Forgot to mention...

I forgot to mention that the tooth fairy will be making a visit to the CamMad household real soon! The tooth is on its' last legs before falling out. The child is just a little excited!

How much is the tooth fairy been leaving lately? I remember it leaving 50 cents back in the day!

Post #200

As I getting ready to recap the ho-hum day with CamMad I found out that this is our 200th post. I'm not sure what kind of presents I should be expecting (just kidding).

Anyway, today was a ho-hum day a lot like the weather was like. There was really nothing new going on. CamMad is having a harder time waking up in the morning (so are their parents)! This does not bode well for the snowy, cold months that are upcoming. Especially when we travel to and from in the dark. We may be starting light therapy in the CamMad household to counteract the darkness.

Tomorrow is Thursday which means...gymnastics. Only if the wireless Internet access was open and not password protected! I could use an hour and a half of focused time to get caught up (well a little bit at least) while watching the session.

I hope everyone has a thrilling Thursday!

Outage Caused a Entry Free Night

The scheduled outage is going to cause an entry free night. Sorry

A pretty ho-hum day

Considering that today everyone was getting back into swing of the routine the day was pretty boring. Each of us did our routine without too many incidents. The worst of it might have been the watch that went missing. When we got home we did an all out search for it. Parent2 found it on the hose holder of the vacuum cleaner. My thought was Child2 got a hold of it and played a trick.

Tonight was not as easy. CamMad was tired but they still wanted to do all that they wanted to do. We DVR'd the Molly movie and Child1 has been looking forward to it for weeks. Child2 just wanted to be around the 'rents. We did the best we could to make everyone happy. Everyone is asleep (besides me that is) and we didn't have the meltdown that forced the positive classroom support training (just kidding).

Tomorrow is a day which will test the patience levels for many of us as holiday shopping with the kids starts...

A New Tool To Play With

This weekend we picked up a new tool to deal with all of those holiday packages and other things that need to be cut: electric scissors. Black and Decker makes this wonderful product that cuts with precision without any stress or strain. Crafters may say, "Where have you been?" But, it is new to me!

Is it Really November 26th in the Northeast?

Today was a weird weather day, outside temperatures were in the upper 50's and it seemed like September/October rather than end of November. Did CamMad take advantage of the weather? Why yes we did!

This morning was a PJ morning as it seemed like the first time in a long time we didn't have to do something in the morning. It would have been a PJ day if it wasn't for the nice weather. CamMad spent time doing crafts with Parent2 while I was putting the finishing touches to updating the iPod with holiday songs. Everyone was in denial of the fact that it was a Sunday and we had to face the routine the next day.

In the early afternoon Parent2 went to make a drop off at the local Transfer Station and mentioned how nice it was outside. At this point no one had checked the weather because we didn't think it could be that nice so late in the year. At halftime of the 1pm games I mentioned if anyone was interested in playing outside. You would have sworn I had announced I had PS3 consoles for sale (which I don't). Those kids got ready real fast. So we enjoyed a half hour of fresh air and I was able to get the rest of the yard raked. I can now say my front yard is 99% clear of leaves. I was able to get all of my work done/in progress to watch the Pats game.

Speaking of the Pats game, earlier in the day my lovely brother-in-law called me on the way to the game. Was I jealous? YES! Despite the fact there were 10 turnovers I thought it was a good game. Was it better because they won? Yes!

Fortunately CamMad went to bed on time for the routine and didn't really fight it which means I have a real chance to have cooperative children in the morning. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to say the same thing about my students or myself for that matter.

This weekend is almost over

The weekend is almost over and it some small (very small) way I'm glad to be getting back into the routine of work. I may live to regret these words but...I love my family (extended) but I've seen enough of them for a little while. Every day of this extended weekend included extended family and little time to be home and relaxing. If I had two weeks instead I wouldn't complain. Some of my feelings extend to the fact that I'll be repeating it again in a month.

On the CamMad front they've had a lot of fun being around the extended family. I'm sure my mom and grandparents laugh everytime we leave these gatherings becuase CamMad is having so much fun that leaving is the trigger point to the meltdown. My mom and grandparents are laughing because that was exactly what it was like when I was CamMad's ages leaving the family gatherings. Funny how history has a way of repeating itself!

Today is going to be one of those kind of days where we stay home and just try to relax. Parent2 has got the sewing machine out and has been making clothes for CamMad's toys and I've got the Patriots later in the day. Eventually thoughts will turn to work (not until the game is over) to help get us back into the routine.

I hope everyone else out there had a good extended weekend.

Parent Resource Guide #1

When you child has a lot to say but says nothing,

"[Insert Parent Name here], why are you listening?"

"You have so much to say I'm watching for the most important thing to listen to."

Actual conversation this morning.

How do you know if you have a 21st Century Kid during the holidays?

How do you know if you have a 21st century kid during the holidays?

1. They want to go through websites to generate their lists instead of going through catalogs.
   
2. They want to know what to know what is Santa's email address.
3. They don't know what a first generation game console looks like.
4. Why are we still using snail mail to send out Christmas cards.
5. Can we set up a part of the DVR for the Xmas shows on ABC Family Channel?
6. They didn't look at the newspaper for Black Friday sales but used a website called Black Friday Deals.
7. They're able to call Santa's hotline using Skype.
8. They have the widgit for the countdown on their desktop.
9. They want to preview the holiday card at your favorite photo sharing website.
10. They've set up a wish list at Amazon.com for Xmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa!
11. They put their plea to Santa on YouTube!

Courtsey of Sheepish Annie

• The get a "virtual" puppy under the tree
  
• They want their own PayPal account with which to shop
  
• They track Santa's progress via NORAD
  
• They have downloaded 47 versions of "Jingle Bells" and now the computer will play nothing else.
  
• Grandma emails them their gift in form of an Ebay gift certificate.

I'm sure this list is going to grow but I'm curious what others might add.

This entry is going to be carried on both of my blogs...because I can.

A Good but Long Thanksgiving Day

Today was a great day for CamMad. We didn't have to travel, everyone was healthy, and we ate good food. The day actually started last night with sleeping. Both parents fell asleep put down their respective children. Fortunately I woke up and got some other things done before going to bed. Parent2 however slept the whole night and woke up at 3 AM with a full night of sleep. Fortunately the DVR had some shows that needed to watched.

CamMad slept in a little but they were rearing to go from the moment they woke up. I leisurely started to get things ready for the big meal while the kids watched the parade from the beginning to the end. Unfortunately I didn't really think about the time factor and how too many things were going to be done at the same time. You're probably saying, "What's wrong with that?" Thanksgiving day is the exception given the volume of food we cook.

The kids handled my meltdowns and stresses pretty well. The family should up on time but we ate later due to the fine print on some of the recipies. The turkey was done a half hour earlier than I anticipated. As the final food was going to the table I realized that there was no gravy, ugh! Everyone rolled with it, thankfully. As we did a family style passing around of the food I knew that something else was missing but I couldn't put my finger on it. We said grace and started eating and the food didn't come out too bad. Soon, I realized what we were missing the cranberry sauce! I believe in the can version so all was good.

CamMad did a good job trying a little bit of a lot. They liked some and didn't like others but they were typical children. The table moment of the meal was when my grandfather asked Child1 about ketchup on turkey. The response was "I've always had it that way grandpy!" That threw him off. After everyone finished eating they wanted dessert. I wanted to savor it later on.

The only probably with hosting a Thanksgiving meal was not the buying of the food, planning the menu, or cooking the meal but in cleaning up afterwards. I wasn't going to ask my family to clean but Parent2 offered. At this time it is still not done as we've had to manage children but I know it will get down.

Now we are in the middle of getting children to sleep after coming down from the holiday high. Tomorrow is a date with the grand-cousins and do it all over again on Saturday with the extended family. Sunday is the transition day with the Patriots in the late afternoon. Before we know it we'll be back to the routine!

I'm going to try to fit in some reading for pleasure into this weekend. The books have been building up since the start of the school year and this may be a time to get caught up. I hope Thanksgiving was joyful and peaceful.

Keep a thought out there to those who may not be with family on this day. For those of you who protect our freedom-I am thankful for you!

Today Represents the End to One Holiday but the Start of Another

Today in the US is Thanksgiving and the typical blog entry would expound upon it's readers what I'm thankful for but today I'm going to skip that. For those of you who know me, know what I'm thankful for. Anyway Thanksgiving is in the books (well sort of but that's another story) but Christmas officially reared it's ugly head today.

After spending much of the morning prepping, cooking, stressing, and eating the famous meal (minus the gravy that I forgot about) I sat down with 100,000 others trying to login to Amazon.com at 2 pm EST trying to land one of $100 Xbox 360's. That was going to be the key to the famous Xmas list, which I strongly dislike doing (more on that later). If I landed one I could ask for all of the accessories and games and everyone would be happy. As it turns out Amazon misunderstood the popularity of such a device. From 1:55 to 2:10 I, as well as thousands of others, was locked out of the site. Which meant 1 thing, I had to create a Xmas list for the family!

I can't tell you how much I dislike making a Xmas or birthday list as it takes out the surprise and thought of the gift. My family would disagree because without a list people would be buying me things I may or may not like. I will admit that I'm hard to buy for because I don't ask for much but when I want something I usually get it (a by-product of having my birthday and xmas relatively close together) leaving people wondering what to get me. As I've gotten older I've learned to appreciate the thought and effort much more than the actual product but people still insist on a list.

I dodge a bullet for my birthday but I've already started taking heat for xmas so I thought I better start today. After a couple hours going through websites I've come to realize that my tastes can be expensive and anything that is reasonable priced is either 1: something I really don't want or need or 2: I have be too specific and scare people off on finding the exact one. I will figure this thing out and make everyone else happier. So if you see someone wandering around the shops aimlessly saying "What am I going to do?" that person may be trying to figure out what to tell people not what to get people!

Now We're Ready for Turkey Day

Today ended up being a series of chores and errands that needed to be done before Turkey Day. Child2 spent most of the afternoon touring around the southern part of the state taking care of stuff. I braved the grocery stores (twice) and survived. I expected them to be crazy but it wasn't as bad as I thought. At the homestead preparations were being made for the festivities ahead of us tomorrow.

Right now I've started the initial plans for cooking. None of the things we are cooking requires us to cook tonight or get up at a unreasonable time in the morning. I'm now working out the whole time/temp debate with only one oven. The next thing will be pots and pans planning ugh!

Here is the menu on tap:

Cheese and Crackers
Rolls
Cranberry Sauce (out of the can of course)
Green Beans
Plain Almondine
With Apple Cider
Mashed Potatoes with Garlic
Sweet Potato Treat
Easy Cornbread and Sausage Dressing
Gravy
and of course Turkey

Grammy is bringing the dessert (pies)!

Hopefully everyone has somewhere special to be on this day of giving thanks.

Another day closer to Turkey Day

Well, the only thing today was good for was the fact we're one day closer to Turkey Day. I spent night 2 working the marathon day. Fortunately I work with a great group and I enjoyed my time with them tonight. By the time I got home CamMad and Parent2 were already asleep so I can't tell you much about their day.

Tomorrow I should have some good stories as I get to spend some quality time with CamMad.

Turkey Day Preparations

I've alluded to it on earlier postings that we are hosting my mom, and my grandparents (Grammy, G.G., and Grahmpy to CamMad) on Turkey Day. It has been a long time since we've hosted this many adults inside for a meal (birthday parties and cookouts don't count) so we're trying to think about some of the best ways to prepare the house for the family.

The first realization was that we didn't have enough settings for everyone in a coordinated way. We could have mixed paper/plastic with plain white with pottery. That would have been tacky to say the least. We solved that by picking up some coordinated settings, 12 to be exact, at Linens 'N Things that didn't cost up 3 digits before the decimal point. For $5 bucks we were able to pick up 12 sets of glasses. With a nice table cloth we could have a table setting that looks like we know what were doing (okay it will be a nice facade). Now where are we going to put everyone?

This was a tougher decision because we could use the current table location but there would be no prep or service area, that wouldn't work for Turkey Day. I came up with the idea of utilizing the old playroom (currently the reading area). Parent2 thought that would be a good idea we just needed to see how the table fits in the room. While Parent2 was gone today I thought I would take a few minutes to see what it would look like.

I got the table between the winecart and the refrig. which was harder than one might have thought. Next step was the doorway. The only problem was the fact that the table was wider than the doorway no matter how you turn the table. The only solution: take the legs off. So the job took a little longer than it should have taken. I didn't loose any pieces and everything fit the way it did before, whew! The table is in and looks good. With Parent2's approval we just need to clean the rest of the stuff out of the room. CamMad has already started using the table for coloring!

Now we need to think about cleaning, food prep, the rest of shopping, hanging picture frames, and ...

Ugh

This what I'm feeling like as I'm typing right now. CamMad has tuckered me out today. Parent2 went to Mass to visit friends and to go out to dinner. CamMad and I had to hold down the house. The house is still standing but I'm close to not.

This morning we survived the errands (abbreviated at that) because CamMad was cranky. I think they wanted to have a pj day. Throughout the trip everyone was cranky. Fortunately everyone else took a nap while I drove home. I could have slept if I wasn't driving. The net result of the errands was good: dinnerware and glasses for 12 with the impending hosting responsibilities coming up with Turkey Day coming up. Parent2 has a new outfit for tonight to reflect the recent weight loss (10+ lbs.). Sidenote here: we are proud of you! Keep up the dedicated work!

When we got home we took care of lunch and Parent2 took off leaving me alone with CamMad. Now Parent2 will say this is just payback for last weekend. Which is partially true but I also left with a house full of necessities and didn't require a shopping trip with CamMad. Yes I realized right after Parent2 took off that there was 2 cups of milk left. CamMad goes through that in less than a meal. I couldn't wait until morning I had to go today and miss some really good football games. I could have opted for the local convenience store and pick up just enough but I might be back in the same position tomorrow morning.

We make our way to the grocery store and decided to get a bulk of the Turkey Day shopping done because the store wasn't that crowded and I still had the list that we didn't use this morning. CamMad were helpful and we did well getting our stuff with only minor fussing. Whew! One crisis situation handled, more to come.

The rest of the day was easy after that as CamMad was tired enough to not put up my of a fight to sleep (thank goodness or no blogging tonight). I've set up my tasks for the morning (laundry, vacuum, cleaning the old playroom) so I can relax for the football game. Hopefully Parent2 will be home in time for the game!

Later...

An extension to the long day

There was one fact that I left out about the long day: the skunk! When I drove in the driveway I saw a white object moving around. At first I thought it was a cat but when I got closer to it I noticed it had a elements of black and a big fluffy tail. It was a skunk looking for food and it was about 10 feet away. Was I scared of that skunk hurting me? NO! Was I scared of that skunk being afraid of me and spraying me? YES!

I decided it would be best to wait in the car until the skunk moved away. Which I did but the skunk knew that was something new in the area because it sensed I was around and started to make its way over. My heart was beating hard but I thought the best course of action would be to stop and stand still. The skunk also stopped but I was only 3 steps and a set of stairs from the door. So the skunk and I started a dance (skunk head down = 1 step) until I reached the stairs and the skunk was only 3 feet away from me (within the spray zone).

My heart was literally pounding out of my body while I weighed the options. I decided I had to make one big push and go for it. Now that I had the plan I had to wait for the moment. When the moment arrived I went for it and fortunately Mr./Mrs. Skunk (I wasn't that close) did not spray me. THANK YOU!

I went inside the tell the tale to the family. Unfortunately I scared CamMad because of my fear was translated. For that I'm sorry CamMad. Actually last night they came home in the dark and were scared even though there was no skunk in the yard.

Today is another GTD weekend as we prepare for Turkey Day at the CamMad house. I hope everyone can get outside and enjoy the sunshine before it goes away and the clouds come back.

I'm glad the long day is over

My day started with a car ride to work at 6:30 am and didn't end until I came home at 8:30 pm. I didn't really get a chance to hang with CamMad today thanks to work commitments. I was able to see them before they went to sleep and I actually put Child2 down, which was nice.

I'm going to assume they had a good day. Tomorrow is Friday and I am glad for that little fact. Next week is short and this is even better. Somehow work will squeeze five days worth of stuff into two.

One Day At A Time

To get back into the blogging habit I wanted to post another blog entry despite the fact that there isn't really anything new in CamMad's world. Today I'm going to shed a little light on my daytime job.

Each year we hold a Secret Santa at work. At first I was all for it, I didn't know any better. One year my boss had me. This person made my life miserable. She got me things that were fun and cute then things changed mid-week. The item was a toy gun that shot suctioncup darts. I was thinking "What a great stress relief break?" However, unknown to me, my boss saw it as a point to say that I was not modeling good behavior. My boss was a few sandwiches short of a picnic! The final gift was a tin full of pre-wrapped cookies. I was left emotionally scared and vowed never to do Secret Santa.

Fast forward to today. I was warned not to check my inbox by a co-worker. Eventually I had to check it and found a message from our Secret Santa Coordinator. She had volunteered me to participate. Fortunately I respect this person and didn't take it personally even though she understands my past. I didn't realize until later in the day that the Coordinator was attempting to get everyone at work involved this year to help us unite. Once I realized that I applauded the effort. I'm hoping my experience is better this year.

Tomorrow is Thursday and I may be blogging as I need to stay at work late to meet with the youth's parents and guardians. Unfortunately I will not be that busy. The group I work with plans a big feast and this year is no different.

Until later...

Trying to Relax?

I'm really trying to relax so that the 6 hours of sleep I've been getting lately is restful. However the TV was left on the local ABC affliate after Dancing with Stars (Tuesday night TV stinks) and I don't have the energy to change the channel. So I'm watching this show called "Show Me The Money" with William Shatner. Can I tell you how much this shows sucks eggs?

The show is a combination of Who Wants to be a Millionaire/Soul Train/Deal or No Deal but "the Shat" is lame, the concept is weak, and the first guest is too excited! I give this show 3 weeks before it is cancelled.

All I can think about right now is "there goes a half hour of my life I'll never get back!"

UPDATE: OMG I just realized this show is on until 11pm. Shoot me now!

No Good Excuses

I really don't have any good excuses why I haven't blogged in about a week. I can't say there isn't any material for me to write about lately. I can't use the excuse that I've been sick or even the kids for that matter. So I'm going to try to move on and try to make the commitment to do better.

Here is the recap of the last week in the life of CamMad:

• Thursday was gymnastics and the relief that Friday was a non-work day. There was a lot of build up getting to this point and everyone was just trying to wrap up the loose ends so we can enjoy the weekend.
• Friday was a day in which we all stayed at home, enjoyed family time, and try to do as little possible. It was nice because we all needed it. I started to feel like I was starting to catch up on the little things. Late in the afternoon we enjoyed watching Cars sprawled out on the floor with popcorn and drinks.
• Saturday was the transition day of the weekend. We did errands in the morning and I left for Mass. in the afternoon. On the way down I was tempted to go to the Apple Store but I resisted the temptation. CamMad enjoyed the time with Parent2 but I was getting the phone calls stating that they missed me (which was nice, too bad I couldn't bottle it up for the teen years).
• Sunday was a long day. The rest of the family was dry while I was at the Patriots game. Tailgating was wet but the game was dry (in more than one way). Even though they didn't win I was still glad that I could say I've been to a Pats game. As it turns out it is the last game on grass. They decided to change the field to turf (artificial grass). I made it home in time to put both girls to sleep after Parent2 started the process.
• Monday was a rough day as the weather was really started to wear on people's nerves. At least when it is cold and snowing you can bundle up and enjoy it. Rain is just wet and no fun!
• Today was more of the same. The lack of sunlight is making everyone a little more grouchy. I'm a firm believer in the concept that a lack of sunlight leads to tendencies similar to depression.

They say that the sun will make a cameo appearance tomorrow before the gray returns. i hope tomorrow is sunny and bright for you.

Where did you go Tim?

Across the United States people are practicing their civil responsibility by voting for a variety of different things. CamMad helped me perform this task this afternoon. Currently, I watching the election results but I'm not feeling very patriotic. I've gotten so use to seeing Tom Brokaw talking to Tim Russert. I will always associate Election Night with Tim Russert's famous whiteboard countdown in 2000. Those were the days. Now we have the web with all of those fancy graphics but it will never replace the "whiteboard".

Today CamMad got their copy of Cars and Curious George. They will have some good movie moments later this week. Ta ta for now.

A GTD Weekend!

The CamMad household enjoyed a weekend where things got done! Friday night I had so much on my mind that I couldn't relax until I made one of my famous lists. The list had a GTD (getting things done) theme to it. We definitely were busy but it was good because we got a lot accomplished.

Saturday started off as a Santa little helper feel to it. I can't go into more detail because I never know who might be reading this blog. We needed to get other things done around the "mall" so we decided let's just get it done and we did. One of the stops was rakes to take care of the leaves in the front yard.

When we got home the first thing Child1 and I did was to rake the yard. To say there was a million leaves might be a stretch but definitely in the 6 figure amount. Our goal was to get the leaves put into clumps to tackle the next day in the famous "rake onto the tarp and drag it to the side". The side lot could be the ultimate mulching pit. This afternoon we made quick work on the leaves thanks to the hard work put in on Saturday.

Saturday night I installed the new router/VoIP box. The Internet connection was no problem. The VoIP was not able to make a connection. After some hair pulling experiences I decided to call customer support. I definitely wasn't talking to someone in the United States (thanks Tom Friedman for the heads-up) but we figured out that the address the company needs to make the magic work was given to someone else. So I had to go back to the store and make an exchange. Fortunately the second time around work well.

Today we tried to stick to our routine getting ready for a short week at work. Wish us well. Fortunately we were able to miss the worse of the full moon syndrome.

It has been 7 days since my last blog entry...

There are some many other things I should be doing right now but I feel like I need to purge for a little while. Lately I feel like I've been 2 steps behind where I should be. You know that feeling, the one where you are the hamster running on the wheel. You keep dealing yourself one of these times the wheel will break and I'll pull a Nemo and escape the rut. My problem lately has been I've been trying to catch up but I'm making no headway. Okay now that I've taken my moment I will get back to the main subjects: CamMad.

It has been a busy week in the CamMad household. I had a birthday during the "non-hurricane" over the weekend. Unfortunately I was helping the family close the camp and I was very wet and lacked electricity for a long time. CamMad enjoyed their time with Parent2 but they were very happy to have me home, even though when I came home it lacked electricity.

Monday night was spent watching the Pats game and getting ready for the big night in children's hearts: Halloween. Tuesday was spent torturing parents in rushing to get everything ready to deal with children who's goal it is to get the sugar rush for the next week or more. Tuesday night CamMad walked the neighborhood enjoying the un-Fall weather, temperature in the 50's.

Today was the famous "Sugar Crash Day". I was talking to a few teachers today who informed me of schools across the country who make November 1 a professional development day. After today I might agree with that concept. CamMad has been very cranky today and if we didn't have to wake them up the day may have been very different.

I had a lovely experience at the local DMV today. All I had to do was to get my license renewed for another 6 years. The last time was just before the digital license went into effect so I had to go in person to renew. I spent 50 minutes waiting for them to process my paperwork in 2 minutes and send me on their way. There was only 7 people in front of me. Do the math: people need to have their paperwork done ahead of time and help the rest of us get through the line as fast as we can.

Now I need to go back and try to get some more things done so I can feel like I'm catching up not getting further behind going into the holiday season...