Posted by tata on Saturday Sep 19, 2009 Under Events
The weeks have been crazy hectic. I have looking forward to Jugband Jubilee 2009 since last year! I finally got word last week about the date, but had already committed myself to the department for which I work’s annual picnic. Hell, I planned the thing! In any case, we decided to attend the picnic first and then head out to the Waterfront Park to the Jugband Jubilee. Last year, I took Joy and went with Penny and her girls. This year, Husband and Buddha joined us. It was an amazing time.
The crowd this year was much bigger!
The Cincinnati Dancing Pigs
Just today, they erected this memorial for Earl McDonald, a Jug Band Pioneer. His lovely granddaughter gave a short speech of thanks at tonight’s performance.
These fellows are a Japanese Jugband and this was their first American appearance. They were very fun, extremely entertaining and, of course, amazingly talented. They are the Old Southern Jug Blowers.
And of course, I had the opportunity to play with my new camera!
It’s me!
Joy was particularly photogenic today.
Buddha made a new friend (with a VERY fancy camera).
Posted by tata on Thursday Sep 10, 2009 Under Events
School is still going pretty well. I’m enjoying my classes quite a lot and am only finding myself stressed about scheduling issues instead of the actual work. Come to think of it, it’s usually always about finding the time to study outside of class than getting to and from class and understanding the material! Why should this semester be any different?!
Husband and I took our extra school cash and moved last weekend. We paid our deposit and three months rent in a first floor apartment that is more than double the size of our last apartment. It’s so nice and roomy. There’s an enormous front porch, a basement, a little yard and it’s within walking distance to the Black Loop (where I catch the bus to school). The family is really enjoying it. I enjoy all the extra space, the boy loves having his own room and the girl is digging her monster-sized closet. Husband is giddy over the basement and garage. Whether or not he wants to admit it, I believe he is enjoying the challenges of living in a house that’s nearly a hundred years old.
Moving has been a huge stressor this week. We have managed to get 95% of our stuff out of the old apartment as well as the stuff we’d been storing at my mom’s (my books are home!!!) over the long weekend, but a lot of it is still packed in boxes throughout the house. I took Tuesday off from work in order to take care of getting the utilities switched over and the last big load moved but had to get back to school and work and the usual grind come Wednesday, so getting the new place in order is pretty much at a standstill. The most awesome part is that even with all of our stuff here, there is still so much room. Once I get everything out of boxes and into it’s rightful place, I can finally invite people over to have dinner, to watch football games, to entertain and not feel claustrophobic!
The new camera arrived on my birthday and it’s farkin’ fabulous. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed playing with it and I haven’t even begun to understand all the amazing things it can do. I will take some time in the (relatively near) future and read through the field guide that came with it so I can maximize it’s potential. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this one. Be well!
My father-in-law called at the last minute and invited us to meet him and my sister-in-law, Rebekah at Aunt M’s place in Smyrna, Tennessee. Rebekah has orientation at college today and they had some free time last night and wanted to visit with us. Husband had made other commitments, it’s been a year and a half since he’s seen his dad. Originally, Husband declined to meet his dad and sister. I had tried to finagle and work out some sort of plan so he could see his family and keep his commitment, but it just wasn’t possible to do both. He reluctantly broke his previous commitment, we picked Joy up from school right at 3:15pm and drove the three hours to Smyrna.
Husband drove most of the way. He’s looking a little scruffy. Both kids fell asleep in the car.
I always get excited about the state signs.
We arrived at around 5:30 (Central Time). Grandpa welcomed us by giving the kids water-weapons.
Lucky us.
Especially Aunt Bekah.
(I threatened to "forget" them there. Unfortunately, Joy was on to my plan and made sure they made it into the car.)
Aunt M’s two daughters and their respective husbands and children accompanied them. I had met four of the six of them briefly before, three at brother-in-law’s wedding and the fourth when Aunt M visited us with her granddaughter. It was nice to see and meet everyone.
Aunt M and Husband’s cousin prepared quite a feast. Husband cooked the marinated steaks on the grill, there were mushrooms, onions, potato salad, garden salad, pasta salad, cole slaw, green beans, and ice cream cake in honor of the college-bound girl.
Aunt M’s place is really kid-friendly and the kids had great fun ripping through her house and yard with water-weapons and self-propelling cars.
At around 9pm, Husband’s cousins (and families) left and it got pretty quiet. Husband, his dad and Aunt M chatted in the dining room for a bit while I hung out with Bekah and Joy. Buddha was too busy playing with all the new toys to have time for anyone. He really had a blast. We were invited to spend the night, but since Bekah and Father-in-Law had an early morning, we opted to drive home. I admit, I prefer sleeping in my own bed. I got one last (super-great) photo before leaving.
Husband had himself a busy Sunday. He started out helping our friend Mike out with moving some furniture out of storage for his son. Then he headed over to do a little work before our afternoon at P’s place.
P and her husband B have been so good to us and B has been overwhelmed with a lot of yard debris from the wind storms last fall and ice storms last winter. So I volunteered Husband to help him out and we made a day of it. I brought baby back ribs and P got the girls to help her make P’s famous taco dip as well as some desserts. Buddha was happy to romp around in the fenced in backyard at their house, pushing the tricycle down the hill. After several hours of yard work for the fellas and kitchen work for the gals, we finally sat down for a feast. Needless to say, we were all pretty tuckered out by then and it was pushing 8pm. I helped P clean up and we headed home.
Daddy gave Buddha a bath, took a quick shower and Buddha quickly conked out. Then Husband had to get on his homework, which was due at 2am our time and he hadn’t even started yet. Tsk, tsk. I offered a hand to help things along. He finished in the nick of time.
This morning, I needed to ride out to mom’s shop to help her sort mail and pay bills. It’s her least favorite chore and waits until she’s absolutely overwhelmed to call for help. I hadn’t realized that Husband had booked a client for tutoring at 1pm, so he had to reschedule that. One of the ladies that works for mom asked Husband to detail her Jeep and we really need the money (especially after having to cancel that job!), so he accepted. In the meantime, I had finished up with mom, so I called and was able to get squeezed in at my gynecologist’s office for my annual (two months overdue!). She had bought everyone some ice cream - a big hit with Buddha - but I declined because my mouth is still sensitive from all the dental work (post coming soon, I promise).
My mom, God bless her, loaned us the cash to make our rent since the company Husband sub-contracts for doesn’t pay until 10 days into the next month. We made it back home just in time to hand the cash over to the complex manager and catch Joy off the school bus. Unfortunately, I didn’t make the phone calls I needed to in time, so I’ll have a busy morning trying to coordinate appointments for myself, kid’s check-ups and dental visits for us all. Yay.
Posted by tata on Friday May 29, 2009 Under Events, Media
Since returning to Louisville, it’s been harder than I expected to reconnect with my old friends. I’ve made a slew of new friends through knitting and recently made a new pal at the gym. But particularly special to me is Jenni, the new wife to an old friend, Phil, who plays for the band Common Ground. I finally got the opportunity to meet her when Common Ground reunited for a show back in October last year and we’ve recently gotten better acquainted on Facebook since she and Phil live in Tennessee. I simply adore her.
So, about a month ago, Common Ground announced another show for May 28th at Headliners Music Hall here in Louisville. P, being my absolute best friend in the whole wide world, and the only friend I’ve really been able to reconnect with since moving home, agreed to watch the kids so Husband and I could go out for the show. I later learned that Nappy Roots was headlining the show, which made it all the more exciting. (Last week, I was helping Big Rob out at the show and he had this poster of Nappy Roots. I inquired about it, wondering if he was a fan. He says that he grooms the dog of Ron Clutch. Yeah, that impressed me. Pretty fuckin’ cool.)
As the date neared, Jenni and Phil decided they were going to stay in town for the night. I offered them digs here, which Jenni accepted, but they ended up elsewhere. I was bummed about it, ’cause I’d really hoped to hang with Jenni as much as possible, but I was gracious. By the time Thursday rolled around, I was prolly more excited about seeing her than the show! She and Phil got us on the guest list (a tremendous help, considering our recent financial issues) and we had an outstanding time.
I, being under the influence of some serious drugs (I’ll rant about that in another post dedicated specifically to the dentist and my many apprehensions thereof), as well as being pretty broke, decided to have a couple shots of Woodford Reserve before heading out. We dropped the kids at P’s place and my understanding was that it went pretty well for Buddha (who is usually very unhappy about Mama and Daddy leaving him anywhere. P, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!).
J, the singer, was feeling a bit under the weather, but not a soul in the house could tell by the amazing performance he gave. He even busted out the didgeridoo. He has such phenomenal stage presence.
During CG’s set, I saw Ron Clutch walking by and approached him. I told him that my brother Big Rob grooms his dog and that I’m a long-time fan. He asked if my brother was there, but he wasn’t. He shook my hand, thanked me for being a fan and showing my support.
I also FINALLY got to meet Deowick! We have been online friends since 2000 or 2001 and it was so absolutely wonderful to meet and squeeze him. I hope it’s not another 9 or 10 years until we can kick it again. He totally rocks.
I’m pleased that the videos turned out so well in spite of being pretty wasted! Most of the pictures turned out great, too. I can’t pick a favorite. I really love them all.
On our way home, Husband stopped to get me a bite to eat, drop me off then go get the kids from P’s place. I kept falling asleep trying to eat and finally gave up and went to bed. I do think I brushed my teeth beforehand, though. Ultimately, I am a bit relieved that Jenni and Phil opted to stay elsewhere, as I woke up quite early to vomit twice. I won’t swear that I didn’t embarrass myself at the show last night, but it would have been much worse for us all if they had to hear that.
I had a superbly wonderful time. I am so glad that Common Ground is doing shows again (even if they are few and far between). I’m grateful that I have such an awesome friend who will sacrifice her own fun so that Husband and I can have a break from our kids. And I’m really quite smitten with Jenni, who I plan to hang onto for the rest of my life as my newest step soul-sister!
Yesterday, Husband spent the morning and part of the afternoon at the gun range with a friend. He was so happy to get to do some target practice, as it’s been so long. Unfortunately, my toothache was absolutely horrid. When he called to tell me he was on his way home, he asked what I was doing, to which I replied "Contemplating suicide." The pain was that bad. I tried to distract myself with knitting, television and playing on Facebook, but it just didn’t work. When I tried lying down with Buddha at naptime was the absolute worst. I seriously considered not keeping my commitment for today. I couldn’t imagine traveling 2 hours each way in the car with kids in that condition.
Luckily, I woke up this morning feeling much better. I woke up 30 minutes before the alarm (which, incidentally, Husband forgot to set). I took a quick shower, woke up the rest of the house and we packed up the car to head for Cincinnati to meet up with my mom-in-law, one of my four sis-in-laws and MIL’s friend and daughter. We planned to meet at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens for the day. Our carload arrived at about 10:30am.
However, just before reaching us, their carload was in a minor traffic incident and were delayed. The four of us headed on in to appease the restless baby. We watched the elephants get lunch and got to pet a penguin.
Joy ended up taking most of the pictures of the animals at the zoo. She was better at it than I expected. She took gobs of pictures of the creatures in the insect exhibit that didn’t turn out (due to the glass), the big cats and several of the zebras (her long-time favorite).
I took many of the gorillas. They were great: the mama and baby, the grumpy old man, the majestic alpha and a few other females. I counted 6 in all.
A kind passer-by took a group shot for us. I love it, ‘cept rotten Buddha looked the other way.
After a while, it seemed like we were going in circles. We were tired, thirsty, hungry and Joy was eager to spend more time at the indoor exhibits, which is highly difficult with a party of our size, as well as a stroller weighed down with purses and a diaper bag. Plus, Buddha was having a hard time getting warmed up to his long-distance family members, which I know must be frustrating for Gramma. We decided to head over to McDonald’s, first because it’s cheap and more importantly, we all knew where it was located!
Gramma got Buddha to warm up to her by getting him some ice cream.
We haven’t seen ‘em since other sis-in-law’s wedding in December of 2007, so it was really great to see them all again. Hopefully it won’t be as long until we can do it again. We love you all!
With the busy and eventful week and weekend we’ve had, I am very hopeful to just lie around tomorrow doing much of nothing. Maybe I’ll do some knitting and watch some movies, especially since my toothache is right back to kickin’ my ass this evening.
Our little man turned 2 years old today. We had a gathering at our place on Sunday to celebrate. He still fit into his Birthday Prince shirt from last year, so I put it on him!
He was really into tearing off the wrapping paper to find the surprises inside and he has really enjoyed each gift he’s received. He got two sets of play tools, a "work bench" for pounding blocks, a big bottle of bubbles, a remote control car, a big bag of blocks, a potty chair and some pull-ups (both cloth and disposable). My mom’s friend, Mike C. gave Buddha a card that plays music when you open it. I think it might be his favorite.
He blew both of his candles out in one breath! It was hilarious watching him try to eat the giant cupcake. He kept complaining about the icing on his face.
After things settled down and we were getting ready for bathtime, I asked him if he wanted to try his potty chair. I sat him on it, naked as a jay-bird and daddy and I both praised him for being such a big boy. His response? "Dapper." Yeah, he requested a diaper. Potty training him will be loads of fun.
Today - his actual birthday - we took the kids to the park for a bit before dinner. He’s been bugging about getting those bubbles out. Suffice it to say the bottle is now empty.
The crowd this year was much bigger!
Just today, they erected this memorial for Earl McDonald, a Jug Band Pioneer. His lovely granddaughter gave a short speech of thanks at tonight’s performance.
