Saturday, January 28, 2006

Packing. Again. I was thinking that I've written all there is to write about material things and carrying them from place to place, about how much I keep and how much I lose. I was thinking there is no point in going over it all again. It's depressing and boring. I was wondering why am I here again? Why am I repeating this chore? Why are my hobbies, glue sticks, stickers, pens, paints, dictionaries, photo albums, pinking shears, ribbons, and patterns, all of it, going back in to boxes? Why has most of it remained in boxes in the first place? I have sorted it, and purged it and organized it, but what remains is coming with me. I am packing my stuff again. If I never get to see any of it or do anything with any of it, then it will have been truly pointless. I suppose the urge to keep my things is an indication of hope.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Out of Control

The house is dirty. It was cleaned on Monday. It stayed clean through Tuesday. It got slightly messy late on Wednesday. It's bad today. Collectively, I'd say the cleanliness lasted 2 days. Downstairs Maria pulled out 64% of our Cds. Upstairs we have a variety of messes, including dirty dishes, and anything that was in a cabinet within Maria's reach. She's pulled out clothes, Qtips, more clothes, books, magazines, playdough and playdough tools and some more clothes.*

*About 6 weeks ago Geoff recognized the need for childproofing cabinet locks. He immediately went to Home Depot and bought elaborate devices for keeping doors and drawers shut. The special locks are here, next to his laptop.

Hint: If you are currently expecting a baby and have never had one before, childproof now. Now, now. Not later, but right now, because later is a time that arrives when you will be confounded by your lack of time, energy and special skills. Comparatively you now possess time, energy and special skills in abundance. This is one of the gems, or pearls of wisdom, that I have never managed to apply in my own life.


A good book. A good boy. Alex is reading The Golden Compass, again.
Lucky, he has a good book to escape with, because like Tuesday, we will be spending another long day in the waiting area of the Honda service department. William is reading The Zombie Survival Guide, which should serve him well. William is a good boy too, though he is campaigning to be left at home rather than join us for the final chapter of the Windshield Chronicles.

Anyone would rather be somewhere other than in a waiting room. Maria would rather be holding the PS2 controls hostage. We tried to give her the spare controller, but she throws it back when she knows it's not the live controller.





Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Are there signs? Not the obvious signs that ask us to stop, yield, turn left, buy on sale. Are there signs that are meant to direct our destiny, prevent user error, find us a higher purpose?

This morning Geoff discovered that the tailgate window of the Odyssey was totally shattered. Kapoot. There is no impact point or signs of a struggle; the van did not fight back. Something happened. Is there any need to elaborate about the hassle, the clean up, the expense, the uncomfortable mystery aspect? Enough said.

Life being the way it is these days, we were looking for an iterpretation of the windshield event. Hey, we're flipping coins, reading cookie fortunes and doing eenie-meanie too. So what does an open tailgate window mean? Does it mean move someplace open and breezy, like Hawaii? Does it mean don't move to a rainy place like the Pacific Northwest? Does it mean don't go to the tropical paradise if you don't have the income to deal with $$$ windshields?

I do know that before we discovered the minor disaster, we were trying to muster the resolve to stay the course, find our plan, be patient, breath deeply, have courage...I know better than to ask, "Can things be worse?" Of course things can get worse, which is why I don't ask. I am not even saying things are completely desperate or unsatisfactory, but Yeesh. This is probably a good time to take account of my blessings, maybe have a small glass of wine too, and to let go of half of my worries, half of my fears. If there are any signs of where we are heading, or how to get there, I will surely miss them if I am too stressed to pay attention.

The glass is swept, an appointment has been made to replace the window, and I have even called the insurance company, so I can drag $22 (more or less) from their coffers. Now, it's time to breath deeply, be patient, and stay the course.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Hey, this link goes out to all my friends who find themselves looking for good PS2 titles: Guitar Hero looks like a rockin' good time. Do you have what it takes to be a rockstar? Play the game trailer and see for yourself...