Lake. Lucy is beside herself with excitement.
Updates as events warrant. Hope you're enjoying September!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Quick Post: Conversation with Lucy
Me: Lucy, would like milk on your cereal this morning?
Lucy: Mom, when I have milk on my cereal and I talk too much, my cereal gets soggy. So I'm not going to have milk on my cereal.
Perfect solution.
She can't stop talking.
[Further update/detail]
A comment (below) from Uncle Kanga reminds me that I should also mention that among the many lies I have told Lucy is the claim that we can't buy Lucky Charms (or any other sugar-laden cereal such as Cap'n Crunch); only Grandma and her school can purchase such things. She really and truly believes this; when we see said boxes of cereal at the store, she points and talks about how we can't buy them. Only her school. And Grandma (who buys them in the whole multi-pack set of mini boxes for her as a treat). There is a future (long) post to be written at some point about the many, many lies that we have told Lucy, and her predisposition to believe these things.
So the cereal in question above was Cheerios. She then went to school, where she had a bowl of Lucky Charms. So no worries, fans of Lucy, she is getting her US Recommended Daily Allowance of kid cereal.
Lucy: Mom, when I have milk on my cereal and I talk too much, my cereal gets soggy. So I'm not going to have milk on my cereal.
Perfect solution.
She can't stop talking.
[Further update/detail]
A comment (below) from Uncle Kanga reminds me that I should also mention that among the many lies I have told Lucy is the claim that we can't buy Lucky Charms (or any other sugar-laden cereal such as Cap'n Crunch); only Grandma and her school can purchase such things. She really and truly believes this; when we see said boxes of cereal at the store, she points and talks about how we can't buy them. Only her school. And Grandma (who buys them in the whole multi-pack set of mini boxes for her as a treat). There is a future (long) post to be written at some point about the many, many lies that we have told Lucy, and her predisposition to believe these things.
So the cereal in question above was Cheerios. She then went to school, where she had a bowl of Lucky Charms. So no worries, fans of Lucy, she is getting her US Recommended Daily Allowance of kid cereal.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Welcome, new Marshall!
His name is James. All are doing well. Congrats to Jennifer, Brendan, and Luke!
Born at 3:40 pm today.
9 pounds (NINE!)
21 inches.
And here he is, straight from Brendan's Facebook:
Woo hoo! Best wishes to you, James.
Will your middle name be T. Kirk?
Born at 3:40 pm today.
9 pounds (NINE!)
21 inches.
And here he is, straight from Brendan's Facebook:
Will your middle name be T. Kirk?
Waiting (is the hardest part)
I'm sitting here waiting for news of the imminent arrival of a new Marshall. Hurry up and get born, kid! We can't wait to meet you. (To be clear, my brother and his wife are having a new baby! Hooray!) While we're waiting, here are some recent updates:
We've just wrapped up a fabulous weekend filled with local fun. We went to Founders Day at the Lowell National Historic Park, where Lucy did some crafts, we went for a trolley tour, and joined a sing-a-long with a ranger playing a ukelele. Awesome! Lucy loves "This Land is Your Land."
Then we had a fabulous luau in Somerville with Ian & Elizabeth. There were leis and little drink parasols. Lovely!
Sunday we went to Franklin Park Zoo! It was super terrific. Lucy really liked the lemurs, who came right up to the glass to say hello. She was also a big fan of tree-climing.
In other exotic animal news, someone found an actual alligator hanging out in a canal in Lowell. No kidding. See this from the Lowell Sun:
And of course, the Lowell Sun went to the Lowell Spinners (mascot: Canaligator) for comment:
Awesome. There are some great photos and some video at the local police log blog:
http://blogs.lowellsun.com/policeline/2012/08/25/canaligator-real/
So yeah, there really IS a lot to like about Lowell.
In other Lucy news, she has graduated to Purple Family. Very exciting. She came home with a cold after the first day in the new classroom. New class, new microbes. Nice. But she seems to be getting better.
And here we are, still waiting. Updates as soon as have 'em.
We've just wrapped up a fabulous weekend filled with local fun. We went to Founders Day at the Lowell National Historic Park, where Lucy did some crafts, we went for a trolley tour, and joined a sing-a-long with a ranger playing a ukelele. Awesome! Lucy loves "This Land is Your Land."
Then we had a fabulous luau in Somerville with Ian & Elizabeth. There were leis and little drink parasols. Lovely!
Sunday we went to Franklin Park Zoo! It was super terrific. Lucy really liked the lemurs, who came right up to the glass to say hello. She was also a big fan of tree-climing.
In other exotic animal news, someone found an actual alligator hanging out in a canal in Lowell. No kidding. See this from the Lowell Sun:
LOWELL -- Police thought they were dealing with a prank call when someone reported seeing an alligator in the Merrimack Canal Saturday night.
It wasn't a prank.
Sgt. Jack Cullen arrived at Broadway and Dutton streets, near the Lowell National Historical Park parking lot, and found a roughly 2-foot alligator swimming in the canal just after 9 p.m.
And of course, the Lowell Sun went to the Lowell Spinners (mascot: Canaligator) for comment:
Jon Boswell, director of media relations for the Lowell Spinners, said the team's mascot, the Canaligator, was not immediately available for comment.
He said he suspects the alligator might be a relative.
Boswell said Canaligator married Allie-gator in 2005, and the happy couple gave birth to Millie-gator in 2006.
Awesome. There are some great photos and some video at the local police log blog:
http://blogs.lowellsun.com/policeline/2012/08/25/canaligator-real/
So yeah, there really IS a lot to like about Lowell.
In other Lucy news, she has graduated to Purple Family. Very exciting. She came home with a cold after the first day in the new classroom. New class, new microbes. Nice. But she seems to be getting better.
And here we are, still waiting. Updates as soon as have 'em.
We've just wrapped up a fabulous weekend filled with local fun. We went to Founders Day at the Lowell National Historic Park, where Lucy did some crafts, we went for a trolley tour, and joined a sing-a-long with a ranger playing a ukelele. Awesome! Lucy loves "This Land is Your Land."
Then we had a fabulous luau in Somerville with Ian & Elizabeth.
Sunday we went to Franklin Park Zoo!
In other news, someone found an actual alligator hanging out in a canal in Lowell. No kidding.
From the Lowell Sun:
LOWELL -- Police thought they were dealing with a prank call when someone reported seeing an alligator in the Merrimack Canal Saturday night.
It wasn't a prank.
Sgt. Jack Cullen arrived at Broadway and Dutton streets, near the Lowell National Historical Park parking lot, and found a roughly 2-foot alligator swimming in the canal just after 9 p.m.
Calvin Thomas, of Lowell, said he was walking past the area with his kids when he looked into the canal.
Jon Boswell, director of media relations for the Lowell Spinners, said the team's mascot, the Canaligator, was not immediately available for comment.
He said he suspects the alligator might be a relative.
Boswell said Canaligator married Allie-gator in 2005, and the happy couple gave birth to Millie-gator in 2006.
Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_21402780/glancing-down-into-lowell-canal-he-saw-gator#ixzz24hqx7Hjr
Then we had a fabulous luau in Somerville with Ian & Elizabeth.
Sunday we went to Franklin Park Zoo!
In other news, someone found an actual alligator hanging out in a canal in Lowell. No kidding.
From the Lowell Sun:
LOWELL -- Police thought they were dealing with a prank call when someone reported seeing an alligator in the Merrimack Canal Saturday night.
It wasn't a prank.
Sgt. Jack Cullen arrived at Broadway and Dutton streets, near the Lowell National Historical Park parking lot, and found a roughly 2-foot alligator swimming in the canal just after 9 p.m.
Calvin Thomas, of Lowell, said he was walking past the area with his kids when he looked into the canal.
Jon Boswell, director of media relations for the Lowell Spinners, said the team's mascot, the Canaligator, was not immediately available for comment.
He said he suspects the alligator might be a relative.
Boswell said Canaligator married Allie-gator in 2005, and the happy couple gave birth to Millie-gator in 2006.
Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_21402780/glancing-down-into-lowell-canal-he-saw-gator#ixzz24hqx7Hjr
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Project Underway! Basement Bathroom Actualization
So you may or may not know that there's a bathroom down in our basement. It features in the background of several previous project posts, such as this one and this one. It's a bit sketchy:
It has a toilet and a sink. The toilet was leveled with a shim in form of a paint stirrer. (Awesome!) Check it out:
It's an older style, with an enormous tank that was running a lot, so we actually turned off the water leads to it to conserve water. This was usually fine, except on the rare occasion when an unknowing guest, or Lucy, used the toilet. Ooops.
The sink leaks, and when I asked a plumber about it, he said it was not worth fixing the faucet; we should get a whole new sink set up. Also, it was previously the drain for the washing machine (as detailed in the posts I linked above). The faucet is set back very close to the basin, so it's actually not a great design for hand-washing.
So this project has been on the back burner for a long time, since we do indeed have two other bathrooms. But a few things have propelled this project forward: 1) we bought a third toilet back when we were replacing the other ones 2) our friends Matt & Mary gave us a new sink they had inherited [the tall white thing beside the sink in the photo above is actually the pedestal of the new sink] 3) we wanted to make more use of the backyard, and having a handy bathroom might make that even nicer. Oh, and 4) our neighbor, Lisa, was available for some projects!
So the project is underway today. She's taking out the old toilet, checking to make sure things are OK down there, then putting in a new one. Then she'll take out the old and put in the new sink. She's going to put down flooring plywood, and then go over it with some vinyl tiling I bought.
I am SO excited.
Updates as I have them.
Woo hoo!
Update: 3:40pm
Check it out:
Here's the latest status on the project:
--->Old toilet and sink are gone, gone gone.
--->Water intake valves (3 -- 2 for sink, 1 for toilet) replaced with shiny new, easy-to-use accessible ones.
--->Toilet drain confirmed secure (relief! we weren't sure -- it's an OLD pipe, but a solid one)
--->Wood beneath and around toilet confirmed secure and not damaged by water or critters.
--->Evidence of critters, in the form of SQUIRRELS confirmed. Not ideal, but not posing imminent harm to plumbing or the house. Further investigation necessary. Possible "re-location" plan may need to be developed. We're not even sure if the critter is still in residence.
So hey, most of that is good news. Liza is putting down new flooring plywood right now and then will paint it. Tiling happens next.
Stay tuned!
UPDATE: 10pm: IT'S DONE!
We're just delighted. Liza stayed until 10pm just because she wanted to get the job done. Awesome.
I need to do a bit of clean up tomorrow, but hooray!
Of course, now the new floor and new fixtures make the rest of it all (the walls) look worse.....perhaps another upgrade will be in our future.
Cheers!
It has a toilet and a sink. The toilet was leveled with a shim in form of a paint stirrer. (Awesome!) Check it out:
It's an older style, with an enormous tank that was running a lot, so we actually turned off the water leads to it to conserve water. This was usually fine, except on the rare occasion when an unknowing guest, or Lucy, used the toilet. Ooops.
The sink leaks, and when I asked a plumber about it, he said it was not worth fixing the faucet; we should get a whole new sink set up. Also, it was previously the drain for the washing machine (as detailed in the posts I linked above). The faucet is set back very close to the basin, so it's actually not a great design for hand-washing.
So this project has been on the back burner for a long time, since we do indeed have two other bathrooms. But a few things have propelled this project forward: 1) we bought a third toilet back when we were replacing the other ones 2) our friends Matt & Mary gave us a new sink they had inherited [the tall white thing beside the sink in the photo above is actually the pedestal of the new sink] 3) we wanted to make more use of the backyard, and having a handy bathroom might make that even nicer. Oh, and 4) our neighbor, Lisa, was available for some projects!
So the project is underway today. She's taking out the old toilet, checking to make sure things are OK down there, then putting in a new one. Then she'll take out the old and put in the new sink. She's going to put down flooring plywood, and then go over it with some vinyl tiling I bought.
I am SO excited.
Updates as I have them.
Woo hoo!
Update: 3:40pm
Check it out:
Here's the latest status on the project:
--->Old toilet and sink are gone, gone gone.
--->Water intake valves (3 -- 2 for sink, 1 for toilet) replaced with shiny new, easy-to-use accessible ones.
--->Toilet drain confirmed secure (relief! we weren't sure -- it's an OLD pipe, but a solid one)
--->Wood beneath and around toilet confirmed secure and not damaged by water or critters.
--->Evidence of critters, in the form of SQUIRRELS confirmed. Not ideal, but not posing imminent harm to plumbing or the house. Further investigation necessary. Possible "re-location" plan may need to be developed. We're not even sure if the critter is still in residence.
So hey, most of that is good news. Liza is putting down new flooring plywood right now and then will paint it. Tiling happens next.
Stay tuned!
UPDATE: 10pm: IT'S DONE!
I need to do a bit of clean up tomorrow, but hooray!
Of course, now the new floor and new fixtures make the rest of it all (the walls) look worse.....perhaps another upgrade will be in our future.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Lowell Folk Festival Rocks!
Just like last year, we picked up our bag of compost from the previous year.
We went down to the Lowell Folk Festival on both Saturday and Sunday. Both days were amazing. We were especially into the food. Our favorites: The Jamaican meat pies. Oh, and pretty much everything we shoved in our mouths. Thanks, Lowell Folk Festival! We'll see you next year!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
...and we're back
We're back from our yearly Pennsylvania/Maryland/Delaware tour. A good time was had by all. Apologies to those of you we didn't get to visit; things were a bit jam-packed. Some highlights from our major destinations:
Carlisle: They'll fix you up
The above proposed promotional tag line for Carlisle is a result of the fact that we (finally) got a bunch of things fixed while we were here. And all within like 8 hours. I got a new battery for my watch, then Jake got his battery fixed, then we got the car fixed. It was an amazing day of getting stuff fixed. What was wrong with the car? Well, if you saw us during our travels, you also heard us....Ernie suggested that we could easily join a motorcycle gang. Lucy exclaimed "the car farted!" We needed a bit of exhaust work. But all is well now!
Sign that delighted me: Free Veggies Mondays 5:45 / Next Bike Repair Clinic (seen outside a local church)
Sign that horrified me: Gun Raffle (seen outside the local fire station)
Sight that delighted me: A giant field of solar panels at my old high school, including SHEEP grazing underneath them to keep the grass & weeds under control. Brilliant!
Other highlights: walking Gus (Mom's neighbor Gloria's dog), as pictured here:
Among other Carlisle attractions, there's always the fun of going up into the attic archives at my Mom's house. On this trip I found and claimed:
-a doll that I made of Long John Silver as a book report project in the seventh grade (it now sits in my office as a talisman against extra credit projects)
-two metal casket plates engraved with my name (I once made these regularly on Saturdays spent at the Boyertown casket sales office with my Dad. I thought they were all long gone, so I was delighted that these had been saved!)
-my three Strawberry Shortcake dolls (Apricot, Lemon Merigue, and Lime) all wrapped up inside their original boxes (will they go to Lucy or will they go on Ebay?)
Being back at my Mom's house always involves seeing things that I haven't looked at in decades....particularly since she did a really good job of saving all of my (and Brendan's) toys and has cleaned them all up to share with Lucy and Luke. One of the greatest hits is these fish (shown above), which are a really simple thing -- basically plastic or vinyl and they cling to the walls of the bathtub. I remember them vividly my childhood, and Lucy is crazy about them. The design is just so simple and pleasing. But we have no idea where they came from, or who made them, or if anything like them is still made. Readers, do they look familiar? We think they're circa 1978 or so. Maybe 1980.
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Maryland:
It was a short visit to Germantown, but we were delighted to see Brendan & Jennifer & Luke. We can't wait to meet their new family member, too. We visited the best playground ever: South Germantown's Adventure Playground. It was really, seriously, amazing. It even accommodated grown-ups (though the taller ones had some trouble with the height of some things). Because Lucy and Luke were both vibrating balls of excitement flying off in different directions, it was difficult to get a photo of the two of them together. But there are a few good ones:
There's some video of that madness, too, and I will try to process it and get it posted soon.
We also played an exhausting game of Settlers of Catan. Mistakes were made, alliances formed, trust broken....we may never play again.
Below is the first photo on the camera from Germantown, which bears striking resemblance to the last photo on the camera from Rehoboth (a bit further below):
There was a lot of reading going on.
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Rehoboth:
There was so much that happened in the week that it's hard to keep track. Lucy had an amazing time with her cousins, who very kindly tolerated her particular variety of insanity, which included fairly constant singing, a return to her narration mode ("she said"/'she exclaimed"/"she yelled as she pushed" after every statement), and an obsession with being read to. Jamie read her a ton of books, as did most of the visitors to the house. She slept in our room, and in the middle of one night, she awoke and groggily, pitifully asked, "can somebody please read something to me?" Yup.
Yup, pretty excited. But she wouldn't go up to him. Oh well. Instead, she and Jamie and Ma read some books together:
(And yes, Lucy is carrying two loaves of french bread there in the back seat.)
The big beach event was the Cocktail Party hosted by Ernie and Vonnie. The crowd was huge, the food was amazing, and the dancing....well, here you can see for yourself:
Jack and Charlie and Sammy's Lemonade Stand was another standout, particularly with the amazing feature of potato chip cookies.
These boys are sitting on a goldmine -- investors? Seriously, they could make a mint on this.
We also took the requisite visit to Funland, which was, despite this image of Lucy's apparent displeasure:
very fun, as you might infer from this image:
Cousins: they make everything more fun.
And although Lucy was completely exhausted (and covered in ice cream) by the end of the evening, she really did have a tremendous time. We all did:
I'm going to wind things up here, but wanted to end by thanking all the lovely folks who made our trip possible. It was great to see all of you. I've tried to put the better photos up on Flickr.
And if we didn't get to see you on this trip, I sure hope we can next time!
Where has the summer gone? It's almost August.
Carlisle: They'll fix you up
The above proposed promotional tag line for Carlisle is a result of the fact that we (finally) got a bunch of things fixed while we were here. And all within like 8 hours. I got a new battery for my watch, then Jake got his battery fixed, then we got the car fixed. It was an amazing day of getting stuff fixed. What was wrong with the car? Well, if you saw us during our travels, you also heard us....Ernie suggested that we could easily join a motorcycle gang. Lucy exclaimed "the car farted!" We needed a bit of exhaust work. But all is well now!
Sign that delighted me: Free Veggies Mondays 5:45 / Next Bike Repair Clinic (seen outside a local church)
Sign that horrified me: Gun Raffle (seen outside the local fire station)
Sight that delighted me: A giant field of solar panels at my old high school, including SHEEP grazing underneath them to keep the grass & weeds under control. Brilliant!
Other highlights: walking Gus (Mom's neighbor Gloria's dog), as pictured here:
Among other Carlisle attractions, there's always the fun of going up into the attic archives at my Mom's house. On this trip I found and claimed:
-a doll that I made of Long John Silver as a book report project in the seventh grade (it now sits in my office as a talisman against extra credit projects)
-two metal casket plates engraved with my name (I once made these regularly on Saturdays spent at the Boyertown casket sales office with my Dad. I thought they were all long gone, so I was delighted that these had been saved!)
-my three Strawberry Shortcake dolls (Apricot, Lemon Merigue, and Lime) all wrapped up inside their original boxes (will they go to Lucy or will they go on Ebay?)
__________________________________________________
Maryland:
It was a short visit to Germantown, but we were delighted to see Brendan & Jennifer & Luke. We can't wait to meet their new family member, too. We visited the best playground ever: South Germantown's Adventure Playground. It was really, seriously, amazing. It even accommodated grown-ups (though the taller ones had some trouble with the height of some things). Because Lucy and Luke were both vibrating balls of excitement flying off in different directions, it was difficult to get a photo of the two of them together. But there are a few good ones:
There's some video of that madness, too, and I will try to process it and get it posted soon.
We also played an exhausting game of Settlers of Catan. Mistakes were made, alliances formed, trust broken....we may never play again.
Below is the first photo on the camera from Germantown, which bears striking resemblance to the last photo on the camera from Rehoboth (a bit further below):
__________________________________________
Rehoboth:
There was so much that happened in the week that it's hard to keep track. Lucy had an amazing time with her cousins, who very kindly tolerated her particular variety of insanity, which included fairly constant singing, a return to her narration mode ("she said"/'she exclaimed"/"she yelled as she pushed" after every statement), and an obsession with being read to. Jamie read her a ton of books, as did most of the visitors to the house. She slept in our room, and in the middle of one night, she awoke and groggily, pitifully asked, "can somebody please read something to me?" Yup.
Speaking of beach reading, I picked up the second installment of Deborah Harkness's trilogy and devoured all 500+ pages while at the beach. I was in a race against Jessamy (I lost) to finish. It was terrific. You may recall my praise for the first volume, A Discovery of Witches, but I may have liked this one -- Shadow of Night -- even better.
In the spirit of reading, we visited our favorite beach store, Browseabout Books, where we had a special visit from Clifford, the Big Red Dog. Here's Lucy's face when he arrived:
Yup, pretty excited. But she wouldn't go up to him. Oh well. Instead, she and Jamie and Ma read some books together:
Besides reading, there was also some bike riding, with the tandem playing a key role in our transportation around the beach:
The big beach event was the Cocktail Party hosted by Ernie and Vonnie. The crowd was huge, the food was amazing, and the dancing....well, here you can see for yourself:
Sadly, I didn't get many pictures (though I did take some pictures of the night-before-practice-cocktail-party: check the flickr stream right around here), but boy, did everyone have a good time. On the way home from the party (we were on the bike) Lucy asked, "Can we have a cocktail party at our house tomorrow night to thank Vonnie and Ernie for their cocktail party?" Genius idea. The kid likes a cocktail party.
We also took the requisite visit to Funland, which was, despite this image of Lucy's apparent displeasure:
Cousins: they make everything more fun.
And although Lucy was completely exhausted (and covered in ice cream) by the end of the evening, she really did have a tremendous time. We all did:
Final analysis: Funland: it's fun.
So long, Farewell, 506 Scarborough:
I'm going to wind things up here, but wanted to end by thanking all the lovely folks who made our trip possible. It was great to see all of you. I've tried to put the better photos up on Flickr.
And if we didn't get to see you on this trip, I sure hope we can next time!
Where has the summer gone? It's almost August.
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