Edgy Mama

I’m beaching it, so there won’t be many updates here for the next week or so. But you should be out in the sun playing as well, instead of reading dull bloggies.

Ah, summer…

Or at least, I’ve been waiting for. The first Edgy Mama T-shirt!

Specs: long-sleeved, 65 percent poly, 35 percent cotton, soft, clingy, stretchy, feminine styling, dye-sublimation imaging, comfy. The type of shirt I wanted runs small. I’m wearing a large in the photo, and I’m a medium-sized female. I also have XLs, which are a bit bigger. The Tees are $20 each, which includes shipping. If you or your Edgy Mama wants one, click on this button to pay via Paypal (there’s another button in the left sidebar).

And e-mail me at janusatannefittenglenndotcom to give me further instructions (size, mailing addy, tell me why you’re an Edgy Mama).

Special incentive: if you or your EM e-mails me a photo of one of you wearing my T-shirt, I’ll post it here!!

Believe it or not, it’s taken a team to produce this Tee. I need to thank original designer Eddo, Mt. X designer Jon Teeple, logo repairman Eric Sopp, and the sweethearts at Halcyon Printing, Mark and Shannon. Also, I owe Matt a Tee for winning last year’s T-shirt design contest, which I never followed through on.

So, my business manager (E-spouse) thinks these Tees are a money sink. Prove him wrong! Order yours today! Then send me a photo of it adorning your hot bod!

The fam went skiing yesterday at Cataloochee over in Maggie Valley. It was the girl’s second time and the boy’s first. Both kids participated in the pricy, yet somewhat loose ski school in the morning, then took a couple green runs with us, then circled the bunny slope 600 times. Those carpet lifts rock. Remember the rope tows of yore that used to rip the palms off your gloves while they jerked you off your skis? Sometimes, technology rocks.

Anyway, after skiing quite a bit in my late 20s and early 30s, I’ve only been on skis a few times in the past 10 years. I was a little shaky at first, but the body memory returned quickly. The sad part is that I had the oldest and longest skis on the mountain. Typically, there’s always some 60-something-year-old guy with ancient skis, looking all grizzled and old-fashioned. Yesterday that person was me. When I was a regular skiier, it was cool to have long skis. Long skis equated to skiing experience. Now, everyone has these short, flexible, swishy skis–even the really good skiers. It may be time to retire my 20-year-old K2s. Particularly since I noticed that the ski resort uses its old skis to make fences–and a pair just like mine were nailed up to the boards, keeping folks out of the woods. Damn.

Oh yeah, and I’m sore as hell today. I also got sunburned. I’m always so cautious about sun (melanoma survivor), but I totally forgot about the snow reflection quotient. I slather on sunscreen most mornings, but forgot yesterday in our rush to get out of the house.

Overall, the ski adventure was great fun. And there was decent snow for North Carolina after our “storm” this week. I’m off to swallow some ibuprofen!

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.

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!

I’m off to Atlanta for my, gasp, 25th high school reunion. Damn.

I’d planned to hunt down some photos from high school, scan them, and put them up on the bloggie. But did I mention I’ve been single parenting all week?

I’d planned to get a pedicure and shave my legs, but that hasn’t happened either. Luckily, my middle sister will be in Atlanta as well (it’s her 20th reunion), and she went shopping for me yesterday and told me exactly what to pack and what I’m wearing. Sisters rock.

In reality, I have no clue what I’ve packed.

Anyway, I’m taking my camera, so I’ll have some fun 25 years later photos. Some of which I might be able to compare to high school shots. One day.

Have a great weekend!

So far, October has been a better month than September, and yes, I know it’s only the third day of the month. And I have a cold. Which I could blame on Fliss, but I know I contracted it from my 6-year-old, who has been snotty for several days.

But at least, so far this month, I’ve had no run-ins with the police or any criminals who want to steal from me. E-spouse thinks it’s funny now to ask me at the end of the day: “Get in any trouble today?” Not until you asked that question, guy.

Several of you guys have lamented the lack of literature on the bloggie lately. I have been reading, but I haven’t had much energy to write about reading. But I’ll throw you a few tidbits.

My best read of the summer was “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. The book is a depressingly realistic post-apocalyptic survival story. And it’s fricking beautifully written. I cried three times while reading it. I had to go back and read certain sentences over and over. On practically every page, McCarthy describes the gray blandness of the new, ash-filled world, yet every time, on every page, he uses new and different ways to describe the same views. Incredible.

At the moment I’m reading Elizabeth McCracken’s “All Over but Niagara Falls,” which lots of bookie friends told me to read. I’m enjoying it, although it doesn’t have the combination of great writing and page-turning appeal that I truly love.

Next to my side of the bed is a small bookshelf, which holds about 40 books, depending on how I pile them. This is my “to read” bookshelf. I like to lie in bed and gaze at the titles and wonder which book I’ll get to devour next. It’s almost as good as lying next to shelves filled with candy. If I didn’t have kids and small doggies that would be tempted by any visible sweets, I might set up the top shelf of the bookcase with candy, while leaving the bottom for books. How great could life be?

Anyway, I was thinking that I’d let you, my readers, pick the next novel I read. I’m going to give you three titles, and each of you gets to vote for one in the comments, then I’ll read that book, and, I promise, write a review of it on the bloggie.

Vote for one of the following by number or title:

1. After Dark by Haruki Murakami.
2. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky.
3. Cataloochee by Wayne Caldwell.

Caldwell, of course, is the local writer. I saw him sweeping in front of his store just yesterday. Just realized that the other two novels are translations, one from Japanese and one from French. All received good reviews.

So, friends, which book should be next for Edgy?

Beer goddess and Captain A, originally uploaded by edgygrrrl.

in my fave T-shirt of the moment with fellow beer lover and long-time EM aficiando, Captain America. After writing the article about local microbreweries, I do, indeed, know quite a bit about beer. I rarely give biz shout-outs on the bloggie, but, for free beer, I will. So here’s to Bruisin’ Ales, our lovely, local speciality beer shop, for donating a keg to Saturday night’s Blogaversathon party. Thanks, y’all!