Do Me a Favor

For my final post about Eleanor's party (I swear), I'm wondering how other parents of young children feel about the whole party favor situation. I feel like it's kind of a no-win prospect. I always end up spending more money than I want to, on dumb toys that break after 5 minutes. And I try to avoid the candy, because I know that's usually the last thing I want Eleanor to have, after a day of loading up on sugar: more sugar to bring home! But I feel like I'll "look bad" or unprepared if I don't do the favors.

Who likes the favors? Are they necessary? How did the favor bags start, anyway?

This year, I bought small books from the dollar section at Target, and some punch balloons. Then I spent most of the "favor budget" (not that there really is one) on craft supplies. During the party, we had a folding table with cardboard crowns and stars/dowel rods to make wands, and a ton of different crafty items for kids to decorate their crowns and wands. I think I liked doing that a lot better than the typical party favor. It gave everyone (not just the kids!) something to do during the party, and they could take home something they made themselves.

Plus, we adults had fun with the crafts, too! I know I had a great time planning and buying materials and helping Eleanor "make sure it all worked" before her friends arrived. And we have lots of leftover craft supplies, to enjoy many more times. If you have any other suggestions about party favors, I'd like to hear them!

Allergic to .. parties?

These lovely flowers were the centerpiece for Eleanor's birthday party.

Unfortunately, Keith made me put them outside the very next day, because he was sneezing constantly. He didn't know for sure if the flowers were the culprit, but it was worth a shot.

Actually, he walked into the living room, vase in hand, and said, "Can I get rid of these?"

So the move to the back porch was a compromise. I missed having them in the house, but they still looked nice in the sunshine!

Happy Birthday Keith!

Finally! Yesterday was Keith's 30th birthday, so the long 3 months when I am older than he are now over for another year.

It was our usual, laid-back affair. We went with some couple friends (that is, friends who are a couple, not two un-related friends) to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and to see the new(ish?) Indiana Jones movie. Beckett must even have known it was a special occasion, because he behaved himself while we were gone. This is more impressive when you know that, while we were at work on Tuesday, he got into the trash and pantry—and ate my Oreos!—, pooped in the attic, and peed in the basement. All in a day's work.

So even the dog behaved himself and when we got home from the movie, we actually got to bed at a decent hour. That part was very important because tonight is going to be a long night. Keith's family is coming up this weekend to celebrate Keith being old, and also to see the Reds play the Indians at Progressive Field. As always, we had the best intentions of cleaning every night this week so it wouldn't be so bad tonight. And we tried, but never really got as far as we wanted. So tonight will be a cleaning extravaganza. I hope the old man's knees don't give out when he's scrubbing the floor at 1 am!;)

Experiment: Real Live Baby on the Premises

There was a real, live baby in our house last night. Outside of the womb, I mean. And Keith and I were in charge of it.

For whatever reason, I never babysat much as a kid. Yet I never really doubted that I wanted to have children. I have worked in educational settings, and I know I enjoy children. Children of a certain age, that are old enough to blow their own noses and use the toilet and say amusing things. I don't really have any experience with babies or infants.

But last night, Keith and I babysat my boss's six-month old daughter for a few hours, while she and her husband went to a dinner. She had assured me that her daughter was the perfect "starter baby"—a happy, easygoing child. And it was only for a few hours, right?

And it did go okay. There was a bit of fussing, because Keith and I were too slow on the feeding part of the evening. There were a few gorgeous smiles during playtime, and then a lot of adorable sleeping. It seemed strange, only in that it felt very natural.

It helped that we had already dropped Beckett off at my parents' house for the weekend, so our house was much quieter. It didn't help that, once the baby ate and fell asleep, someone looking for petition signatures rang the doorbell. Rang the doorbell at 9 o'clock! What ridiculous behavior.

I think it was a good introductory experience. I just can't believe how tired I am today. It was a long day yesterday before the baby arrived, but even so .... I need a nap!

Surprise!

I'm so ready for the weekend. Why do the short weeks always feel so long?

Earlier this week, I told Keith that we had plans for this weekend. He doesn't know what they are yet—I've just told him that he's busy from noon to 4:30 on Saturday. I'm pretty excited about it. For obvious reasons, I can't go into more detail here.

But I'm just sitting here at my desk, thinking about how much I love surprises. The thrill of anticipation, wondering and guessing about what it might turn out to be .... of course, I already know. (Or do I? Maybe my big plan is to take a nap on the couch or there is no plan except to not make plans.) But I think of Keith guessing, and I still get a vicarious thrill of anticipation, hoping that he likes the surprise. Also hoping that he doesn't pull the dreaded, nonchalant response to the reveal of, "Oh yeah, I thought it might be this."

So, fingers crossed that Keith's in the dark. And when the surprise is revealed, he is as excited about it as I am. I'll update you all next week!

Board Bash

I finally took the plunge, and met some of my Internet friends this weekend.

I've been posting very sporadically on the boards at woxy.com since 2004. I had never gone to any of the previous Board Bashes, where boarders meet up in person, because I'm not really a joiner. But then the station was going off the air last Fall, and I figured it was either now or never, so Keith and I met some Cleveland-area boarders to drink and mourn the passing of a fabulous, unique radio station.

And then the station came back! I'd kept in touch with one boarder, who is even the one who invited me to her writers' group ... so I had, unwittingly, become a joiner after all. And this past weekend was the Cleveland bash, organized by Sushi. Somehow Keith and I ended up hosting a few people, and shuttling them from one place to the next. How did this happen?!?

But it was a good weekend. It was great to put some faces/real names to the board pseudonyms. AND we went several places in Cleveland that I'd been meaning to visit, but hadn't gotten around to yet--the West Side Market, Great Lakes Brewpub, and Edgewater Park. It was also good to see Cleveland from a visitor's perspective, and hear all the good things they had to say about our city.

I don't know what this means for my future participation on the boards. Does this mean I'll start posting more than once a month or so? Maybe. Will I go to another board bash? Probably. Will it be the one that takes place in Brazil or Europe? That would be nice ...

The Deck Finale

Even worse than having to clean the house (and that's saying a lot), Keith and I were both disappointed that the weather's been so crappy that the writing group last night spent the whole time in the air conditioning, instead of enjoying our gorgeous new deck.

Keith had been working nearly every night on the deck, to get it ready in time for our meeting. And then: 60% humidity and temperatures in the 90s. Never mind about being outside, then!

But the writing group meeting went well. And--with no prompting on my part, I swear--one of the members asked for a tour of the house. Of course, I was more than happy to show off our abode--especially the deck. Everyone was jealous about our full attic, big bathroom, and partially finished basement. I even heard the term "house envy" a few times. It was great!

Now if only the weather cools down/dries up, we can have our inaugural cook-out on the deck.

Dinner Party of Writers

I suppose it would be more correct to call it "munchies, finger food, and writers" but the other title sounds more dignified.

I'm hosting my writing group for the first time tonight. It's been a while since we've had anyone new over to the house, and the novelty of showing off Our House has not yet worn off, so we both ran around like ninnies yesterday to clean all the "public" areas (our room is still a complete mess) and present our best foot forward tonight. And I must say, the house looks fabulous.

I think I'm excited to have people over, but mostly I just feel tired from going to sleep at 1 o'clock last night and getting up at 6 o'clock this overcast, gray morning to run 4 miles with the dog. Who apparently is completely immune to humidity, because whereas I was gasping for breath, he was still jauntily tugging my arm off at full throttle.

After work I have to stop by the store because I somehow completely forgot to get French bread last night (grr), and then whip together some scrumptious food. Food that's good enough, they don't even notice that I didn't get a chance to read the piece we're discussing tonight--to be fair, it was only sent out late Monday night. Food that keeps them from being offended when my eyes droop, because I really, really just want a nice long nap. Or to be in bed by 8 o'clock. I guess that's asking a lot of the food, though.

The Home Improvement Edition

Keith has been very busy of late. I'm pretty excited--our first real home improvement project! Ever since moving in last summer, we've discussed many, many ideas. But there was always those pesky issues of "money" and "time" that seemed to get in the way.

But, with our 2nd summer in the house waning, we threw caution to the wind and decided that we'd just go ahead and build the deck, and figure out how to pay for it later. So far it's only taken him two weeks, with being gone last weekend even, and it's just about finished. My Dad helped out tremendously with the purchases and framing, otherwise we'd still be standing at Home Depot, scratching our heads and trying to figure out how to get everything transported home.

Since taking these pictures, we've filled in the frame with gravel to suppress the weeds, covered the top with boards and screwed them all in. All that's left to do is cut the top boards to the octagon shape. Then we'll leave them for a few weeks to dry out/settle, and then stain them.

Last night we even ate dinner on the deck for the first time. It was fabulous! Keith also saw Beckett reclining on the deck later that evening, so I guess he's given his seal of approval, too.

The hyper-organized, task-oriented part of myself can't resist asking, now that the deck's nearly done, what the next project will be. But I'm trying to ignore that voice, and spend some time just appreciating our fabulous new deck.

Gomez Concert: 3.3.07

Sorry I'm slow, but I still wanted to post about this past weekend. I don't know why, I'm just never motivated to blog on Monday. Or Tuesday ....

Anyway, some friends came up from Dayton/Cincinnati to hang out and see the Gomez show at the House of Blues on Saturday. Luckily for me, Michael, and Angie, Keith and Carrie are both training for events in the Flying Pig Marathon at the beginning of May. Why is this lucky? It means that both Saturday and Sunday mornings, Keith and Carrie got up early to go on ridiculously long runs, as per their training plans, and the rest of us slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, sat around and read ... it was great!

And, of course, the Gomez concert was amazing. I was nervous that they wouldn't enjoy it, but everyone seemed to. When we arrived—after doors opened, but before the first band (Ben Kweller)—there were already quite a few people there. We were about 3 or 4 rows back, which was okay because the stage at the House of Blues was quite high so we could still see. But after being in the front row at Mr Small's, I'd been hoping for something closer.

Luckily, most of the early fans were there for Ben Kweller, so when he finished there was enough of a mass exodus that we could slide to the front row. Yay! Unfortunately for Michael and Angie, they fell victim to one last beer/bathroom run after we moved to the front, and couldn't get wedged back into their spots when they returned, so they watched the show from further back.

The band seemed to be in a really good mood. They were joking around a lot; "Ruff Stuff" is always a fun song because they tend to do strange things with the chorus. Probably the oddest and most amusing part of the concert was when they (Ben, I think?) brought out a huge-ass poster of ... Akron. They'd been there earlier in the day, and apparently had stolen this poster.

Why? I don't know. It just seems very cool and rock star. Kinda like The Beatles in their heady, early days, filming A Hard Day's Night and just being some lads from Liverpool. (Coincidentally, several members of Gomez are from Southport, just outside of Liverpool. I yelled that I loved Scousers, but my cry went unheard.)

If you're interested in seeing a {mostly correct} setlist, hearing about the fight in the audience (we were on the other side of the stage, so I can't really report), or seeing more pics of the boys, go to the Cleveland HOB thread on the Gomez forums. Overall, it was a great concert, as usual. I was pretty sad Sunday, knowing that there's no Gomez show in the immediate future.

I'd be interested in hearing Michael, Carrie, Angie, or Keith's opinions if they'd care to post. I'm not sure about Michael and Angie, but I think Carrie's hooked now! Either way, I'm glad you all could make it up for the show!

Shower RSVPs

Can someone please explain to me why, in 2006, I need to RSVP to a shower invite with a phone call?

Typically, I do not even know the person throwing the shower. For example, let's say that I have a male cousin who got married and now they're having a baby. I've never met his wife. The baby shower is being thrown by someone in his wife's family. I have to call this person, who will have absolutely no idea who I am, just to say that I have no intention of coming to the shower.

Doesn't anyone else find this to be awkward? Why insist on a phone call? I, personally, am prejudiced against phone calls in general. When calling someone, you have no idea what they're doing or what their plans are. Unless I'm very close to a person, I'll never call and expect him or her to chat for longer than 5 or 10 minutes. I guard my time very closely, and figure that others do the same; unexpected phone calls can be seriously detrimental to accomplishment of my perpetual list.

So I don't tend to call people very often. Now I'm forced by a lack of contact information (no mailing address or e-mail address) to call a complete stranger about a complete stranger to say "thanks for the invite, but you people really aren't that important to me and I'll have to pass." But of course, you can't just say that—even tactfully. You have to make small talk. Will I have to talk about the house, Cleveland, Keith? Will I get to hear about the first ultrasound and the games they plan on playing at the shower I will not be attending? It's completely unknown ... and a complete waste of time because I never intend to talk to this person again.

At this point, the best I can hope for is an answering machine. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. And I expect that the next shower invite I get from one of my (5) loyal readers has an e-mail address, too.

Thank you, ladies and mortgage brokers...

In the past few weeks, as we filled out reams of house-related paperwork, a personality trait of mine came into sharp relief.

I feel the need, in somewhat awkward social situations, to be the entertainer. The hostess. The talk show interviewer, putting everyone at ease.

I think I've always done this at parties, in meetings, etc. But it became extremely obvious during the mortgage process when it was me, Keith, and the lender in a small office. Keith was signing paperwork like crazy, and the lender and I just kind of sat and looked around.

So I kicked into entertainer mode. I told stories about work, childhood, whatever seemed appropriate or at least tangentially related to the subject at hand. As Keith signed, I mentioned that, as a left-hander, I always end up with ink smeared along the side of my palm. I told somewhat amusing anecdotes about when Keith and I were looking at houses.

It was interesting, to hear myself talk and realize that I was obeying a compulsion that I couldn't control. If I had commanded myself to sit quietly and not make small talk or even do the little laugh that substitutes for conversation with strangers, I don't know if I could have done it.

Which reminds me: Did I ever tell you about the time ....