Edgy Mama

Like everyone else in N.C. (except Bill), we’re sad about the Tarheels’ loss in the Final Four. Seemed like the worse game I’d seen them play all season. Still not sure what happened.

But we’re happy because baseball season’s started. My girl started softball practice this week. We started watching pro baseball on the computer. And yesterday, I took the kids to the first Sunday Asheville Tourists’ game.

What a family scene! Great to see so many people, so many kids, so much excitement. I love that they let the kids run the bases afterwards.

Here’s a snapshot of my kids: they both ran and ran and ran around the bases. Then the girl decided to slide into home base. The boy came after her, but he decided to stop and clean home base because he couldn’t see it. Both left the field covered with red dust.

Also, for up-to-the-minute details about the Tourists and Tourist ball games, visit sports writer Jason McGill’s blog, On Base with the Asheville Tourists (Jason, you might want to update this morning!).

My plan for engaging in extra reading time over this holiday break has been thwarted by two things: my inability to meet all of my work deadlines before the break, and my volunteering to care for my youngest sister’s youngest child for three days.

Robert, aged 21 months, is an adorable kid–flexible, laid back, sweet, a bit of a ham. He also didn’t sleep a whole lot last night because of both a cough and because he’s 21 months and we made him sleep in a pack & play in a strange place. Poor guy. So, of course, he ended up in our bed for most of the night. I’d forgotten what toddler-induced sleep deprivation feels like. It feels like I’ve got sand rubbing against the back of my corneas, and I’m not sure if I should be operating any large machinery for a couple of days.

Also, Robert is in that curious toddler stage where everything must be explored–including the toilet, my printer, the kitchen drawers, and all other potentially dangerous non-baby proofed areas of my home. So far, the damage has been minimal, although he’s discovered that anything he throws will be retrieved by the dog, which he finds hilarious. So things like my kids’ toys, his bottle, and the sofa pillows have been frequently flying through the air. Even the dog is sleep-deprived.

But Robert is the sweetest, funniest, most relaxed little kid ever. He loves to snuggle, lets anyone comfort him, including my 6-year-old son, and sings tuneful babbling songs all day. He’s a bit scared of Rocky, but Rocky weighs as much as he does, so that’s understandable. When Robert first saw the sumo cat, he started crying, pointing, and yelling, “No, no, no.” I realized that he thought I’d allowed a bobcat in the house.

For the first time in three years, I have a baby gate on the stairs, a high chair in the dining room, and a pile of diapers in the bedroom. But guess what? I get to give him back in two days. I think this may be the best gift my sister’s ever given me.

Yep, it’s the day that Enviro-spouse, otherwise known as Cowboy Drew, turns 40. Happy, happy birthday!

Everyone has headed back to their homes. Thanksgiving dinner was a roaring success. My turkey rocked, thanks to brining and stuffing with rosemary from my garden (see below–nice comments about the bird’s bush, girls). The other two dishes that everyone loved are from my family recipe archives: cornbread/sausage dressing and cranberry-apple crisp. The crisp is easy to prepare, while the dressing is a labor of love. Both were delicious. My failure this year was the gravy: it was tasty but too thin.

The day after Thanksgiving was full with our annual Christmas tree farm visit and the decorating of said fraser fir. My boy is all about the Christmas tree and did the bulk of the decorating. Unfortunately, he’s not quite old enough to put the lights on, which continues to be my baliwick, but which I managed to take on gracefully this year (in other words, I didn’t cuss the entire time at the tangles of lights). Mom’s milk punch helped (there are a couple milk punch recipes in the comments below somewhere–sorry, I never can manage internal links).

I love having a Christmas tree in my house. I love everything about it: the smell, the lights, the kid-made decorations, the gifted decorations, even the constant pine needle sluff that gets tracked all over the place. Mostly, I love that the tree sits next to my desk in our living room and I get to look at it, and hide behind it, for over a month.

In other Edgy Mama news, if you want to be entertained and learn more about penises, go back and read some of the comments on the circumcision column I wrote last week for Mountain Xpress. Most of the comments support my stance on the issue, but two of the male commenters fell into duelling penises. It’s basically: “my circumcised penis is better,” “no, my uncircumcised penis is better,” etc., etc. Damn, men are cute.

Coming tomorrow in my Mountain Xpress column, a much less controversial subject than this week: yoga pants.

Actually, I’m relatively calm right now, although I spent most of the day running around like a marmot on crack, trying to clean the house (half clean), grocery shop (done, I think), finish my work for the week (still need to write my EM column), and ignore my kids (did okay on this chore). Except I had to take the girl to the doctor, which was a two hour adventure, because no one could see her at the downtown office, so I had to drive her out to Enka, then wait. Then she had a strep test. Then we waited. The doc said it was positive. I asked for a shot for her. We waited. She got the shot and was immensely tough and brave, because she just is all that. And more. Then we waited to make sure she didn’t have a reaction to the shot. Then we drove home.

So, I have nine folks coming to dinner at the pnav tomorrow night, half of whom I don’t know. Some family of mine (Mom), some family of E-spouse’s (cousin), cousin’s significant other, her parents, and her parents’ friends. Actually, I randomly met one of the parents’ friends at the NC Writers Network Conference last weekend. This woman came up to me after I’d asked a question during one of the panels and said, “I think I’m having Thanksgiving dinner at your house in a few days.”

Oops, the cuz and SO are here, so I’ve got to go entertain. More tomorrow. I hope.

Happy turkey day to all!

My dear older cuz, Wozie, had the opening for her art pieces at Timothy Tew Galleries in Atlanta last night. Here’s some of her remarkable work.

She’s been an artist since we were little, but now she’s really coming into her own. I hear the opening was a great success with lots of sales. Way to go, girl!

I have a small “Wozie” in my dining room (actually, it belongs to my girl), which I imagine is worth quite a bit now. Of course, it’s worth much more to me, because it’s a piece of my cuz that I get to look at every day.

What my young cousin is doing in boarding school. He’s the talented guitarist! Thanks to “proud” and very edgy mama, Wozie, for the linkee.