Sturm Haus

yellow

Sorry these are a bit blurry - my kitchen is dark in the morning. I should've turned on the overhead light.

Otto's new fireman-inspired rain jacket arrived. He loves it, though he decided not to wear it yesterday because "Jake goes crazy and chases it!" Guess he was up for being chased today. He also wore his soccer socks, and wanted to leave the shin guards in (I said no). He's decided he wants to try soccer again this year. Our neighbor has signed his son up for a different league, so I think we'll try that one this year and see if Otto likes it better. Hopefully it'll warm up -- it's still winter-cold out right now.

He came home last night singing "Yellow Submarine," switching out yellow for purple, then marshmallow for submarine, and kept going with all sorts of funny combinations. I asked if he'd like me to download some Beatles for him and he said "Yeah! I want Beatles 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, and 5..." In other words, he's discovered the Beatles and loves them and wants to listen to them all day.

I made "Better for You Banana Bread" last night from our new favorite cookbook. Annabel ate three (thin) slices this morning, cramming most of the last one into her mouth at once when I said it was time to get coats on. When I dropped her off at day care, she told Leslie it was goooood. I'll be making that recipe again!

I'm working from home today to try and get a grant application finished and catch up on some other things. We've had epic IT problems the past week or so, and I've been spending way too much time troubleshooting problems, talking to our IT consultants, and trying to figure out how to pay for all the things needing to be fixed. If I'm not in the building, I'm not available for any of that -- and here at home my Mac and my printer and my wireless all work.

Money may not buy me love, but it could buy me an additional wifi access point, new catalog computers, a new firewall, a couple of harddrives to backup the new server, a second T1 line, and lots of hours of IT support to debug and reimage virus-ridden computers.

Sigh.

let's go swimming!

Last winter we did swim classes at the local high school, which has an olympic-size pool with a diving board and a cadre of young teachers (most of them college students). We had a great time.

This year we went back to the rec center in Ann Arbor, where I took Otto for infant swimming ages ago. I didn't realize how much I liked their instructors until we tried the other program. The infant/toddler class in particular is good, I think, because the teacher starts with safety skills -- namely, learning to fall into the water, turn around, and grab the side of the pool. Bel loves it. We practice floating, and kicking, and paddling after rubber ducks to learn how to reach forward with your arms. She told me yesterday her favorite thing is floating.

I'm liking Otto's class this year because he gets to swim in the shallow kids' pool off to the side of the big pool. Since he can touch bottom, he doesn't spend most of his class time sitting on the edge of the pool waiting for his turn to swim with the instructor.

Yesterday he wore a pair of swim goggles. This meant he could go underwater with his eyes open to see things, so he did. Often. His instructors kept turning around to look for him, and half the time he would be out of sight because he was underwater looking around at everyone's legs. I'm not supposed to sit poolside (which I forgot until Jon came looking for me), but I was sort of glad I'd broken the rules and was within arm's reach. It's not the instructors' fault that he's trying to be half fish, half boy.

So Bel and I sat poolside and watched, and she had a little after-swim snack. Our lessons fall around lunchtime, and my kids don't do well if their meal times are shifted. So I take food to swimming. I'm sure that's against the rules somewhere, too, but preventing a hungry, crabby Bel takes priority.

Life is much better when they're happy!

 

hope!

When Matt and I were small, our parents used to take us to basketball games at Marymount (nice small liberal arts college, great bball team). I can remember the way the gym smelled - sweaty socks all around - and that it was LOUD. And most of the time I couldn't see anything but the people around me, standing to cheer. Folding chairs, flourescent lights, the squeaking of athletic shoes on polished wood floors. It was a little scary at first, I think, and kind of hard to understand what the fuss was about.

My parents were two of the loudest in the cheering deparment. They were both big basketball fans -- my mom still is. I'm pretty sure March is her favorite time of year.

Despite their enthusiasm, and depsite spawning two children of greater-than-average height, they never got to cheer for their own kids on the court. I'm just not that coordinated. And believe me, my junior-high gym teacher tried his best to recruit me. I took some great game photos for the high school yearbook, but that was as close as I got. Matt played basketball in elementary school, but as a high schooler ended up wrestling. We both swam and played soccer. But basketball... well, it just never stuck I guess.

Being from Kansas, though, it's kind of hard to escape. A friend gave Otto a great KU sweat suit last year, and he'll wear it tomorrow for good luck. But even better...

"So, how was gym today Otto? Did you jump rope? Or do tumbling?"

"No."

"Hmm... what did you do?"

He gave me his "and you're asking because?" look -- it's done, he's home, why am I even bothering to ask? So I made an educated guess.

"Did you play basketball?"

His whole face lit up and he laughed. "Yeah!"

"Was it fun?"

"It was crazy!" he said, "the gym teacher had to put the balls away!" Sounded like the class got a little over-enthusiastic, which I liked imagining. Twenty-four kindergarten and first graders going nuts trying to dribble, pass, and shoot. He might've been most amused by the gym teacher's loss of control, but I guess it was a positive first experience.

He later confessed that he found making baskets "easy." Then he sat with us to watch the end of a game before heading to bed.

So, Grandma, I wouldn't pin all my hopes on him yet, but there is some interest there. Hooray!

At a meeting this morning I ran into someone who was saying she was going to stay up and cheer for one of the teams tonight because her daughter was a graduate and "I've donated $50,000 to that place." Meaning, I suppose, she contributed that much to her daughter's education. Which I found kind of irritating, because really -- that's not a donation, it's payment for classes and experience and a degree.

Then she started talking about all the Sweet 16 t-shirts she has for the team, and I waved a hand languidly and said "Oh, well, I'm from Kansas. Sweet 16? Pshaw." Or something like that, anyway -- because honestly, does anyone back home get excited anymore about the Sweet 16? Final 4, sure, but the Sweet 16? That's a given, right? Or maybe I'm just easily irritated lately and she rubbed me the wrong way... hm.

Anyway, I'm going to sit up and cheer on the Badgers for as long as I can stay awake, and tomorrow night we'll let Otto stay up (if he wants to) to watch the Jayhawks. Because a good education is priceless, and the earlier you start, the better.

Right mom?

tuesday drop-off

Bel likes to practice her balancing on the way into school.

Today she's wearing a "rainy day" outfit - the t-shirt has clouds and rhinestone raindrops and umbrellas and flowers. I couldn't resist the matching leggings.

We're supposed to get an ice storm tonight, up to 1/2" of the frozen stuff. And of course Otto's winter coat has gone AWOL -- I have no idea where it is. Today he wore his rain slicker over a fleece jacket. I suppose that'll do tomorrow, too, in a pinch.

Last night we went for a walk - Bel in the stroller, Otto riding his bike. We traveled all the way up to the top of our subdivision and back home again. Otto complained about his legs hurting, but made it just fine and was in an excellent mood the whole way. I told him he has to build his bike muscles back up, and promised him that the last part of our trip home would be downhill.

Annabel spent the trip chatting. She could see birds! And hear dogs barking! And there were some kids over there! She's been so excited about birds and sunny evenings lately... hopefully this ice storm will be a brief thing, done and over in a day so that we can get back to our outdoor routine.

tuesday drop off

Here are the infamous rain boots:

Recognize the rain coat?

Yep, it used to be Big Brother's. He graciously allowed her to wear it today, since he can't wear it anymore. "I used to wear it a long long time ago," he said, "when I was still 5."

A bit further back than that, kid, but OK. Whatever.

He also wants me to buy him a new one, in his current size, which isn't all that easy since this was a one-off at Old Navy.

And yet, for him, I will seek and hunt and search! Because he's a sweetie, and it's not a terribly unreasonable request, and he needs a spring jacket anyway.

Reason number 1,478 that I'm going to get a mom car someday (hopefully sooner rather than later):

See her boot? She likes to prop her feet up on the back of the seat in front of her. She especially likes to do it in her Dad's car, where she sits behind the driver (in my car she's on the passenger side).

Gives a new meaning to the saying "boot to the head!"

linky Friday

A few things from this week I wanted to share:

• The Google Crisis Response page for the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami - the video they featured on the page today was a home video of the earthquake. Terrifying to watch, yet I'm so impressed by how calm and purposeful the family was as they got out of the house and checked on their neighbors, then the damage. First time I've seen this page - kind of cool.

• Combat Knitters in Kandahar were profiled at the Washington Post this week. Favorite quote? "A combat war zone is no excuse not to gauge." Words to live by! Kandahar's Combat Knitters use yarn and needles as weapons of self-preservation, Washington Post, 3/10/11. 

• J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly reviewed the new Consumer Reports Auto Issue for me (good of him!): Consumer Reports Auto Issue: Best and Worst Cars for 2011. Sadly for me, I think all Subarus are truly out -- we're going to need more seats than 4 or 5.  Boo hoo!

• At Hooked on Houses I got to revisit the old Stratford Inn from Newheart. Remember that show? Larry, Darryl and Darryl? Of all the 80s sitcoms, I remember that one and Murphy Brown probably the best. The virtual tour was fun, and I didn't know that the real Inn is still around. 

• Over at Greenovation.TV you can learn about the first ever net-zero historical home - a renovated home in a historic neighborhood in Ann Arbor that produces all the energy it needs, plus gives some back to the utility companies. I've listened to interviews about this project on our local public radio station for awhile now, and I like the owners' methodical approach to reducing energy use before looking at alternate energy sources (pro tip: lots of insulation!). 

• Speaking of green... I think it's really cool that the Naturita Community Library in Colorado (this year's LJ Best Small Library) is a straw-bale buildling. And I love that the Director appointed himself general contractor after local construction companies added a 20% premium to their bids because they hadn't built straw-bale before. Not saying I could do it, but hey -- I know where to find the books that would tell me how, so you can never say never. 

• Last but not least, I got a little outspoken this week at a meeting... Like any large shared ILS consortium we pay an awful lot for material delivery between buildings, and as a cost containment measure we're trying to figure out if there's a way to cut down on the amount of stuff riding around in bins on trucks. Some librarians want to decide which materials are "truck worthy" to accomplish this, and I finally got kind of mad and said "I'm not interested in judging what people are checking out, saying that TV series are frivolous and shouldn't be shipped. To someone on medical leave and stuck at home for a week, those BBC TV series can be a lifeline." I got home and said to Jon, "can we please, please get you and your company to come make us Lean? Please?" It's his speciality area, you know? And I'm not as crazy as I seem - someone else is already doing it. I'm sure it would help, and it'd be nice to focus on positive, customer-service driven otucomes rather than just the budget-squeezing, fear-driven cattle prods we're running from now.

So there's my week, sort of, in a nutshell. Have a great weekend!

right on time

Monday evening I asked Otto if he'd started a new unit yet at school.

The last few weeks he's been studying money, and we've been singing things like "penny nickel di-ime" to the tune of "Frere Jacques" and looking for half-dollars so we can compare coin sizes (hard to find these days, btw).

Guess they're done with that now. This week they started a unit on telling time, which he immediately put to use by setting up a play date with his best friend ("Mom! Jake and me are going to play LEGOs on Saturday March 12 at... 12:28 pm."). He might be the first kindergartner you've ever met with his own Filofax.

Then he told me last night about the Civil War, which happened a long time ago in "the olden days" and lasted for four years. We also discussed presidents and how they're elected to serve for 4 years at a time, how some of them died a long time ago and how some of them are still alive. Wow! I thought. Cool! Aren't those pretty big concepts for someone who just turned 6?

His dad and uncle had a series of boy's historical/adventure novels that are now shelved on the bottom shelf of Otto's bookcase, waiting for him to catch up to their reading level. Jon still loves to read history books more than just about anything else. Makes me wonder if Otto will be like his dad in this way, too. I hope so!

Continuing the like parent, like child tradition, Annabel has started reading herself to sleep on a nightly basis. She carefully selects 2-3 storybooks for the bedtime routine, and after one of us reads them to her she takes the best one to bed with her. Then she lies there and looks at the pictures in the dim light of her nightlight until she falls asleep, hugging the book to her chest. Books, in fact, have become the new Dolly.

This weekend we start swimming lessons (hooray!) and have to get caught up on laundry (boo!). We also have to sort through papers from 2010 and get our tax appointment scheduled. Thrilling stuff like that.

Oh - and we'll be working all weekend on moving the kids' bedtimes back. Darn Daylight Savings Time! Don't know why we don't just leave clocks in the spring forward position year round now...

better get crackin'

BBA books,
originally uploaded by sturm95.

My Booksellers' Best Awards books arrived this week.

I won the jackpot for paranormal romance this year, as did one of my colleagues. We'll be seeing vampires and werewolves around every corner by the time we're done -- and we have to finish and submit our scores by May 1, which kind of guarantees an immersion experience.

I'm not too sure what I'm in for here, to be honest. These are all new authors to me. Should be fun!

My assigned books this year include:
J.K. Beck - When Pleasure Rules
Kate Douglas - Wolf Tales 10
Ann Hinnenkamp - Dyad Quest
Barbara Monajem - Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil
Pamela Palmer - Rapture Untamed
Jory Strong - Healer's Choice

very funny, dear

I stayed home today, hacking and coughing, with the two kids. Kid #1 had a stomach bug, throwing up a couple of times through the evening and night. Kid #2 had the same flu bug I have, only not as severe. I figured we'd all stay home together and mix our bugs around together, treat our house like a giant petri dish, and see what grows next!

Then Jon decided to come home early to take care of us all. I guess I sounded pretty awful on the phone. And maybe the petri dish thing scared him?

So Bel and I were sitting on the couch this afternoon, watching either Dora or Deigo, when he walked past just as I coughed a pitiful hacking cough.

"Your cough keeps getting better and better," he said, and while I was 90% sure he was being sarcastic, I thought maybe I was sounding better. Maybe a teeny bit? So I said "really?" in a hopeful little voice.

"No," he said, and kept walking.

"Damn," I said.

"Damn!" said Annabel.

Otto has bounced back from the stomach bug, though he wanted me to sleep with him tonight in case he felt sick again. I had to wash his jammies and puppies for him first thing this morning, poor kid, and he felt bad about that. I told him I was sure he wouldn't be sick again tonight - he ate lots of small, light snacks today and kept it all down just fine - but sat with him until he fell asleep anyway. This followed a half-hour snuggle session on the couch, and a discussion about how he needs more regular mommy snuggle time. I agreed, and hugged him a little more, because when he's well? He doesn't seem to need any snuggle time at all.

I'm off now to drink my bedtime dose of TheraFlu, that magical elixer that puts me into a coma. Reminds me of that great old HiberNol commercial:

See you on the other side...

FF>>

Towards the end of dinner tonight Otto announced out of the blue, "Mom, when I grow up I'm going to marry you."

I about melted into a puddle of goo under the table.

My "Little" Annabel is now wearing 4T jeans. 4T!!! And they are a little bit too long, but fit perfectly everywhere else. I shake my head.

When did life click into fast forward, anyway? And where's the pause button?

-------------------------------------------------------

So OK, when we got back from our weekend in Chicago, we pulled into our driveway and found...

an open garage door.

There sat my car, unlocked. There was the door into the house, also unlocked (shh - and I know, I KNOW.)

Not a single thing was out of place. Evidently, in our rush to embark on a weekend of fun, we forgot to close the garage door. Or (and I think this is more likely), in his eagerness to close the door as he backed out, Jon accidentally hit the button a second time and sent it back up instead of down.

I feel like I owe all our neighbors a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies, or loaves of banana bread, or homemade soup or something. Yeesh. Not like they had to stand guard or anything, but we all know each other, recognize each other's cars, know who should be in each other's driveways and who shouldn't. I think that makes a difference, thank heavens. Not that we'll make a habit of leaving the drawbridge down.

Ugh. Gives me shivers to think about.

-------------------------------------------------------

I'm so grateful that it's March. This has been a record-setting winter in terms of snow and storms, and I'm tired. Tired of the cold, tired of the snow and ice, tired of the sun setting before I can get home from work. I'm a little blue, truth to tell, and my usual cures have been called upon so often the past two months that they've lost their power. I'm slogging through the days, that's all there is to it, and ready to burn the boots and parka. Please, Spring, come early this year!

Speaking of spring - every year I think "oh, I need something to wear for Easter," and every year end up scrambling at the last minute to find a new blouse or skirt or (ugh) sweater to wear. This year I'm going to try and plan ahead a bit more. I want something pretty, with color and pattern and some swish. Something that looks good under a cardigan, because it's invariably still COLD at Easter here (I'm sticking my tongue out at you, Winter).

I get to look for Annabel, too, which will be both fun and easy due to her adorableness. In fact, I think I already found her outfit. Now all I have to do is measure her and see which size I should order, then add a size so that she'll still be able to wear it in a couple of months. Yeesh.

Otto is a six slim right now - long and lean, and he complains if his shirt sleeves get short on him. I told him the other day I was going to put a brick on his head to keep him from growing, and he laughed and laughed.

But really, I am going to be thrilled when shorts season finally rolls around.