Dance of the Sugar Plum Strollers

Now I knew when I got pregnant that our materialistic why make it simple when it could be complex society would make buying baby gear an exercise in frustration, but no where in my imagination did I see the dance of the strollers coming. There are literally thousands of strollers out there and they all do different things, are made by different people and have different safety standards and accessories. Now I am a smart girl who does her research and makes mostly good decisions, but this stroller thing might just be the end of me. It is driving me so crazy that I am having dreams that I am being attacked by strollers, like a scene from Hitchcock’s The Birds. Jeff thinks I am stressing too much about this, but I would like to put my baby in a safe mode of transportation that is stylish and practical, is that too much to ask for? Apparently so, so let us go over some of the top contenders, well for funnsies.

First there is the ultimate of baby strollers, the Bugaboo. If all things were equal, and I was rich, I would buy this thing in a heartbeat, it has everything that I want, it has a bassinet for an infant and then a regular stroller for an older kid. It comes in a variety of colors and looks good. And if I had a grand to blow I would certainly own this (maybe, I still don’t know if I would spend that much on a stroller).







I thought about travel systems, but every review I have read urges not to buy one. I guess the cons outweigh the pros. The pros are of course that you can take the infant seat right out of the car and click it into the stroller without waking the baby or moving them. Of all the travel systems I have found I like these two the best, the Baby Trend (green and gray) and Chicco Cortina. I like the Chicco a bit more, but of course it is more expensive. But I guess the cons of travels systems happen after the baby is out of the infant seat. I guess it turns out that the strollers are kind of crappy. And of course since the baby outgrows the infant seat I do not want to be stuck with a stroller that falls apart.

Besides I have decided that I like the pram kind of stroller that can convert into a regular stroller, and with most regular strollers you can also snap in an infant seat. Or I could go this way, and skip the stroller altogether for the first few months. This is a snap and go system that is just a stroller frame into which an infant seat snaps in. This is good for keeping the infant seat going and forgoing the stroller altogether. But I don’t know if I like this system, I am not sure why.

So let’s move on to the strollers I do really like, the ones that convert from a pram to a regular stroller. First there is the Combi Thru.

Now this is the perfect stroller, and the price is just right so of course that means that it is too good to be true. This stroller is not made anymore. Bastards. Now I also really like these two, the Britax (black and tan) and Fischer Price (green), both of which convert, but neither of which can also support an infant seat, where most of the other convertible strollers can. So with these I would get the aesthetic, but not the practicality that I would need.

So now the last of them, the ones I have narrowed my search down to. First is the Peg Perego Pramette (gray right). This stroller is perfect, it goes from a pram to a stroller, has a high safety rating and looks good, it also comes with a price tag to match, around $450. This is still a bit expensive for a stroller. There is the Everbright (below), which is in my price range and comes with all of the things that I want, but of course there is a downside, the reviews for this product are only so-so and there is no ability to snap in an infant seat. This is also a really new product, so there is not a lot that we know about it yet. And so at the end of the day the one I really like is the Peg Perego Centro Completo (hey it’s Italian). This converts from a pram to a stroller, has a high safety rating and is pleasing to look at. Also important, it has an adjustable handle that will come in handy seeing as both Jeff and I are taller than average. So this stroller is almost perfect, it would be more perfect if it was a wee bit cheaper than $300. I mean it is not crazy expensive, but I do wish it were just a little less cash. The upside is that this allows an infant seat to be snapped in, most easily the Peg Perego, but also the Snugride. But for all of that I am still not sure. I mean I like this stroller, but can I justify the cash?

I can not answer all of this yet, I am hoping with enough time I will eventually stumble onto something or make up my mind, but I am not promising anything. And until then I guess the dance with just continue.

Sunshine go away today...

I don’t feel much like dancin’. I love that new Jeep commercial, it makes me happy for reasons I am not quite clear on, one I am sure is because I love my Jeep. Now some people know that buying a Jeep is a lot like joining a cult. All of a sudden you get magazines and jamboree invitations, other Jeep owners wave at you, it’s like a club. And I love my Jeep. Normally it looks much like this, except that it is navy blue and has a sunroof. It is not too big, it’s not too small, it is just right, yes I am Goldilocks. And when I drive it I do feel like dancing. But in the last few weeks my beautiful Jeep has become a wounded soldier. Almost three weeks ago I was rear ended by, and I am not kidding here, a delivery truck working for the school board. I was actually impressed with the beating my Jeep took. I was hit by a truck for the love of God, I thought the whole back end was going to be squished. But it wasn’t, instead I have a broken tail light and bashed in gate, all told almost $3000 of damage. And the kicker? I can’t get it into the body shop until Oct 1rst! So I have been driving a car around with a broken tail light, can anyone guess how long it took before that became a problem? So I called in for a rental car until my car can be fixed, of course at the insurance company’s expense. My mistake was asking for a car that was comparable to my own car, and what I meant was I did not want a compact car, let’s be honest Jeff can’t fit into a compact car. I thought they would give me a sedan, boy was I wrong, because this is what they gave me, oh yes a big honkin’ trailblazer. The thing is HUGE!! I sit so high up and the dashboard is so wide, I never know if I am staying in the lines! I also feel a bit wasteful, me along driving this huge car around. Of course we have already had a problem with the rental car. The first day we had it it came up with a flat tire, this was Tuesday. I would not have though much about it except that we had just changed a flat tire on the Jeep on Saturday, I am sensing a trend here. Fortunately because it was a rental car I did not have to change the tire myself (or rather Jeff didn’t have to change the tire, you really didn’t think I was ever changing attire did you?). But now I am a bit afraid to take any of the cars out, I think the car gods are angry with us I am not sure how to appease them, what does one sacrifice to the car gods? Some fuzzy dice? Well let’s hope next week is better, I had hopes for this one, but that did not work out, so I am looking forward to next week. Wish us luck!

The Joys of West VIrgina

Yesterday I made one of the inevitable mistakes that happens when you live in West Virginia and no where else. Jeff and I were on our way home from Target (how did it happen that I have become so suburbanized that I am at Target at least once a week?) and this little beat up hatchback of indiscernible origin was going super slow. Of course I took great offense to this and yelled (within my car not outside of it, geez, I am not a crazy person) “get out of the way you freaky hippie!” Jeff noticed my mistake right away, this bushy haired and bearded slow moving pile of rusted car was not hippie, it was mountain man. Now this is a mistake that happens often here in WV, but I think it is an ironic one none the less.

Now first we must say shame on me for seeing a great mass of hair and a crappy car at least 15 years old and jumping to conclusions, but when I am behind the wheel of a car people should really leave me alone (or I should not be allowed to drive) but seriously, if you get on the road, drive correctly! Anyway, I am sorry (not really) and let’s move on. So normally when you confuse stereotypes of people they are not so diametrically opposed, I mean rarely does one yell “punk” when they mean “young Republican.” But in WV it is quite easy to mistake mountain man for hippie, it actually happens all the time because unless said mountain man is wearing his buckskins, it is difficult to differentiate one from the other from 10 feet away. Now you will find these people at the same place occasionally, say a mountain top removal protest, but that is about it. When seeing a hippie up close the mountain man might mumble under his breath “dirty secular liberal” and the hippie might shake his head and wish to Buddha that the mountain man come to his sense and vote Democrat, which is why I think the all too common mistaken identity is just one of the fun things about living in WV!

New topic, here are a few pics of the sweater I am trying to complete for my new neice or newphew who will be here at the end of Nov. Now I know I have time, but I may not make it! Why? Because I can not get this $#^#@^$ neckband to knit up right! I have tried with DPN and circs, but it juts won't work. DO you think the new baby will really need a neckband? But I have yet to start anything for my own little ski on the way. I am hoping that the weather will turn soon because I do not feel much like knitting when it is 102 outside! But I know that will not happen until Oct. so I should just bite the bullet and start something new! ENough for now, coming soon, though pics of the damage to the new jeep!

I've been tagged!

So I have been tagged, which actually makes me happy, I have never been tagged before, by my cousin in-law over at mylifewithdogs. Of course if you asked anyone they would swear he is actually related to us by more than marriage (which would really freak out his wife to whom I am actually related). But since I have been tagged here we go with six weird things about me. Of course most readers will not be surprised by this list because I am never one to hide the weirdness, I am right up front with it.

But never the less, here goes……

I am a sucker for any movie that is big and pretty. Titanic? Moulin Rogue? I loved ‘em, I don’t care about plot or character or pacing, is it big and pretty? Then I will watch it twenty times, I will also always pick the action flick over the romantic comedy every time. Right now I can not wait for Shoot ‘em Up to come out because it looks awesome! Especially the helicopter stunts.
I really, really want to like sushi, but I don’t. I am not sure why I really want to like it except that it seems so sophisticated and chic to say things like, well we went for sushi. I have tried really hard, I have eaten a lot of different kinds of sushi, but they all feel like rubber and make me want to spit it out in a napkin (which, on occasion, I have done). I am also so stubborn I will probably never give up trying to like sushi.
I have a very strange love/hate relationship with coffee. I love it, but after two cups it hates me. If I had my druthers I would drink coffee all day everyday, but my stomach disagrees. And of course now that I am pregnant I don’t drink it at all because it seems the baby does not like coffee the way I do, which makes me wonder if this kid is really mine. I also wish that there were a Starbuck’s on every corner for my own convenience.
I continuously find it amazing that students write down stuff that I say. Now I know consciously that I am the professor and that I make up the tests and quizzes and grade the papers, so what I say should be written down and studied. But I still find it disconcerting that students take my knowledge and apply it to stuff, I am half afraid at some point one of them will accuse me of being a fake and not knowing what the hell I am talking about and I will freeze and agree with them.
I enjoy some hard core rap, like Emiem and Kanye West. People will look at me and say, uh..excuse me but don’t you write and study feminist theory? Yes, and yes I am a feminist, but I believe that some of these artists rise above the bitches and hoes crap and actually create art. I do not believe that everything is art, but I do believe that anything can be art which is why I enjoy these guys.
I tend to get obsessive about stuff. I will find a TV show that I enjoy in syndication and then watch every one until I have seen them all. After that I usually lose interest. I will also start new hobbies a lot. I will see something that looks interesting and usually teach myself how to do it. Once I have mastered it, it usually goes away. There are some exceptions, I still knit.

Now I though about writing about how I am not a spur of the moment kind of person and research everything thoroughly before I make any decision, but most people know that about me anyway, it is part of my A type personality.
I will take this opportunity to tag everyone over at Killarneysirishblog, because they all need something more to do now that school has started! HAHAHA I would also like to thanks the Swansons for this opportunity to write about something, I think Greg will be my inspirtation to keep up more on this blog! Coming in the next few days, the damage to the new jeep because some guy in a delivery truck hit me!

Disney and Visits and Babies...Oh My!

Yes, yes I know it has been over two months, I am a bad, bad person and should be shot. But as most people know now, I am pregnant and no one is allowed to shoot the mama to be!

There has been a lot going on this summer, but nothing so pressing that I did not have time to update this damn thing. It all started with the Disney trip at the beginning of June which was super fun, but as we soon discovered, early June weather in Florida does not suit us all that well, we will stick to March from now on. While it is always warm in Florida, March is much better than the “I can’t breathe humidity” of June. But we did have a good time, and came home with a little souvenir of our own.

We were there for our anniversary and decided that for our presents to each other we would go to a nice dinner, I mean a super fancy dinner at Victoria and Albert’s. For those not in the Disney know..V &A’s is the fanciest dinner in town. It was seven course and we got the wine pairing which meant we were actually quite drunk by the time we left. The people were very nice, although I think our waitress was judging us, especially when I whipped out the camera to take a pic of the individualized menu, which also said Happy Anniversary. I was more impressed though with the letter from the Queen that they had in the women’s bathroom! When I can back to the table to gush to Jeff, another waitress promised to take me in another room with a painting of V&A, and there she took a few pics for us. It was super fun, but as it turns out I am not fancy, and I always though that I was. I believed that deep down I was switched at birth and I belonged more with the Kennedy’s, but as it turns out, not so much. Don’t get me wrong, seven course dinners are great every three years for an anniversary, but as a common thing I think I would be bored.

So I didn’t take lots of pics at Disney mostly because I have a ton of pics from previous trips and I don’t need another pic of the castle. But we did catch the end of the Flower Expo at Epcot, which was a good time. See the super cool Captain Hook and Peter below and well as some other statues made all of flowers and plants.

We got back home in time to start making the homestead ready for the P’s, who came to visit for a week. We had a really good time as we took off for the Ripley Craft Fair on the fourth, but my illness kicked in just about the same time, and it has not left yet. But a good time was had by all and after they left along came by B-day, where I turned the big 32, but I think I look much too young, so I am comfortable saying I am 28 or 30 at the oldest. But I did get this cool speaker for my ipod if I should ever get an office of my own. Oh and I got Disney Scene It, which is fun, but if you play make sure to use the adult questions and not the kids, because then you will just get pissed at the hubby because he wins so easily.

We actually have just returned from another trip that took us from Chicago to the QC and then to the UP in Michigan, but I should leave something to discuss later. more pics will come I swear!

The Semester is Over!

And we all dance! I dropped off all of my administrative paperwork, and am officially done with the semester. Jeff and I went out for a celebratory lunch and now I am left sitting on my couch looking at the disaster of a house that I haven’t had time to clean in three weeks. But I think I will do that tomorrow, today I will sit like a slug on my couch and enjoy doing nothing. Tomorrow I will clean, run some errands and basically get stuff done that I haven’t had time to do lately, namely get a hair appointment and start getting ready for Florida. Yes we leave next Friday to Chicago for a b-day party and from there we are flying to Orlando for one sun soaked week of Mickey and his friends. I can not wait. I will swim and drink and basically act like a hokey tourist for awhile before I get back home and have to face summer. Of course the only pressing matter for summer is finishing my last chapter, defending and hopefully preparing for a job next year.

I do have lots of pics and updates for you. I am working on a cute little sweater for the newest addition to the family and I still have not shared the pictures from the Boston trip, and I will get to all of that I promise, but for now I am a lazy slob on the couch, tomorrow I will be productive.

For Today, We are all Hokies

Monday our world was made a much sadder place. I have not really been able to write about it yet, I will probably only muddle my way through this now, but I will try.

I have had to quit watching much news, my morning routine because I am filled with unimaginable sadness. The pictures of the students, the faculty, and the campus is all too familiar to me. What I see is my students, my colleagues, my campus. I think all of us that spend our days on a campus feel like this right now. In the middle of class I have to stop and catch my breath as I look over my students, I know I would be devastated to lose any of them. Worse I have sat in class thinking about how I would barricade the door, where the safest place to stand was, and how we could get out of a window. The good news is that none of this has stopped me from going to class; it has just made me more wary. I wonder if that is a good or bad thing. I don’t want to have to work on conjecture about what student might just lose it. Unfortunately the stories from VT are not that surprising. I have worked and attended more that a few colleges, from community to large Universities and the protocols are all pretty much the same. There are never enough police or security employed by the school. And to be fair, a college campus is one of the safest places that you could be on a day to day basis, so it is not strange that one of the places that are cut in a budget crisis is security. And problems on campus are usually not advertised because colleges fear that parents will yank students, so the administration of VT is was not abnormal in their decisions, they were actually very normal. I can hope that one of the good things to come out of this tragedy is that we can rethink the kinds of security that we need on campus. Right now there is no way to lockdown a campus, it’s actually impossible because campuses are made to be accessible to students and if they are public schools, the land is public property which means the campus is open to anyone. Schools actually look at ways to make the campus more accessible to students, not less. Buildings are often old, used for aesthetics or efficiency, not safety. Doors to classrooms open out, not in, which often could be a fire hazard. And classrooms are set up logistically for the best way to educate, not safety. Much of this can change and much of this should not change. Campuses need to be open and accessible for students, but they also need to be patrolled more. We have to understand that when you have a lot of people congregated in one place there may be fights or problems and they should be handled, but they should also be reported. If there is an incident with a weapon, we as faculty need to know about it. We can be notified much more easily then students can and if the situation is taken care of we can stall rumors, but if it is not we can make decisions about what we expect from our students and ourselves. I can’t pretend to know all that goes into logistic and security decisions fro a university, after all I am just an English professor, but I do know that I love my job and all of my students are precious to all of us, even if we sometimes complain about them. So I do know that we need to discuss these problems and make some changes and that needs to be done soon.

Under Pressure

That if, of course the song pinging through my head as of late. And fortunately I am old enough to think David Bowie, not Vanilla Ice, but that doesn’t mean that this is any less frustrating. It is of course not that far away from the end of the semester, I have mountainous piles of grading and students coming out of the woodwork. I of course do not know if I have a job next year, but I need to finish that last chapter of the dissertation. The house is a mess and I have laundry to do, but I have carved out a space on my couch because work always takes priority. Last weekend I was supposed to play some catch up and get ahead. But instead I was made a last minute trip to Illinois. Thankfully it was all for naught and everything is back to normal, but I didn’t get any work done. How could I when there were babies to play with. We got back on Monday night, just enough time for me to teach a few classes because we are off again Thursday for Boston and a conference. Why is it I ask that all cheap flights leave at some god forsaken time that I rarely see unless I stay up all night? So my this time tomorrow I will be in Boston, will maybe get some sightseeing in around the conference by the time I leave on Sunday. And the back to the grind and trying to finish the semester without jumping out my office window. Of course I am only on the second floor, so I would just break a leg and they would still be expecting me to grade finals. But I will post pictures when I get back, at least you have that to look forward to!

I Got an Ipod! I Got an Ipod!! I Got an Ipod!!!

Yes it is true, after a couple of months of whining, my husband took me to Target and ordered me to purchase my new ipod!!! I almost thought of waiting until this summer and getting the new iphone, but honestly what the hell would I do with it? I probably wouldn’t even know what the hell to do with something like that and I figure the first few years will be filled with problems that will need worked through and I am not a good beta tester, I am far too impatient. Through research I finally narrowed now what I wanted to the video ipod. I thought the nano colors were cool, but to get one that held at least 500 songs I would spend $50 less then getting the video ipod, and with the video one you can, you know, watch videos and load photos (which of course I have already done). And so the last choice I had to make was color and really it was 50/50. Did I want white or did I want black? I spent some time checking them out and debated the merits of color with Jeff until he decided that he had enough of that and left me to go look at games. In the end I got the black one, and I am happy. I was leaning toward the white one, but everyone has the white one, so to be just a bit different (I mean come on, you really can’t pull of disaffected with an ipod, but the black one? Maybe) I bought the black one. I am not putting it out of the realm of possibility that Johnny Depp called to me from the packaging. I mean he is a pirate and all, somehow at once all dirty and sexy, but hey it’s Johnny Depp, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.

So the nice thing about the new ipods, they come charged. When I bought Jeff his ipod just over three years ago it came in a huge box and had to be charged for like three days (maybe that is an over-exaggeration) so I was happy to start playing right away, except….that when my computer crashed three weeks ago and I had to reset the entire thing it hadn’t wiped out my itunes. I installed the new one, but I don’t have the music that I purchased previously. It turns out that they expect that it is all backed up on your ipod, but when your ipod is already dead, there is no back up. (I know, I know but I worried about backing up the diss, not my music). I have emailed itunes and I hope that they will take pity on me, especially since I just spent an inordinate amount of money on this damn thing. But the new ipod is awesome. It has a huge screen that is also color. I downloaded some pics already and it is awesome! I set it up so that it plays a slideshow when I am listening to music, and of course I bought some new music. Jeff taught me how to listen to Sirius radio online (hey I pay for it) so every time I heard a song I liked I wrote it down (there are a lot of post its on my desk) and I downloaded some today. Once I get my already purchased music and put is some CD’s I will be like 1% on my way to filling up the damn thing!

But the thing to remember is I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new purchase and that means that it may just be a good spring break. Of course from here on out I will be neck deep in my dissertation (the goal being to finish) so don’t expect to hear from me for awhile.

My Mid-Week Vent

Ok, so most of the time I use my blog to write about knitting and what I did over the weekend, but today I am irritated at many things and so I vent. I should warn the faint of heart, but I won’t because if you are reading this then you already know my political slant.

I find it all kinds of frightening that outing a CIA spy is not considered treasonous. I mean really, are you f&^^Y& kidding me? How is that not some how treason? She was a SPY. I repeat, a SPY!!!! But no, I guess that if you are the VP you can do whatever the hell you want. You can also, it seems hire a guy who doesn’t remember what he said when and to who. I mean who in the world actually believes that Scooter Libby, who was the chief of staff for the Vice President of the United States, has such a bad memory that he can’t remember what he had been told and when? I mean really? Isn’t one of the main sticking points for holding a position like Chief of staff in the WHITE HOUSE is knowing a lot of people and remembering those people and the information they have given you?
It also scares the sh*! Out of me that the Attorney General can break the law in every imaginable way and still not resign or be booted. I mean how bad does what you did have to be that it doesn’t even fall under the purview of the Patriot Act? I mean this is an act that allows the suspension of habeas corpus, secret wiretapping and secret trials to get secret warrants with little to no evidence. So it is really telling when what you have done isn’t even legal by Patriot Act standards. And on top of that you also intimidate federal prosecutors to hold off on arresting certain people and push to arrest other before the big election. Of yes and fire those people who disagree with you. All of this and no resignation, oh and no word from the White House. WOW.
When children perish tragically in a fire, it makes no difference whatsoever if they were illegal aliens or not. No one bit of difference. Did you hear me Mr. O’Reilly? Oh yeah and 10 year old kidnapping victims most likely assaulted by the pedophile who stole him are not to blame for what has happened to them. Blame the victim is an old game, but blame the victim who is a child? Come on. I have no doubt that you are a culture warrior, but I do doubt is you have a human heart.
I would like every single hatemongering person who makes incendiary statements about homosexuals to think for just one second about how history will judge them. You know those horrible people who justified lynching and fought segregation with their ignorant and racist speech? That is you in 10 years; students will see those comments and wonder at how people could actually treat other human beings that way. Discrimination is discrimination; it is not justified because you say so. You don’t like someone lifestyle? Deal with it because no one should be discriminated against because some small faction of people can’t read the Bible correctly.
I think that is enough for now, I will probably have an FBI file by morning, so if you don’t here from me again, try me at Gitmo.

The good, the bad, and...well you know

Yes, yes, yes it has been a crazy week that has vacillated between being super cool and fun and driving me to drink copious amount of alcohol and toying with the idea of chucking it all and running away with the circus. And the best part is, it’s only Wednesday. So what’s a girl to do? Bitch on her blog it seems. But let’s start with the good.

On Saturday we went to a dinner party (which is turns out adults do a lot and, depending on the people you eat with, much more fun they I ever thought there would be) and we met some new super cool people. And we all drunkenly decided that we needed to have a karaoke party, since I, for some reason have two karaoke machines. How does a girl with absolutely no musical skills have two karaoke machines? Well because I like to sing, even though I am awful at it, Jeff bought me a stand alone machine last year, which I plug in and play when Jeff’s not home. And then in Philli over Christmas break Jennie told me about this cool game you can play on the X-Box, Karaoke Revolution which comes with its own mic and you get points and stuff for singing on key, and you can go head to head with someone else in competition. This is the best because you just have to hit the right note, it doesn’t matter what it sounds like. And Jeff is happy with it because it is the only X-Box game I will play. But I digress. The decision was that I would bring the machines, Jeff would make perogies and we would have a fun party.

Then on Tuesday we had a speaker at school for the Black history month convocation. It was Alfre Woodard, an actress that you may recognize from Scrooged or her new gig Desperate Housewives. Now I will admit that I was not too excited about rearranging my syllabus to take my class to a speech by some actress. I mean if it had been academic or something no problem, but an actress? But I did it and I actually really enjoyed her speech. I think that she really surprised people who thought she was just going to give a nice little speech. Instead she railed against the war in Iraq and the way in which this administration is ignoring the poor and disenfranchised in this country to make a train wreck out of another. And she appealed to the students to make their mark, to stand up for those who can not because they are the future. She ended by reciting a Langston Hughes poem which she did beautifully (duh she us an actress). It was great fun, but I think she surprised people with such an overtly political speech. And the students enjoyed it, which was really the point.

And the bad side? Well I won’t get into it now, and I wouldn’t discuss some of it on this blog. Let’s just say that it starts with the pile of stuff on my desk at work that needs to be graded and end with me banging my head against a door because people are driving me crazy, but again I won’t name names, that would be a bit dangerous. But let’s suffice it say that I will just sit here with my cocktail and try to forget today every happened with a couple of mindless hours of American Idol.

Moving on...

And that is what I am doing, the Bears lost the Super Bowl, but we have next year and only a few more months before Cubbie spring training. So we will move on…..

I thought that it has been over a month since our trip to Philli and I never posted pics! I would like to point out before the viewing that the night before we left J and I fell sick with the babyflu. Truly I do not know who got me sick, but there were three babies and no students so someone needed to take the blame. This means that we had a 14 hour drive with two sick people downing strange blue cold-buster. Actually the drive wasn’t that bad, but I did have a scary day when I realized that my voice was going, going gone. I blame the flu, but it also might have had something to do with the late night of drinking the first night we got there! But I gave my paper, it was well received, met up with some friends that I have not seen in a while, had some drinks and saw some stuff.

When we got to Philli I had luncheon to go to, but after that we walked around the city a bit. One of the first things I decided we need to see what Betsy Ross’s house, and I made Jeff take the audio tour, yes he was happy with that. I liked this kitty fountain that was in the courtyard, but I honestly don’t know how Betsey would feel about the Starbuck’s across the street. That night we went to dinner with L. We walked around until we found someplace that looked good, but once inside Fork we realized that this was one of those hippier than cool, everyone wearing black place. I bet that they served little food too, and everyone knows how I feel about little food. So we went one block over and eat at this great Italian place. There was wine and fun had by all, and after dinner we went back to the hotel bar and more friends.

The next day we had another round of things to see, but before that we had to get our picture taken with this guy. Turns out we were too late to see Independence Hall, so we headed over to the Constitution museum, which is very cool. It’s fun for kids, or people like me who really just like taking pictures with bronzed statues. My favorite part of the museum was the screens through history to tell you who could vote, J says he could vote from the get go if he counted the car as property.

The next day I gave my presentation and then we saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I have to say that after the long line and the security the Liberty Bell looked, well how should I say this, kind of fake. I mean it looked like the bronze was sprayed on or dipped in plastic. Independence hall though was more fun. We saw the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed, which was pretty cool. And then we walked around to point out all the places that Nicholas Cage stood in National Treasure. And we were not the only ones doing so, which makes me wonder exactly what kind of dork we are! But in all the drink was fun and if you make the trip here is an interesting tip, every road stop on the PA turnpike has a Starbucks, enjoy.

SuperBowl Bound.....

So there is definitely a lot to catch up on in my life, or really not so much but I am sure people would like to see some pics of the trip to Philly. But the big news ‘round here is, of course, that my bears are going to the SUPERBOWL!!!! Yes, I said the Chicago Bears. Are. Going. To. The. Superbowl. To put this in perspective, the last time that the Chicago Bears went to the Superbowl I was 10 years old. It was so long ago, as a matter of fact, that I distinctly remember my brother and I taping the superbowl shuffle on a blank audio tape off of the radio. We knew every word because my mom would play the radio in the morning when we were eating breakfast and getting ready for school. And after 21 long years of suffering as a Bears fan, we are back. This has been one hell of a season, we couldn’t have it be easy could we? Of course not, that is not the Chicago way. We had to backtrack and flounder, try to give it away and then take it back. This season the Bears took a page from the Cardiac Cubs. But Sunday’s game against the Saints was awesome. There was no wishy-washy performance, we wanted it more. It was a perfect Chicago game, snow flurrying down to coat the field and players and Soldier Field shaking like a snow globe. It was beautiful and if you don’t think football can be beautiful, you’re a philistine and I don’t know if I want to talk with you anymore.

This of course means a few things will happen over the course of the next two weeks. There will be much smack talk between my father and me. He, a long time Colts fan has much to be happy about. The last time the Colts were in the Superbowl they were still in Baltimore and I hadn’t been born yet. So his long suffering has been very long indeed. People often ask him why the hell he is a Colts fan and the answer is simple, when he was a boy he loved Johny U (if you don’t know who that is I am surprised you’ve read this entry this long). And there will be smack talk. I called him Sunday night to say one thing, we’re coming for you. I also felt the need to warn him that he should really take down the big Colts flag he has flying in the front yard as he does live in northern Illinois, only a few scant hours from Soldier Field. And in the next few weeks I will want to throw things at the new TV more times than I can count because the same talking heads that said the Saints would win will be talking about how the Bears will never bring down Payton. All of this is in the future, but for now I am just happy because instead of waiting patiently for the baseball season to start I am planning a Superbowl party, Chicago night at our house.

Wolverines!

For some inexplicable reason I found myself watching Red Dawn this week. I am not quite sure what made me set the remote down at that station, but I think that people of a certain age, whose formative years were spent hating “pinkco commies” are drawn to watch widely fantastic action adventure movies where red blooded Americans fight the dirty socialists. At first I was just going to leave the TV on while I did other things around the house, but soon I found myself drawn into the same damn movie I have seen five hundred times. I am not sure why I have seen Red Dawn so many times when my husband is still stumped that I have not seen other movies that have become cultural touchstones. For example, I have never seen Top Gun, something that sends people wandering off from me shaking their heads when I tell them. But Red Dawn I have seen a lot, and after watching it yet again I found realized some interesting anthropological points.

First, when watching Red Dawn one is prompted, at random times, to shout out “Wolverines!” This is usually accompanied by raising both arms up, or sometimes one arm in a power to the people fist. This continues to happen throughout the movie, no matter if no one else is in the house with you, or how much it tends to scare the cats and make the dog move from the couch to the window to get away from you. Next, one will always be filled with a hatred of any and all communists, but usually focused on the USSR. It does not seem to matter that the armies that flood Calumet City in the movie are also Cuban and Nicaraguan. It also does not seem to matter that the USSR long ago broke apart, for some reason one feels the need to find Reagan and tell him to hurry up with Star Wars because the end could come soon.

Red Dawn is a silly movie, who can buy that Howell kid as a bad ass, but I think it is also a powerful cultural artifact. It paints a picture of a cultural milieu that was so prevalent that people who were immersed in the Cold War can be brought right back in time. And yet it struck me and how quickly those ideologies were gone. My students don’t remember a cold war; they laugh at old movies that blame communism for a myriad of things. But somehow that hasn’t stopped me from randomly yelling out “Wolverines” all week long. The cats scatter, the dog leaves and my husband shakes his head.

Finally some knitting........

So I know that I have not updated in a while, it seems to be a common occurrence around these parts. I have been working very hard and writing my brains out. I want this damn dissertation finished soon. And because of this and the working thing I have not had much time to knit. Although I did find time to cut off all of my hair! Pics will soon follow. I did start a new scarf. As the weather has gotten cooler and I needed a coat, I realized that the cool brocade coat I bought last year did not have scarf to go with it. So I went through my pattern books and found one I liked, and a pretty blue yarn that I thought would go nice. This also gave me an excuse to use the wooden needles I bought in Sept. at the art fair. They are hand whittled and were like $5, so that made me happy as well. I decided on a lace pattern that is delicate enough to look good with the coat, but also warm enough for the WV winter (although probably not the IL one). I am progressing nicely; I tend to knit when I need a break and have a few minutes from writing or working. I am also including some pics of the new furniture. I love it, it is microfiber, so anything on it comes right off with a little water. And since this is the first furniture that we have that was not handed down to us, I have exiled the animals from it. They don’t love it but they will get used to it. I will update on the scarf and some thought I have for Christmas gifts. I think everyone should get a homemade gift at least once, so when I have them that is what they will get. I am also open for suggestions from anyone. That is all for now, I am must get back to work!

And now for something different...

So usually I stay away from political commentary, at least on my blog, but since I have no knitting updates (but I did get a chapter out), I would just like to make a few comments.

If you have the chance catch the documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Currently this one HBO, and anyone with on demand can order it and I would highly recommend it. Spike Lee directs this film about Katrina and New Orleans. It is beautiful and sad and compelling. And they have some awesome interviews, I especially liked the one with Soladad O’Brien (who I used to watch the Today show for). If you weren’t still pissed of at the Bush administration (and if you aren’t, well that’s a problem for another day), then you will be when you see the failure of Bush and the Louisiana state government to work together and get people the hell out. For some reason we can air drop water to Taiwan within twenty-four hours, but we can’t get to the Superdome? And what the hell does Homeland Security do? Even if you think that people should have gotten out, that the failure was at the local level you have to admit that you too are a bit worried. Worried that the lesson from Katrina is that the federal government can not evacuate a major urban city in less than a week, in the face of disaster. What if a bomb went off in Chicago or Atlanta or Dallas? What we saw if that no one will get out, you will sit in some shelter in place in hopes that you can survive long enough for someone, anyone to come get you. But I digress, just watch the movie.

On the knitting front, I wish that I could show you what I have been up to, but what I have been up to is writing and no knitting. But I am close to finishing the blanket that I am crocheting for my new niece and I will post pics when I am done. On that notes I also would like to retract the comment I made about my mother in law. She is a wonderful and witty woman who would never kill me for something as like crocheting. Especially since she knows she would get Jeff back. Of course I hope she will forgive me for my comments, but I know she will because she has a big heart and she is so, so pretty.

I promise to post some pics of the new bath and kitchen soon, I have to get Jeff to clean up again because I am just too busy trying to write a damn book!

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

So I should have written sooner. I should have done a lot of things in the last few weeks that I have not, but that is neither here nor there and we should just suck it up and move on. The truth is that I have been waiting to find the cord that will connect the camera to my computer, and that has not happened. I wanted to post some pics, but that is not going to happen right now either. Oh well, life has gone on. I am enjoying the whole full time job thing. I have an office that is all mine, not one I have to share with one or more grad students. I also have two windows, so be very jealous. Of course with that comes students who find me and department meetings and more grading. I’m confused of course because I have taught four classes lots of times, most of the time through grad school, but now it seems more real. I think maybe I just need another month to get used to it. But I am having fun and getting a lot of work done in said office which is leaving my evenings free to paints some of the house and work on my dissertation, which I will complete by Dec. if it kills me, and it may just.

On the knitting front I have finished Steph’s blanket and need to get it out to her with a few things for the new baby, due any day now, and something for G-Lo. I will post pics later when I find that damn cord. I will also post pics of the awesome job that we did painting the bathroom and the sideboard. For those that remember our nice, but dated sideboard circa 1985, we painted it black and changed the pulls and now it looks like something cool you might purchase at pottery barn (which I would probably never buy from because it is tres’ expensive!), but painting something I already have? Very cool. So I will post pictures when I finish because both look very cool.

I will not, however, post pics of the baby sweater that I have been working on. Let’s review for a moment shall we? First I made the back of the little pink sweater, which was pretty. Then I started the side. Now I obviously lost my mind in between because I made the back for a newborn, but then made the side for a 1 year old. So, you guessed it, I had to frog it back, which I suck at so I just undid the whole damn thing and now I have to re-knit. Oh well, it’s small, so it is not that bad. What I am proud of is the cool blanket that took me much too long to finish, but with the leftover yarn I have crocheted G-Lo a small blanket that is just her size. I also crocheted a blanket for the new baby, but don’t anyone tell my mother-in-law because she may kill me!

I promise to update soon with pics of the new bath and sideboard soon, it has been a long week dealing with students, but we don’t talk about that here!

Is it 1993?

This is the thought I had last week when I was driving to school at 7:15 am for my 8 am class and all of a sudden Depeche Mode came on the radio. For a moment I thought I was warped back in time to senior year of high school. I almost panicked, but then reality set back in and I was a bit irritated that Depeche Mode would be a “flashback song,” I am not that old!

School started last week and so far so good. I like my classes and I LOVE my office. It is my own office, I have to share with no one and it is right across the hall from Jeff. We are at the very end of the hall and are awaiting a hanging sign that says “The Pietruszynskis’” with two arrows. I am decorating my office, but a little at a time because I would like it to be just right and I am still trying to figure out how. Of course the thing that I really want I can not have! I want a white desk caddy that is wood and has those three little places for pictures in the front. I remember that I saw them everywhere a few years back, but now the only place I can find them is Pottery Barn! I swear that I have looked online and in every store within the city limits of Charleston, and some outside of it! I mean all I want is a silly desk caddy that I won’t pay an arm and a leg for (hello pottery barn, I know you’re snooty, but come on!) but no, I am thwarted at every attempt!!!! But other then that, love the new office.

One other thing that has taken me back in time is the undeniable fact that Friday, I got bangs. Now they are not across the forehead bangs, they are layered in the rest of my hair, and they look very cute. But the last time I had bangs I curled them up and hairsprayed the hell out of them while I ratted. Yes, mall hair. All of these things have set me a bit on edge, am I in 2006? Did I wormhole it back to ’93? Or maybe I need more coffee!

I have some knitting to update later, but still haven’t charged the camera!

Things you can no longer do after 30...

These would include, but are not limited to: splitting a bottle of vodka with a friend while getting drunkity drunk drunk, smoking far too many cigarettes while doing so, thinking I can still do three pirouettes in a row and eating too many pizza rolls both in the above mentioned drunkity drunk drunk state. There are others to add, but my mother reads this blog. But it has been a fun few days visiting with an old friend. I had forgotten how much the mountains freaked me out when I first moved here, now I whip around windy roads without a care for the shear drop or the signs for falling rocks. Frankly I don’t hold much with those signs, I have not seen one rock fall since I have been here! I had also not thought too much about my house sitting on the downside of the mountain where my second story sits eye level with the street, but seeing it through new eyes has brought a freshness to WV that I have not had since I moved.

I am some what unpacked here, the kitchen and the bath are set up, but in the other rooms boxes are stacked neatly with the things that go in that room, waiting patiently for me (and yes it is me, my hubby would just put everything in the wrong place) to put them away. But tonight I am wiped and so it will be an evening of Firefly DVDs and lounging, I will start on my study tomorrow because I need to get that damn diss finished. But there is also laundry to do, a dog in desperate need of bathing and yesterday I finally got cable!!! So what the hell is a girl to do? Waste time, it seems updating her blog.

That is an insult to Monkeys!

Ok so yesterday Jeff and I took like the millionth trip to Target because when you move you some how need crap that you don’t already have, and because your house is a mess and you have boxes everywhere you can never remember everything so you have to go back a lot. Anyway, so there we were turning into the Shops at Trace Fork, because stores along the street just will not work, suburban America needs multiple stores in one area with parking lots that mean you will spend longer in line to get out then actually in the store. But back to my story, so there we are trying to turn when we notice that there are two men standing in the grassy knoll, if you will, by the opening and they are, ready for this? Holding two large, almost as big as them, blow up monkeys who are wearing mortarboards and holding diplomas that say PhD (the monkeys that is, not the men). They men are waving the hands of the monkeys at passerby’s and holding signs that read “Evolution is a lie.”

Well. I didn’t quite know what to do but my first reaction was to laugh my ass off. And by the time I had stopped we were at Target and I had not thought to take a picture or yell something clever yet snappy, something like “Nice Monkey!” The best part if as we walked to the car and put away our booty I was asking Jeff what exactly he thought I should yell out the window when the van next to us opened up and out came the men. I don’t know if they heard me or not, but I hope they did since they ran away before I could get a picture!

On another note I did a lot of unpacking today because my sweet Rho is coming for a visit on the spur of the moment. We have a whole day planned and I will take pics if I can find the box with the charger in it! As I was unpacking today I came across some photo albums I haven’t looked through in awhile, although I can tell you when I got a digital camera because the photos in the album stop there! There were some great ones from year one and two of ISU, and I had a great time laughing through them. A few things struck me, one I look good in long hair, and two my memory is either completely gone or photographic, there is no in between. Nothing is hazy, I either remember a time or I don’t. And I obviously have no concept of time. When looking at pics from year one I kept thinking, where the hell is Nikki? It didn’t occur to me at first that she is not there because she literally was not there, I guess I always think of her around because she is so much fun that I have transported her in time. Hope you don’t mind sweetie!

The best and worst of the walk down memory lane was when I came across pictures of a friend who was recently called away way, way, too soon. I laughed as I cried because I could just imagine the comments he was making as I was taking the pictures, in his dulcet tones and complete southern charm. Berto you were truly a southern gentleman and the kindest spirit I have ever known. I can only imagine that you were taken too soon because you were too good for this world. We miss you.