Catch-up post

At the Memorial Day cookout, we were talking to our neighbors Bob and Tamara, parents of Alice, and they were talking about their first apartment together. Turns out they lived in Audobon Downs, our first apartment together, at the same time we did. I have met tons of people over the years who have lived in that complex. It was a crappy little two bedroom apartment, but we stayed for three years. Bob and Tamara were what SkooterPie and I called "Pool People," which meant that they hung out by the pool drinking a lot. We were not pool people, so we never met them. But we all sat around reminiscing about Audobon Downs and the wacky apartment manager and the train that made it impossible to hear anything while it was going by and the gunshots we could hear from nearby neighborhoods and my stolen car and their car that got broken into. Good Times.

The afternoon before the cookout, Jesse went over to Ashlyn and Katelyn's house to watch a movie. When Jesse suddenly showed up back at home, I knew something was up. I asked him if he had gotten into trouble. He said no. I told him he'd better fess up because I'd rather hear it from him than Ashlyn and Katelyn's dad. He suddenly remembered that he had dropped a game controller and had messed up the game they were playing and that their dad had told him that he was really disappointed in Jesse. So, knowing that it was probably half the story and that the real reason why he was home was much worse, I sent him back to apologize for whatever he had done and to tell them that he was not allowed to visit inside their home until he learned how to behave himself. My instincts were right. I saw their dad at the party later, and Jesse had been sent home after throwing a controller down and then jerking it away from another child which caused the XBox 360 to fall off a shelf which broke off the top of the game. The damage was easily fixed, but Jesse is most definitely banned from playing inside ANYONE's home for the forseeable future. Little punk.

But overall, we did have a good time at the party. The food was great. Several people brought guitars and played music. The kids entertained themselves in the pool. We've got a nice group of people around us.

Other weekend highlights: Mom came down Saturday and stayed with us until Monday afternoon. She and Jesse went to a movie Saturday night while SkooterPie and I had dinner with Ron and Bethany. That dinner will definitely go down in history as the most expensive meal the four of us will ever have together barring a future lotto win. But thanks to a very hefty gift certificate, the cost was essentially the tip, which could still feed a small family for a week. Yeah, the white, liberal guilt is still haunting me a little bit four days later. I'm trying to think of something nice to do for Ron and Bethany to thank them for their generosity, and I think I have a good idea. Tee hee. Mom and I did some shopping on Sunday and had a celebrity sighting in the Target parking lot. I was hunting for a parking space and saw Hustle & Flow movie director Craig Brewer and his wife loading Target loot into a very cute Mustang GT. The only other thing I did of note was wash my car. But, overall that was a very full weekend.

Oh, and congrats to Ron and Susan for winning Trivia night last night at The Flying Saucer. They so totally rock.

Pics from Memorial Day

The Parents of Douglass Ave. got together and had a cookout Monday:

My kid is so excited that school's almost over that he's singing about it. "I'm so glad, I'm almost out of school!" he sang, running through the house this morning. He only goes half-day tomorrow, and then that's it until August 14. Although SkooterPie isn't singing loudly about the end of the school year, I know that he's happy too.

So Tiger basketball player Shawne Williams has hired an agent for the upcoming NBA draft, ending all hope of him returning to the U of M to play for a second year. Honestly, I wish him the best. I don't blame him for entering the draft. He has his family to think of, a family that is apparently very poor. I hope he has a great NBA career.

File under "I thought we were through with that in pre-school": A kid bit Jesse earlier this week at Lindenwood. Apparently Jesse annoyed a classmate to the point where he was practically daring the kid to bite him. So, I, of course, fussed at Jesse.

I was prepped for a Jesse smackdown mentally anyway, because all I knew initially was that there had been an incident at Lindenwood and that a parent had left a voicemail for us saying she was "shocked" about what had happened. When SkooterPie told me this, I broke out into a sweat. "What has our son done now?" I asked. My imagination supplied some nice scenarios: He's shown his penis to a girl. Or he's drawn a swastika on his body. Or he's used a racial slur. Or he's stolen something. Now, I know that I'm not raising a perverted Nazi bigot theif. But, then again, I'm not with him 24 hours a day, and I sometimes wonder what he's learning out in the world when he's away from me. So, sweating profusely, I return the parent's phone call. And she tells me that she's mortified to report that her son bit my child. And I breathed a huge sigh of relief and practically thanked her for not telling me that my child had violated/offended/harmed her child in some way. Whew! Dodged that bullet. For now.

What are people in my hometown naming their babies this week?
OK, it's actually over the last two weeks because I didn't post names last week, but I'm caught up now.

Boys:
Elijah Amos
Raiden Michael
Jesus Manuel
Henry Jay
Matthew Caelan
Dylan Chase
Kaine Matthew
Christian Alexander

Girls:
Lola Elizabeth
Nancy Berenice
Alizabeth Normajean
Jordan Alexis
Trazidie Marie
Hailey Ann
Saydie Denys

Man, girl names just get weirder and weirder in my hometown. What are these people thinking?

After work last night I attended Trivia Night at The Flying Saucer with Ron and his sister, Susan. I had fun and didn't get home too late. We didn't play very well though. We had a lot of answers that were in the ballpark and a few that were just flat out wrong. My biggest contribution was the answer to this question: Who was Time magazine's first Man of the Year in 1927? I pulled Charles Lindbergh out of my butt, and it was right!

Sadie made it home safely last night, by the way, in case anyone was worried about her. She was exhausted.

Mosquito season has definitely arrived in M-town. Number of bites so far: four. I woke up in the middle of the night and absolutely clawed my ankles.

Our dog, Sadie Girl, made her annual escape this morning from the back yard and is happily roaming around our neighborhood right now. She is a bad, bad girl. She'll get tired and thirsty and will be waiting for us on the front porch when she's good and ready. But she will not come to us until then.

When we got home last night, the neighbor across the street was doing yard work with the help of about four other neighbor kids. Jesse soon joined in. I peaked out the door to check on him and saw Mrs. Singh standing in front of her house. I haven't seen her since the end of last summer and assumed that she had been visiting India. I walked over to talk to her and learned that she's been in the hospital for the last two months. She looked really thin but said she's feeling better now. We talked for a while, and she confessed that she'd seen Jesse a few days ago but hadn't recognized him. We used to walk over and visit with her when he was little. I loved going in her house, which always smelled delicious. She told me to start coming over to visit more now that the weather is warm is again. I told her that I would love for her to teach me how to make curry chicken and palak paneer, and she seemed happy that I was interested in learning. I'm going to check on her more often this summer because she lives alone. She's the nicest lady and doesn't mind all the kids playing in her yard. There's a tree stump in the corner of her yard, and the kids use it like a table and hang out around it. I have really missed seeing and talking to her.

Today is the first day of the last week of school for Jesse and SkooterPie. They are both really looking forward to the summer break. For Jesse it means attending summer camp at Lindenwood. For SkooterPie it means taking a summer class at the U of M and doing mucho yard work, as well as continuing work on the garage/studio. For me it means getting to sleep a little later each morning and not having to yell and scream in order to get everyone out the door on time and not having to worry about homework and reading logs and school fundraisers and whatnot. So even though I still have to work during the summer, it's still a break, and I'm looking forward to it too. And in less than a month, I'll be in Florida. Yippee!

News!

Update on the SkooterPie job hunt front: He accepted a job this morning teaching art at a local high school. That is a reason to celebrate if there ever was one. Woohoo! Hopefully the high schoolers will be better than the middle schoolers, who nearly drove my sweet husband out of his mind.

So, after my work thing last night, I was walking to my parking garage and it suddenly hit me that Tuesday night is Trivia Night at the Flying Saucer, and that meant my friend Ron was probably still Downtown. So I called him and sure enough he and his sister were finishing up their game so I backtracked and met up with them. I had fun hanging out with them and may start going weekly over the summer. They seem to think that I'll add brainpower to the team (and if the questions are about Harry Potter, 1980s pop music or reality TV, they could be right), but they don't really need me. The two of them came in second last night among teams typically made up of about five people.

Minor morning medical emergency #371: Greely Bob scratched Jesse right under the eye this morning. I put a little bit of neosporin on the scratch, but it was in an awkward space for a bandaid so he didn’t get one of those. He was fine. After he stopped squalling anyway.

Jesse came home from Lindenwood yesterday feeling puny, and I hope he’s OK for the rest of the day because I have a work thing tonight and can’t leave work early. And SkooterPie is taking a test after work because he’s applied for a teaching job at a new school. The plan is for him to go home with his friend Jordan when her dad picks her up from Lindenwood (she lives in the neighborhood), and this is not a good day for him to get sick. Tomorrow would be MUCH better.

Jesse and I have always had these nightly “putting-Jesse-to-bed” conversations. Last night it went something like this:
“Good night, mom.”
“Good night, baby.”
“I think you’re the best mom in the world.”
“Thanks, baby. You’re a pretty cool kid. Sweet dreams and don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
“I was just about to say that.”
“OK, I’m sorry. You say the rest.”
“Dream about rainbows and butterflies and caterpillars and deer ... not beer, mom, deer. And dream about kittens and puppies.”
“OK, you dream about bunnies and balloons.”
“OW, I think you just sprained my arm because it was like this when you hugged me.”
“I’m sorry, baby. I guess I’m not the best mom in the world now.”
“No, you are. It’s OK. It’s OK. You didn’t mean to.”
“OK. If you wake up and you’re not feeling well come get me, OK?”
“What if I’m asleep and get sick?”
“You can yell for me.”
“What if I throw up on myself.”
“Don’t do that, OK?”
“Mom, I won’t know because I’ll be asleep.”
“Please, don’t throw up on yourself.”
“MOM! I won’t be able to help it. I’ll be asleep and it’ll be like bleargh (he mimes vomit going all over his face).”
“I won’t come in here if that happens. I’ll just send Sadie in to lick it up.”
“Ew. Gross, mom.”
“You’re the one talking about throwing up on yourself.”

I really treasure those quiet moments we spend together.

Weekend recap:

Friday night: Dinner with Ron and Bethany at Memphis Pizza Cafe. Followed by a trip to Macy's so SkooterPie could buy my Mother's day gift (a purse by my request; I love it).
Saturday: Wow. I didn't do anything except clean house. Didn't go anywhere. Didn't read anything. I cleaned house and watched TV. Lame-o.
Sunday: "Mom, I think there should be a kid's day." "Jesse, it's kid's day every day." That sentiment aside, Jesse gave me a lovely flower that he potted himself. It included a lovely pot that he painted. I didn't do anything Sunday either. I guess I was feeling like a homebody. I was also feeling very hormonal, which is probably TMI. But it's my blog, and if you don't like it, go away. Hmmm. Maybe I'm still a touch hormonal.

A wedding picture

I still need to get my photos developed, but one of the bridesmaids sent us some that she took. That's me with April and Nita, the 'maid from Minneapolis, goofing off before the wedding.

This could very well shape up to be an international weekend for us. The Greek Festival held annually at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church is Saturday. I have never gotten to attend this event, and I would really like to go this year. And also this weekend, the India Culture Center and Temple is hosting their Discover India event. My mouth is watering already.

Memphis has a sizeable Indian population, and there are a lot of people from India living around our neighborhood (because of the U of M). I see them playing cricket in the school's parking lot on the weekends. I've met a lot of people from India over the years, including our neighbor, Mrs. Singh, who still wears the traditional sari. She's a sweet lady. Anyway, knowing these people from India is how I learned that my name means Star in Hindi.

The new downtown Farmer's Market also starts this weekend, and I'd like to go there too. Three very cool things to do this weekend. And we're starting the weekend off having dinner tonight with Ron and his lovely wife, Bethany, at Memphis Pizza Cafe.

A conversation with my son:

Jesse: "What are you cooking for dinner?"
Me: "Barbecue chicken."
Jesse: "BARBECUE CHICKEN! I haaaaaaate barbecue chicken. Can't we order pizza? I don't like barbecue chicken. Mom, you know I don't like barbecue chicken. We just had barbecue chicken the other day. We eat it all the time. I don't want it. Can't you make me something else?"
Me: "I can't believe that moms only get one day out of the whole year."

May should be Mother's Month. With gifts for us every day. I also happen to think that I should get gifts on Jesse's birthday as well.

Jesse had one of these meltdowns in the kitchen this weekend after I had told him in quick succession to get dressed, brush his teeth and clean his room. He whined and complained for 10 minutes in great dramatic fashion about me making him do so many things at once until he finally finished up laying down in the middle of the kitchen floor. SkooterPie and I stood there listening to him until he had finished, looked at each other and then started clapping for him. "Well played, Jesse. Well played. Sign this kid up for acting classes," I said stepping over his body as I walked out of the kitchen.

What are people in my hometown naming their babies this week?

Baby girls:
Keighley Renee
Kaci Marie
Riley Camryn
Abigail Sophia

Baby boys:
Timothy Layne
Hunter Wayne

Man, Keighley is going to have a really rough time learning how to spell her name. I feel really sorry for her.

A colleague needed to drop his car off at a mechanic yesterday morning and asked if I'd pick him up on my way to work. I did and then we stopped so I could fill my car up with gas. As we were chatting at the pump, he looked down and said, "You have a flat tire." So my morning started off with me also taking my car to a mechanic so I could get my tire repaired. Turns out I had a nail in it. How does that happen, anyway?

So I've decided that for my birthday this year, I'd like to have tea at the White Gardenia with friends. Hi, I'm 33, and I want a tea party. I've already told SkooterPie that this is what he can get me for my birthday. I have no idea what I'd like for Mother's Day. Jesse told his dad that they should get me something heart-shaped. Those two discussed it last night during an outing to Target. I got to stay home and enjoy a few minutes of a quiet house. I'm glad I didn't go because when they returned there was much arguing over the fact that SkooterPie ran over Jesse's foot twice with a shopping cart, which hurt really, really badly. Those two.

Every now and then all the people in the world who truly bug me fade in the shadow of one annoying person who has risen above all the rest. This week, that person is David Blaine.

On Marriage

Throughout my involvement with April's wedding, I've had plenty of opportunities to think about my marriage. My marriage means everything to me. I have so much invested in it. And that investment grows every day. SkooterPie and I will celebrate our wedding anniversary on May 21. We were married 12 years ago on that day. And, yes, I would do it all over again. During our wedding, our officiant read this passage from Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet":

On Marriage

Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

A lot of wedding ceremonies talk of the husband and wife becoming one being. But I prefer the idea of the strength of two pillars standing apart.

Wedding recap

Well, April and Richard are married, and the wedding was great. I was running on adrenaline all day yesterday. Friday was actually more hectic than Saturday. I had a bunch of errands to run. I ended up doing my nails and toes myself, but then I still had to go to Macy's to buy April's wedding gift. I also wanted to go to Schneesel's to buy snacks to have in the dressing room Saturday morning, and I wanted to find a tiara for April to wear when we bridesmaids took her out later that night. April called me while I was at Macy's. She was just finishing up her pedicure and manicure, and so I met up with her at my house and we ran the rest of the errands together. I found a fabulous tiara at Party City with flashing lights and the words "Bride To Be" on it. After errands we went back to my house and hung out for a bit before leaving to go to the bridal tea.

The tea was great. I wish I could do something like that every weekend with some friends. One of the bridesmaids, who is a teacher, couldn't make the tea. But Nita, a high school friend of April's who now lives in Minneapolis, was there. And so was Tiffany, another high school friend who lives in Chattanooga. Nita and Tiffany are hilarious. Nita in a wild and crazy kind of way, and Tiffany in a quick-witted kind of way. After the tea, I was really looking forward to going out with them that night.

Taking April out for some pre-wedding celebrating was more complicated than I care to recap here. But I will say that I got home at 12:45 a.m. after driving April to Bonne Terre (the bed and breakfast where they were getting married) in Horn Lake, Miss., and then driving back to Memphis. You better believe that I had the air conditioning on full blast and the radio turned up loudly to keep myself awake. I. Was. Tired.

My alarm went off at 5:45 the next morning so that I could shower and get my make-up on before getting my hair done. The most wonderful hair stylist in the world met me at 6:45 a.m., and I walked in the door holding a coffee for her. After my hair was done, I went back to the house to grab the snacks and yelled some instructions to SkooterPie and then bolted out the door. I called SkooterPie two more times before I was even a mile away with more instructions.

I was at Bonne Terre by 8 a.m. and the rest is kind of blur actually. April looked gorgeous. Jesse performed his ring-bearer duties beautifully. All the bridesmaids looked fabulous and were a really big help to April, who by the way was the calmest bride ever. Here's the moment that made the day for me. The wedding party had made its way down the aisle and were all standing at the altar waiting for April to make her entrance. The doors opened, and there was April standing in the archway. And Richard let out this gush of air, and everybody cracked up. And it was great because I sort of laughed my way through the tears that sprang up. He was so emotional. And again, I felt so honored to be there.

The reception was great. The food was great (although Jesse wouldn't eat any of it). The cake was yummy. I had to make a toast. I stumbled my way through the first few seconds before pulling myself together and saying something like this "I have to apologize to Richard because when April was just about to move to Clarksville last year and she told me she'd started seeing this guy, I said 'Don't do it.' I didn't know it was you, Richard. But I told her 'Don't get involved with someone right before you move away.' I've always been sort of a mentor to April. She'd ask for my advice on her career and guys or whatever. But I'm very happy that she didn't listen to me that one time. So let's all raise our glasses and give a toast to April and Richard and to following your heart." And people laughed, thank goodness.

I got home at around 3 p.m. and went ahead and took Jesse's tux back. Then I stopped at Buster's and bought myself a bottle of wine. I poured myself half a glass, picked up the house a little bit, drank about half of the glass of wine and sat down and went to sleep for two hours. I didn't do anything else the rest of the night. Jesse and SkooterPie ate frozen dinners, and I stayed on the couch.

But my matron of honor duties aren't quite over yet. I have April's dress hanging on the back of my door. I have to box it up for her and take it to David's Bridal today so that it can be preserved. Ahhhhhhhhh.

Pictures!

Our orange cat, Greely Bob, gets into everything. If you open a door, he'll dash inside. I've drug him out of the fridge, closets, cabinets. You name it. Tonight I left the cabinet door open a bit too long and sure enough, he jumped up there. I took the second picture several weeks ago. I love the look on Jesse's face: "Happiness is a warm kitty." Although, Greely looks kind of horrified.

You'll have to click on the pictures to see bigger versions.

What are people in my hometown naming their babies this week:

Baby Boy: James Anthony Aiden
Baby Boy: London Newport
Baby Girl: Jera Shae
Baby Girl: Ralynn Kathryn Rose
Baby Girl: Brianna Skyy
Baby Girl: Aspen Grace

That is quite an interesting collection of names, I must say.

I was filling my car up with gas last night, when a disheveled man approached me holding an empty container. "Excuse me, ma'am. I'm getting down on bended knee. Please, you're the first caucasian I've seen in two blocks. All I need is a little money to buy some gas." I looked at him like he was crazy. "That is the rudest thing I've heard all day," I told him. "GO AWAY." This guy's walking around like a schlub begging for money, and he thinks insulting OTHER PEOPLE will empty my pockets. So he wandered over to another girl who'd just pulled up and launched into the exact same spiel. She turned him down too. That guy had been working that one gas station all afternoon, I'm sure.

I got to help April out with her bridal portrait last night. I say "got to" because it truly was an honor to get to be there. She looked sooooo gorgeous in her dress. It was good to have the dress rehearsal before Saturday as well. Getting her into that wedding dress is quite a feat. And I did the bustle all wrong, but I have it figured out now. But she is so perfectly calm and composed, and so I'm happy being the one fretting over stuff. I'm so glad that she's not stressed out. Thing that's stressing me now: What the hell kind of jewelry should I buy? Sigh.

Jesse and I had appointments with the eye doctor this weekend. As Jesse sat in the examination chair, he started twitching and jumping around. "I'm in the electric chair," he announded. The optometrist started laughing. "This is what happens," I told him, "when you let your 8-year-old listen to NPR in the car." I explained that Jesse had heard a news report on NPR about the recent challenges in several states against lethal injection, and, of course, it led to a conversation about execution methods. The optometrist was cracking up. I just told my intern here this story and she reminded me of the time that Jesse was watching The History Channel one morning. I walked in the living room to find my sweet, darling child drawing a swastika. "Look, mom!" he said showing it me proudly. "These guys were holding signs with this on it." I do not enjoy having to explain the holocaust so early in the morning, and Jesse doesn't get to watch The History Channel unsupervised any more.

Excuse me while I make a to-do list so I will stop freaking out about this week. Actually, maybe everyone should just ignore this little site for a few days. It's wall-to-wall obsessing in here.

Things I have to remember to do this week:
Tuesday: Vote in the primary and check on Teri's dogs. Possibly go with April to her photographer. Find some jewelry to wear with my bridesmaid's dress.
Wednesday: Water and feed Teri's dogs. Take SkooterPie's suit to dry cleaners. Possibly take April out for some pre-wedding celebrating.
Thursday: Water and feed Teri's dogs. Attend meeting about work retreat. Attend bridal tea. Hair appointment with Deliece. Attend wedding rehearsal. Attend dinner after wedding rehearsal.
Friday: Water and feed Teri's dogs. Pick up Jesse's tuxedo. Pick up SkooterPie's suit. Get a mani and a pedi.
Saturday: Get hair fixed (remember to stop and buy Deliece a huge coffee on the way-make that two) and afterwards haul ass to Mississippi. WEDDING. Reception. Collapse.

I am seriously worried that I will forget about Teri's dogs in the mornings. It's going to be quite a week.