I’m not a neat freak. But there are two times when I especially like to have things clean. I like our van to be super-clean before we go on a road trip (even though I know it’s going to get dirty). And I like the house to be clean when we go on vacation. I want to come home to a clean house. It just makes returning home more pleasant.
Ever since Cristina started working (almost full-time) last year, the house has slipped in its level of cleanliness. Plus, having a dog and two cats contributes a decent volume of hair. So being home alone for 10 days gave me ample time to get the house just the way I wanted it before leaving for 4 weeks. A spring cleaning of sorts, free from the time constraints inherent in family life. And since some friends were planning on visiting Arizona while we were gone and staying at our house, I wanted the house to be clean for them too.
I’ve already documented my struggles with procrastination, so it’s no surprise that while my list of things to do was long, my time ran short. After work, I did a few more things on my housecleaning list. I wanted to finish shampooing the upstairs carpet as well as the stairs themselves, but that would mean not going upstairs for a few hours, while the carpet dried. So I planned some errands and then shampooed the stairs. I put Vivi and her gear in the van and headed towards Ahwatukee.
I dropped off some things at the library, then grabbed some dinner at In-and-Out Burger. Since our friends would be borrowing our van, and it was quite dirty inside and out, I took it to our favorite car wash. But I just missed the chance. I got there at 6:45 and they closed at 6:30. They reopened at 7:30 in the morning, so I had to make a choice: either leave the van dirty for our guests, or drive back in the morning before my last day of work.
Jim Gustafson, a friend through Desert Marigold, had graciously volunteered to take Vivien for part of the time we were gone. I had arranged to drop off Vivien after 7, and it was right at 7, so I called Jim and headed to his house. The drop-off went well and his four dogs seemed very interested in Vivien. She didn’t immediately master the dog door to the back yard, but I knew she’d get it in no time. I headed home around 8.
More cleaning and packing. As it drew close to midnight, I began to realize the fruits of my procrastination: some things on my list were just not going to get done.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Need Dog Help!
We have a big problem. (Although compared to the truly big problems in the world, this is actually a little problem.)
As you probably know, Cristina is already in Costa Rica with the kids. I'm finishing up summer school, and I fly out Thursday evening. We all come back together on July 28. The plan was for our usual dog-sitter to keep Vivien, our dog, for us while we're gone. I emailed her today to confirm drop-off plans and discovered that there was a miscommunication between her and Cristina. To make a long story short...drum roll please...she can't keep Vivien for us. And I now have 48 hours to make different arrangements.
Boarding her somewhere is cost-prohibitive. A month of boarding would run close to $1000. (Ridiculous...that's like a mortgage payment!)
It's incredibly difficult to get someone to take on a dog for a month (for free). So what I'm hoping is that I can get some volunteers to take Vivien for chunks of time. The longer the better, but at this point, I'll take any and all help. Before you put much thought into it, let me describe the dog. And I'll be brutally honest!
She's a French bulldog, small even for her breed, 2 years old, unfixed. I can't promise that she won't go into heat during July. Probably not, but maybe. She has a very sweet disposition. Extremely gentle and loving. She likes children. She likes anyone, especially if you're willing to pet her. She doesn't growl or jump all over you. She doesn't even lick. She's very low-energy, calm and sedate. Since she has the squished bulldog face, she can't cool herself as well as other dogs (i.e. she's not an outdoor Arizona-in-the-summer dog). She snores, but don't we all? She is relatively housebroken. I say relatively because she'll go to the back door when she needs to go the bathroom, but if no one is around to let her out, she might resort to going in the house. But she can easily sleep all night without using the bathroom. She's had all her shots and I would supply all her food. She doesn't get any kind of medications or anything. She does not even have to be walked. She just needs a yard to go to the bathroom in. She loves other dogs and she's always gotten along well with cats (we have 2). She is not a barker or yapper, but she might give an obligatory bark or two if she hears a dog on TV or if the doorbell rings. I think that's about it.
If you're not in the Phoenix area, please say a prayer or put positive thoughts out into the universe for us. And if you're local and think you can take Vivien for any chunk of time, please contact me ASAP. Right now we need June 25 - July 16 covered (22 days).
As you probably know, Cristina is already in Costa Rica with the kids. I'm finishing up summer school, and I fly out Thursday evening. We all come back together on July 28. The plan was for our usual dog-sitter to keep Vivien, our dog, for us while we're gone. I emailed her today to confirm drop-off plans and discovered that there was a miscommunication between her and Cristina. To make a long story short...drum roll please...she can't keep Vivien for us. And I now have 48 hours to make different arrangements.
Boarding her somewhere is cost-prohibitive. A month of boarding would run close to $1000. (Ridiculous...that's like a mortgage payment!)
It's incredibly difficult to get someone to take on a dog for a month (for free). So what I'm hoping is that I can get some volunteers to take Vivien for chunks of time. The longer the better, but at this point, I'll take any and all help. Before you put much thought into it, let me describe the dog. And I'll be brutally honest!
She's a French bulldog, small even for her breed, 2 years old, unfixed. I can't promise that she won't go into heat during July. Probably not, but maybe. She has a very sweet disposition. Extremely gentle and loving. She likes children. She likes anyone, especially if you're willing to pet her. She doesn't growl or jump all over you. She doesn't even lick. She's very low-energy, calm and sedate. Since she has the squished bulldog face, she can't cool herself as well as other dogs (i.e. she's not an outdoor Arizona-in-the-summer dog). She snores, but don't we all? She is relatively housebroken. I say relatively because she'll go to the back door when she needs to go the bathroom, but if no one is around to let her out, she might resort to going in the house. But she can easily sleep all night without using the bathroom. She's had all her shots and I would supply all her food. She doesn't get any kind of medications or anything. She does not even have to be walked. She just needs a yard to go to the bathroom in. She loves other dogs and she's always gotten along well with cats (we have 2). She is not a barker or yapper, but she might give an obligatory bark or two if she hears a dog on TV or if the doorbell rings. I think that's about it.
If you're not in the Phoenix area, please say a prayer or put positive thoughts out into the universe for us. And if you're local and think you can take Vivien for any chunk of time, please contact me ASAP. Right now we need June 25 - July 16 covered (22 days).
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
New Camera
I missed posting yesterday and Cristina is having blog withdrawal. So I'd better get on the ball.
Two things: I bought a new camera. It's just another little Sony point-and-shoot. But ours is getting old and it was time to get a new one and pass ours down to Sofia. So far so good with the new camera, though I wish it had a regular USB out instead of the goofy proprietary Sony cable.
The other thing is I've been doing some spring cleaning (hey, it was still technically spring until Sunday). So for lack of anything better, I'll post a few pictures, taken with our new camera, showing some of the cleaned/organized rooms so far. Oh yeah, and my new motorcycle license plate.
Granted, their closet still looks like a mess, but it's actually organized. The main thing I'm showing in this one is where I moved the Star Wars toys to.
The top of Alex's chest of drawers. It was covered with all kinds of little bits of junk and treasure, and that framed photo thing was just sitting on the top amongst all the clutter. When Alex said he wanted his new goldfish bowl to be on his dresser, I told him it would have to be cleaned off. And now it is. (No fish yet...he'll buy one when we get home).
The loft, with refinished sewing machine table:
Alex and Bella's room. This corner was a real mess, but now it's actually reasonable.
Granted, their closet still looks like a mess, but it's actually organized. The main thing I'm showing in this one is where I moved the Star Wars toys to.
The top of Alex's chest of drawers. It was covered with all kinds of little bits of junk and treasure, and that framed photo thing was just sitting on the top amongst all the clutter. When Alex said he wanted his new goldfish bowl to be on his dresser, I told him it would have to be cleaned off. And now it is. (No fish yet...he'll buy one when we get home).
The loft, with refinished sewing machine table:Closer shot. This section of the loft was really bad too. It still doesn't look great, but if you had seen it before, you'd think it looked really nice now.
New tag.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Cristina's Birthday
Cristina is in Costa Rica today, her birthday, so I recorded this song as a little birthday song for her. I wanted to do something a little less predictable than just sing "Happy Birthday to You." So I rewrote the lyrics of a somewhat-obscure 1979 Paul McCartney song.
I recorded it on GarageBand and emailed it to her. She liked it! Several people asked to hear it, so I thought it would be most efficient to put it on my blog via YouTube. I threw on a handful of photos of the birthday girl, spanning the past 12 months or so.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Sofia, Rick Riordan says "Hi"
I planned my conversation.
Introverts will know what I'm talking about. When I know I'm going to have a conversation with someone whom I don't know very well, I do better if I can think up some things to say ahead of time. Extroverts must think this is strange. They never have time to pre-plan a conversation because they're too busy engaged in their current conversation. Natural-born gabbers, those extroverts are.
Tonight I drove to a Barnes & Noble in Mesa where Rick Riordan was signing copies of his books. Rick Riordan is the author of the Percy Jackson series. Sofia's 5th grade class read the first one together, The Lightning Thief, as they studied mythology. Sofia loved the book so much she talked me into reading it. I thought it was great too. Each year after that, Rick Riordan has written another one, and his following has grown and grown. In promoting the last book which was released about a month ago, Rick Riordan is doing book signings across the country. We had already booked the tickets to Costa Rica when we found out he was going to be in Mesa on June 19, 4 days after Sofia left the country. Luckily, I'm still here so I could take her books and get them signed. I just got home and here's what happened.
The signing started at 6 pm, so I left the house around 4:30. It took me about 30 minutes to get there, thanks to rush hour traffic. The bookstore was about 18 miles from our house.
On the way, I wondered if it would be crowded or sparsely attended, or somewhere in between. You never know. I'm reading a book right now by a famous fantasy author, Terry Brooks, in which he talks about his life as a writer. He says even since he's become famous he never knows what kind of crowd will show up to a book signing. While promoting his novelization of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace a few years ago, he went to a sci-fi conference and signed thousands of autographs and the next week went to a signing that hardly anyone came to. So you never know.
As I pulled up, an hour before the signing, I saw a sizable crowd. Looked like this was going to be well-attended. That made me happy for Rick Riordan and the series, but a little bummed for myself because I knew I'd have practically no chance of talking much to him. Hey, I just said I planned my conversation, I didn't say I didn't want to have one.
A table outside the store was handing out tickets. They would let people inside based on what ticket you had. They started at A. I got S. An hour early and I got S. I had no idea how many tickets they gave out for each letter, but I did overhear that some people had arrived at 9 am to get their ticket. Wow.They put stickers on my books (so that they'd know I'd brought them and not just grabbed them off the shelf) and wrote the number of books on my ticket. They said Rick would be speaking to the crowd at 6 before the signing.
With ticket in hand and 45 minutes to kill, I figured I'd better grab some dinner. It didn't look like I'd be getting out of here any time soon. Just down from Barnes & Noble was a Pei Wei, so I ate there. While eating alone, I had a strange moment of uneasiness. Usually I'm perfectly fine being alone, but this time it just felt wrong. Maybe it's because we've always gone to Pei Wei as a family. Maybe it's because I'd seen so many parents with their kids there for the book signing. I really wished at least Sofia had been with me.
A little before 6, I got my video camera from the car and set up in a spot where I could get him speaking. It gets a little shaky at times because I was holding it over everyone's heads. But it's okay.
After the talk, the real waiting began. I'm glad I hadn't finished The Last Olympian because that gave me something to read while I waited (I'm on page 255, Sofia).
The S's finally got called around 8:40 (about 2 and half hours after the signing started). The Barnes & Noble people, to their credit, were incredibly efficient. They led us inside the store, snaking us around till we were at the signing table. Then a few helpers prepped the books. The first man asked which one I wanted him to personalize (only allowed one). I couldn't remember what Sofia had said, so I went with The Lightning Thief. So the man put that one on top and tucked all the book jackets so that the books would open directly to the title page, where he would sign. Then the next girl in the assembly line asked what the person's name was for him to sign it to. She wrote Sofia's name on a post-it note and stuck it on the title page. Then the last guy, right at the table, nested all the books inside each other, so that he could just sign--boom, boom, boom--without having to open each book. It was amazing.
I noticed that the girl who wrote Sofia's name, even though I said it was spelled with an "f," wrote it so fast that the "f" looked kind of like a "p." I was nervous that he'd write it with a p, so when I got up to him, here's how the conversation went:
All my wonderful conversation topics that I had planned--about how I too am an English teacher, about how my daughter has gotten some of my older, inner-city kids to read and love Percy Jackson, about how great it is to see all these hundreds of kids here crazy about books, about whether or not he had read the screenplay and whether they were combining books into one movie--there was no time for any of them. "Tell her I said hi." Good enough. Pretty classy.
And then I came home. And here are the pics:
The S's finally got called around 8:40 (about 2 and half hours after the signing started). The Barnes & Noble people, to their credit, were incredibly efficient. They led us inside the store, snaking us around till we were at the signing table. Then a few helpers prepped the books. The first man asked which one I wanted him to personalize (only allowed one). I couldn't remember what Sofia had said, so I went with The Lightning Thief. So the man put that one on top and tucked all the book jackets so that the books would open directly to the title page, where he would sign. Then the next girl in the assembly line asked what the person's name was for him to sign it to. She wrote Sofia's name on a post-it note and stuck it on the title page. Then the last guy, right at the table, nested all the books inside each other, so that he could just sign--boom, boom, boom--without having to open each book. It was amazing.
I noticed that the girl who wrote Sofia's name, even though I said it was spelled with an "f," wrote it so fast that the "f" looked kind of like a "p." I was nervous that he'd write it with a p, so when I got up to him, here's how the conversation went:
Rick: Hi!
Me: Hi! That's an "f," by the way.
Rick: Gotcha.
(He scribbles his name in each book with a Sharpie.)
Me: These are my daughter's. She's a big fan, but she's out of the country right now. She was very sad she couldn't be here.
(He's done with the books now and slides the stack to me, while I'm scrambling to take a picture or two)
Rick: Well, tell her I said hi.
Me: I will!
All my wonderful conversation topics that I had planned--about how I too am an English teacher, about how my daughter has gotten some of my older, inner-city kids to read and love Percy Jackson, about how great it is to see all these hundreds of kids here crazy about books, about whether or not he had read the screenplay and whether they were combining books into one movie--there was no time for any of them. "Tell her I said hi." Good enough. Pretty classy.
And then I came home. And here are the pics:
Those are Sofia's books on the right that the helper is prepping.
Sofia's books.
Those are Sofia's books in the stack in the lower right corner. He was already signing the next person's by the time I got this picture to take.
Mission accomplished!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Procrastination
Man, I've got it bad.
I can't seem to make myself clean up the house. I'm finding a million different things to do, and half of those involve the computer. I did finally strip the kids' beds, and I'm emptying the trash cans, but I'm so far behind my goal. Plus, I need to take the animals to the Humane Society for some low-cost vaccinations. I should have gone in first thing at 8 am, but now it's noon and, while I am showered and dressed, I haven't left the house yet.
As much as I enjoy messing around and goofing off, I hate being so unproductive. I can be unproductive when I get to Costa Rica. Here, I have a limited time to get the house presentable for people that will be staying here while we're gone.
The biggest part is that it's not crunch time yet. I still have 5 more days. But I don't want to put it all off. I don't want to be scrambling to straighten up the house at 2 in the morning before the day I fly out.
Okay. I'm going to get off of here and shut the computer down. That will help me resist the temptation of the computer. The Humane Society closes for lunch, and I will be there waiting at 1 pm when they reopen.
I can't seem to make myself clean up the house. I'm finding a million different things to do, and half of those involve the computer. I did finally strip the kids' beds, and I'm emptying the trash cans, but I'm so far behind my goal. Plus, I need to take the animals to the Humane Society for some low-cost vaccinations. I should have gone in first thing at 8 am, but now it's noon and, while I am showered and dressed, I haven't left the house yet.
As much as I enjoy messing around and goofing off, I hate being so unproductive. I can be unproductive when I get to Costa Rica. Here, I have a limited time to get the house presentable for people that will be staying here while we're gone.
The biggest part is that it's not crunch time yet. I still have 5 more days. But I don't want to put it all off. I don't want to be scrambling to straighten up the house at 2 in the morning before the day I fly out.
Okay. I'm going to get off of here and shut the computer down. That will help me resist the temptation of the computer. The Humane Society closes for lunch, and I will be there waiting at 1 pm when they reopen.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Review of double feature
Do you remember in the 80's when old 50's music became fashionable again? "Fun Rock" (as seen on TV!) sold like hot cakes. Doo-wop crept into the music of Billy Joel and Huey Lewis. Even the Fat Boys remade "The Twist," for Pete's sake. During that resurgence, a restaurant chain started in LA that specialized in reproducing the look and feel of a 50's style diner.
Well, I went to eat there last night before my movies. I remembered that a Johnny Rockets was in the mall where the theaters were, I had a coupon, and I'd eaten there once before and still remembered how good the hamburger had been.
The meal took on a hint of surreality about half way through. "At the Hop" played on the juke box. While it played, I thought about how sick of these songs the staff must get. Then I noticed the manager talking to one of the waiters about some dance moves (I was sitting at the counter, so I could see everything perfectly). Then, when the song ended, the same song started up again, only this time louder. I looked over and the manager and the waiter were dancing in the middle of the restaurant. Not arm in arm dancing, but standing side by side doing identical dance moves. Soon, my waitress joined them. She didn't have the moves quite down, but she was trying to learn. Even the big guy grilling the burgers was singing along from his grill (the low "Oh Baby" part of the song). I'm not experienced enough with Johnny Rockets to know if this is normal or unusual.
When they finished, the other 6 or 7 patrons and myself applauded politely and things went back to normal. But a few minutes later, they were blasting KC and the Sunshine Band's "Get Down Tonight," and all 3 of them were out there again. This time my waitress had the moves down better. I know, that song's not from the 50's, but I said this was surreal.
The movies were fun. While the writing in Monsters vs. Aliens lacked the cleverness and heart of Pixar, the animation was top-notch. The IMAX screen really worked well with the movie, which included lots of enormity: vast, cavernous covert installations, a massive spaceship, even a fight scene at the Golden Gate Bridge between 2 characters who could have stepped on Godzilla.
Drag Me to Hell was thoroughly enjoyable. Just what the doctor ordered. Lots of gross-out gore, lots of adrenaline-inducing jump-out-at-you moments, and one of the best endings I've seen in a horror movie ever (though my sisters and mother would disagree).
The evening was capped off by one more surreal touch. Back home, I turned on the TV while I was brushing my teeth. We don't have cable, so our choices are limited. About the only thing I watch is a low-quality local channel that only shows music videos from the 70's and 80's. When I turned on the TV, the video for the Carpenters' "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" was playing. I didn't even realize there was a video for this song, which is a bizarre little number (but probably my favorite Carpenters song). The song was recorded around the time Star Wars and Close Encounters were mega-hits. Something akin to Neil Diamond doing "Heartlight" when E.T. was so big.
Anyway, I was transfixed. And thanks to YouTube, you can be too:
Well, I went to eat there last night before my movies. I remembered that a Johnny Rockets was in the mall where the theaters were, I had a coupon, and I'd eaten there once before and still remembered how good the hamburger had been.
The meal took on a hint of surreality about half way through. "At the Hop" played on the juke box. While it played, I thought about how sick of these songs the staff must get. Then I noticed the manager talking to one of the waiters about some dance moves (I was sitting at the counter, so I could see everything perfectly). Then, when the song ended, the same song started up again, only this time louder. I looked over and the manager and the waiter were dancing in the middle of the restaurant. Not arm in arm dancing, but standing side by side doing identical dance moves. Soon, my waitress joined them. She didn't have the moves quite down, but she was trying to learn. Even the big guy grilling the burgers was singing along from his grill (the low "Oh Baby" part of the song). I'm not experienced enough with Johnny Rockets to know if this is normal or unusual.
When they finished, the other 6 or 7 patrons and myself applauded politely and things went back to normal. But a few minutes later, they were blasting KC and the Sunshine Band's "Get Down Tonight," and all 3 of them were out there again. This time my waitress had the moves down better. I know, that song's not from the 50's, but I said this was surreal.
The movies were fun. While the writing in Monsters vs. Aliens lacked the cleverness and heart of Pixar, the animation was top-notch. The IMAX screen really worked well with the movie, which included lots of enormity: vast, cavernous covert installations, a massive spaceship, even a fight scene at the Golden Gate Bridge between 2 characters who could have stepped on Godzilla.
Drag Me to Hell was thoroughly enjoyable. Just what the doctor ordered. Lots of gross-out gore, lots of adrenaline-inducing jump-out-at-you moments, and one of the best endings I've seen in a horror movie ever (though my sisters and mother would disagree).
The evening was capped off by one more surreal touch. Back home, I turned on the TV while I was brushing my teeth. We don't have cable, so our choices are limited. About the only thing I watch is a low-quality local channel that only shows music videos from the 70's and 80's. When I turned on the TV, the video for the Carpenters' "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" was playing. I didn't even realize there was a video for this song, which is a bizarre little number (but probably my favorite Carpenters song). The song was recorded around the time Star Wars and Close Encounters were mega-hits. Something akin to Neil Diamond doing "Heartlight" when E.T. was so big.
Anyway, I was transfixed. And thanks to YouTube, you can be too:
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