Farty machines

A pack of Harleys has been perched outside of my office for five minutes now sounding like they ate 12 cans of beans apiece. I do not see the appeal. I just don't get it. They are annoying and need to drive away NOW.

Just for Jenny

Well, okay, and Mom and Auntie Manda, if not others. We went to Children's Day on the Farm at Historic Brattonsville today and had a wonderful time. I may have a future interpreter on my hands.

Movie plug

This will not count as an official movie review, since I have become lazy in my old age and just don't write that much in blogs anymore. Sorry.

But you simply must see "Death at a Funeral"! Brad and I were in hysterics the whole time. The drugged fiance should win an Oscar, and the bit with the dwarf and the drugs and the coffin ...!!!!! Oh, it was good.

Developments

The first designer is back. I'm not happy about this, but there was a long meeting and we'll see what happens.

Last night, I started a book at 8:30. I finished it at 10:30. Okay, okay, it was kiddie lit, a book called Stargirl, and believe it or not I was reading it for a book club I'm in where the average age is probably 45. The book was about individuality in high school, and it was actually quite good. I always wanted to be the quirky individual in high school, but I never stood out. Now I'm accepting that I find quirky individuals fascinating, but I am just not that quirky. I like jeans, solid colored shirts, simple makeup, even simpler hair, and that's fine. I will admire the quirky folk, hopefully even befriend them, but I will just have to be the straight man in the relationship.

If you know an adolescent, though, it was a very good book. A., they even have a teacher's guide for it.

The golden time

Lately, Abigail has taken to asking for cuddle time after breakfast. To say she is an active kid is an understatement, so these few minutes of quiet together are really sweet. This morning, when she asked to cuddle, she went off on one of her monologues and pointed to a gold star sticker she has and said, "This gold star means that this is the golden time. It's going to tell me when the golden time is over. Only I will know when it is over." Which of course wasn't true because nagging Mommy finally had to break it up or we'd be late for school. But it is such a golden time. She's 5 and a half and getting so big. All too soon she's going to be too big for my lap, and I'll miss looking at her little face while she "dreams".

Puerto Rico

So I'm still lazy, but I'll dutifully avoid working to post some pictures!

We went to Puerto Rico about three weeks ago already and had a wonderful time. We were just in San Juan most of the time, but there is so much to see and do! And the flight was really reasonable from the States, so we highly recommend it. Brad's already talking about taking Abigail back with us -- or moving there all together. We'll see about that, but I did have fun!

We stayed out near the airport just a block from the beach, but city beaches aren't the most spectacular, so we spent the first couple days in Old San Juan. It's obviously very Latin, but there's also a LOT of American influence and everyone speaks excellent English -- so good I really didn't try much Spanish. It was a good first time abroad for Brad. The colonial city was stunning, and the food was delicious (especially the rice and beans, and pineapple juice at Cafe el Punto -- most amazing juice ever).





Then the third day, we went on a day trip, sailing on a catamaran to go snorkeling off uninhabited Icacos Island. Using the snorkel was disconcerting at first -- you felt like you had to take huge, quick breaths, which only made you feel like you were smothering -- but after you adjusted, it was the most peaceful, amazing thing to be floating over a coral reef. If you float very still, these yellow and black striped fish will swim up to maybe a foot from your hand to see what the strange thing is up there -- you can see the curiosity.



Our next stop is central Florida, though I don't think Tampa Bay will be quite so exciting. But at least we'll see lots of friends, and Abigail will have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to make the Smitties' wedding truly memorable, heh, heh, heh :)

Happy happy, joy joy!

I have a new designer!!! And it's someone I've know for years and have worked with and have absolutely no qualms abut using! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!! A huge load of stress has been lifted.

We have been to and obviously returned from Puerto Rico. We had a wonderful time and I have wonderful pictures, but sadly I am lazy! I will post this week, though. It was an amazing trip.

An appetizer:

Public Serivce Announcement

If you ever have a deadline at work, respect it. Your employer will maintain a high respect for you and all future work will run much more smoothly. If you flagrantly disregard FOUR deadlines without ever asking for an extension, telling your employer you will be late, returning phone calls, or answering direct questions in e-mail, don't be surprised when you get fired.

Thank you.

Resuscitated

So, hi. Yeah, I know, I've disappeared. Frankly, nothing earth-shattering has happened. I'm working away at the first issue of the magazine (if my designer would ever get her s*$% together and send me pages!!!), and we're fleeing the country in six days. I seldom think to visit my blog, or any of yours, dear readers, since it's not my homepage on the work Mac. And I'm hardly ever on at home, though if I am it is generally to be sucked into my addictive mommy forum. (A., have you tried centralpiedmontmommies.com? Jenny, there's an indymommies.com! You will waste inordinate amounts of time, but it's fun!)

The fam is doing well. This week's big news: Abigail read me "Green Eggs and Ham." I'm so incredibly proud! A real, long book, not just a little easy reader! It was very, very exciting, and we've since added "Hop on Pop" and a couple other longer beginner books. She's done loads of other interesting things, too, including a few days in January of playing The Blitz after falling in love with a book about London history her Auntie Manda gave her. Nothing like hearing pretend explosions all afternoon!

She also really likes my Mac and the many special effects of Photo Booth





So the family is good. I'm good. The magazine is overall good. Some of the writing leaves a bit to be desired, but I think that will improve as time goes on. I'm really excited about the next issue, which will have a green-ish theme. The stories should be even more interesting. If all goes well, I'm happy to mail copies to anyone! If all doesn't go well, we never spoke of this ...

And now, to make this even longer and more random, a fabulous meme I stole from Jenny!

Create your own band.
1 - Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to Random quotations: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to flickr's "explore the last seven days” http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
Put it all together, that's your first album

Catch the debut release by Neoschumannia kamerunensis entitled Rarest Thing I Know

Available for a limited time only on this Web site!

Hola, San Juan!

(This is all sung.)

I'm going to Puerto Rico! I just got a great deal on plane tickets! It's going to be so much fun! I just cannot wait! We get to lay on the beach and eat good food and see lots of cool colonial things. I'm going to Puerto Rico -- I'm just not thinking about how expensive the hotel is going to be yet!

The GOPreschool

I think I am accidentally raising a Republican. It's probably no secret that I lean left of center, though not at a dramatic angle. And it's also no secret that I live in one of the most Republican states in America, where the crazy Christian Exodus people want to build their utopia.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that my child loves Mike Huckabee.

Or at least his signs. See, we are blessed to live in an early primary state. So our roads are blessed with lots and lots of signs. Interestingly, though, only Republican signs. We've got Mike, Fred, Mitt, Rudy and McCain (he doesn't have hist first name on, strangely). As for Democrats, there are a few Hillary signs at her campaign headquarters, but that's it. Now, I do live in a rather WASPy part of an already WASPy town, so maybe there are some Democratic signs in other areas, but I haven't even seen any near the shopping centers. Proof of how Republican my county is, I guess -- and it is, by the largest margin in the state, I believe.

Anyway, there's a very prominent Mike Huckabee sign on the way to Abigail's school, and it was one of the first signs up more than a month ago. She was fascinated: What was the American flag sign about? What does running for president mean? What does vote mean? Her first civics lesson, from her car seat in my Civic no less. Ever since she first saw it, Abigail has made a point of shouting delightedly "Mike Huckabee!" And she was thrilled to actually see his face last week on the evening news, when the announcer's voice pulled her attention from a very intense game of Uno.

She's noticed the other signs, too, but they're only in blue, and of course her favorite color is red. RED. I should have seen it coming.

On the fourth day of Christmas

my true love gave to me a meme about music to fill out.

But I'm just not inspired. And I don't quite know what to write about, though I feel I should. Our holidays were mildly merry. Since mom was in London, we didn't do anything particularly special. Met with my father-in-law's family, went to Christmas Eve service, met with Brad's immediate family, met with my mother-in-law's family. A whole lot of eating with people I only see twice a year and that I generally know nothing about. Abigail did have a fabulous Christmas morning, and I'm proud to say our gift was the biggest hit. But overall, this Christmas was a bit of a non-happening. We didn't play our music much, I didn't make many cookies since we weren't having company, and we couldn't go to the one Christmas party we were invited to. At least Abigail and Daddy had fun shopping.

And now the dreariness of January is about to set in. We have no New Year's plans, and the concert I wanted to go to is sold out (Dang Avetts, why do you only come to your hometown once a year?!). There is a bright spot on the horizon, though. After Brad turns 30 in February, we're heading to Puerrrrrrrrto Rico! That is if I get in gear and actually buy our tickets and find a hotel. The flights aren't very expensive -- it'll cost us more to go to a wedding in April -- and we won't have to exchange our money, so it should be a good deal. And all Brad wants to do is hit the beach with a bottle of rum, so it shouldn't take much planning!

And speaking of, this would actually be a decent time to call the travel agent I know ...

Geriatric jail bait

Why? Why do I still attract older men? In college, it was men in their 40s who would offer me drinks at the bar. Then it was French men in their 40s who would try to chat me up in a park.

And now? Now it's the late-60s gentleman who I say hello to at the park! Today he told me how pretty I looked in pink. In the same pink sweatshirt I've been wearing for two months, with my unwashed hair pulled back into a ponytail and yesterday's eyeliner still smudged under my eyes. Yes, I'm gorgeous.

That's what I get for telling the most cheerful man on my walking route how much I appreciated his friendly "good morning."

I "heart" blogs

The Internet is a helpful place. There's lots of information, it keeps me from having to make some business phone calls, which I'm not a fan of, and it keeps me up-to-date on the small happenings in my friends' lives.

The Internet is also a horrible place. E-mail has reduced our ability to write lengthy correspondence. Blogs have reduced communication to keeping tabs, checking in once a week to fulfill your duty as a friend. I know the minutiae of my friends' lives, but not the reality. I learn of their pain far too late.

My dear friends, if I have not written, called or e-mailed you at length in at least a month, I am so sorry. I love you very, very much, and you are always on my mind. I am a terrible friend, and I cannot stop weeping at how I have let some of you down. Please forgive me.

Can you imagine being the neighbor?

These people need lives. Now. It's amazing and all, but really, lives.

Still working on the spirit of giving

So I tried to do the "Let's pick out toys to donate" thing with Abigail, and I guess it sorta worked. She immediately picked an old Elmo, which I'd been hoping would go away, and then a small doll. And then a broken puzzle. Um, we can't do that, sweetie. Are there any other stuffed animals we could give away? (She rarely plays with stuffed animals) Nope. That's all she wanted to give away. And I didn't want to force it. She should give freely and not feel like it's a punishment.

But is it really bad if I sneak into her room while she's at school and thin the stuffed animals a bit? Hmmm ...

We gather together

I must soon be off to buy cider for the big kindergarten feast, but all this talk of Thanksgiving has me a bit nostalgic and sad. Thanksgiving was a huge event in the Buxton family. The many, many cousins and second cousins and who-knows-how-they're-related cousins gathered at the family homestead, where enormous folding tables stretched the length of my grandparents' basement, leaving the littlest kids (me and my three male cousins for a while) to make do with an old sofa and a coffee table. There was of course tons of food, including at least four or five varieties of pie with lots of Cool Whip.

But what I really miss was the long afternoon after lunch. The adults would play endless games of pinochle, leaving us kids to devise our own fun way out in the Missouri boonies. If the weather was warm, that meant a wagon ride from Grandpa out into the woods and down to the creek, past "Daniel Boone's" bed springs. If it had snowed, there were cardboard boxes to sled in down the steep front yard. And there were always the games in the garage, one of the few ways the older cousins mixed with us young ones, deigning to allow us to join the Blind Man's Bluff and Red Light, Green Light. We played our own card games, too, usually 21 or Gin. Ahh, fond memories of teaching little Trae 52-Card Pickup, which he adored and wanted to play again. My memories of my grandparents' house really have little to do with them, much more about the cousins.

This year, I won't even see my mom. We'll do a couple of gatherings with Brad's family, but they're always a bit strained. There won't even be pumpkin pie (though I'm making a fabulous pumpkin cake). And mom is going to London for Christmas. It's going to be a very strange holiday season lacking any connection to my family. I adore traditions, am really a very conservative person when it comes to institutions and history, and losing all of mine this year makes me sad.

I don't even have a Black Friday shopping buddy.

But we'll start new traditions. One I'm stealing from an acquaintance, Abigail and I are going to go through her toys Friday and pick out a few to give away -- both to make room for Santa's goodies and to give a Christmas to poor children. Then we'll take our choices over to Goodwill, our final acts of thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The purge

So it's time to update all this. I thought I'd start chronologically, but then, heck, everyone just wants to see Halloween anyway, right?



I made that (with Mom's help)! Isn't it great? Okay, so it's not PC, but it's great! (And I'm going to take Abigail to the Catawba's Yap Ye Iswa Festival this weekend, so she'll learn about real Native Americans soon.) She had a wonderful time, really getting into the candy hunt this year. She raced from door to door and down driveways (saying "Steep hill! Steep hill! Steep hill!) and got through Nana's street in no time. She also loved giving out candy again, standing on the porch shouting, "Hey, kids! Come get candy! Blow pops for the big ones! Nerds for the little ones!" Halloween is such a great expression of the pure joy of childhood.

And so for the big news -- Employment! Yes, I have a job. I am going to be the editor-in-chief of a new lifestyles magazine. It will publish bi-monthly and I'll only be working 20 hours a week, so I'll still be able to pick up Abigail from school and screw around online and in the house. I'll be overseeing editorial content, assigning stories, managing freelancers and getting on their cases about deadlines. It should be a lot of fun! And it will set me up so well for a year or so down the line, when I want full-time work, hopefully in a university setting. And the best part, I found out about the job just by running into my old boss at the grocery store. It's amazing how things just work out sometimes. (okay, yeah, and I'm giving a lot of credit Upstairs for some answered prayers about what I should do)

Hmm, what else? How about more pictures!! Who needs to be thoughtful when you have pictures?!

We went to an atrocious Clemson football game last month, where the crowd went wild in the third quarter when we finally got our first first down. It wasn't pretty. But it was wonderful to see my college family again. And we took Abigail for the first time, so I got to show her around campus and show her off to my friends. She had a blast and still talks about being waaaaaay up and seeing Lake Hartwell.



I know other things happened in the interim, but they have slipped my capricious mind, so I'll just jump to last weekend, when Abigail, Mom and I went to Carolina BalloonFest in Statesville, N.C. Once the hot air balloons started going, we had a great time. Abigail was mesmerized for a while, then went to jump in the FREE moon bounces (note to similar festivals, that's BRILLIANT!). Her day was truly made complete, though, when she got to ride in a balloon. It was a two or three minute ride, but she was thrilled.

Things! Stuff! Stuff and things!!

This is a promise to blog soon. Real soon. I have pictures of a Clemson football game. I have pictures from Carolina BalloonFest. I have a JOB.

But I do not have time. Thus I will post! And soon!

Dental dexterity

I am officially a soccer mom.

The (temporarily blinded) Abigail is a member of the Might Molars (sponsored by a dentist). Saturday was her first practice and mini game. Now, Abigail has an amazing foot. She can kick that ball hard, straight and aimed. Unfortunately, she spent much of Saturday wandering aimlessly and talking to her teammates rather than chasing the ball. As did most of the kids. One boy kept picking up his teammates. Another chased the ball down the field toward the goal -- while he was supposed to be goalie. At that point, they figured he shouldn't be goalie anymore and put Abigail in. And she made a great save! Hooray! Soccer talent! If we can just remind her that the point is to follow the play of game, we'll be set! Come on, scholarships!

It was a big day. After we got home and changed clothes, the family trooped off to Historic Brattonsville for the Piedmont Pottery Festival. There was so much beautiful pottery -- though also a lot of very similar face jugs and the like. There was one vase with the most gorgeous irridescent, silver-blue crazed glaze. It looked like snowflakes. I wish I had a pottery allowance.

Of course, we also went through the preserved homes. Mama's girl did her proud. Abigail loved going through the "houses from a very long time ago." She loved the classroom from "a very long time ago." She loved the clothes from "a very long time ago." She kept on insisting that she must see more "houses from a very long time ago." History was a bigger hit than I expected!

As was the brick making.


And the barbecue.


Carrots, I hear you always share my photos with your spouse. Be sure he sees that one :)