February 2003 Archives

Just a Little Pinprick

Today, we made a mass pilgrimage to the doctors' offices. After Harrison got diagnosed with asthma last month, it was strongly suggested that we get flu shots for the kids. Today was booster day. Plus I managed to strongarm Amanda into seeing her doctor before she ended up in the hospital with pneumonia.

Eventually, the kids and I were sitting in the car waiting for Amanda's appointment to finish up, and Giselle and I are playing 'I Spy'. So we're spying things that are blue or green or white or black, etc., and finally her turn comes up again:

Giselle: "I spy with my little eye, something that is.......yellow!"
Me: "Uh...the little yellow thingamabob on the car next to us?"
G: "No, it's something on YOU"
Me: "Oh...ummm...you mean these little buttons on my jacket?"
G: "No"
Me: "Uh, the zipper on my jacket?"
G: "No Dad, it's your TEETH!"
Me: ::gasp::

And of course, she wasn't trying to be insulting or even kidding. Just honest. And after much laughter, and having to explain that I wasn't laughing at her, I tried to console myself that she just doesn't know the color words for 'beige' or 'ecru' or 'khaki' or 'newsprint' as I checked my crypt-teeth in the rear view mirror.

Before long, it was time for the kids to get their shots, and the little troopers just marched right into the office. And they both knew they were there for shots. I was impressed. (We did promise them tootsie-pops for their trouble, but still...)

Harrison went first. Amanda handed him his lollipop, we dropped his drawers, and I put him in the sumo-hold the nurse choreographed for me. In went the needle, and like a man in an easy-chair who just had a bucket of mice dumped on him, his eyes got huge and he tried to climb up by way of my face. But he didn't scream. I think he might have uttered some indecipherable baby-cursing, but then it was over. No prolonged wailing, tears or looks of shame and guilt. Dang! What universe did we just slip into?

Giselle went next, and Amanda held her for a shoulder shot. She flinched, but that was it. Not a word, no tears, nothing. And we all walked out of the office like it weren't nothin' but a thing.

Five and a half, and two and a half years old.

Man, was I proud.

Is that some sort of puritan pain-ethic showing through?

Impulse Shopping

Where I work, if a meeting is scheduled during the Noon to 1 PM hour, it's generally expected that lunch will be served in some fashion or other--but hopefully on the company account. Now, if you have the distinction of working in one of the more notably peonic departments, as do I, then you'd better have a pretty stinking good excuse for scheduling a meeting during the lunching hour and thusly bleeding the company dry. Well as it so happens, our group had to schedule a lunchy meeting today, but we didn't have a very good excuse for picking that time slot, other than urgency and no other open times, blah blah blah. So the general concensus was that we should do a 'pot luck'. Well, before the idea had fully congealed into reality, my hand shot up and I called dibs on 'chips and dip' duty. Oh man, I'm such a loser.

So I ran into the grocery store on the way in to work this morning to grab the goods. I got 3 varieties of chips, and some Mrs. Renfros salsa (mmmm mmmm), and some Ranch Dip. And as it so happens, I ran across a candy display along the way that had Sweet Tarts & Spree 5-for-$2. And I'm a sucker for those, so I picked some up. Well I get to the checkout stand, it's 8:30 am, and this inquisitive but suspicious, grandmotherly lady is running my goods across the scanner. Now I don't mind a little 'hi, howya doin' chitchat with the cashier, but as I'm punching in my pin number, she says:
Cashier: "My, with all this junk food you must be going to the movies..."
Me: "Umm...huh?" oooooh, wasn't expecting that one. And wha? chips and salsa at the theater? "Uh, no, I have chip duty at a pot luck today."
Cashier: "Well you've also got all these Sweet Tarts and Spree..."
Me: "No, um, thats...for somebody else..." (She was obviously on to my junk food addiction. I couldn't let on that I bought those for my own snacking orgies.)
Cashier: "Oh, I see, it must be for valentines day..." and now picture her knowing smile and nodding head.
Me: "ahhh ahah..."
It makes me wish I had dropped some other choice items into the mess while I was at it. I can only imagine the comments and advice I would've gotten out of that one.

Sweet Tarts
Sweet Tarts
Sweet Tarts
Thin Maxi
Spree
Spree
Toilet Plunger
M&Ms
Clothes Pins

::shriek::

Infinite Reprises

I'm am sitting at my desk and Amanda is on her way to pick me up. (We are having frijoles tonight. mmmmmmm!)

So anyway, I'm sitting here, and American Pie is playing on the radio. If the mere thought of that song makes you feel whistful, well, I'm happy for you.

Let us make a list:

American Pie
Green Grass and High Tides
Freebird
Nearly anything by Meatloaf

Now. Maybe you see a pattern there, and maybe you don't. But they can just relegate those pretty little ponies to vinyl discs for the faithful or whatever, and then just take them right off the air as far as I'm concerned. Argh.

and I wonder why nobody takes me seriously.