Erin Expounds

So you're probably thinking that "frostbite" is some sort of clever title, but in fact, I mean it quite literally. I think I gave myself frostbite this morning. I was using ice out of the ice maker to fill up a small cooler of drinks to take over to the new house. As I was reaching into the bin, my hand brushed the underside of the actual ice maker part. Suddenly, I felt intense pain on the back side of my middle finger (the segment closest to the palm). I thought I sliced the back of my finger open, and I really expected to see blood dripping as I pulled my hand out.

Instead, I saw nothing, which made no sense. Maybe I had just scraped it? I didn't see anything, and I couldn't really feel anything, but it still hurt quite a bit. I could provide no logical explanation. I continued to put ice in the cooler, carefully avoiding the under side of the ice maker, and went on my way. Within 30 minutes or so, the back of my finger started to hurt again, only this time it felt like a burn. When I looked down, I saw a red mark about half an inch long (1.2 cm) and about a quarter inch wide (6 mm). It sure *looks* like a burn. All I can figure is that I managed to brush the actual chiller coils under the part of the ice maker that physically makes the ice and quite literally froze the skin on my finger, which (as I understand it) is the definition of frostbite. It was only in contact for a second or two at most, but yowie! It hurt for several hours, but it has now subsided. It's just really bizarre to think that's what happened.



Currently feeling: frozen

Posted by Erin at 7:19 PM | 3 comments
Labels: Me

My friend Charisse and I, though never having actually met face to face, have been "kindred spirits" for a long time. We connected several years ago over being the family of ministers (she married to one, I the daughter of one), which is something you cannot truly understand unless you have experienced it yourself. Even though we are different denominations, we have become very good friends.

We also have another love in common, though: Star Wars! So being the good friend that she is, she was kind enough to let me know back in July that Star Wars in Concert was finally heading to the United States. I remember reading about it many moons ago, but it was only in Europe at the time. I figured it was just a matter of time before it landed in this country, and sure enough, they started touring in October, but without Charisse's heads-up, I wouldn't have known to be watching for it. I would also like to thank my father for letting me "borrow" his American Express card so that we could get in on the pre-sale. We decided we would also take Luke. What better first-concert experience could there possibly be for our child who has been able to recognizably sing 3 different "Star Wars songs" for well over 2 years now?

In addition to a live orchestra performing select themes from all the films with synchronized video of clips from the films, there is also a travelling exhibition of props and costumes from the films. According to the press release, many of these have never before left Lucasfilm to be displayed in public. I truly wish we'd had more time to look around. Everything was simply amazing in detail. We wandered around for a good hour before the show, and I still don't feel like we saw it all. At first Luke didn't want to even stand near the displays, so DH and I had some fun (hey, we've been fans since *we* were children!). Apologies for the blur in the first photo. I obviously didn't have the flash on (and then the next picture is a little over exposed because I didn't have it set right). And you know it had to be good if I am about to post a photo of myself with just me in the picture.



The local 501st was also there, so there were plenty of characters wandering around as well:



Still, Luke wanted nothing to do with them (other than admire from afar), until we stumbled on this!



It was a truly magical moment. I have never seen a grin like that on Luke's face in my life. Other than the obnoxious kid right behind him who pretty much flatly refused to get out of the way even after we had patiently waited our turn, kept (roughly) touching the droid, and whose grandparents had no desire to make him stop or *move* (ahem), I wouldn't trade it for anything. That was really the worst time we had with people (other than those who felt compelled to stop right in the middle of the already crowded corridors to tie their shoe or something). Generally speaking, everyone waited their turn and was very gracious and patient.

Once Luke had been near one, he was more comfortable being near the others.



They also had these large screens set up with different scenery, which I finally got him to stand in front of for a photo op (but only with Daddy). There were several others, but I correctly predicted that the droid battle would win.



But of all the amazing things they had on display, this was my personal favorite: three pages of John Williams's hand written score! It was the music for the droid battle from Episode I. Awesome!! How sad that there was not a single person near this display when I got there. Sure, it's not as flashy as the full jedi costumes or Han in carbonite, but these oversized pieces of paper were the real reason we were all there!



The concert itself was equally amazing. I knew from the start that this was something we simply had to take Luke to. The music of John Williams lights up his soul; you can see it on his face. (I recognize the signs well, he gets it from me.) I had chills and tears more than once, and sometimes simultaneously. Thanks, Dad, for letting me take the good camera so I could get some properly exposed photos.



The music alone would have been enough for me, but I'm not sure Luke could have sat still for a 2 hour concert that started *after* his usual bedtime without the visual montages that accompanied the music (Charisse, the second pic I took just for you!).



There were some pretty cool special effects as well. Luke was simply enthralled.



To say John Williams is a master of music and emotion is nothing short of a gross understatement. To combine that with the genius vision of George Lucas's universe, and you have nothing short of a cinematic masterpiece that has enchanted generations. Say what you will about the execution of the more recent three films, the actual story and the music are still both haunting and breathtaking. So thank you, Mr. Lucas. Thank you, Mr. Williams. You have given this family at least three generations of magic (starting with my parents), and I predict many more to come.

The force will be with us, always, thanks to you.



Currently feeling: R2 saves the day

Posted by Erin at 11:10 PM | 1 comments
Labels: DH, Luke, Me, Movies, Music, Photos

On the way home this evening, Luke noticed the beautiful full moon hanging low on the horizon and looking especially large and lovely. I have to agree that his explanation as to why makes much more sense than mine!

Luke: The moon is really big tonight!
Me: Yes, it does look big tonight.
Luke: Why sometimes it's bigger and sometimes it's smaller?
Me (trying to answer honestly): Well, the moon doesn't actually change size. It's always the same. It just looks bigger or smaller sometimes, like an airplane up in the air.
Luke: But it's bigger tonight!
Me: It does look bigger tonight, but it's really not. When things look different than what you know is real, that is called an optical illusion. What you're seeing isn't really real. [NOTE: I didn't really expect him to understand, but I did want to start introducing the concept.]
::a silent pause of several seconds; I could practically hear the wheels turning::
Luke: Maybe the astronauts filled it up with air, or gave it extra food.

Currently feeling: appreciating my son's perspective on the world

Posted by Erin at 7:29 PM | 0 comments
Labels: Conversations, Luke

Happy Hallow-wing! At least, that's how Luke has been saying it. My parents got to join us this year for the first time since his very first Halloween when he was 3 weeks old. Even Kitty got a costume this year. I whipped this up in about an hour on Halloween afternoon during rest time.



We thought we might take him actual house to house trick-or-treating for the first time this year. At our house closing on Thursday, the now-former owner of our new house mentioned that the neighborhood has a Halloween parade every year, with a fire truck and everything, that essentially starts right in front of the new house. He said it started at 5 PM, so we aimed to get there around 4:30. We figured that would give us time to get Luke into costume and get out there in time, plus my parents would get to see the new house. I also thought it was very nice of the owner, since technically we didn't take possession of the house until Sunday night, but he said we could come by to see the house and go to the parade on Saturday.

When we arrived around 4:20 or so, there were actually 3 fire trucks already there, and they were blocking the whole street. We could not get to our house! We had to park a block or so away and walk. There were tons of parents and kids already liked up on the cold and rainy afternoon, so we hustled to try and get Luke ready. I think we were ready just after 4:30 (no later than 4:40, I know for sure), but the parade had already left. I can't help but think that all the parents saw all the other parents they expected to see were already there, so they decided to go on and go. Luke was disappointed, but he handled it well.

The mall where we usually go trick-or-treating was just a few miles away, so we headed out there instead. I knew it was going to be pretty crazy as usual, then add in the rain and the fact that it was Saturday, and chaos was bound to ensue. This year, it was scheduled to run from 5-7 PM. I knew to be there early, since last year places started giving out candy early and many were out by 5:30 or so. Apparently they got enough complaints last year that most places at 4:50 were saying "it doesn't start until 5 PM, and we can't give out candy until then." (Some were doing it anyway, but most were not.) BUT, over half the places were *still* out of candy by 5:20, which is inexcusable! There was some increase over the usual crowd, but not enough to account for that. A couple of the stores were new, so I can excuse them for not having any real understanding about how many kids there were going to be. But the places that have been there for at least 5 years? They have no excuse for running out of candy in less than 30 minutes, other than simply choosing to not buy enough (or even close to enough) candy.

I would like to give a special shout-out to Sears for not only having candy but for having many spare bags *and* for having an employee say as we were leaving "we have 4 bags left, but I'm not sure that will be enough, I'll go get some more." They were also some of the friendliest, smiling at the kids instead of just throwing candy in the bucket with scowls on their faces. Still, I feel really bad for the families we passed who were just coming in at 5:40 as we were leaving. I'm not sure even a quarter of the places had any left by then. I hope their kids had fun anyway. Ours sure seemed to. I present Boba Fett Luke, the most feared cutest bounty hunter in the land!



And after we got home and Luke was in bed, I played around with the camera some. Here are our five happy haunts! Left to right: our Pirates of the Caribbean skull bowl, the pumpkin DH carved (see October 25 photo), Luke's Boba Fett helmet, the Mickey Mouse trick or treating bucket that Mom and Dad bought for Luke this year, and Luke's pumpkin bucket (which is the one he decided to actually trick or treat with when given the choice). I think it's quite good for a hand held tricky exposure night shot! Kudos to my mom for figuring out to put the flashlights into the desk drawers to up-light the bowl and the bucket on the ends.



Currently feeling: ghoulish

Posted by Erin at 11:51 PM | 0 comments
Labels: Luke, Photos

Created using Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker.
Click mosaic to biggify, or see my October 2009 Project 365 Posts.

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I did all kinds of reading this month, but it was primarily house related. Really ready to finally be able to read something else!

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?
Television: The usual, plus new Mythbusters and Good Eats, which celebrated its 10th anniversary.

At the Theater: Toy Story and Toy Story 2 3-D Double Feature (very interesting, but not quite as amazing as I was expecting; hoping for more from Toy Story 3).

Old Favorites: We did show Luke both Kung Fu Panda and Beauty and the Beast for the first time. I know he watched Hercules for rest more than once. Other than that, I don't really remember. It was an absolutely crazy month. Wait, a review of my tweets shows we watched The Great Mouse Detective (thanks, Twitter! LOL).

What special days did I celebrate and how?
Luke's birthday! We had a whole bunch of folks over, and it was so great to see everyone.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
Gifts to Luke for his birthday, obviously. I don't recall any others.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
Luke had his first ever bout of pink eye. We also got him the nasal flu immunization, and he was sick for a good 4-5 days from that, much sicker than I expected. We think that may have triggered the ear problems that are now causing the ENT to make noises about a second set of tubes *and* adenoid removal. Thankfully, these are all pretty minor health issues, but it sure seemed to be one thing after another this month.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
My parents got to go trick-or-treating with Luke for the first time this year. I didn't realize it until they said something that the last Halloween they spent with him was when he was just 3 weeks old! Luke and I also made cookies together, and we carved our first jackolantern since Luke was born.

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
We were lucky to simply get around to eating this month. Experimenting was out of the question.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
A house! And I have the reams of papers to prove it. Sure was a headache though. Loan folks kept asking for (IMO irrelevant) last minute stuff, and we had to delay closing because they were late getting the papers to the lawyer. ::head desk::

What were this month's disappointments?
The news about Luke possibly needing a second set of tubes was a real blow. We've spend the last 12-18 months trying to avoid it, and yet here we are. It's not a done deal yet, but I'd be surprised if we're not booked for surgery for early 2010 (yikes, did I really just put that year down?!! less than 2 months away).

What were my accomplishments this month?
Only one of my 101 Things got done this month (so many other things to do!), but that's actually one more than I thought would happen. I was convinced when the month started that there would be zero.

88. Remove/replace front bushes.
DH was a dear and did this one for me one morning. In fact, it was the same morning that Luke and I were nearly killed by someone running a red light. It is also when he found the horseshoe buried in the ground under the bushes. Coincidence?


Project 365 is going well. Only two months left, and I have to say, as fun and interesting as it has been, with things as crazy as they are, it feels like a chore some days. I'm actually glad it will be over soon, though I'm sure I'll miss it some next year. I do think that I will take photos more frequently than I used to going forward (though not every single day), thanks to the experience.

My proudest accomplishment, though, is having this year's CD calendar as done as I can make it. I have all of the pages through December constructed, and I have photos inserted through September. All I have to do is pop in the photos for the remaining months, and I am good to go. I'm just astounded I'm ahead of the game on *something* in this world.

What were Luke's accomplishments this month?







I would say that turning 5 was quite the accomplishment. There was more than one day I wasn't certain he would make it. (World's best parenting advice that used to be funny but is now simply truth: it's okay to *want* to kill them, just don't actually do it.) He was given the "all clear" from his doctor at his 5 year check up: 45.5 inches, 50.3 pounds, big feet LOL, and perfectly healthy. Kind-of makes me wonder how the ENT could be saying "will likely need tubes again plus adenoid removal" only 3 weeks later, doesn't it? He also came down with his first ever round pink eye within days of going to the doctor, which has equal chance of having come from the doctor's office or school (I'm sure it was on a communal toy or book). Giving him drops for a week was torture.

We all survived a trip to the outlet mall to get him long sleeved shirts. Shopping with a pre-schooler for the pre-schooler is just never fun, but he did pretty well. He also helped me in the kitchen for the first time by assisting with Chocolate Chip Cookies. And, we carved his first pumpkin (not a lot of help there, but he still thought it was a blast!).

Anything else noteworthy to record?
Tigger also got a clean bill of health from her doctor. Her check-up was clean, and her liver values came back completely normal. She is not on any medication, and she has even gained back most of her weight (oops). The vet would like her to lose one pound, but it is not worth tinkering with her food! LOL

Currently feeling: in need of a break, but there's just no time!

Posted by Erin at 10:59 PM | 0 comments
Labels: Photos, Round Up

It's done! We now officially own two homes! Um, yay? LOL That was never the plan, but there was just too much to do with closing only 30 days after finalizing the contract on the new house to get the current house on the market in the same 30 days. Had we known not having our current house listed would have caused the underwriters so much heartburn, we never would have waited! But no one said, "you know, the loan people will freak out if you don't have your current house listed yet." (If they had, we would have listed it.) No, they waited until just a couple of days before closing to let us know they were skittish. We'll put the current house on the market before Thanksgiving (and we sent them something that said so, in writing, *twice*).

The mortgage people were a pain for a large portion of the last two weeks. Once it left the hands of the local guy and went up to the "official" people at corporate, things went downhill. They were not the most organized with the paperwork, which amazes me since they pretty much handle paperwork for a living. I know our agent faxed them a copy of our contract 3 different times, including the day before closing. We had to re-fax some papers the day before, and sign and re-fax something (that they explicitly told me that very afternoon we did NOT need to resign) at 8:30 PM the night before closing.

Closing was supposed to be at 1 PM at the lawyer's office. They promised to have us the amount we needed for the cashier's check sometime in the 9-10 AM time frame the following morning, and they assured us the papers would be to the lawyer in plenty of time. At 10:45, we still didn't have the papers to the lawyer (for our 1 PM appointment!), nor did they have the final amount we needed, but they gave us an estimate. We ended up padding that number by an additional 10% or so, since they won't take cash or a personal check for the difference if you are short. And *then* they caused our actual closing appointment to be delayed by 2 hours because they could not get the papers to the lawyer in time to review it before our scheduled appointment (hint: 15 minutes is not enough time to review that volume of legal paperwork!!). They wanted to move it out to 4 PM, but that was unacceptable since we had to pick up Luke at school. We have not been happy with the loan people at all, and they will not get a good review from us on the survey they said was coming. I won't mention the name here, but you can contact me if you need/want to know. We were just very annoyed, to say the least.

Once we finally got to closing around 3:15 PM (the lawyer's 2 PM appointment ran over), everything went great. I think we were done in about 40 minutes, which still gave us enough time to pick up Luke. Not the best day, but it's all done, and we have the key to prove it!



Currently feeling: like we have one house too many

Posted by Erin at 9:24 PM | 1 comments
Labels: Moving, Photos

Big sigh. Luke had another ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor) appointment today. Once again, we hoped this would be the last visit, and once again, we were told he has fluid on his ears that is (or is about to be) infected and is clearly causing a hearing problem this time around (something I noticed a few weeks ago, but I wasn't sure if it was really a hearing issue or an "I'm 5 years old and I'm not listening" problem). We've been doing this for over a year by now. If we were just going to have to do a second set of tubes (grommets), I would have rather done it a year ago and been done with it rather than to keep putting it off until it will now interfere with school. I know it's just Pre-K, but still, we could have done it over the summer or something. And I know they were trying to avoid another surgery for him, but if it was looking so much like they would have to do it, I would just rather have it done and be done with it than to have dragged it out for another year-plus.

And it's not just a second set of tubes. Oh no, it couldn't possibly be that easy. In cases where the problem is chronic fluid on the ears leading to hearing difficulties, they "almost always" (her words) take out the adenoids as well. Putting in tubes? The thought doesn't phase me. Taking a knife and hacking away bits of my kid, particularly inside his head? I have to admit to being a wee bit phased. They won't be taking his tonsils (absolutely no history of tonsillitis or strep throat), and she insists that adenoid removal is "less than 10% of the recovery of a tonsillectomy," but I still don't like it. But if it means we can finally be done with this nonsense, then I'm all for it.

It is possible we'll go back for a recheck in 3 weeks (after yet another round of antibiotics and antihistamine nasal spray). They will also do a full hearing screening. If everything comes back clear (no fluid on the ears and a normal hearing screen), then it is possible they will again put it off, but you know what? I'd really rather not, if that's where they think we'll end up anyway. I'm really just ready to be done with it. We'll know more in a few weeks.

Currently feeling: frustrated

Posted by Erin at 7:44 PM | 1 comments
Labels: Ear Tubes, Luke

We carved our first jackolantern with Luke this year. I don't think DH and I have carved one since before he was born, maybe even not since we moved into this house. I didn't even really intend to do it this year, but when his school asked us to buy pumpkins to bring in for their fall festival, it seemed silly not to go ahead and buy one for ourselves. I also didn't want to carve it too early and risk a catastrophe, so we waited until the weekend before Halloween to cut in.



Luke had no idea what to expect!



"Eww! How you get that out?" Well, my dear, you scrape. We did buy one of the pumpkin carving kits, and in the past the scrapers have worked really well. This one had a serrated edge on it, though, and I didn't like it at all. We used a very thin-edged large spoon instead, and it worked brilliantly.



I actually thought I would end up doing the pumpkin, but DH insisted he should do it while I cooked dinner. Um, okay. I don't think I've ever seen DH do anything "crafty" in my life, and I know he's never used one of the carving kits. But he really wanted to do it, so I let him. Other than a little of the initial internal scraping, the only other thing I did was apply the pattern.



I do not recall where I got this pattern from. It was a link I found on Twitter earlier in the week. I liked that it was a very effective silhouette but still very very simple. Plus Luke has been really into bats lately, so I thought it would be perfect. The most complex part was the pupil of the eyes, and I knew that if that proved to be too intricate that making the eyes perfectly round would be just fine. So DH set to work.



Here he is popping out the first piece.



And here it is all finished. The only other thing I did was clean up some of the strings inside once DH was done, since his arm was tired. Otherwise, DH did it all. Luke thought it was "so cool!" LOL



It really does look fabulous. Great job, honey! I think *you* get to do all the pumpkin carving from now on.



Currently feeling: ready for fright night

Posted by Erin at 5:16 PM | 0 comments
Labels: DH, Luke, Photos