07 January 2007

yes, I'm still here

I just had to post these two cutest occurences today:

First, this evening Fi took a small sheet of notebook paper & folded it in half. She drew some rudimentary keyboard buttons on the bottom half. A designated on button & a separate off button, as well. She proceeded to tell me that she was "prittytend Nikki" and that was her computer. "It has games, and stories, and music and everything." Maddie got in on it too. She made a larger scale version for Fi with a mouse attached. Fi decorated it -with a flower on the top of the outside, even. There was also a finger pad thing that I don't know the proper name of b/c I don't have a laptop. The key's for F, A, I, O, and N as well as some other indiscernable letters were drawn. She would scroll on the mouse with her right hand, then scroll on the finger pad with her left, then push the mouse button. "wanna listen to some mooosmic?" "wait, I have to turn off my computer b4 I go to sleep" "when I wake up, we can listen to some more mooosmic". She made a little folded paper into a cellphone. I think she was in the midst of making an ipod when I told her it was time to turn off the light. Geez, the things these kids know these days. She and Maddie were arguing about "downloading" something on the "prittytend computer". Even Lib knows her way around the computer & requests daily to get her fair turn online. (I had to set up a child friendly account just for the little ones to access their sites; e.g. PBS, Sprout, Nick jr, Noggin). I think when I was 3, I played with dolls & other mundane circa 1960's child type activities.

2) Maddie tonight tells me that when she's falling asleep she likes to think about how it will be when she's a saint. Oh yes, she did say that. Right out of the blue. Like it's just a given. "I wonder what kind of saint I'll be when I die" I think is what she said. And "well, you're going to be a saint, aren't you mom?" Um. Weeeeelllll. ahem. I told her that saints are the kindest, most generous, unselfish people she can imagine & if she would like to do so, she should certainly try to be like that. (that's got my name written all over it, huh?) Oh, and she'll have to perform miracles. Well, if this is stimulation for good behaviour, bully for Madster. She certainly does like to go to mass. Hey, if things continue in this vein, maybe I'll only have 3 weddings to pay for!

Pow! Slam! Blam!

So I've been going to bed really early lately. Since xmas. I've just been falling asleep w/ Mad. A) it's cozy in her bed that used to be Snick's that used to be mine & is THE comfiest bed in the house. B) I put her to bed last & it's easy to just stay there, and fall asleep. C) G got an xBox 360 for xmas & plays it every night while I put the girls to bed. When I go downstairs he say's he'll be done "in a minute" but I don't feel like wasting my time doing something that I feel is the greatest time waster ever: WATCHING SOMEONE ELSE PLAY VIDEO GAMES. It's really not DOING anything at all. It's just stupid. That and it's got to be the longest "minute" in history. Like multiply "a minute" by 180 or more. Yeah. It's like that.

Now my sleep patterns are all screwy. I sleep until 1am when G starts putzing around in the kitchen making all manner of noise doing god knows what that can't wait until daylight. Of course he has no problem going straight away to sleep. I, on the other hand, have the hardest time falling back asleep after getting 2 or 3 hours of shuteye. Grrrr. So here I sit at nearly 3am.

Whoop-di-do! I have some quiet time for myself! What I really want to do is fall asleep, damn the quiet time. I just can't bring myself to do anything productive at this hour b/c it'd most likely wake someone. Then again, probably not. Everyone else sleeps fairly soundly. I'm the only one cursed with being a light sleeper. I used to spend my sleepless nights doing homework -papers, studying, the like. Sometimes I'd like to change it up a bit & do some cleaning. Throw some Sinatra on the stereo & organize the crap out of my apartment or clean detailed things like toys or even wash & dry & fold every item of dirty laundry (you know, the usual tools of schoolwork procrastination). Now I sit here & blog.

I could knit. That's kind of quiet but for the t.v. which I feel compelled to run in the background just to empty out my DVR which is chockfull of crafty type shows. But my brain doesn't like to knit in the wee hours of the night. The next day I end up frogging everything I knit overnight b/c of some minor yet important mistake I made 20 rows back. So no.

I kind of wish I were back at school for these very wasted sleepless nights. All in good time, my dears. Or maybe it's b/c of school that I have these kinds of sleep patterns. Hmmmm. No, as I recall, I've had a difficult time sleeping most of my life. It goes back to childhood. Yeah, I remember everyone else sleeping & me being freaking wide awake quite frequently. Maybe I should try Lunesta or some other "sleep aid". Um yeah, probably not. Scrips are goooooooooood, so that would be too easy. It might work, but it also could be addicting which would be baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.

I sometimes wish I had an overnight job. But when exactly would I sleep? While the pre-schoolers run amok during the day? At least when it's a temporary insanity, I mean insomnia- I can eventually get back to some semblance of normalcy. A permament overnight job would be permanently unnormal -for everyone.

I was browsing other people's blogs. But then, that's how I ended up here. I felt guilty b/c I hadn't written anything in some time. I HAD to blog or risk being the lame-don't update often-boring type blogger that annoys me. Or maybe it's my competitive side wakening in the midst of the many, many blogs I've read tonight. That compulsive "hey! I can write too! I can write better than that!" little thought in my subconscious. Friggin' ego, anyway.

I am getting sleepy sitting here typing. But I know the schtick: I'll go upstairs to sleep & be wide awake again as soon as I lay down. To top it off, Mad has Sunday Morning School at 9am. (that's CCD in other parts of the country or at least in other decades)(now it sounds so "Protestant" & I feel I must elucidate the matter)(how I love $.25 words!)(I must be tired to let that confession slip)(and there is no "cent" key on the keyboard. Where was it exactly on a typewriter & when did it become so obsolete that it's no longer necessary to have it's own key?? And what replaced it on the key?)(is it the little squiggly line above Spanish n's that I can't for the life of me think of the correct name? That seems to me to have been "unnecessary" in the era of typewriters.) Anyway, I need to be bright eyed & bushy tailed in a few short hours. Get all the kiddos ready for mass, be presentable myself. And then work at 2. Then home again for the same awesome make dinner-kids to bed-fall asleep-wake at 1am routine. See you all tomorrow? Same bat time, same bat channel.

04 January 2007

wednesday mind hump one day late

Greetings, people! Today's hump is brought to you by Drinking Straw Day. We're just gonna get silly for this one.

1. What's your favorite beverage to suck up through a straw?

strawberry milkshake from Gunther Toody's

2. Do you prefer the ordinary straight straws, or the crazy, colorful, twisted straws?

ordinary straight or bendy. I don't like crazy straws b/c they're too difficult to clean thoroughly.

3. Do you ever make those loud sucking noises at the end of the drink to annoy other people? And does that annoy you?

sometimes. Not really, only if it's incessent & there is no need for it (e.g. there is nothing left at the bottom of the cup to suck up)

4. Name one thing to do with a drinking straw other than using it to drink.

why, blow the straw wrapper at the person sitting across from me, of course!