The Wrong Suit

The other week I went to the dry cleaners. A few days later my husband is packing for a business trip and comes downstairs with a suit and says "This isn't my suit". It's kinda funny but I don't know what to say, I've never gotten the wrong clothes back from the cleaners before. The next day he heads off to Michigan in a different suit and on my lunchbreak I head back to the cleaners. I tell the guy the story, he looks at the tag affixed to the collar and says "This isn't our tag" and he looks at the hanger and says "this isn't our hanger". Well, it makes sense to me because before I left for work that morning I looked at the other stuff that came back from the cleaners and they all had orange tags and numbers that started with 87. This suit had a gray tag that started with 02. Um ok, what do I do? I tell they guy to take down my info in case someone else comes in with the wrong suit.

After work I go home and start looking around. I think he must have pulled this suit out by accident and that the one I had cleaned is sitting in his closet. There are no other freshly cleaned suits in my husband's closet. I call him and tell him what happened, I ask him about the suit he is wearing, what does it look like? He tells me he is wearing pants from the cleaners but a different jacket. The description of the fabric sounds like the one I took in! He "thinks" he sent in a suit and a pair of pants. I check out the bathroom trash can I find two orange tags that start with 87 in there. I had six items from that order in my dressing room. There were eight items total in the order. You know what this means? Right, there is no missing suit. Thanks, Honey.

But we still don't know where the other suit came from...and it doesn't fit my husband.

Found this on the web - I love it!

Birthday Weekend

It was my birthday this weekend. The last one with a three in front of it. It's funny how far away 40 sounds when you are 20, but just blink your eyes and there it is. Well that's fine with me, I 'm not here to write about getting old, I'm pretty accepting of the whole concept, might as well be since it's just how it is.

Anyway, Paul and I had a nice date night on Saturday. We called the sitter and went out. This is something we don't do very often, maybe 4 times since Gigi was born! We went out to Divino Lounge in Bethesda. This a great spot, great food and atmosphere. We need to do this more often...

Top 25 songs

Well here is the report from ITunes, my top 25. So this is what I listen to everyday at work, these songs are played more than all the 0ther 1400 in my library. The Velvet Revolver surprised me.

Name-Artist
Soul Jacker Part I-Eels
Good Disease-Aim
Sister Surround-The Soundtrack of
Breathe In-Frou Frou
Slither-Velvet Revolver
Somebody Told Me-The Killers
C'mon C'mon-The Von Bondies
Sabroso Como El Guarapo-orchestra Sublime
The Way You Look Tonight-Air
Love Me Like A Man-Diana Krall
Al Vaiven de mi Carreta-Eliades Ochoa y el Cuarteto Patria
Cheating On You-Franz Ferdinand
Sucker train Blues-Velvet Revolver
Lisboa a Noite-Teresa
Compositor Confundido-Ibrahim Ferrer
Take Me Out-Franz Ferdinand
Go Girl Go-The Raveonettes
Visgo De Jaca-Putumayo
Bossa Per Due-Nicola Conte
Guajira Bonita-Julian Avalos
Take Sarava-Putumayo
Pain-Jimmy Eat World
Elysium-Portishead
Vapor Trail-The Crystal Method
Only You-Portishead

The Advantages of Being a Working Mom

Here is where you get to see how schizophrenic I am. This stay at home mom vs. working mom thing drives me nuts. A few posts ago I was ready to make the switch and stay home with Gigi. This week I am back to loving being a working mom. I love having a career. I think it's great to have a life outside of the home, it gives me something to bring home to add to mix of our lives. I like how much Gigi learns at day care, she isn't even two yet and she can count to ten(except she skips 7) and can sing the whole alphabet song. She has friends her own age that she can play with and bite. We can provide better for Gigi with two incomes, there is no worrying about being able to afford something needed or wanted. If we decide on private school the funds will be there for that. I like being a role model for Gigi, so she can aspire to having a career that fits her. I like the challenge of my job and growing as person.

Can we compare this to why I want to stay home? There are good points on both sides. Talk to me next week lets see where I stand.

Moratorium on Laurie Berkner

Well, I was afraid of this and now it's happened. I need to put a moratorium on Laurie berkner in the car. I love these songs but I am SO sick of this CD and I find myself singing the songs in my sleep.

I've decided I am going to make Sheryl Crow's second CD Gigi's new favorite CD. It's not working so far. She let me play a few songs but that's it. We've gone back to The Von Bondies, The Hives and The Killers. Which is fine wih me. Sometimes I even get to listen to the news, which is great!

We'll keep easing in new stuff so Gigi can have well rounded music exposure. And Laurie Berkner can get mixed back in, but only after I have firmly erased them from invading my sleep.

Another Beach Weekend

We had a great time at the beach this weekend. Our friends who invited us to join the house, the Clickengers were there and it was great to see them and their kids. Gigi and Azalea were so cute playing and giggling together, I wish we could have spent more time there. It was also nice to meet some other housemates that we haven't met before. Gigi enjoyed playing with Kai and Angela also. It's nice when there are other kids in the house, it really keeps Gigi occupied. We will go down one more time this summer and that will be it. It's really been fun.


Hanging out

pool2


pool


Desi


Clickengers


Big Wave

Azalea


Angela and Gigi


Playing


Playing II

Jury Fury

I am fed up about hearing from two of the jurors on the Michael Jackson case that they let go a pedophile. And they are basically blaming the rest of the jury! What is wrong here!? If they thought he was guilty why didn't they vote guilty. The lame excuses are, one didn't want his time to have been wasted on a hung jury and the other thought she was going to get kicked off? This is nonsense. If they truly beleived he was guilty why let him go for those reasons? I would have a lot more respect for their opinions and possibly buy their books if they had stood up for their opinion, then just caving in. If that's what they did. I think they are just trying to sell books and it's shameful.

The Little Birdy

I keep thinking about something that happened while we in New Hampshire last week. Paul, Gigi and I stopped at coffee shop and were walking around. We went over to fountain so Gigi could see the water. Paul noticed a bird in the water. It was a really fast rushing fountain and I didn't see the bird. I was thinking he must be talking about a dead bird which was sad. I said "where?", and he pointed the bird out. It was still alive but drowning with no way of being able to get out or get some refuge. So I started panicking how do I get the bird out? Paul walked away, he was keeping up with Gigi who was walking around. I am standing there like an idiot with my coffee in my hand looking around for something to fish the bird out. There is nothing. Should I dump the coffee out and try to get him out in the cup, no the cup is too small he might break his wings. Ok THE BIRD IS DROWNING - DO SOMETHING NOW. So I put the coffee down, and say to some folks sitting on the bench next to the fountain (not sure why) - "there's a bird drowning in there" and even though it is freaking me out I scoop the bird up with my hands and put him on the edge of the fountain.

My heart is beating a mile a minute and the strangers and I are looking the bird who is gasping for air and probably in shock. The woman thinks its leg is broken, but I don't think it is. He is moving around a bit and I realize he could easily fall right back in the fountain. I am going to need to move him again. Before now I have never touched a bird so this is scary. My hands are shaking but I pick him up and move him over by a tree, while I am putting him down his little feet grasp my finger while he is trying to get his bearings ( this is the part I keep thinking about) I let him go and he sits there. I turn to the couple who have been watching all this and say a little on the shaken side " Um see ya later, have a nice day".

I get back to Gigi and Paul, we walk near the tree and I see the bird still sitting there. About 20 minutes later we drive past and the bird is gone. I like to think he caught his breath and flew off. Those little feet grasping my finger were so sweet.

I am really liking this!

Ah, I have been home three days straight with Ms. Gigi, and I have to admit I think I would really enjoy being a stay at home Mom. Gigi is having fun, the dog is happy, the house is getting cleaned up, and I am (whoa could this really be true...) Relaxed.

So what's stopping me? Money is big thing, but not a deal breaker. Career, yes this is important but how much satisfaction am I getting from it while I am trying to have it all? Gigi's independence, this is important to me. I like that she has a life outside of the house, I would need to find a way to replace this, I guess preschool will start soon.

So what's good about it? Well of course quality time with Gigi, I think she and I are missing this big time. I like being the one to teach her things, like not throwing your food. It's nice. I like that I know exactly what she ate all day and how much. I like sitting and playing games with her and singing songs. I like how she runs in the kitchen when I say it's time for lunch. I like snuggling with her when she wakes up from her nap. I like going to the park with her and taking Sadie to lake. I like that Sadie is with us all day and not sitting in the house alone. I like spending time in my house and taking care of what needs to be done and spending time puttering and improving our home.

What's the risk? One that I'll put my career on hold or a reverse track. I know this is selfish but I worked hard to get to where I am and like it. It's hard to say goodbye to that. Two, not having the safety net of two incomes. I guess those are the biggest issues. Are they serious enough to keep me from staying home, am I wasting precious time that I could be spending with Gigi while I am trying to figure this out?

I am coming to this conclusion, maybe we can have it all, just not at the same time.

This weekend we went to New Hampshire to visit Paul's family. We stayed in Portsmouth a few miles away from his parent's house in Stratham. Paul's sisters and their kids stayed at the house. It was nice to get everyone together and Gigi had a great time with her cousins.


The view of the river from our room


Derek's Birthday


The whole group celebrating Derek's birthday


Emma's sleeping bag


Flower in the Garden


Evan


Kisses


Just the Girls


Baseball Game


Gigi and Lisa

The Kite Runner

It's funny that this is next post after my Wee Hours post. Appropriate I guess. I just finished "The Kite Runner" last night. What an incredibly powerful book. I came away with two main thoughts, first do the right thing. At one time or another each of us have had the chance to do the right thing and haven't. It may have been a small thing or life shattering, but regardless I am sure each of us can pin point experiencing this at least once or twenty times. No matter how painful doing the right thing may be, in the long run, it may be less painful and definitely more satisfying than not doing it out of fear, selfishness or some other reason.

The other thought is, and this is what connects with my previous post, that no matter how bad things may seem, WOW, most of us in middle class America have no clue when it comes living a difficult life. Obviously, this isn't a new thought for me, but the book really gets my head straight when thinking about things in my own life that cause me stress, misery, etc. Get a grip, we've got it good. Doesn't mean I don't need to continue to strive for something better, because I always will. But it does mean I need to realize how great life is for me and my family.

Anyway, if you haven't read "The Kite Runner", I highly recommend it.