2006 Year In Review : Part I
There are certain things that I will miss from 2006. Not many. And really I guess it is more about things that have changed more than things left behind. Any parent knows the feeling. The “where does the time go” feeling. It just seemed so accelerated this year.
Gone are the days of kiddie pools, or “having to” go swimming with LatteGirl. She can swim… well. No more inflatable arm bands, silly little inflatables or other such “baby toys.” Now she swims on her own and those silly little toys have been replaced with diving sticks, underwater hoops for swimming through and other “big kid” toys.
Gone this year is the simple version of soccer that was just more like us kicking a ball back and forth. Now we run drills in the yard (her choice), have orange cones (her choice), and she sets up a goal so she can (try) to shoot it past me.
The Christmas wishlist also changed quite dramatically. Gone are Color Wonder Books, Wiggles Videos, Barbie Stylin’ Heads and Play-Doh. This year the requests were things like a Pottery Wheel, a telescope, a Chemistry Kit (”My First Chemistry kit” not a real chemistry set), and Leapster Math Games. Where toys were requested, they were more mature, including (one of my old favorites) MouseTrap. She also got a FurReal Friends Chimp, but that was TheWife’s idea and wasn’t actually a requested toy.
I know they grow up, and we can’t stop them. And I am sure I will lament this again many times in the future in a similar fashion. But somehow I think I will always look back at this particular year as the end point of my “baby” and the begining of the years I can call “my young little lady.”
The Saturday Blog Reader’s Bonus
LatteGirl and I are baking chocolate chip cookies today. So, to make a typically light blogging day a bit more interesting, the first three (3) comments today requesting cookies will receive a care package of Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Update: Ok, I have 3… I think… but I am still in a giving spirit, so I will bump it to five (5).
Offer valid in the 50 States and Canada only. Offer may be expanded to include more commenters at the discretion of AoLM management. I do not put any nuts in my chocolate chip cookies, but my bakeware has been used for products that contain nuts and most of the products I use also carry that warning (Including a bag of cashews I bought… go figure), so if somebody in your household is allergic to nuts you may not wish to enter. Liars, cheats, theives, members of the Bush Administration and Employees of Faux News Channel (is that redundant?) and their immediate family are not eligible.
Prepin’
Charlie Brown: We’ve got ANOTHER holiday to worry about. It seems Thanksgiving Day is upon us.
Sally Brown: I haven’t even finished eating all of my Halloween candy!
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) (TV)
So here we are again another Thanksgiving is upon us. LatteGirl and I have spent the evening making Pumpkin Pie “Gems” , “Magic” Cookies and Apple Crisp (pictures to follow when time allows). Tomorrow we will make Chocolate Chip Cookies, before I send her and TheWife off to go see Disney on Ice so I can get down to some serious cooking.
If you find everybody under your feet awaiting the Thanksgiving feast I highly recommend this path to freedom while preparing. Find a theater that is perhaps open or some show of some sort and ship your significant other and the kids out. Even if it is just for a couple of hours. It makes getting things done so much easier.
A Posthumous Honor for Latte Pop
My mother was in attendance yesterday to receive a Posthumous medal for my father for his service during the Korean War. Obviously I am quite thrilled with it, although I wish I could have attended and I must admit, I can’t help but wonder why it takes so long for these things to come around. I mean, wouldn’t it be nicer if these awards were given while more of the men and women that served our country were still alive? Of my fathers group (more on that another time), out of the five of them only one member is still alive. I guess I am just a bit sad and perhaps bitter that my father could not be there to have received it himself.
Bloggin’ the Weekend away
With TheWife away, enjoying her pre-birthday present trip to the spa for the weekend, LatteGirl and I will be bumming around, and I will back and blogging providing much needed material on what I would anticipate will be a rather slow period for blogging. So, as you slowly arise from your tryptophan coma, come on by and visit, leave a comment or two. Otherwise we will be lonely.
To you and yours, I wish my U.S. compatriots a Happy Thanksgiving. To any terrorist type people, I would suggest you not try anything sneaky now, the last thing you want it to stir millions of people with upset stomachs that have consumed far too much food, the ensuing mess would be quite awful to contend with.
Just Like Starting Over
Another school year begins. For us, and more so for LatteGirl it is yet another beginning. Two years ago, she started the last of her Pre-K classes. Last year Kindergarten, new school new friends, etc. and this year with the transition to private school she gets another new start. She will have the benefit of having two friends from her old Pre-School and a friend she made this summer at camp in her class, so it may not be quite as daunting in some ways as Kindergaten where she had no carry-over. The classes are smaller which of course it also a nice thing.
She has held a pretty brave front, even singing and dancing about going to her new school. But last night, as we prepared for bed, she let it slip out. She was excited… but also a bit nervous. “Not scared” just a little nervous. Fortunately it is only a 1/2 day today and tomorrow, so I am sure she will transition in quite fine.
Still getting caught up
I feel like I have been perpetually behind since returning from vacation. Of course that has been helped along with the school change, the job location change, Ernesto knocking out power all over the eastern seaboard (despite not being a huge storm), etc. So if you haven’t seen me around your blog lately, just know I am slowly catching up.
As pathetic as it may sound, I am so looking forward to my bowling season starting on Thursday. I probably would have been better off if it started in a week or two since I have been going at such a hectic pace. But then again, that may be exactly WHY it is good that it is starting tomorrow. It is my opportunity to focus a least a couple of hours on something enjoyable and take my mind off of family issues and/or work issues. No it is not the nightlife and fun I used to enjoy years ago. Then again, I do not recover nearly as quick as I did years ago, and the thought of going to work on an hour sleep (or less) is no longer something I can handle or even consider.
Some Unrequitted Link Love
Two things that I have caught up on and wanted to share. Cat has moved out of her “swamp” life, and now you can just call it Cat’s Life. So update your Blogroll if you haven’t already, or stop by and check her out.
The other blog, is one I have just added to my blogroll, even though I have been reading it for some time. Of course everybody in the free world knows about and reads Busy Mom. But what you may not know about is her OTHER blog, GenBetween. Having to deal with the tribulations of handling both kids and parents can be a daunting task, and if you are in that situation, I am sure you will be able to quite easily identify with this as Busy Mom gives herself to us as a “poster child” of the Sandwich Generation.
I guess I should have listened
TheWife has been on me since spring to waterproof the basement. It is not like I have been neglecting it. Our basement is quite packed, and getting to the walls in each section is a project in and of itself.
So, I have been working on it, but it is far from done. Now of course, here comes Ernesto. Certainly not a huge deal as it is already nothing but a Tropical Storm and will likely be nothing more than a tropical depression (or less) by the time it reaches this area, but with the promise of between 2 and 6 inches of rain (could they be any more vague), I will certainly not hear the end of it if we start to take on some water.
Overall I am quite lucky. We live on the top of a hill, in an area that is at virtually zero risk of flooding. But water damage is water damage. Especially when your wife has been harping on you to get this project done all year.
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