My So Called Life

More MJ musings

/ Shane / 3 Comments

Obviously since Thursday I’ve been thinking a lot about (and listening to a lot of) Michael Jackson’s music. I started to make a list in my head of my top 5 MJ songs and the list really surprised me.

  1. Smooth Criminal – Total surprise at the top spot, but I really like this song.
  2. Billie Jean – The quintessential MJ song. When you hear that intro, you just have to start bouncing in your seat.
  3. Thriller – Even I thought this would be higher, but I can’t stress enough that these top 3 are separated by only a hair’s breadth.
  4. Somebody’s Watching Me – I know what you’re thinking, that’s not Michael, that’s Rockwell. Come on, if it wasn’t for MJ’s hook, nobody would know this song.
  5. (tie) Dirty Diana – Do people know this one? I don’t know if it was a big hit or not, but I really like it.
  6. (tie) Scream – This Michael / Janet Jackson collaboration didn’t come out until 1995 so many people might have been off the Jacksons by then, but it’s actually a quality song.

All in all, not what I would have guessed to make the top 5, but there it is. Put your favorites in the comments.

In other news it was a relatively eventful weekend. We made some sweet garage sale finds including an art easel and some shelves with baskets for Evie. We spent a lot of time at the beach. Evie rode on a train at the mall and loved it. And finally, we bought some fresh eggs at the farmer’s market.

My uncle has chickens and he swears up and down that home grown eggs are way better than store bought ones. They may have been better; they were certainly good. They didn’t change my life though. The yolks were definitely more appealing, much darker yellow than store eggs.  Considering they cost the same as the organic store eggs, I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t keep buying them.

Hand, Foot and Mouth

/ Shane / 3 Comments

Some friends came to visit over the weekend and, unfortunately, Evie wasn’t feeling very well. On Sunday, Evie woke up at 4:15 (Happy Father’s day!) and proceeded to have an absolute fit until maybe 6. It was a doozy and I was very embarrassed to have her behaving as such with company over. It’s one thing for us to wake up at 4:15, but quite another for the entire building to wake up then.

We soon realized she was sick with a cough, a runny nose and a slight fever. She’s pretty much always sick though, so we decided to proceed with our plans anyway. We hit up the Pirate Exhibit at the Field Museum…so maybe it was a successful Father’s Day after all! She had a good time at the museum, but on the way home she was clearly exhausted.

Sara had noticed that she had a rash on her hands and was a little suspicious, but later when Evie fell asleep and Sara took off her socks and shoes to get her into bed easier without waking her up, she confirmed her suspicions when she saw a rash on Evie’s feet. It was not surprising, therefore, when we noticed some sores on Evie’s tongue: she had hand, foot and mouth disease. I will save you from seeing some of the awful results that show up in an image search, but if you’re a glutton for punishment it is quite disgusting.

We confirmed with the doctor that there is really nothing we can do except ride out the virus. Our friends wisely ducked out once it became obvious that “irritability” and “tiredness” (which are more or less the same thing) were actual side effects, not just the idle threats.

So we had a couple of rough days, although she seems like she is on the mend now. She can’t bring her plague to daycare this week, so her grandparents are staying with her.

I feel really bad for her because she was probably as miserable as she has ever been in her short life. One of the things we did to help her feel better was allow her to watch a movie. Now keep in mind this is only the second time we’ve ever let her watch T.V. The first was an Elmo potty video. And you can tell she doesn’t see much T.V. because when the movie started and Tinkerbell came out and painted the Disney logo, Evie said, “That was great!” and jumped down from her seat and made to leave.

The height of movie technology

The height of movie technology

She enjoyed the movie, especially the songs, but she got bored before the end. One of the best parts for me is when she went over to our cat and said, “Nala, I’m watching a movie about you. You’re big now.”

(Note to grandparents, this does not mean she’s allowed to watch T.V. whenever!:) )

Another funny thing that happened this weekend, obviously we were taking her temperature a lot due to her illness and, as usual, she replicates what she sees. Therefore there was a very awkward moment for both Sara and I independently when she pretended to take our temperature…let’s just say we don’t take her temperature orally.

In completely other news, the other night I had a dream that I was in Wisconsin and I got a fine for not having a moustache.

Weird Sandwiches

/ Shane / 15 Comments

When I was little, we used to eat something called a “Tiger Sandwich” which was a peanut butter and butter sandwich (get it, it has stripes like a tiger).

At the time it didn’t seem gross, though I have to admit, as of right now it doesn’t sound too appetizing. That being said, it doesn’t sound more disgusting than butter on a ham sandwich, something my mom insisted on making.

On the other hand, for lunch today I had a PB and cheese sandwich, which is quite delicious. Sara thinks this is so disgusting, so she consequently asks everybody their opinion. Far and away, everybody seems to agree that it is gross.

So now I’m opening this up to wider audience (and trying out the poll do hickey). What say you? And leave other sandwiches that you like but other people find disgusting in the comments.

Raoullllllll

/ Shane / 4 Comments

There’s a guy where I work, let’s call him Raoul*. He’s a professional guy, possibly even a lawyer. I think the last time I saw him he was wearing a tie. So if this guy is an intelligent, well educated guy, can someone please explain to me why he adds a bunch of extra l’s at the end of his name when he sends and email??

The first time I got an email from Raoulllllll I thought, “Hey, maybe his finger slipped or something.” The next 10 or so times I got an email from him I thought, “Maybe a long time ago he accidentally messed up his signature on his email and he doesn’t know it.” But then I took the time to count the l’s and I discovered that it is not consistent! So he must be typing in all those extra l’s every time. Raoulllllll. And this is not just to me, he signs things this way to actual customers.

So tell me, what is he thinking? Is his name really Raoulllllll with a long ‘l’ sound at the end and he is silently cursing everyone for getting his name wrong all these years? Does he just have a jittery ring finger? Does he think it makes him look cool? Any other theories? Because I am baffled.

*Name changed to protect the innocent.

Did you miss me?

/ Shane / 3 Comments

Of course you didn’t, because you didn’t know I was gone.

It’s been a long week and a half or so. Evie and Sara were in MI all last week until Thursday when we met for camping. Always when Sara is going to be gone I think to myself, “I am going to have sooo much time to do whatever I want!” and then I end up being busier than I normally am trying to get all the stuff done I’m supposed to get done while they are gone. So I was actually staying up late every night trying to finish everything I needed to do and didn’t get a lot of free time.

I ain’t complain’ though, because Sara had it much worse. Evie has taken it into her head to have some real tantrums, screaming, kicking, the whole nine. I remember a particular phone call in which I could hear Evie in the background yelling gems like, “It is nice to bite mommy!” Most of these tantrums involve the potty in one way or another. She is very willful and doesn’t like being told what to do, therefore, every little thing becomes a battle of wills. I understand this is pretty typical of her age, so once we are through it, we’re hoping it will go dormant again until she is a teenager.

Many of the problems are exacerbated by being on vacation. First off, she doesn’t have her usual routine going on around her. Second off, she is getting less sleep since her sleep schedule is off and her naps are often shortened because of stuff that we’re doing. Third, she is having a really good time and doesn’t want to do the things she needs to do (like sleep). Finally, when we are busy trying to do things she has more power to disrupt our life and she knows it. And she does not use this power for good. All of this lead Sara to proclaim it the “worst week she’s ever had as a parent” and seriously think about canceling the vacation altogether.

All that unpleasantness aside, there have also been some bright spots on the potty training front. She doesn’t really have a lot of accidents and she is starting to stay dry through naps and even through the night sometimes, despite her diaper. One night she even got Sara to take her to the potty in the middle of the night so she could go.

The actual camping went really well. We were going to tent camp, but the prospect of a wet weekend caused us to upgrade to a cabin and I think it was a wise choice. We were basically unaffected by the rain. One of the highlights of the trip was going to a u-pick strawberry and cherry farm and picking our brains out. Each strawberry was better than the last and I probably ate a pound of cherries.  We may have overdone it a little bit on the strawberries; I don’t know how we can eat them all before they go bad. We’re doing what we can though and even as I write this I am eating fresh strawberries!

Evie also had a great time. When we got home she stayed in the car for about 15 minutes hysterically crying for us to get back in the car (right now!) and drive back to the camp site. She has also been asking to do some of the things we did while camping, such as “see the doggies” or “go swimming”.

So that’s about it, back home safe and sound, at least until the next vacation. I don’t have any quotes for you today, although I’m sure she said plenty of hilarious stuff over the long weekend.