Everything Eileen (almost...)

Not my favorite person today

nobody@vox.com(Eileen) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:51:09 -0400

Before 8 o'clock this morning, I changed my clothes twice (not including pajamas). Yes, that's right - I'm in my third outfit of the day.

My sweet little boy decided to throw applesauce at me at breakfast as his way of letting me know that his teeth hurt. After a stern "We do not throw things at Mommy", he started crying and promptly finished his applesauce. Once he was done with breakfast, I changed my clothes.

While I did that, I let him play for a while. Before long he came to me, arms open and a big grin on his face... and a certain odor emanating from his rear. I hugged him tightly, then put him down to change his diaper. (After all, I had no intention of letting him sit in a dirty diaper for any length of time.) He put up a good fight, but I succeeded in getting his diaper off... only to have him reach over and throw it (and all its contents) at me. This resulted in another stern "We do not throw things, especially at Mommy!" and a hasty cleaning and rediapering from me and a few additional water works from The Boy.

Let's just say I've never been so happy to drop him off at school and come to work.

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14 teeth!

nobody@vox.com(Eileen) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:47:23 -0400

And two more on the way. It turns out, The Boy was waking up in the middle of the night with teething pains. This would also explain why he would put both hands in his mouth, his pudgy little fingers pressing down on his bottom gums as he tried to relieve some of the pressure. It's the canines this time. It figures; we breezed through his first molars and his upper canines, so why shouldn't he torment us with the lower ones?

So, he's back on Tylenol before bedtime. It worked marvelously last night; he didn't wake until just after 6 this morning and I was able to get a (relatively) good night's sleep. I kept having weird dreams.

It's so weird to think that just a year ago, he didn't have any teeth, and that he'll have half of his teeth in just a few short weeks. Isn't that crazy? I mean, I know he'll start losing his baby teeth in a few years and all, but almost half of his teeth are in!

[sigh] He's growing up too fast.

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Life QotW: Class Time

nobody@vox.com(Eileen) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:32:40 -0400

If you could take a class right now and learn anything in the world, what class would you take?

Sewing.

Or Photography, but since I already took photography classes in college, I really do want to learn to sew.

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Music QotW: Music Video Story

nobody@vox.com(Eileen) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:56:15 -0400

Show us a music video that tells a great story.
Submitted by notreallylois.

The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun

One of the funniest songs ever that would be deemed inappropriate these days.

I miss the '80s. Back then, people had a sense of humor.

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Oh, P.S.

nobody@vox.com(Eileen) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:15:19 -0400

I really like my Classic Rock station on Pandora, but for some weird reason every other song is a break-up song! Check it:

"Second Chance" by .38 Special
"Lyin' Eyes" by the Eagles
"Bringin' on the Heartbreak" by Def Leppard
"Alone" by Heart (okay, not a breakup song, but not exactly upbeat, either)
"Black" by Pearl Jam (not exactly classic rock, I know, but Pandora says the musical stylings are similar)
"Say You Love Me or Say Goodbye" by REO Speedwagon
"Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" by Def Leppard (you gotta love Def Leppard)

You know, I already have an Angst station. I don't need my classic rock station to make me want to curl up in a ball and cry, too!

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Little bookworm

nobody@vox.com(Eileen) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:16:57 -0400

And before I forget...

This was what I saw when I turned around to check on The (all-too-quiet) Boy en route to school this morning:

Silent Reading

(Sorry about the awful blurriness. It's hard to hold the phone steady while driving.)

Anyway, what totally made me laugh out loud this morning (and the reason I needed to capture it) was that he quietly was flipping through his book and actually looked like he was reading it because it was properly oriented and everything.

Here's hoping I've got a bookworm in the making!

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I don't get it

nobody@vox.com(Eileen) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:31:40 -0400

This morning, I was fixing myself a cup of coffee (it was one of those nights) and chanced to look up and see a Grateful Dead tour poster. Given my place of employment, it's not uncommon to see tour posters hanging on the walls in gilded frames, but for some strange reason, this one just made me wonder why the Grateful Dead has been heralded as one of the greatest bands of all time.

So, I'm listening to a new station I created for myself on Pandora of just (what I consider) classic rock in hopes that I can figure out what is (and has been) so great about the Grateful Dead. And I'm just not getting it.

It's not that I hate their music. I don't. I couldn't name one of their songs if my life depended on it, and Jerry Garcia is the only band member whose name I know, but I don't hate their stuff. Of course, it's not like I grew up listening to the Grateful Dead, either. My dad listened to the Beatles and the Doors and Zepplin (in addition to ABBA and James Taylor and Simon and Garfunkle), and my friends listened to Queen and Styx and Journey (in addition to Hall and Oates and the Sex Pistols and everything New Wave).

I don't know. Is there a good gateway band for the Grateful Dead, or this is one of those bands I'm just not meant to understand?

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Helpless

nobody@vox.com(Eileen) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:36:29 -0400

I don't think there is anything that makes me feel more helpless than listening to my child's cries, knowing there's nothing I can do to help him and that Mommy's presence doesn't fix everything.

The Boy gets night terrors every now and then. Thankfully, it's not frequent, but when they hit, boy is it a doozy. They usually happen when he doesn't nap well or goes to bed very tired, as he did today. Knowing this, I make it a point to monitor his naps and adjust bedtime accordingly. Of course, since we attended a birthday party for his friend C today (at which there were several balloons), he only napped for about 20 minutes in the car this afternoon. He had plenty to eat all day, that I knew, so I put him down at 6 instead of 7. He protested until about 6:30, then finally fell asleep. Then the night terrors kicked in at 8. He just now has settled back down to sleep.

The screams are the worst, followed by the flailing. When I heard him cry out, I rushed into his room, expecting him to be tangled in his blanket or caught in one of the crib railings. Instead, he was lying down, thrashing about - and no amount of hushing from me or calm, comforting words would help. If anything, it seemed to aggravate him more. Instead, I sat in a corner of his darkened room, just watching and waiting for him to go back to sleep.

It's a terrible feeling, knowing that there isn't anything you can do, knowing that this is something he has to do on his own. Even worse is that I have no idea what his night terrors could involve, no idea what his dreams include.

And now that I'm back in the living room, I hear him cry out sporadically and hold my breath each time, wondering if another bout is pending.

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Pondering

nobody@vox.com(Eileen) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:21:20 -0400

This is a question for my braniac neighbors. I so should have paid attention in my 12th grade Physics class, or 11th grade Chemistry, for that matter.

Okay, this morning, I was (again) wondering...

Is it possible for something to immediately go from a gaseous state to a solid state? I know it's possible to go from gas to liquid (condensation), and liquid to solid (freezing). And I know it's possible to go from solid to gas (don't remember what it's called, though), but is it possible to go from gas to solid?

And if so, what is it called?

And if not, why not?

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Low dairy prices?

nobody@vox.com(Eileen) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:54:45 -0400

Okay... I just read that farmers in the EU are upset about low dairy prices. I completely understand this; if you're a supplier, low prices are bad.

But I just bought a gallon of milk not four days ago and paid almost five dollars for it.

Is there any way North America could possibly import milk from Europe? Maybe in refrigerated tankers?

I'm just sayin'.

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