I really feel like going back to bed for oh, two days or so. Instead I'm going to get in a car and drive to New York with a toddler for oh, two days or so.

I'm farting around in Illinois, surfing Livejournal and doing crossword puzzles. I can't motivate to do anything else. We talked about maybe going to the zoo tomorrow, but I don't know if it's going to happen. It might rain, and my dad is wishy-washy about whether he'll go, and if we do go I'd like to get dinner but he doesn't want to get dinner. But my mom will do whatever. So I'm going to see what the weather's like in the morning and decide then, I guess. I could go to Chicago by myself, but it'd be really rushed, and I don't know if I want to.

Wow, I'm really boring right now.

And sleepy.

We got back from Columbus last night. Now we are in Illinois again for the next week or so before we go to New York. But Hans just left to go back to Eau Claire, and I am REALLY SAD. I'm not going to see him for two weeks and I'm feeling all sappy and despondent about it. I do want to make this trip to NY, though, which is just more vacation time/travel than he can do right now.

Finn wasn't really clear on what was going on but he did know that Hans and I were kind of keyed up so he got pretty antsy when Hans was leaving. However, he is across the street on the cousin's trampoline now, so I guess he's feeling better. Although now that I think of it, aren't trampolines kind of dangerous? Is that true when they're enclosed? Am I a parenting fail right now? Maybe I should go take pictures.

It's been a fun few days in Columbus. Actually the first day was a bit stressful, with Finn going monkey-wild at the sight of all those dice, Hans tied up with games and finding it difficult to carve out time to play myself ( if it weren't for my mom I wouldn't have been able to play at all).

But by the second day I had figured out how to fit games in between Finn's fussy times and had hit a comfortable balance between time with Finn and time with the games, and I was having fun. I found a few new games to enjoy. Tonight after dinner was probably my last chance to play (unless I can squeeze in something early tomorrow) - but I couldn't find a game. No one was looking for players, and the games I wanted weren't available for checkout. I was getting discouraged and started heading back to the hotel. I had a last-ditch idea and stopped to borrow some paper. I made a sign that said WAR GAME WIDOW SEEKS GAME. I had a game within a minute - exactly the one I wanted to play. Just as we finished, I received a cellphone summons from Finn. So that worked out.

So, every time I stay at the Super 8 there's free Internet in the lobby and free wireless, so why is it that the One Time I splurge on a fancypants Hyatt convention center hotel, the "Business Center" computers cost $5 for 10 minutes and wireless is $10 a day? I was going to resist, but I'mweak, and more to the point needed to get in touch with a local friend and didn't
have her current #.

When I said we were going to the convention some people asked if I was leaving Finn in IL and I said noooo! but now I am understanding the brilliance of that plan. No, I know he's not really ready for that, but man, even with my mom here as his full time nanny I am having trouble getting much game time in. Hans is playing a lot though, so that's good, and I will try to structure my time better tomorrow.

More from Station Overstimulation later if I'm able to tolerate typing on this teeny iPod Touch keyboard...

I've been in New Lenox for a couple of days, being lazy.

Today we leave for Columbus, OH for the Origins game convention. Hans is looking forward to four days of games games games! I'm looking forward to some combination of games games games! and spending time with Finn and my mom and seeing my friend Michelle - just not sure how the schedule is going to work itself out yet.

Finn has been pretty happy to be in IL, with both grandparents at his beck and call. There are workers in the backyard with big noisy machinery, and that's a bonus. Yesterday we rode the train, and that was pretty exciting. There has been a park with a splash pad, a kiddie pool in the front yard, and a Popsicle. This is about as good as life gets for him. I hope he has as good a time in Columbus.

My parents arrived late last night for another short visit and my son wants NOTHING TO DO WITH ME. If I walk into the room he says "Bye-bye, Mommy." He's been doing this a lot with Hans lately too.

I hope they will take him somewhere this afternoon, because I have been fantasizing about lying on the couch and watching a DVD for oh, about the past two weeks. OH IMPOSSIBLE DREAM.

Poll #1413528 Toddler Story Problems
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

If 40+ children are playing in a city park that includes a playground, a basketball court, and several organized athletic activities, which child(ren) will choose to play in the huge mud puddle?

If a toddler sleeps 45 minutes later than usual in the morning, this means his nap will be:

How many breakfasts does a healthy toddler eat?

What games are most appealing for a toddler?

(see comments for correct answers)

My son is wearing my underwear right now.

His father is encouraging this.

Sooooo.... are any of you going to Origins?

Digital cameras should come with two special rechargeable batteries and a recharging station specific to the camera. The charging station should have a "PAGE" button like the one on a cordless phone base, so that when the camera's owner misplaces it in the house, it can always be found.

Build it and I will buy it.

Memorial Day parades are the strangest conglomeration of festive and distressing.

Kids in ROTC uniforms, and I'm going "OMG, child soldiers." Depressing. Injured veterans, I'm applauding, but I'm depressed. A Gold Star mother riding in the back of a convertible, I'm ready to jump in the river.

Clowns on scooters, festive.

Finn liked it, anyway.

Today had a lot of good things in it because nuttycrunch came to visit me, and so did my Mom and Dad. I had the brilliant idea that we should go to the awesome cheap Vietnamese restaurant for dinner, but the awesome cheap Vietnamese restaurant has really random hours, and they decided to close at 6 instead of 7 tonight, I guess to get a head start on their day off tomorrow, but seriously, what restaurant closes at 6? So I was all worked up for curry noodle soup and instead we went to Norske Nook Northwoods Brewpub, which I thought would be good because I like the original Norske Nook, but the Northwoods Brewpub was terrible. The service was terrible (the waiter forgot multiple things), I sent back my meal because it was lukewarm, and got another lukewarm meal which was inedible. Gravy is not good cold. Plus their Swedish meatballs taste like cat food. Well, that's one less restaurant to haunt me with its potential goodness.

So my mom was cleaning out the garage before they came here and she was describing some pants to me that used to be mine and she thought I might want them again, but I couldn't figure out what she was talking about. So I said, just bring them.

And they were THESE





HellOOOOOOO 80's. I think I used to wear them with a blousy red shirt and some kind of black boots. This would have been my freshman year of high school, I think, 1983 or 84, when I was trying to find my personal style by dressing as loudly as possible.

I do not think I will be wearing them again soon. So I just thought I'd check, are any of you planning to put on an amateur production of Godspell? Can you fit into a pair of size 9 pleated pants? Because I will totally send them to you.

This weekend we had a family wingding for Hans's grandmother's 90th birthday. Go Grandma Marcella! It was a nice opportunity to see everyone, including our newest nephew whom we had only met once before, and some relatives I had <i>never</i> met, Hans's uncle and aunt and his teenage cousins who were adorably dolled up in punky plaid and rock-n-roll gear, reminding me of my teenage self. I loved them. They are J-pop/J-rock fans. Is that what the cool kids are listening to nowadays? Whatever, J-pop fashions are cute.

We also played games. Games games games! We are playing a lot of games lately. Do you want to come over and play a game?

I woke up at 4:30 this morning with a throbbing shoulder and arm. It's been really stiff, and I guess I slept on it funny, but man, that was painful, and for a long time even after I took ibuprofen. This caused me to sleep in until 7:15, which meant that Finn napped later, and went to bed later than I've been trying to enforce. His bedtime was getting later and later and I've been trying to bump it back to 8:00. Getting him up at 6:00-6:30 and shortening his naps seems to be doing the trick, but that is sort of a brutal routine for me. However, I need the quiet more in the evenings than I do in the mornings, so I am going to try to stick to it.

Debra is the only person who will appreciate this, but I just finished reading The Shelters of Stone. Those Earth's Children books really do get my imagination going. I actually thought that was the last book in the series, and I was kind of miffed about certain storylines that were left open-ended. Then I realized there is actually another book in progress. That woman takes a long time writing books (they are meticulously researched, blah blah blah). I hope she finishes the series before one of us dies. I also hope the next one is edited better than Shelters of Stone, which repeated itself a lot. I want more soap-opera caveman politics, less odes to the Great Earth Mother.

I have to go to bed now so I can get up at 6.

Poll #1402112
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Ticks or leeches?

It seems that when I've had a blogging dry spell, the only way to get back to it is to just start blogging trivialities (as opposed to the weighty matters that we usually tackle here, ahem).

so here are some trivialities.

There are ticks all over Eau Claire this time of year. This means I am destined to have a permanent case of the creepy-crawly-heebie-jeebies until the first frost. I've never encountered them in an urban area before. There are just too many trees and bunnies here or something.

I ate too many pierogies tonight.

The landlords actually sent someone over to mow our lawn and throw down some grass seed, which is thrilling but reminds me that I probably need to hire someone to mow our lawn in Hancock. Argh.

We have a new game on our radar, Agricola, and we've played it with friends twice in the last week or so. Great game, very complex and challenging but not too hard to learn. I'm still trying to figure out strategy, and we are still playing the simplified "family" version. We'll move on to the more complex version after we've got it figured out a little better. Hans won last night and is playing a solitare version of it now, which is bad, because it means he will get better at it and I want to beat him.

Our friend Bryan made a WONDERFUL discovery of a Vietnamese restaurant in town, and we went there last night. I had seen the place, and it looked like a hole-in-the-wall Chinese carryout spot. In fact, it is a wonderful font of Pho and curry at very reasonable prices and I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT IT. He also heard that there is a Korean restaurant opening up, which would have been #2 on my wish list after Vietnamese, YAY!!!

It is one of those days when I am reminded to be especially grateful. Grateful to have a mother. Grateful to be a mother. Grateful for my son's good health and good fortune. Grateful for a partner who does all he can to ensure I have a great day.  I am truly one of the luckiest people I know.

Mom and Dad are here. Finn is having a blast. I am getting bills paid and industriously cleaning my house wiping the kitchen counter sometimes. Today was a weird day because Finn was on a loopy napping schedule, and we went to the children's museum but Finn got tired and fell down and bled and bled and bled from a point right between his front teeth. Don't ask me how he managed that. I just hope he didn't knock a tooth loose. They seem to be in the same places they were before.

Tonight we went out to a Family Resource Center event with a whole bunch of emergency vehicles parked in their parking lot. I got Finn all worked up: "We're going to see a fire engine!" Only I'm an airhead and the event is actually at the end of May. So I turned around and went straight to the nearest firehouse and rang the doorbell. Did you know firefighters are really, really nice? One of them let us in (at 6:30, dinner hour!) and showed us around the trucks and turned the lights on the ambulance. Finn was thrilled. Plan B a huge success!