Archives
November 2007 NaBloPoMo
November 2006 --> NaBloPoMo
In the baby days:
email me at sarah at ratatat dot com
Strangest news I can share that would be better with a photo, but still amusing without
December 30, 2007
Today, Rob leaned back on the new living room chair and I saw it was a recliner. We didn't know that. Neither my mom nor I noticed that when we bought it. At a La-Z-Boy store. The sales guy didn't not demonstrate. The paperwork did not mention it. When I told my mom,. her first reaction was to ask if Rob broke the chair.
And Henry got a Word Whammer fridge phonics game from LeapFrog. And it is missing the letter "N." It has the 25 other letters. I thought it just had common words and somehow N didn't make the cut. But when putting it on the fridge today, I noticed it had a Q. So I made the word Quo (and it sounded it out correctly for me), because it only lets you spell 3 letter words. And I had quite a rant going in my head about what words LeapFrog had in mind when they gave us a Q but not an N. Then I read the box and realized it promised the whole alphabet, so our set was incomplete. The sweet thing about having a 6 year old around is that I could make Miranda alphabetize the letters to see if we were missing any other letters. We weren't. We even had the 6 letters that come as a pair to make cool words like Mom and Dad.
I've complained to LeapFrog. I hope they send us a replacement N.
Webkinz, perhaps even worse than I feared
December 22, 2007
Santa came today. He had an opening in his schedule and we knew we'd be away at my grandma's on the 25th, so he offered to come early to our house. He brought many fun things. And a Webkinz each for Miranda and Henry. The excessive security required to adopt these pets had worried me, but I had some optimism that it would be fun. Maybe expensive. Maybe easy and dumb. We adopted. We made up complex username and passwords. And then we tried to decorate our rooms. This is step 1, very basic. Get a bed for your pet or he won't be able to sleep and he'll become unhappy.
And I couldn't make it work. When I dragged an item, the green square were not highlighted. I got frustrated. The kids got frustrated. I retreated to web searches. (part of the reason I have no obscured the brand name is I don't mind the Google hits if I can save someone's sanity.)
The problem?
I was using Mozilla Firefox. A site with a family having a problem with IE7 made me wonder just enough to log out and load it up in IE(6). And it worked Just like the demo said it would.
Of course, the rest of the day the kids cried out "Mom" over and over. How do I play this game? Can I play now? How do I get friends? Play the game for me.
Initially, one of my concerns was that your Webkinz is shipped off to a puppy mill after a year unless you adopt another pet. Now I wonder if I'll make it that long.
Recalled toys I have owned
December 21, 2007
It is a dark day indeed when I am brave enough to look at the recalled toys list.
Curious George plush character in a fireman set for lead paint
Barbie® Couch & Table Living Room Playset (lead paint on purse)
Wow, there are probably more, but I coudn't fidn them in my 20 minute perusal. You really have to have a toy in mind to check. This seems counter-productive. What have I missed?
For what it's worth, George went via a garage sale (sorry little boy who bought you) and the purse was lost to the vacuum cleaner.
Now I know why it has a swear word in it
December 16, 2007
Ice Dam? Ice Damn!
This morning it looked like someone spilled a glass of water on the kitchen floor. Or I should say felt, as I walked through it. But no, my troubles were't over with wet feet. We soon found water dripping from the three kitchen windows. Not from the wall, but between the window and the trim. We took the trim off to see if that alleviated anything. It didn't really, but hopefully it will save the trim from water damage.
It is a shame it happened ona Sunday morning. You can't reach anyone.
And Ace Hardware was sold out of roof rakes.
Tomorrow? Better have an uptick.
Something I didn't even know I should worry about
December 14, 2007
I know they say you shouldn't borrow trouble, but when my personal woes get to me, I know I can turn to the NYTimes for a dose of reality. Or at least a worry loan.
Squirrels can get into toilets? I know the NYTimes is writing to an audience with a Second Home. I don't have a second home, so I shouldn't worry about this. But something tells me, if I don't fall asleep soundly tonight, this will creep into my mind.
Elfed
December 12, 2007
After seeing my brother and his family get elfed, I knew we were so destined. In one of those quirky collective consciousness moments, everyone at work had already done the elf thing. Check us out here.
In other news, as record keeping, we had a snow day yesterday. At least here, we didn't think it was terrible. Maybe slow and slippery, but not scary. It was still nice to play in the snow, hang out in pajamas, live quietly.
Too funny to not record:
Henry and I head to B&N after his swim class. I woo him with a visit to the cafe. We're in line and Henry starts doing the dance that looks an awful lot like the "I have to go to the bathroom" dance. I say, "Henry, do you have to go potty?"
Henry: No
Me: Yes, I think you have to go potty. Let's go find the bathroom.
Henry: No, I'm OK.
Me: Then why are you dancing around?
Henry: I'm not. I'm just keeping my p3nis warm....
[long pause]
Me; Henry. let's go to the bathroom,
Henry: OK
Oh
December 9, 2007
me: Miranda, I have some bad news. Unfortunately, Papa left the Wii games and remotes at Paul's house.
Miranda: damn.
My mom could barely contain her giggles.
A play in one act
December 7, 2007
Miranda wrote a play. She performed it with Henry. He was the supporting character, the kitty.
The original script of the LIttle Girl and the Kitty
Like Beowulf, you may need to read it aloud to understand it fully.
Blogging while angry
December 6, 2007
<rant>
Order of first irritation. Why on earth did someone persuade my children they should have horrible scratchy blankets under them in bed? These are horrible blankets that I want to burn. And I hate all things to do with fire. They are scratchy--the kind of blanket that when you move your dry, chapped fingers over them they catch on the whirls of your skin and nails. They are not warm. I still hate fire and yet I can't think anything sounds toastier than burning these blankets. I take them off the bed. I throw them in the closet. Yet they return.
</rant>
Snow fall
December 2, 2007
There was a blanket of white over our yard when we woke up. Yesterday,
the wind blowed all afternoon, the rain/sleet/snow hailed down on us. We hid in the house. But it seemed worth it for this mild and soggy wonderland.
Dear Santa,
I tried out Rob's snowshoes. I want a pair too.
Sarah
