Waiting to Clean...

I am sitting amongst boxes.. watching the National Spellilng Bee. LIVE. Thrilling. We finally get our cable hooked up and this is what I watch? There is only about 8 kids left. Only one girl. She has a boatload of bracelets on her left arm. Some sort of superstition. Apparently the Gods of Spelling appreciate someone who knows how to accessorize...or she feels lopsided or something. I've noticed she does a funny thing with her mouth whenever she pronounces an 'S'. Like she used to have a lisp, but went to speech therapy to get it fixed. It reminds me of someone...someone famous or on TV. Crap, I can't place it. I'll have to wait until she comes back up and maybe it will hit me.

J is out doing one of the final runs from our old pad to the new house. There is crap EVERYWHERE. It's 9:30 and Sam is sleeping. Once J is done, I'm going to feed Sam and then head over to the old house and do the clean. Fun. That's why I'm sitting here typing and watching the Spelling Bee. There is a pretty good chance I'm going to be up till after midnight smelling of Fantastic and FeBreeze, so I'm not spending the next hour unpacking.

Oh, here she comes!

Scienophician? That's what I heard. It's a "Blue Green Algae"? Hmm, who knew?

oops. Cyanophycean. Not even close.

They show you how it's spelled before they even try, they didn't used to do that...oh, crap...she put a T in it. T? I didn't even put a T in it.

Oh well, looks like a dude will win.

By the way, all these 13 year old boys seem very efeminite (I'm sure that's not spelled right... DING!) to me. It could be because it's that awkward age, some voices have changed, others still talk like their 9 year old sister. Most of them seem like really ugly girls with bad haircuts. Sorry, I'm tired and cranky.

They list hobbies under their names. There is a high incidence of chess enthusiasts among those who can spell....competatively that is. I am painfully aware of how I can't spell...like, at all. I can play chess, but I would never list it as a hobby. I guess I'm not spelling bee material

Wait! There's a Canadian?! What? National Spelling Bee my ass. OK, The Canuck has to spell VITULINE...He's thinking. Man, he's rocking some bangs. Damn he's taking forever. Oh, there's a beep...yeah, hurry the fuck up! here he goes. Got it.

Oh, it's down to two. The Canadian and an American. How exciting! It's like Rocky! Kinda?

Oh, here's the American. PAPPARDELLE...wow, spelled it fast. Some sort of pasta. Way to go!

Bang boy...He's from Alberta. Damn...spelled his word. Fast tooll

This is getting good! USA!USA! Crap...commercial.

Hey, they are pre-empting Gray's Anatomy for this. I bet there are some pissed off people right now.

EVAN...he's the American. Here we go! Some sort of Japanese Soup? YOSENABE. He's thinking...here he goes! Got it. You go Evan.

The Canadian got some sort of desease. To spell, not like...you know. OOOOHHHH, he got it wrong!

Ok, Evan has to get this one right to win...

SERRAFINE. Oh, he's smiling. He must know it. Spelling...He wins!

Take that Canada.

Before I unplug this thing...

What's up?!




It seems like ages since I've had a chance to sit down and type up a blog post! Lots of packing going on...that is when the Ding Dong isn't crying about his teeth, poor kid. I'll be so happy once they break through, then maybe he'll start sleeping better at night? Let's hope so. I am sooooo sleepy right now. But I have to get to the paint store so we can start priming tonight. I hate painting. But not as much as I hate moving. Yep, it's going to be a wonderful weekend.

I really don't have much right to complain. J has been hard at work removing layers upon layers of wallpaper from our soon-to-be bedroom. I feel bad about not being able to help, but someone has to watch Sam, and it's better that he not inhale bits of 20 year old wallpaper glue and the overwhelming fumes of fabric softner and vinegar. I wonder if that smelll will ever get out of the walls. People will always think we are doing laundry. Which, now that I think of it, we always are.

The big change is the removal of a wall in the front of the house. I only have a few pictures...this is before.



This is after J ripped down the wall...


It left quite the mess



Here's another before and after from another angle...





Since these pictures were taken, the studs have been removed, and the drywall and floor have been patched. All that's left is painting. Did I mention how I hate painting?

Enough of the whining about the move. We've had a few noteworthy happenings around here. Last weekend Sam went to his first concert! Dan Zane and Friends played at the local club on Sunday afternoon. It was packed with little rugrats and their parents.



I was happy to see that Sam wasn't the only wee babe there. But all the little people dancing made me wish he was a little older. But he was strapped to a dancing Daddy, so he still got to boogie...even if he was sleeping at the time.



Sam has become master of the raspberry. Yesterday at the grocery store he was really going to town. I found myself wanting to let other shoppers know not to worry...that it was his face, not his butt, making that noise...but I didn't. Hmm, I wonder if the vibrations provide some pain relief?
Perhaps not, but the hand seems to do the trick when it's not too bad.


Oh, and he's found his feet.



Which I've always suspected were quite yummy.



That's about it. J's folks are coming up to help with the effort, which is awesome. Which means I have to launder the sheets in the guest room, which is not awesome. But I am extremely thankful for the help. The place is quite the disaster. I find it hard to believe that we will actually pull this move off in the alotted time. I think if I can keep J and his Dad from going on a 5 hour boondoggle to Home Depot we might just pull it off...but what are the chances of that?

Chompers and Choppers

At the 5 month old mark, Sam seems to be enjoying the typical 5 month old type things. He's starting to sit...kinda. He can lean forward onto his hands, but you have to be there to make sure he doesn't topple over sideways. And then there is always the sudden spastic attempt to do what seems to be a back handspring.

Oh, and he has two teeth. They are about 1/8 of an inch in. I am assuming the top ones are to shortly follow with all the crying and hand shoving. Hopefully we'll then get a break from all the fussing and discomfort. I guess this is a little early for them to come in. He's getting to be a big boy, growing so fast. First with the teeth, and now with the Harley...



Time to go make lunch. MMmm, maybe I'll have some toes.

Triangle Man hates correct spelling

I'm being held hostage by poop.

Sam hasn't had a movement since Monday morning. Therefore, I am terrified to leave the house. Because as soon as I do, it will happen. And whenever he goes this long, it's quite the event. Requiring an IMMEDIATE diaper change, unless I want poo leakage all over everything. Which, I think we can all agree, I don't.

Right now he's sleeping, so I've been putzing around on the internet. I spent a little time going back and reading some of my blog of past. I've realized I've gotten very boring...you know, all this talk of poop. I've decided I'm going to try and keep it to a minimum. Or at least, make it interesting. If that is possible.

Another reason I am in love with my new neighborhood? We have been invited to the neighbors Cinco de Miao party! (I don't know if that is spelled right, and I'm not going to check...a running theme in these parts...so is using the wrong YOUR or YOU'RE...I know the difference, I just type phoenetically...that's not right either...see, I said I don't care). We can't go though, which sucks. But for a fun reason. We're going to go see They Might Be Giants! My inner high school dork needs some attention. So I'll be bopping around Saturday night screaming about Triangle Man beating up Person Man! And if I'm really lucky, singing along to one of my favorite songs ever, She's an Angel. (or Angle? argh..the kind with wings, not the kind that make up Triangles).

I think I'm gonna like it here....

Once I knew we were moving, I joined the neighborhood message board. It's mostly people posting about free futons, lost pets and searches for a good electrician. It's a great insight to the world we are about to enter and has me looking forward to living in this little corner of Burlington.

Now, even more so....

WANNA JOIN A ROCK N ROLL BAND?
Mon, 30 April 2007

My name is ----. I am 8 years old and a 3rd grader at Champlain. I have been playing the drums for two years (lessons every week) and I am getting quite good. My Dad and Mom have told me that it is "cool with them" if I want to start a rock band. I am looking for a singer, guitar player, keyboard player, and a bass player. I am looking for band mates from the ages of 8 to 12. We can practice at my house on the weekends. I have my own drum set and we have keyboards as well. Please call me if you are interested. Rock on...