I Went Walking With a Viking

Because we had a few days of chilly and rainy weather, I was glad that we finally had a nice day yesterday. Hubby and I were so excited to finally get outside and escape the four walls of our house, so we took a walk after we had lunch, while our daughter was finishing up her schoolwork for the day. I waited outside for him in my usual quarantine gear -- leggings and a hoodie -- and a few minutes later, watched in amazement as he and our dog emerged from inside the front door.

After 17 years of marriage, I pretty much know not to be surprised by what he does, but he finally managed to catch me off guard. As you may have read from one of my previous posts, he enjoys getting looks from our neighbors as he wears a sarong on warm days. Today was even better as he came out of the house...dressed in his Viking regalia, complete with his carved walking stick.

Yes, my husband does medieval re-enactment with a bunch of other people who enjoy dressing up and doing the same thing. They are part of a group called Dagorhir -- watch the movie Role Models and you'll get a better idea of their thing. Yes, he camps out for a week every summer with his fellow band of nerds and they beat each other up during the day with foam padded weapons and then cook dinner and party at night. Yes, I have witnessed this wackiness that they do when they practice -- and yes, while it's nerdy, his fellow nerds-in-crime are a bunch of great gals and guys who have become like a second family to him, and he's bemoaning the fact that he probably won't get to camp with them this summer because of quarantining. And yes, I have probably gotten some bit of information incorrect about what it is that they actually do, which he will gladly explain to me in great detail after he reads this!

Covid-19 hasn't totally dampened his spirits as he decided to let his nerd flag fly today when we walked...and yes, you may ask, we did indeed receive some interesting looks from people we encountered on our walking circuit. And no, I couldn't even socially distance myself from him because every time he saw someone approaching from afar, he grabbed onto my arm -- I was his handler that provided some semblance of normalcy to his geek-ness.

Because, well, pics or it didn't happen, here he is in his regalia!

But as I think about the walk, there's two things that come to mind:

1. at least he didn't wear his Viking headgear or metal armor, because that would have been really attention-getting; 

2. I wonder what kind of fun attire I can wear the next time we go out for a walk to give him (and our neighbors!) a laugh 😄 If you have any suggestions, let me know!!

Day 2,579 of Quarantine - TGIF!

It's the end of the world as we know it week five of quarantine, and we had lots of fun this past week!! Hope you also found exciting things to do to pass the time. Here are some of ours - bonus points if you can guess which family member did which activity 😂

• Practiced our British accents
• Taught our dog to eat spaghetti "Lady & the Tramp" style
• Meowed at Alexa (fyi, she meows back; you can even purchase an assorted "box of meows." and no, we didn't...that may come later in quarantine)
• Gave each other tattoos with eyeliner and sharpies. Since one of the members of our household is 14, at least one of said tattoos involved body parts and/or bodily functions. 
• Cooked an entire Easter dinner from scratch
• Got dressed up for absolutely no reason; some of us even wore makeup! And one of us decided to wear pants!!!
• Binge-watched Glee and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (which is awesome!)
• Ordered AXE body spray from Amazon that our BF wears so that our room and pillow smells just like him (note, this isn't recommended by the adult members of the household as it tends to travel throughout the whole house)
• Saw friends and family from a distance -- special thanks to friends who dropped off food to us this past week and family who provided Easter dinner since we couldn't enjoy it together
• Had an anxiety attack when we saw a black sock that was peeking out from behind the dog food bin and thought it was a mouse
• Sang and danced along to Disney sing-along on TV
• Wore sarong on walks around the neighborhood. Enjoyed funny looks from neighbors.
• Played indoor basketball
• Made frozen lemonade smoothies in Nutribullet - extra yummy with a touch of OJ. On tonight's menu: White Russian Smoothies!
• Took dog on 327 walks around the block. Dog now will literally not leave our side.
• Got out of Facebook jail then went off on the Chief Cheeto
• Made fart noises with putty
• Attempted to drink a gallon of water every day. Note: the adult members of the household believe this was done to take numerous breaks from online schoolwork.
• Applied to get medical marijuana card
• Purchased dress shoes online that will look cute with clerics during internship pink bathrobe
• Watched Easter worship services online in our jammies; we all sat together on the couch so it was *almost* like being in a church pew 
• Attempted to match the meowing sounds of our cats. Cats are now eyeing us up suspiciously.

Hope you enjoyed our quarantine fun! Looking forward to hearing what you've been doing - please share in the comments! Stay safe...and don't forget to wear your mask and wash your hands 😀

It's Crazy Down Here in Lunch Lady Land

It's funny as a parent when you think you're prepared for certain things and then realize you are sooo mistaken.

I've taught college-level classes....I have a master's degree and am working on a second one, so when schools closed and all learning got shifted online, I figured I could help my daughter out. Surely eighth-grade assignments would be no big deal -- never mind the fact that the game show a few years back called "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader" clearly proved that I wasn't. But I'm taking my classes online and thought hers would be so much easier to navigate. Yeah, this mom was sadly mistaken about that assumption!

I don't know about you but it's been quite a few years since I've had to contemplate whether the eye color genes we passed on to her were dominant or recessive and in what allele formation they were. In my everyday life as an office manager and seminary student -- or even my previous life as a fundraising and marketing professional -- I very seldom graphed the slope-intercept of an equation. (OK, if we're being completely honest here, I never did. I totally forgot how to do it once I walked out of Algebra class. It's something I've never had to do as a communications major or in my MBA classes, but I didn't want to tell her that it's more than likely a piece of knowledge she'll never use again. Unless, of course, she becomes a math teacher, which I highly doubt, since her math skills are as stellar as that of both her mom and her dad 😄). And when she started talking to me about the Donner Party, I had to stop myself from asking if the party included Blitzen and Dasher, since I had a distinct feeling she wasn't talking about the reindeer that pulled Santa's sleigh. But I was glad I was finally glad I could help when she was studying the Oregon Trail and asked if I knew what dysentery was. Wow, my skills in playing the Facebook game finally paid off!

And I can now empathize that eighth grade really is a difficult time -- I remember it being one of the most challenging grades in school for me, and her counselors and teachers have echoed that to us during conferences. But almost as difficult as wracking my brain to figure out what year the Trail of Tears took place has been my other role -- as The Lunch Lady. Yes, in addition to making sure she gets up at a decent hour and gets a good head start on her lessons each day, I'm also the chief cook and menu-planner. And now that we're four weeks into these fun times, this mom is starting to run out of ideas. And the student even has the nerve to make special menu requests -- I bet the lunch ladies at the junior high don't stand for that 😁

But serving as Lunch Lady gave me the chance to get inspired today by one of the most popular Lunch Ladies around...if you've never seen this bit from SNL, hope it gives you a few good laughs! And I'm hoping it gives me some inspiration on what to cook in the days ahead...Sloppy Joes, anyone?!!

Lunch Lady Land!

Writing my way through COVID-19

Like many of us, I'm just trying to keep my head above water right now. It seems like just a few short weeks ago, I was looking forward to heading to United Lutheran Seminary's Gettysburg campus for a week-long intensive class -- for those just tuning in, I'm a seminary student who's in my last year of M.Div. classes before I head out on internship for a year and then, if all goes well, I'll graduate in May 2021 and become a Lutheran (ELCA) pastor shortly thereafter.

But then the virus hit: my week-long visit to campus turned into a week of camping out at my kitchen table and logging into Zoom while strategically trying to position my laptop to hide the containers of slime my daughter created that were looming in the background. My week of vacation to take my class turned into a longer "vacation" as I was laid off from my job, as churches are seen as non-essential businesses -- and if a church isn't open for business, then there's no reason to keep their office manager on payroll until businesses start opening back up again. And after four weeks of being at home in the midst of everything being shut down, it dawned on me that one of the many things I enjoy doing yet never seem to have time to do -- writing -- is something that I now have no excuse not to do. And especially if it helps me find some sanity and solace in what's (to me, at least) an anxiety-inducing situation right now.

If you take a minute to look back on when I first started this blog, it was more than 10 years ago. Go ahead and read some of the entries if you want to see what was going through my head as I struggled with being a new mom who was trying to juggle all that was going on in my life at the time -- which I loved, even though it was a struggle. I loved it because juggling is what I've always done. It's what I know *how* to do.

First job at 16 just because I wanted to earn my own money, even though I was in school and my parents took care of what I needed? Sign me up! Full-time job and part-time job on the side, just to keep active? Yes, please! Kid and husband and time with friends for drinks and business functions and church activities and PTA meetings and running to Target at 10pm just because I needed a change of scenery? Why, of course. That's the kind of gal I am....or was. And now, the big decisions facing me each day are what color of leggings to throw on (today is dk. grey), what to binge-watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime (a resounding YES to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and a "don't waste your time" on the train wreck that is Tiger King), and just like everyone else, do I need to shower or can I just douse myself with Bath & Body Works, throw my hair back in a pony and call it a day (ummm, I called it a day today 😜).

So yes, while some of you may be loving this quarantine and capitalizing on the opportunity to organize your sock drawer or spices, KonMari your closets, or redo your pantry or window frames or anything else you can buy from Lowes and Home Depot, that's just not me. Yes, I have countless things that need done around the home but so far haven't found any interest in taking on said projects, although I do love the creative outlet of making lunch and dinner for the family as we all take a break from our online classes (Morgan's junior high home school and my seminary classes) and Tim working at home.

This is the first time since I was 16 years old that I haven't worked, and it's really a weird feeling. It makes me realize that I put a lot of my identity into what I did for a living. It also helps me see that even though I'm a person who doesn't like a lot of structure, I also hate being bored and need to keep busy and have some interesting things to do -- otherwise, my mind goes into overdrive and anxiety sets in.

It's also an odd time because FOMO was a very real thing for me for quite a while. FOMO -- fear of missing out. If you've never had it, it's basically the feeling that someone is out there having more fun than you. Doing something cooler than you. And that there is probably something more interesting or exciting happening out there than what you're doing right now and you're missing out on it...this is a great explanation of it! But the quarantine has been the best cure for FOMO because there simply aren't the distractions for our time, our energy and our attention -- and realistically, no one is doing anything too terribly awesome right now, since we are (or should be!) all inside, taking care of ourselves and our families and focusing on what really and truly matters.

In fact, the only ones who are doing anything really cool and awesome right now -- and which I have absolutely no desire to miss out on because I chose a different career path! -- are the nurses, doctors, and health care workers who are caring for those in the fight against covid-19 and those who are researching a cure. They are the real heroes and the ones making a difference right now. So, if anything, the quarantine has helped me realize that the only things I'm truly missing out on are the human interactions we take for granted: giving someone a hug after church....having lunch with a friend....visiting my father-in-law...leading worship....chatting with our bible study attendees and making coffee for them. But I'm also fortunate that, in a time of social distancing, I get to social distance with my husband and daughter because, even though we drive each other crazy at times, there's nowhere else I'd rather be right now....especially since the daughter is 14 and usually only surfaces from her room when it's time to eat 👧😄

Speaking of family, it's getting to be dinner time so that means time for being creative in the kitchen. Tonight is stir-fry Asian veggies and rice noodles -- if you have any meals you've made during quarantine that you've enjoyed, feel free to share!! Pics of dinner coming tomorrow...in the meantime, stay safe and wash your hands!!

This blog just got CPR after a 10-year hiatus

In a class I had this semester for Spiritual Formation, one of the requirements was that we kept a daily journal to see how we connected with our spirituality and a spiritual virtue that selected us. My virtue was courage, so every day I had to stop to think about how I would be courageous and somehow demonstrate this virtue...and I had to write about it in journal. I learned two things from this exercise: 1) It is awfully hard to sit down, old-school, with a pen and paper and write out your thoughts when you are used to typing everything on your computer and thinking as you type. It makes it difficult to think the same way (at least for me!) when you are writing vs. typing. 2) I realized I missed blogging and sharing some of my thoughts, musings, and ponderings as a way of expressing myself. After all, I was a college journalism/PR major who used to do a lot of writing for my various professions and that has now gone by the wayside to a great extent, and I miss the creative outlet. So I am going to attempt to post on a semi-regular basis, given that I'm often rather pressed for time.

While it's impossible to capture everything that's happened since I last blogged, here's a quick synopsis since I last posted, in case you've read my previous posts:

- I left my job in fundraising at the university because I traveled a lot and wanted to be with my daughter more....oh, and the Jerry Sandusky scandal happened and let's just say that was a difficult situation to deal with, both personally as an alum as well as professionally as a development officer.
- I began working as the development and marketing director for a non-profit health and human services agency that focuses primarily in senior living. I worked there for four years.
- During that time, I met many clergy and became more and more involved in church and in our regional synod. I took classes and became a lay worship leader and loved learning about the historical aspect of the bible and the history of religion -- which is totally different from what I learned growing up in a more fundamental church background.
- I sensed a possible call to ministry but kept telling myself NOOOOO, I can't give up a good job and go back to school. But God had other plans that happened without my doing.
- I quit my full-time job and took a part-time job that I found out about -- as a church secretary! -- and am now in my second year as a Master of Divinity degree student at United Lutheran Seminary. I have another full year of coursework then a year of internship -- and if all goes well, I will be ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in 2021 in the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America).
- My daughter was little when I first started writing this -- she's now 12 years old and my worries about potty training and being a bad mom for putting her in daycare have evolved into worries about boys, hormones and girls who are asshats bullies.
- Dork and I celebrated our 15-year anniversary this past October. When I first began my blog, marriage and parenting were both really difficult for me. I often felt overwhelmed and unsupported. But through the years, I discovered that support comes in a variety of ways. People grow apart, or they grow together....and we have grown stronger together. The rough times have made us stronger, more understanding, and more supportive of one other. We are a family unit of three and we have one another's backs without exception.
- I lost my mother-in-law three years ago and my dear mother last year. I miss them both and grieve the loss of my mom every day, but I also know she is at peace and that I'll be reunited with her and my dad someday.
- As part of my faith formation for ordination, I'm required to complete Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), where I am taking classes on chaplaincy and serving as a chaplain at Gettysburg Hospital until April 2019. The whole process is probably one of the most challenging and often uncomfortable things I have done in my life so far, but I am learning so much from it -- how to minister to people who are hurting, who are grieving, who are scared, and just being there for them. And I'll share more about CPE -- as well as my journey through this path of seminary! -- as I continue to write. Thanks for walking with me on the path!

back yet once again

yeah, i know....in my post this past january, i started writing a blog entry and was so excited to be back here once again with full intention of keeping up my writing. so here it is six months later and i'm just getting around to my second post...and i only stumbled upon my blog site since i was reading a friend's post and had to log into mine to be able to comment on hers.

but i've had quite a bit of good stuff happen over the past six months or so to write about....last december, i started my new years' resolutions (i don't like the pressure of starting in january, so i kicked mine off a little early!) with four general resolutions for the upcoming year. i've posted these to the fridge so that i have to look at them every day. here's what they were/are:
1. eat healthier
2. move it!
3. write a book
4. learn something new

so far, i've actually kept going with two of them and am working on a third. starting in december (although i did cheat a bit over the holidays) i decided to cut out sugar in a big way....no more just grabbing a cookie or a piece of candy without thinking about what i was putting in my mouth. i also started checking out the labels of what i was eating....after reading some books focusing on food and eating habits, and seeing movies like 'super size me' and 'food inc.' i got a bit skeeved out at all of the preservatives and chemicals that are in our food and what it does to our bodies....so now, instead of picking up the quick 'ready-made' convenient foods at the grocery store, i use a lot more whole foods and make things from scratch. it was a bit rough getting used to at first because yes, it does take more time...but now that i'm used to it, i actually find that i'm more creative in the kitchen and enjoy it a lot more. after all, it really is more fun to make a stir fry and throw in whatever veggies you want and season your chicken however you want it rather than relying on lean cuisine to do it for you.

another thing i did on my track to a healthier life style was cut out beverages that just added empty calories. we love taking morgan to story time at b&n on saturdays, and our special treat was always hitting the cafe afterwards, for a strawberry smoothie for her and a caramel latte or frap for me. but man, when i stopped and actually looked at the sugar and calorie content of one of those drinks, i was blown away. same way with vitamin water...i love the stuff and used to drink it just about every day for lunch. and even though it's naturally sweetened, that still adds up to lots of sugar and calories that i really don't need tacked onto whatever else i'm having. sure, i still splurge once in a while, but my mainstay drinks now are water with lemon, coffee and i've even gotten used to drinking unsweetened tea and iced tea. the artificial sweeteners really aren't good for ya and end up making you hungry in the long run, so i just cut them out and don't miss them now that i have them out of my system. and the bonus out of all of this is, i dropped about 10 pounds without even trying.

but since 'moving it!' was on the to-do list, i knew that i had to supplement the healthy eating with being active. a friend teaches pilates and i took some classes and was amazed at how it really does change the structure of your body. without even dropping much weight, i could tell a difference in how my clothing fit and how toned my muscles started to become. and exercise is a funny thing....it takes a while to get into the habit of doing it, but once you do, you realize how good it makes you feel. even though i used to go the gym a lot when i was single and was pretty in shape, that slacked off when i dated my bf before dork and then when dork and i got serious, we ordered take out a lot and spent lots of time in front of the tv or going out to bars and restaurants, so the gym-going stopped and the pounds crept on.....and more crept on during pregnancy but i always had every excuse in the book after morgan was born for why i couldn't exercise, since i'm a working mom and didn't want to take time away from her. however, i'm blessed to work at a place that has gym equipment and workout facilities readily available, and it finally clicked that i can work out during the day and not take any time away from her. besides the pilates, i started walking and even running, and i even take a kickboxing class at the place where she takes karate....and i'm blown away at how good i feel and how much more energy i have, and how i WANT to exercise (yeah, i know...i can't believe i'm actually saying that). and if i don't get a chance to work out during the day, i'll go at night before she goes to bed, as i actually feel like it sets a good example for her to see me exercise and be healthy.

writing the book was third on the list and even though that hasn't progressed as well as i'd like, i discovered during a four-hour road trip this past weekend that one of my best friends has always wanted to collaborate on a book with someone, so we are putting our two brains together and working on something that will be partly autobiographical, partly chick lit and hopefully really funny! we're looking forward to the process of putting something down on paper and kicking this thing off....and hopefully it will have a better track record than my wayward blog entries!

time flies...but this is ridiculous!

yes, it really has been TWO effing years since i last blogged. why, you ask? well, for starters, life just got in the way. my daughter got older, work got busier, i got involved in more things, ad the time i used to spend on my computer in the evenings after my daughter went to bed either got sucked up by farming, offing mafiosos, or going to sorority parties on facebook. the free time in the evenings is also farther and more few between just by spending more time with morgan, since she's now older and stays up later and wants to be with me during most of her waking moments.

i also consciously stopped blogging for awhile when i noticed that i talked about someone in my blogs in a way that may have been interpreted by that person as unkind -- and then found out that person was looking at my blog on a regular basis when i wasn't even aware that they knew i had a blog...so to not come off as a bitch that was ranting, i decided to cool things for awhile. i'm back now, though; quite frankly i missed it. i love to write and i no longer write as much in my job as i used to and i miss the creative outlet...plus i have an idea for a book and i know that, to get in practice for writing a book means that i have to actually WRITE, so this is a means of getting my feet wet again! i'm glad to be back...

the green-eyed monster

we had something unfortunate happen to our family last week -- dork got laid off from his job (with the lousy economic times, his company cut positions across the board and as the newest employee, he was a casualty). the good news is that he's able to collect unemployment, he has lots of time to look for a job while he's home during the day, and he's able to spend time with morgan on the days that she's not in school.

for most moms, that would indeed seem like good news, and in reality, it *is* great that daddy and morgan have had some fun times together last week and this week. but as a working mom, i can't help but feel a little jealous when my husband tells me about the fun they had at the railroader's museum (and when he sends me a pic on my phone to prove it!) or feel just a bit resentful when they ask me to join them for lunch and i'm unable to because of a work commitment.

i stopped in to see them on my way to my lunch appointment last week and they were having a fun time together -- just the two of them -- but instead of feeling happy that she was having alone time with daddy during the day, i shed a few tears on my way to my meeting. i was sorry that i wasn't with them and a bit resentful that they were having fun without me and that morgan didn't cry whenever i left.

we did have lunch together today, just the three of us, and it was great -- morgan was happy to see me and we had a nice time. but when it was time to go and morgan was talking about seeing the animals at the zoo and daddy said that he'd take her there if she wanted to go, mommy guilt smacked me in the heart as i drove back to my office to finish up my afternoon while the two of them continued to play.

most of the time, i just deal with being a working mom and i manage my time at work and my time with morgan just fine. she and i do fun things together when i'm away from work and i spend all of the free time i possibly can with her or take her to activities as part of two mom's groups that i belong to, so she's by no means starved for love or playmates. but i hate that it's now my husband who's causing me to feel guilty about being a full-time working mommy; then again, i can't possibly expect for him to understand mommy guilt and i know deep down that i should just cherish the time they're spending together now, since it will hopefully be back to business-aw-usual when he finds a job and i'll wish that he was around more to be with morgan!

letting it all hang out...

i haven't written here in a while and i regret that. first of all, i love to write and, while i get to write occasionally for my job, it's not the creative, knock-your-socks-off creative prose that is enjoyable to write. second, blogging forces me to hone my thoughts on a topic and actually sit and ponder it for a length of time...which as a mom and a full-time employee, i don't often get to do since i'm usually running in a lot of directions and by the time i get some "me" time, it's 9pm and the last thing i feel like doing is being reflective.

fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how i look at it, i get loads of ideas to write about. those ideas, however, come at me in the most inopportune times and places, like in the shower or in the car when i'm driving to a work appointment. and while i've been known to do things like put on makeup or paint my nails while driving, even i know not to crank out a full-blown blog entry on my blackberry while on my way to dc.

another reason, though, and perhaps the most significant, is often my fear of "letting it all hang out." after all, if a blog is really to be my innermost thoughts and feelings about things, i don't always feel comfortable putting those out there....especially when the ideas i may have to write about revolve around politics, religion, or one of the many things that i find inane about society which may differ from the views of my friends or colleagues. i unfortunately have always cared too much about what others think of me...therefore, my husband (along with an ex-boyfriend or two and a few close friends) is probably the only person who would ever refer to me as a loose cannon or as opinionated or judgmental. everyone else sees me as pleasant, easygoing, and not easily rattled.

for that reason, it's easy for me to write about something funny that my daughter did or make a passing snarky comment about someone, but you'll never hear me discuss politics at work or engage in anything more than a basic smattering of religion with casual friends, and i won't engage in debates about those topics with people whose views are different than my own.

and yes, while i *do* have definite opinions on where i stand about abortion, taxes, gun control, education, and school prayer, i also have the ability to see both sides of an issue and can listen to and respect someone whose views differ from mine without the need to ram my views down their throat. i personally don't enjoy debating an issue about a heated topic -- so you can just imagine how much i hated election season, when anyone out of the blue would ask who i was voting for and then wanted to know why!! maybe that makes me seem trite or shallow...but i just don't feel that my opinion on world hunger or the size of our government is pertinent to my role as a good employee, good mom, or good friend. so go ahead and ask me about my fun trick or treat night with morgan or whether i think penn state is going to finish their season undefeated (why, that would be yes!!!)...but if you want to debate the causes of global warming or socialized medicine, talk to someone else!!

too much takeout

my husband, daughter and i had a super time in dc this past weekend -- we saw dinosaurs, rode the "big underground choo-choo", took a nap on the lawn of the mall (most of the 'malls' that morgan is used to going have cool shoes, but not lawns!), watched the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier, and generally had a fun and exhilarating weekend filled with gorgeous weather.

on our trip home sunday, we decided to stop off at a brewpub for some brew (that would be for Dork; since i was the DD, morgan and i had root beer =) and food. the portions were huge and we had so much food left sitting on the table, so my two-year old, in all her wisdom, turned to me. "get a box, mommy. get it to go." guess i must use those words just a little too often in our household!

so much for romance...

this coming weekend marks our fifth wedding anniversary...hard to believe that I haven't killed Dork by now (although I'm sure that he has wanted to kill me on several occasions, too!!) we were planning for a nice little get-away -- neither of us have been to the smithsonian for a number of years and we thought we'd enjoy an afternoon checking out the different museums, followed by dinner in some cool downtown dc restaurant, and then drinks and some live music (he doesn't go for that much here at home, but i thought i could at least talk him into it since we'd be away from home!!) then more drinks at the hotel, a good night's sleep without the fear of being awakened, and brunch...and more time at the museums. (and yes, you should detect a theme involving much alcohol for the weekend. i have had exactly one hangover since i had morgan, and that was one too many...once a kid comes on the scene, the possibility of just lying around the house and nursing your headache and vegging in front of the tv no longer exists. the only possibilities for large amounts of alcohol consumption anymore only exist when i'm away from home!)

we were looking forward to some time for the two of us, since we really don't do much at all without morgan (and that is by choice, because i just frankly don't want to be away from her!). unfortunately, it looks like our romantic get-away weekend will now be accompanied by our daughter. my mom fell last weekend and her back is still sore, so she can't lift morgan in and out of her crib without doubling over in pain. my in-laws are consumed all weekend with their involvement in a local arts festival (my FIL has a photography display there....and my MIL has to stay with him all weekend to show her support. hmmm, passing up a chance to spend all weekend with your granddaughter to sit in a tent and help sell photos?? don't even get me started on that one...)

i'm looking forward to taking her along, but i have to admit that i'm a little bummed that we'll have to change our plans for a carefree no-set-plans weekend to one with a little more thought put into it. now naptime will need to be incorporated into our time at the museum, which will be a challenge since we'll be taking the metro into the city from our hotel in arlington, and i'm not quite sure how many 'family-friendly' hotels we'll encounter. either way, we'll have a fun time together as a family -- and when you stop to think about it, isn't celebrating family really what an anniversary is all about? if Dork and i hadn't met and married five years ago, we wouldn't have this wonderful little person in our lives that we both love with all of our hearts and who has enriched our lives more than you can ever imagine until you have a child. Dork and i will toast with wine at dinner, morgie can toast with her sippy cup with apple juice, and we'll look forward to a weekend of love and togetherness!

the mind of a two year old...

i'm walking through target last night with morgan on one of our weekly outings, and on our way out, we decide to browse through all of the halloween candy that's been newly - and still neatly - packaged onto the racks near the checkouts. i told morgan that we should pick up a bag of candy corn for daddy and grammie, since they both love candy corn. mind you, i didn't think she even really knew what i was talking about, since she was only 1 1/2 and not exactly chowing down on candy during last year's halloween festivities. we're walking up and down the candy aisles and i'm looking at all of the different varieties on the shelves and thinking about what kind i should get for our trick-or-treaters and for morgan to take to school (on both accounts, the right kind of candy will be something that i'll enjoy snacking on if we have any left, but nothing TOO yummy so that i don't have to break through the bag and eat a bunch of it before it's actually given away!). she's saying, "candy, candy" and all of a sudden, when we stop to look at the plethora of m&m's, she spies it..."candy corn, mommy, here, candy corn." surprisingly enough, she got it right...there were the bags of candy corn, and there i was, with my mouth hanging agape, amazed that someone who doesn't fully know what the toilet is or that a brush can't be used interchangeably between your teeth and your hair would be able to pick out those little orange, white and yellow triangles. but now that she's almost three, guess i better prepare myself for lots of her revelations!

pet peeves/rants

i have been wanting to start this post for some time now...i read a similar posting that one of my friends put on her blog and it made me think, oh yeah, that's something that really gets under my skin, too. since it seems that things have been getting under my skin more than usual later (more on that one in another posting!) it seemed like the perfect time to document all of those little things that drive me nuts. things like...
* people who put their turn signal on for four blocks before actually turning. come on, it's nice that you want to alert me, but you end up just pissing me off instead!
* people who are backing out of a parking spot and are driving with one hand and smoking with the other (saw this at B&N today....it didn't help matters that she had purple hair and a nose ring). come on, is your caffeine fix really that necessary that you cant wait 30 seconds till you pull out of the lot?!
* and speaking of purple hair and a nose ring....people who work in public-service jobs with foul-looking tattoos or piercings. i'm all for personal expression -- to an extent -- but i really don't want to look at the gaping inch-wide hole in your ear when i'm ordering my coffee from you or have to see your BFF's name inked on your arm as you give me my change.
*people that complain about how busy they are and point out how much others aren't busy enough (my place of employment has a ton of folks like this!!). if you are that busy, you should be so focused on what you're doing that you could care less whether i'm talking to a donor or surfing the web. get back to work!!
* people who can't let things go and hold grudges. perfect example? a friend of a friend of a friend of mine (yeah, that many friends removed...) still won't talk to me over a minor incident that happened between our mutual friend and i more than five years ago, and she still ignores me in public places. come on, just get a life already!
* trailer trash who just keep having more welfare babies for the rest of us. need i say more? (and no, just because you live in a trailer, that doesn't make you trash....you're trash if you're stupid and ignorant).
* no toilet paper or paper towels in public bathrooms, and people who leave disgusting, used feminine hygiene products on the floors of public bathrooms. ick, what makes you think you are too good to dispose of them and that i want to see them?! for that matter...public bathrooms in general (but unfortunately, they are a necessity sometimes).
* people who dress in their sunday finest to go to wal-mart, yet their little kids are dirty and have snotty noses and are out waaay past their bedtime. get your kids home, give them a bath, and put them to bed, dumbass!!!
* people who talk on their cell (or just talk too loud) at the movies.
* my husband, when he says he's sorry over things he has no control over. if i have a headache, he's sorry i have one....if i'm running late for work, he's sorry....if i get home from work in a lousy mood, he's sorry i had a bad day. sorry, but you don't have to be sorry -- life happens!!
* people who harm children in any way. this has always disgusted me, but now that i'm a parent, i can't bear to hear anything on the news related to this.
* speaking of kids: celebrities who give their kids god-awful names. think of how your poor kid is going to get treated when they grow up!
* strangers who don't say "thank you" or even acknowledge you when you hold the door for them.
* not washing your hands after using the restroom. one word -- EEEEEW!!!
* TELEMARKETERS! 11:00 pm on a saturday night! 4:30 am on a sunday morning! STOP IT!!!!!
* making no attempt to avoid hitting animals on the road.
* poor grammar. (yes, i know that i'm one to talk, using all lower-case letters in my postings....but i'm consistent). and by this i mean blatant misuse of the English language and not caring. u kno wut im talkin abowt?
* and the last one...people who don't realize how incredibly lucky they are to live as well as they do when there are so many people in this world living terrible lives beyond their control (and i am just as guilty of this as anyone else, when i get in my 'i've gotta shop...i've gotta have this...' mode...time to stop and realize what's really important in life).

a distraction waiting to happen

in addition to my full-time job and my 'job' as a mom - which i do take very seriously - i also do some freelance writing and layout/design work. since my degree is in communications and i've been writing for just about as long as i can remember, i thought taking on some freelance work would be fun and exciting, since i don't do much creative writing in my current position. well, for the most part, it IS fun except when i try to cram it in along with all of the other things that i have to get done.

right now (yes, as we speak...err, type) i'm attempting to work on a newsletter and write copy/photoshop some photos/design a eye-catching layout. all the while while it's 2am and i'm serving in church later today (in a few hours -- which means i can't shut off the alarm and put the pillow over my head and stay home) and i've got to get this newsletter done by the end of the weekend.

but instead of buckling down and working on it, i surfed the web in between writing copy (although i did find some great blogs to add to my blogroll) and tuned in to some fun shows on E!, the Style network and Bravo that I hadn't seen for awhile. well, I didn't actually mean to tune in...but they were on in the background, and my attention just got sucked to the tv and away from the laptop not more than a foot from my face. it's mazing how sometimes when you are under the gun and trying to get something done, you deep down don't want to be doing it after all and will find any other thing that can possibly divert your attention. not sure if that's a universal thing or just a me thing (adult add, anyone?!) but i remember being the same way in college -- i'd have an exam to study for or a paper to finish and instead of doing the project at hand, my roomies and i would sit up and talk or i'd make sure i took breaks every half hour or so to do something 'important' like clean up the kitchen, paint my hails, or call a friend.

and now, as it gets later and later, and as the tv selection gets worse and worse, i'm faced with the decision that i know i must make. if i continue to tune in to the show that just came on -- an infomercial on some dancing/weightloss video being hawked by a scary christina aguilera look-alike -- i know that bad karma will get me, in the form of my daughter waking up at 4am and totally wrecking any hope of sleep! instead of being a distraction waiting to happen like i normally am, i think i'm ready to allow a nice fluffy pillow and soft blanket distract me from it all. nite-nite!

can't believe it's over already :(

just as much as i was looking forward to vacation, i'm now bumming just as much that it's over. for the past few years -- actually, since morgan was born -- i've taken long weekends off, but we haven't gone anywhere for a week since she was born, and i had forgotten the sheer joy of not having to worry about a schedule or being anywhere at a given time....heck, aside from that, let's not forget the joy of not having to wear footwear that resembled anything other than a flip-flop for a week!

i also never realized just how much *STUFF* you could actually pack into an suv for a week-long trip! as i mentioned in my last entry, the days of just piling a few things into a suitcase and not giving any forethought to what you're taking are long gone now that morgan's here -- but it was a great learning experience because now i know that i won't need to take nearly as many toys or clothes on vacation next summer. i figured it was better to be prepared than to need something and not have it -- but i also found out that morgan was so exhausted by the end of a day spent swimming, building sand castles, eating ice cream on the boardwalk, riding kiddie rides and hitting the outlets with mommy that the last thing she wanted to do when she got back to the beach house was play with her toys.

undoubtedly one of the best parts of the whole week was the afternoon of the first day we arrived. we decided to just walk along the boardwalk and take in all the sights then walk on the beach for awhile. when morgan saw the sand and the waves, her eyes grew huge and the biggest smile spread across her face. "my beach! my beach!," she exclaimed, amazed by what appeared to be the world's largest sandbox beneath her tiny toes. she was a bit daunted at first by the sound of the waves crashing against the shoreline, but as she stood staring out to sea and held mommy's hand on one side and daddy's on the other and we helped her jump high over the approaching waves as we counted 1...2...3...jump!!, she loved it and couldn't wait to come back the next day, shouting "beach, i'm coming!" and running toward the sand.

when i was anticipating my vacation and thought about the fact that i wouldn't be able to lie on the beach and relax and read like i had done before morgan, i was a bit upset....but honestly, i had so much fun running after her as her little legs carried her down from our perch under our umbrella to the shoreline that i didn't even miss it. we crafted sandcastles from the plastic molds that we brought with us (and kept sending poor daddy back to fetch water to make the sand just the right consistency!) and we buried our legs and toes so they were hidden below the sandy surface. i chased after her with our videocamera, watching her as she helped daddy launch a kite on the beach at dusk. and she and i split a hot dog and a coke that we got from a beach vendor....hmmm, does eating sand count as fiber?? (and yes, i know that i'm a quasi-vegetarian and a hot dog is off limits; i also know that a two year-old shouldn't be making a diet of processed meat and soda....but this was vacation, after all).

i was also pleasantly surprised at how well morgan adapted to our new home-away-from-home. i thought she might be homesick for some toy she forgot to bring or for 'mam-mam', my mom whom she loves dearly and will choose anytime over daddy and mommy. she loved our house and explored each room as soon as we arrived, and she quickly learned what our house looked like, pointing to it as we approached it each afternoon after a long day at the beach or an evening of fun and exclaiming, "my house, my house!" (yeah, she is at that great age where she thinks everything is hers). she even made sure to say good night to the beach and the sand and the seagulls and the moon and the boardwalk each evening when we headed for home, eagerly anticipating the next day.

and now, after being back at our real home for almost a week, it's a bittersweet feeling to look back and reminisce about our week together. after all, it was morgan's first trip to the beach and the first week that the three of us spent together without the distractions of phones, computers, work concerns, daycare, and TV (ok, we cheated a little bit on that one....but it was only on for about an hour a day, when we watched Curious George in the morning!). unfortunately, we're now back into the swing of real life and i miss having her all to my self....but i'll always have great memories of our first true vacation as a family!

vacation - and fall - are just around the corner

well, i've been eagerly anticipating this week for most of the summer, and it's finally here! yes, this is the week that my family and i leave for vacation. i'm especially excited because it will be morgan's first time ever at the beach and i hope she loves it as much as i think she will. she loves to swim, and one of her fave things to do at home is sit in her sandbox and throw sand everywhere and make a mess -- which are the two things she'll get to do a lot of next week and will hopefully love at the beach.

there's always so much pre-planning to do before vacation, though, and even more than i ever realized now that we have a child. no more grabbing a few pair of shorts, flip flops, tossing everything in a small suitcase and heading out the door -- nope, we now have to make sure we have beach umbrellas (so morgan doesn't burn in the sun), sand pails and toys for the beach (to build the perfect sandcastle and hopefully keep her from wanting to constantly eat sand or run head-on into the ocean), spf 70 in spray form (again, the no-burn thing -- a red screaming child at the beach isn't my idea of fun), a backpack to hold all of her gear at the beach (so that i can hold onto her, along with the beach chairs, umbrellas, blankets, cooler, toys, and all the other assorted stuff that will be weighing us down as we trod onto the sand). hell, i even found a site online that has vacation checklists that you can print out -- since we've never done a full-fledged vacation with a child (and yes, since i'm a control freak...) i wanted to make sure that we have all our bases covered and i'm not forgetting something vital. after all, i don't want to scar my daughter for life because i forgot to pack her fave juice boxes to drink on the beach.

her clothes have been washed and set aside for a week, and i'm finishing up the last of the laundry tonight...so now it's time to grab her toys and find that ones to take that either (a) aren't going to cause a meltdown if we happen to lose them while we're there, or (b) don't have so many pieces to them that they'll get scattered throughout the beach house we're staying in, or (c) don't require batteries to operate that will inevitably go dead while we're there, or (d) aren't so cumbersome that they'll take up valuable packing space, or (e) won't cause a meltdown because she can't play with them during the 24 hours between the time they're packed and the time we arrive at the beach. so once i narrow down that list (unfortunately, i didn't locate a list on the 'net for selecting the perfect toys to take on vacation), i will hopefully have one less thing to worry about.

as much as i love this time of the year and look forward to it each summer, there's always a melancholy sadness that goes along with it for me. summer is my favorite time of year, without a doubt -- i hate winter, hate snow and ice (even though it is quite beautiful), don't like to be cold, don't participate in winter sports because i don't like to be cold (and i live in the northeast, where we get actual winters and school delays and closings), yada yada. problem is, right after summer is over, fall is quickly ushered in, and that means winter isn't far behind. in my mind, once vacation is over, it's all downhill from there because cold weather will soon be on its way....and along with it, snow, ice, and darkness when i get up and when i leave my office at the end of the day.

even though i'm a glass-is-half-full kinda gal, this is one thing that's always gotten me down as long as i can remember in my adult life. i've always fought to stay positive after i get home from vacation, but i don't totally succeed. sure, this year will be fun because morgan will be more into halloween and we'll have so much fun picking out our costume and dressing up. the chancellor at the college where i work has an awesome halloween party for faculty and staff at her home and i look forward each year to dressing up and having a great time. and fall is no doubt very beautiful where i live, and morgan and i will have a great time jumping in the piles of leaves and picking out pumpkins, and we might even attempt a corn maze this year, which was hard to do in a stoller last fall. but that dark cloud of impending winter still permeates my thoughts and bums me out. i'll try more than ever to not let it interfere with enjoying all the great moments of the season with my husband and daughter that i possibly can....and who knows, maybe i'll even find a checklist online that will tell me all i need to do to have the perfect winter!! if you have any ideas to keep me bright and sunny instead of cold and dreary, do share :)

blogging with good intentions

although i love writing entries in here, i (obviously!!) don't write them often enough. it seems like everyday life often gets in the way of just taking a few minutes out of my day to be creative and reflect on my thoughts.

unfortunately, with a two-year old, most of my reflective thoughts come at inopportune times to write about them: the solitude of my 20-minute commute to work each morning (OK, i use solitude really loosely here...for me, solitude is having my radio blaring, listening to either my favorite morning show or whatever CD i pop in that gets me awake and ready to hit the day running), washing dishes and loading the dishwasher after my daughter's gone to bed, in the shower as the water pulses down my back and i'm waking up. you get the picture -- i get inspired whenever my laptop happens not to be around. i'm a techno-geek and all, but i still haven't figured out how to write a blog entry from my phone -- which is probably a good thing, given that i was texting someone a few weeks ago as i went through a drive-thru for a cup of coffee and now have a nice scratch on the side of my door to show for it! guess that shows what too much multitasking will get me.

i get these great thoughts of what to write about....last week, on my way to the office, i decided that i just had to tell about my daughter experiencing her sandbox for the very first time....but by the time i parked my car, grabbed a cup of coffee, shot the bull for a minute with my co-workers, checked my e-mail and listened to my voice messages, any thoughts i had about making a new blog entry were quickly replaced by what donor i was visiting that day and how many phone calls i had to return. this morning, too, i had every good intention of talking about Dork's struggle that he's going through this week and how i'm trying to be a supportive wife from 100 miles away (he is away on business all week....and he's trying to quit smoking). however, i had to review a proposal that was on my desk, answer a few e-mails to people i'm planning on visiting in maryland next week, and look up some info i needed for a 10am meeting and my computer wouldn't cooperate. after doing that, writing a blog was the furtherest thing from my mind.

and now, even as i sit at my desk finishing my lunch and enjoying a few minutes of computer surfing before i try to overcome my writer's block and finish the three reports i have to do by the end of the day, i don't feel very reflective and contemplative....but i do know that just when i least expect it this weekend, i'll have a great idea for my next blog entry rush through my mind. unfortunately, you'll probably never get to read it!!!

libraries -- a refuge of peace? not so much for me

when i was little, i used to love going to the library with my mom to check out my favorite books and play in the kiddie area. i've always loved books, but my love of the library was replaced by not-so-pleasant feelings when i went to college and had to research topics in "the stacks," which, at penn state, are dark, narrow and creepy corridors that reek of stale air and old books. those experiences, along with having to do mandatory sorority study hours in the library (come on, i would rather have chatted with my sisters about what party we were going to that night than have to crack open a boring oriental philosophy or history of communications book!) gave me a less-than-savory feeling about libraries.

after i graduated from penn state, and then grad school, i thought i'd give libraries another chance, now that i wasn't *forced* to use them for boring research. i went to my little hometown library, where i enjoyed going as a kid, and got an adult library card and checked out some books about my new career and some fun reading, and i had a great relationship with my library -- for a few years.

since i was going fairly regularly and reading quite a bit, i decided to check out a whole stack of books on some of the locations that dork and i were thinking of going for our honeymoon. frommers, fodor, lonely planet, you name them, i checked them out, with great intention of reading them all and doing some research on what island locations would be the most tranquil, have the best beaches and, of course, have the best shopping. (only kidding about that last one....mostly).

i did manage to read and get great info, but in the process of planning my wedding, packing away a lot of my stuff and moving dork's stuff in to my (our) townhouse, three of the books got misplaced/packed away/thrown out/kicked under the bed, or otherwise sucked into that big black hole that exists when you can't find something you're l0oking for. i returned the remaining 10 or so books that i had....and getting caught up in married life, then enjoying the barnes & noble that had opened, and then becoming pregnant, i hadn't visited the library in a few years because i was occupied with other concerns. but now that my concern at hand was the little peanut growing inside, i thought i'd head to the library to check out some books on parenting and healthy baby development. i almost had a hormonal meltdown when i went to check out my books and the library tech said that i couldn't get them -- because i had built up $100 in fines!! that wasn't exactly what i had planned for, and in my pregnant state, i didn't handle the news so well....so i slammed my books on the counter and stormed out, never to return again....until this week.

i went there to pick out some books for an elderly friend of mine who recently had surgery and can't drive for awhile. she loaned me her library card and gave me a list of what she wanted, so i buzzed through the stacks over my lunch break and even found her some vhs tapes on the railroad that i thought she would enjoy watching. i marched up to the circulation desk and presented the materials and the library card of "mrs. jane doe" and the lady checked them out and uneventfully slid them down to the end of the counter.

i figured that i'd take care of getting my daughter a library card while i was there, and she proceeded to help me with that. that is, up until i gave her my daughter's last name, which didn't match mine of "d0e". the following exchange then ensued:
"i can't let you take these books."
"you mean these, that i just checked out?"
"yes, because they're not yours."
"but i got them for my friend and this is her library card, which you just used to check the books out on."
"yes but i thought that was you."
"so you're saying i could have taken the books if i wouldn't have mentioned my daughter's last name, which was different than what was on the card."
(silence)
"my friend is elderly and can't drive, and she can't come to the library right now."
"well, she'll have to come in to sign a form saying that she's homebound, and then we will put that on file, and then a family member of hers can check out books for her."
"but her family live out of the area. i have her number on my cell -- let me call her and she'll give you authorization for me to pick them up."
"are you a family member? if not, don't bother calling her."
"no, i just told you, her family live out of town."
(again, silence)
"so, if i understand you, i just spent 1/2 hour out of my day looking for books, waiting in line for 15 minutes to check them out, actually checking them out, but then not being able to take them because i'm not a family member on record."
(note: i didn't exactly resemble someone intending to rip off a library in broad daylight, as i stood there in a pant suit and heels, carrying my coach bag in one hand and cell in the other).
"that's correct. so...do you think you'll be back for the books, because if you come back, we'll have to re-check them out again?"

once again...there was a slam and a storm....and a big apology to my friend for coming up empty-handed when i visited her later in the day. i'm not exactly sure if it will be a few years until i visit the library again....but i do know that i don't encounter that kind of "customer service" at barnes & noble. and last time i checked, my local library didn't have scones and infusions of caffeine readily available, so bet you can guess where i'll be doing most of my reading in the future.

hormones -- and hair -- from hell

i don't know about you, but i always was under the impression that, once you hit about 18, your 'girl' hormones got under control and all of the icky acne problems that occurred around *that* time of the month were suddenly wiped out, leaving you with nothing but rosy, smooth, and glowing skin all the time.

why, then, if that's the case, did i wake up this morning with a brand new zit that's big enough to have its own zip code? (mind you, i'm twice the age of someone who should be affected by hormones, so it's not like i'm reliving my second puberty or anything!) as i peered in the mirror this morning and saw an oily nose and forehead staring back at me -- and a forehead that now too closely resembled that of my cromagnon ancestors -- i debated whether it was even worth it to pile on loads of makeup to try and cover that sucker up. but then i came to my senses and devised what i thought was a perfectly reasonable plan as i finished getting ready for work and was ready to leave the house: i would cut my bangs to cover the zit!

never mind that i just got my hair cut last week. never mind that my bangs were already neatly brushed over to the side and i was having a semi-good hair morning. and never mind that, as usual, i was running out the door to get my daughter to daycare and get to work at a reasonable time (i can't say 'get to work on time', because that rarely happens!) no, that all went out the window when i deduced that i suddenly needed fringe hanging straight down to cover my forehead, and i needed it done NOW.

i went on a mission to find small manicure scissors, then proceeded to pull my bangs straight down over my eyes and lopped off about 1/2 inch or so, so that the forehead was bare no longer and the red spot was now incognito. i brushed off all the little hair fuzzies from my shirt (or is it blouse? i never know which is which...) and re-styled my hair so that my newly-shorn bangs hung stylishly over my forehead. guess it would have probably saved time to have just put a dab of concealer on and run out the door -- but the other rotten part about the wrath of female hormones? we don't always think rationally when aunt flo is in town. any female can attest to that -- and any man who lives with one of us certainly can!

to bee or not to bee

so, i know i rip on Dork a lot for not pulling his weight and being a typical male who has to be told to do everything and who doesn't *want* to want to do things....but i do feel badly about something i asked him to do that went terribly wrong.

we have an awning over the front of our house, and i've noticed a small wasp nest being built over the past few weeks in the upper corner, nest to the roof. in the vein of "if i want something done, i'll do it myself," i attempted to knock the little sucker down myself about a week ago, but it was kinda hidden under the awning and i couldn't see it and was afraid to just take a whack at it and have it fall down on top of me. after hearing me complain about it one too many times, Dork said he'd take care of it, and he proceded to buy some wasp and hornet spray at home depot over the weekend.

we chatted on the phone yesterday -- i was at work and he had the day off -- and we agreed that we'd go to see a baseball game with our daughter that evening. we talked about what we'd have for dinner and we discussed how my day was going. then he casually mentioned it: he had taken care of the wasp nest. in the process? five stings and a beat up leg. he promised me that he didn't look like quasimoto with a swollen, huge forehead or anything, but i couldn't even imagine getting stung FIVE times. unfortunately, our family's beekeeper outfit was at the drycleaners (OK, that's one thing neither Dork nor I have ever been for Halloween, although we've been many other odd characters...) so he had no protection other than his madras plaid shorts, flip flops and t-shirt (assuming he wasn't out there bare-chested, which maybe i shouldn't assume).

knock on wood, i have never gotten stung and am kinda skeeved out about it ever happening, since i don't even know if i'm allergic to bee stings. but i felt so horrible after he told me what happened, like i was mostly responsible for his ill fated incident. evidently, when he aimed the spray can at the nest, the bees just went crazy and flew at him. he said he was flailing around and got stuck in the hedges (he had to stand in the middle of the hedge to reach the wasp nest, hence the scratches and scrapes all over his leg). i'll bet our neighbors wondered what kind of funky dance my husband was doing outside in the front of the yard!

i dug out the neosporin when i got home from work and gave Dork some tlc for his bee-fighting efforts. but the real kicker to his pain and suffering? the stupid nest is still there, and the little suckers are still flying in and flying out; although i did spy a few dead ones on the pavemet this morning, so his spraying wasn't all in vain. let's hope the effects of the spray kick in over the next day or two so we can knock the nest down before Dork becomes their afternoon snack once again!