Saturday, February 25, 2006
Playing the blanket game
It's new with her, but she gets a giant kick out of it.

Written at 8:33 PM by Highlandgal.
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It was hot in the living room
92 degrees.

Written at 8:08 PM by Highlandgal.
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Friday, February 24, 2006
Shrimp Lust
She wanted the shrimp she saw on the stove. She loves shrimp. But mean Mommy wouldn't give it to her because it was still frozen stiff. She didn't appreciate my reasoning and took out her frustration on the oven.

Written at 10:01 PM by Highlandgal.
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I didn't forget...
that some of you need your fix. I just had to wait for my battery to recharge. So here it is...your moment of Emma. She's zipper-obsessed lately. She can get her jacket down over her shoulders like that, but then she's stuck.

Written at 9:36 PM by Highlandgal.
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I like clogs
They give me a couple of inches in height and when I wear them with my long boot-leg jeans they make my legs look longer and slimmer. However, I really shouldn't wear them. They're unforgiving. By the end of the day my feet and back hurt. And I cannot go a day on clogs without stepping off the side of them and twisting my ankle, which I did today. It's not a serious injury, but hours later I'm still aware of it. I guess I should just resign myself to being the rare married woman in comfortable shoes.
Written at 7:52 PM by Highlandgal.
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I'm no saint
I was rude today. I'm not going to try to whitewash it or try and justify it. It made me feel double-plus-ungood. I'll tell you why I was grumpy. I was eating lunch and I had to help someone. I was almost done. Just four more bites would have done it. But when someone needs help there's no waiting. So I took a swig of my water to wash down the food and went to help. But I was all "woe is me" in my own head. Now that I'm touching his things I'll have to go wash my hands again and he's been here for over and hour and he chooses now and blah, blah, blah. I didn't say anything rude, but I didn't make eye contact and I was churlish. This was the rare man that actually picked up on body language. By the end of our dealings he was pissed at me. But I couldn't stop myself. Sigh.

The worst part is that I can't get away with that stuff. As soon as he left I felt like a total dog, and that's unfair to dogs. I knew I had been rude. So, I picked up the phone and left him a message on his machine that I was sorry I was rude and that on top of it I'd made a mistake and I needed him to call me. If he wanted to call and yell at me I'd be there till five. Then I got the heebie jeebies. I was physically upset. With myself. I was getting the shakes and shivers. I'm a head case, I know. But, praise the Lord, the man actually did call me. If he hadn't I would have suffered all weekend, reliving my bad behavior in my head. I told him again that I was sorry and he helped me sort out my mistake. He was very kind to me under the circumstances. I told him that he had done nothing wrong and that it was all me and that I certainly didn't want him to feel he wasn't welcome to come back because that was far from the truth.

My job requires that I always be courteous to people all the time, all day long. It doesn't matter how I really feel. It's not that much of a strain actually. I was born with one of those personalities than can turn it on. But I can turn it off too. Which I should never do at work. I never get to eat my lunch uninterrupted, there was no reason this guy should have been a target. Thank goodness he absolved me of my sins.
Written at 7:39 PM by Highlandgal.
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Panic
When I dropped Emma off at Mary's this morning we chatted a little. She was telling me that another new mommy who is starting back to work had called her and asked her to keep her infant. Mary told her "no" that she couldn't do it right now, she had a full house. But then Mary said she got to thinking that in the fall she'll be down to three kids so maybe she'll reconsider. Then she said "I wonder what Emma will think."

My heart dropped to my shoes and I started to panic. Wait! Emma's the baby here, you're not allowed to take in more babies! You have to have room for my new baby that I may or may not have! OK, how about if I promise to start trying for a baby this summer? Will you tell the other mother "no?"

Thank God none of this actually came out of my mouth. But it's definitely affected me strangely. I may be in the market for Malaysian condoms soon.
Written at 12:24 PM by Highlandgal.
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More linky love
Just added to the blog roll...Slacker Mom, a terrific writer who writes some great personal narratives, and My Life and All That Goes With It (Shawnie) who promised to update more often now ;)
Written at 12:19 PM by Highlandgal.
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Thursday, February 23, 2006
Get ready to Ruummble!
When Emma is overtired near bed time she will often pick fights with me. Usually after supper is playtime with Daddy. It would really be best for me to not even be in the room. If I come in she'll focus on me, and if she's really tired she'll pick a fight. She'll insist on doing something she knows is forbidden and then when she gets upset she'll focus her anger on me. Then Daddy and I are both trying to calm her down. The solution that works best is just to remove her from my presence. Soooo...he went in and got the wagon. By the time he rolled her back into the living room she was happy again. We took turns pushing her back and forth. The smile was actually for Mommy.

Written at 8:10 PM by Highlandgal.
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Visiting the store after work
Popi was in town on business. He didn't make it by to see us at mommy's work so after quitting time we hung out at the store hoping to catch him. The first thing Emma did when she approached the Pepsi display was set the knocked over bottles back upright. She gets that from mommy.


Then she moved on to the tomatoes. She likes to pick them up and look at them, but you have to keep an eagle eye on her because she'll throw them down when she's done. I finally had to move the tomato box out of reach. So then she moved on to the apple box. In that giant box there were only two apples. One big monstrous one and one normal sized one. She picked up the big one several times. She'd hand it to us and we'd put it back. The smaller apple was just out of reach. When she was finally done with the game she hurled the big apple back into the box. Managing to hit the only other apple in the entire box. People don't mind buying bruised fruit, do they?

Written at 7:55 PM by Highlandgal.
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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Oh, Good Grief!
Seriously, dude, who can sleep like this? His elbow isn't even touching the floor! I guess the answer to that question is someone who didn't get home from working last night until 2:35 a.m.


Updated half an hour later. Maybe I should get my butt off of his bed so he can stretch out.

Written at 9:28 PM by Highlandgal.
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The Olympics
We watch them every night. We're big fans. Dedicated fans. And let me tell you, it's a good thing we're dedicated because otherwise we might be turned off this time around. It seems like the Olympics have been a big flop so far. Don't get me wrong, there have been some inspiring moments...Hedrick winning gold, our ice dancers making onto the podium for the first time in thirty years, and Sasha Cohen living up to the hype and skating a beautiful short program last night. But then there have been a lot of disappointments. Bode Miller is a flop, Michelle Kwan a big fizzle, Jacobellis embarrassed herself and her countrymen, and the big Hedrick/Davis soap opera sends me scrambling for the mute button. I know many athletes have to be self-centered to achieve what they do, but are they so tone-deaf that they don't realize how they sound sometimes? Do they not realize that they are representatives of the United States of America? Some of these people...we don't know them from Adam. But they seem to think it's all about them. It's not, it's about representing your country and doing us all proud. Otherwise, why would we watch?

I actually enjoy some of the obscure sports that I only see once every four years. Curling is oddly entrancing. The new extreme sports are quite entertaining: the snowboardcross, freestyle aerials, and the half-pipe.

The one thing you can spare me is Hockey. And the NBC networks seem to have it on some channel all the time. Pfffft.

Anyway, four days left and then we'll have to figure out what to watch on TV again.
Written at 8:22 PM by Highlandgal.
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Nineteen-Seventy-Something
My brother and I with Pa Paw. He was showing us how to burn a leaf with a magnifying glass. Pa Paw taught us lots of useful things. Seriously.

Written at 2:39 PM by Highlandgal.
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Circa 1981 (or so)
Bea Bea and me. Note the wool skirt and corduroy vest. That was very stylish for the young gals then. This was right before I started to plump up. I'd say that was probably seventh grade, around Thanksgiving.

Written at 2:33 PM by Highlandgal.
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The morning report
DH said she didn't fuss too much when he went straight to changing her diaper. He brought her downstairs and sat on the couch with her on his lap and gave her the straw sippy with milk.

I had to point out to him that the goal is to not have to sit with her at all. He said he'd work up to it gradually.

Then he put her in the pack and play with the sippy while I showered and he said she tossed it out a bunch of times, but she'd drink from it when he gave it back. So...by the time it was time for her to get dressed the sippy was mostly empty.

In conclusion, I'd say so far so good.
Written at 2:31 PM by Highlandgal.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Fantasy vs. Reality
So I got up this morning and went and grabbed the LAST BOTTLE. I was feeling all sappy and maudlin over it. Picturing holding her in my arms while she contentedly drank the whole thing. She quickly disabused me of that fantasy. The nipple kept clogging. Every time that happened she'd start hollering and crying immediately. Real tears! I kept shaking the bottle but it kept clogging. Daddy even got up to see what the fuss was about. Sheesh! Good riddance to bad rubbish. I won't miss washing the bastards either!
Written at 7:48 PM by Highlandgal.
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Requiem for Mr. Noodle's brother, Mr. Noodle
Michael Jeter first blasted into my consciousness in The Fisher King (1991) as the homeless cabaret singer.


He then spent four years on Burt Reynold's sitcom Evening Shade. He popped up in movies long before and long after that. As a matter of fact, he was in a lot of very good movies. Here is a partial filmography.

Actor Credits
The Polar Express (2004) Smokey/ Steamer; Open Range (2003) Percy; Welcome to Collinwood(2002) Toto; Jurassic Park III (2001) Udesky; The Gift (2000) Gerald Weems; Jakob the Liar (1999) Avron; True Crime (1999) Dale Porterhouse; The Green Mile (1999) Eduard Delacroix; Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) Speaker at D.A. Drug Convention; Patch Adams (1998) Rudy; Air Bud (1997) Norm Snively; Mouse Hunt (1997) Quincy Thorpe; Mrs. Santa Claus (1996) Waterworld (1995) Gregor Drop Zone (1994) Earl Leedy; Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) Father Ignatius; The Fisher King (1991) Homeless Cabaret Singer; Miller's Crossing (1990) Adolph; Dead Bang (1989) Dr Krantz; Tango & Cash (1989) Skinner; The Money Pit (1986) Arnie--"The Construction Crew" Member

Here is an excerpt from a biography that describes him well...

Versatile, diminutive character player of the NYC stage with a balding pate and mild Tennessee twang who is best known for his Emmy award-winning portrayal of likeable dweeb Herman Stiles, assistant coach to Burt Reynolds on the southern fried sitcom "Evening Shade" (CBS, 1990-94).

In 1997 he came out in an interview as being HIV positive. On March 30, 2003 he died.

What I absolutely love about Michael Jeter is that for the last three years of his life he entertained children on Sesame Street as Mr. Noodle's brother, Mr. Noodle. More specifically he was on Elmo's World, part of Sesame Street. Emma adores him. With a resume as impressive as his, it's a marvel to me that he was satisfied entertaining children in his twilight years. Perhaps the NYC job was perfect for him, allowing him to be close to home. He was working right until the end. Polar Express, featuring his voice work, was released after his death. Here he is as Mr. Noodle:




And here's Mr. Noodle's biggest fan watching her hero:

Written at 6:30 PM by Highlandgal.
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Monday, February 20, 2006
Ack! My lunch!
I feed Emma her lunch around 12:30 p.m. and then eat my lunch around 1:30 p.m. Since I'm on Weight Watchers I carefully count or weigh my portions. I have on my plate exactly what I can have. And then comes the mooch. Usually I have a pretty good attitude about it. Anything she eats is a few calories I'm not carrying. So today she went after my carrots, my apple slices, my Doritos light and my Nilla wafers. You know, everything I had. She's a grabby little monster. I didn't mind too badly until I realized she was taking some of it and tossing it over the gate to the dogs. Um...no. And here's the fate of one of my apple slices:

Written at 8:08 PM by Highlandgal.
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Dis?
One of the reasons I hang out with mommies online is because we learn from each other. Theoretically. We share our experiences, answer each other's questions and commiserate. Andrea tells me her story of how it took them weeks to figure out Henry's "Dis is dis?" meant "what is this?" He was exploring his world and they were being entirely unhelpful, until they figured it out.

So you would think that I might have learned something from that. NOT. It just occured to us this weekend, and I think that Noni even had to point it out, that Emma's "Dis?" was basically "what is dis?" Gaaaaaah! So now we know. And now I spend my day naming everything. While I was doing laundry she was picking things from the pile, holding them up and saying "dis?" And I'd tell her. She might actually start learning something despite her dense parents.

As I was writing this I asked M. how long he thinks she might have been saying that. A month! Arrrgh.
Written at 7:59 PM by Highlandgal.
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Tomorrow is the end of an era
I'm kind of sad. It will be the last morning bottle. We could have ended it a while ago, but I had two giant cans of formula from Costco and I was determined to finish them and not throw it away. Tomorrow is the last bottle. Period. The last morning I'll get her up and hold her in my arms while she drinks. Starting Wednesday morning Daddy will get her up and change her and bring her downstairs and give her a straw sippy with milk. He's doing it for about three days as we make the transition. When I come in she expects to see a bottle and will throw a fit if I skip to changing her diaper first. We hope that if Daddy does the new method for three days then I might be able to take over with the new method without her fussing at me. Wish us luck!
Written at 7:52 PM by Highlandgal.
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Creepy putter
When we first got this happy meal toy at Taco Bell it kind of creeped me out. It's a skeleton leg that's supposed to be a putter. It wasn't till later that we figured out that if you collected all the available parts you could build a dinosaur. That makes it better somehow.

Written at 7:41 PM by Highlandgal.
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Sunday, February 19, 2006
You know you missed it...
Haiku inspired by Erin.

Running out of patience fast
Had it up to here
Where the hell is spring?

And more...

Don't drink the water
Where October mommies rule
Babies are catching.
Written at 9:41 PM by Highlandgal.
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What kind of blogger are you?




You Are a Life Blogger!



Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary.
If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.



This is pretty much true. I actually read three kinds of blogs; friend and acquaintance blogs, political blogs and celebrity gossip blogs. I started with the political ones since that was my primary area of interest. I rarely blog political topics here because it's sends my readers screaming for the hills. I got into friend blogs next through my mommy board and enjoy reading them. Then finally I found some gossip blogs as I took on a moderator job on an Entertainment board.

As far as my posts, as you can see, it's a little bit of everything. But mostly my deviated path with Emma ;)
Written at 9:05 PM by Highlandgal.
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I am so stuffed!
Whew! and Yum! Noni brought supper for tonight. They came over to celebrate M's birthday; his third and final celebration for this year. Noni brought his favorite supper and we prepared it here. Noni's pepper steak and egg rolls. This is the meal we always want. His birthday, my birthday and we'll be working on training Emma. The meal was topped off by a lovely Pop's cake. A most excellent meal.

Noni and Popi got M. an FM transmitter so he can play his iPod on his car stereo and they got him a charger for it. They also got him an iTunes gift certificate. They did really well, M. was pleased.

Now M. is snoozing on the couch at 8:30 on a Sunday evening. I'd call that a perfect day.
Written at 8:48 PM by Highlandgal.
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Floppy Girl
More of Noni's brand of fun. Pretty entertaining for the rest of us too!

Written at 8:33 PM by Highlandgal.
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