Monthly Archive: July 2005

21
Jul
2005

I’M NO GOOD AT NOTHING

I just can’t do it. I can’t sit still. Well, okay, I can, but not for long. And I can’t not be doing anything. (can’t not be not doing anything?) I have to be doing stuff. This is why I like work so much, because it lets me do something all the time and then the not doing anything is okay. But 2 weeks of not doing anything? Not doing it. (haaa) I don’t know whether to be glad that I’m getting all these little projects done that I normally never have time for, or disgusted with myself that I...

19
Jul
2005

A VACATION IS HAVING NOTHING TO DO AND ALL DAY TO DO IT IN*

I feel like I’m cheating every time I do a photo post instead of writing. And since I did 2 in a row, I definitely have that hands-on-hips, stern-look-over-the-eyeglasses, slight-shaking-of-head thing going on. Any minute now, my mental teacher will wag a warning finger at me as I hang my head in shame. Aja baja, fuskis! as my daughter would say. Being on vacation at home feels very slothful. Reducing the world’s population of flies one THWACK at a time does not make for interesting journal entries, and neither, I am sure, does anyone want to read about my ruthless...

17
Jul
2005

PARTY TIME

Take the following and mix well: 14 Spiderman plates and cups 14 meatball-and-hotdog shishkebabs 1 giant bowl of buttered noodles 3.5 large pitchers of strawberry juice 1 giant container of vanilla ice cream mixed with whipped cream and meringues (add chocolate and sugar sprinkles and chocolate sauce as desired) 1 gigantic rented moonbounce! 14 children 13 non-girly presents with the wrapping paper frantically ripped off and tossed aside 1 superhero treasure hunt 14 bags of candy 2 parents trying to be everywhere at once What the heck is it?? (we kept it a surprise. Also, Mom! Look!! THE DRESS!!) *collective...

16
Jul
2005

I EVEN HANDWASHED THE KITCHEN CHAIR SEAT CUSHIONS

Things That Made Me Miss My Childhood Today: Googling the game Zoom Schwartz Pifigliano after seeing it mentioned in one of my old scrapbook journals. We played it at day camp. And Buzz. Those were fun games. Why don’t we play those anymore? Copying the poem Animal Crackers for jackiejj. My mom used to read that to me, along with the poems about the Gingham Dog & the Calico Cat, and the Sugarplum Tree, and Over in the Meadow, and the little girl with the little curl right in the middle of her forehead. Reading a chapter from Charlie and...

15
Jul
2005

I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN

Do you know the story of the little engine that could? When you’re reading it out loud to a child, you have to do train sound effects. Steam whistles and huffing and puffing and the chug-chug-chug-chug sound that gets progressively faster as the little engine gets going. I’m doing that chug-chug-chug-chug sound in my head right now…2 weeks is a really long time to go without writing anything, and I feel like I need a push, a pull, a hand up this hill. chug-chug-chug-chug Talking to my brother today, confirming that yes, we had arrived safely home after leaving him...

10
Jul
2005

TAKE AWAY

I always feel slightly guilty about referring to The Netherlands as “Holland” but on this trip I realized that all the postcards I saw said Holland so now I don’t care. It’s the same American-centric weirdness that made me wince as I was answering my daughter’s question about why people from Holland speak something called DUTCH when everyone else’s languages match the names of their countries, or nearly. Holland appeals to my sense of order. It makes the Virgo blood in me sing quietly. The trees in rows, the shining strips of the canals neatly dissecting the country in every...

02
Jul
2005

GRAB BAG

Martin and I were sitting out on the deck this morning, enjoying the beautiful weather. I had a book, but Martin kept talking to me, so I wasn’t reading much. Suddenly, he asked me if I wanted a foot massage and informed me that he was pretty good at them. “Do you want me to give you one?” he asked. We were sitting at either end of the deck couch, so my feet were right up next to him. “I never say no to a foot rub,” I said, “but were did YOU learn to give foot rubs?” He cocked...