Waiting for Grandot

Ama and Agu will be here any minute!

*With apologies to Samuel Beckett

Waffle Fail

Darn it. I didn’t want to crowd our freezer and stockpiling frozen waffles seemed so silly, but in retrospect, I should have bought the Eggo stash at Costco when I had the chance. The store-brand substitutes are not very tasty.

Resetting Expectations for the Holidays

I am not going to be making many if any felt ornaments for the tree, and that’s ok.
I will not be baking multiple types of decorated cookies, and that’s ok.
I may not succeed in getting the boys to draw charming handmade gifts for their grandparents, and that’s ok.
The Christmas cards will not arrive before Christmas, and that’s ok.
Instead, we are snuggling, reading stories, and re-enacting the entire Star Wars saga in great detail. The boys are bursting with personality and I’m treasuring every moment.

Well, I’m treasuring all the moments when they aren’t whining or chewing on crayons.

Also, we are alarmed at how adept at negotiating Q-ster has become. Tonight’s snack negotiation was truly a masterpiece that should be studied by diplomats at the United Nations. SwingDaddy says that this is my fault for passing on the gene, and he’s probably right.

In yet another unrelated topic, happy Winter Solstice! I’m not going to do a full emergency preparedness post, but I did refresh our water supplies today. Those of you caught in the Snowpocalypse, also known on Twitter as #snOMG, will remind everyone that having food and water on hand is a good idea!

Cage Match in the Hexagon

I suppose it was inevitable between brothers. No injuries, and no good photos because as soon as they started rushing each other inside the Hexagon, I had to jump in and “redirect” to a more harmless activity.

Such as this nicely cooperative Lego-play, later in the evening.

I’ve had the boys solo for most of the weekend while SwingDaddy was skiing with friends, and we’ve busied ourselves visiting new parks, sharing a gourmet red velvet cupcake, and seeing the Lego exhibit of a local museum.


We’re also doing a little “reading camp” during the holiday break from school. Q-ster is really close to being able to read on his own, so we’re spending a little time with the BOB books each day, and that may help him along.

We haven’t been giving Buster academic lessons by any means, but somehow, he’s managed to pick up a lot of the alphabet and most of his numbers by osmosis. Eager to imitate his brother, perhaps? Yesterday, he surprised me by pointing out letters in an alphabet book, concluding with:

Ek! (X)
Why! (Y)
Zebra! (Z)

Not bad, kiddo.

James Cameron, a Better Sense of Humor Than One Would Think

Friends in the movie business used to say that James Cameron (director of Titanic) was notorious for being difficult on set, but apparently he’s changed. In recent interviews, he credits that to doing documentary shoots with crews 800 miles at sea, where it’s important to have good working relationships that don’t get you thrown overboard.

An amusing clip from Entertainment Weekly:
Q: Despite the guns and explosions and robots, your movies usually have an element of romance and a strong female protagonist, like Ripley in Aliens or Sarah Connor in the Terminator movies. Where does that impulse come from?

Cameron: First of all, last time I checked, women were 50 percent of the population. And when you’re making a movie that costs over $200 million, you don’t want to have a target audience. Your target audience is people with a pulse and $15 - or even just $15.

He went on to say some interesting things about how one learns the most through relationships, so he realized it’s a powerful way to introduce an alien world.

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In other news, what did you think of the SYTYCD results? Spoiler below . . .
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I loved Jakob’s amazingness, but Russell is really a star. Hope that they get to do a tour – perhaps combined with season 7!

Team Alice

A few more of my colleagues were bitten by the Twilight bug, which leads to the discussion of whether one is for Team Edward (handsome, brooding vampire) or Team Jacob (handsome, brooding werewolf). Personally, I find both to be too high-maintenance and dramatic for my tastes. I’d rather be Alice, with her future-seeing capabilities and divine sense of style.



Coincidentally, this is the first time in my entire life that I’ve wanted a movie star’s haircut. Maybe it will help me predict the future too.

The Return of Sushi in the Night

At dinner last night, Q-ster paused in his munching of a carrot (ninjin) roll to say that he calls them “ninja rolls.”

“What is a ninja?” I asked, wondering how he’d answer.
“A kind of fighter.”
“So, are they fighting carrots?”

“No, ninja are fighting turtles!”

Sigh.

We also got our Christmas tree over the weekend. Someday, we might put some ornaments up too.

Giving, Thinking

I almost finished our year-end charitable donations tonight. As I’ve written in previous years, we handle most of our favored organizations through the year as their campaigns run, but there are usually a few to catch in December. Our themes are education (alma mater, Legos and science tools for primary school through Donor’s Choice, back to school backpack drive), healthcare (children’s hospital, various organizations combating cancer), and poverty assistance.

Looking through previous year’s donations, I notice that we didn’t explicitly tackle disaster relief this year, but we gave more to hunger/poverty causes, which is kind of the disaster of the year anyway. In addition to our company match for the food bank, our former CEO personally matches every dollar as well, so that donation goes a long way.

I didn’t put anything towards the company’s canned food collection though, as I’m going to have Q-ster take our cans to his preschool event. It’s a more tangible way for him to learn giving than the Donor’s Choice selection we made earlier this year (even though we contributed towards a kindergarten Lego fund!), and they’ll be talking about sharing in class.

(Side note: I also use bi-annual food drives to remind myself to refresh our emergency canned food supply. I donate all our cans at that time and buy new. Everyone wins - food goes to hungry people, and we don’t let our supply sit for years. Unlike, say, our water supply, which I discovered dates back to 2007. Oops. I have water purification tablets, so it wouldn’t be a total disaster, but a water refresh is due shortly too.)

Our donations would be considered modest, but every bit counts. I saw a few good posts recently about how to make the most of one’s giving, including this one on BlogHer, in case you’ve also been strategizing.

P.S. Why did I only almost finish the donations tonight? Because we discovered a potential fraud issue and had to cancel the credit card we use for web purchases. Visa told me that it takes 7-10 DAYS to issue a new card. Are you crazy? For a card that we use for monthly automatic bills? In December, right in the midst of holiday shopping? I was able to put a “rush” on it, which means that we’ll get it in only 1-3 days. Three days is considered a rush order in 2009? After I finish spluttering and I get the credit card in hand, I’ll make the last donation (Livestrong, for cancer survivorship).