On being old

My dad was in a car wreck when he was 10. He was thrown from a Jeep, which rolled over his head and fractured his skull behind the left ear. A yellowed scrapbook filled with wreck stories is one of his prized possessions.

I already knew the story, of course. Today, Larry and my dad were comparing notes on painful shots like cortisone and Rocephin when Larry heard about the wreck for the first time.

"They had just invented...(pause)...what's that stuff? Yeah, penicillin."

I burst out laughing at the pause but Daddy, unfazed, continued to tell Larry how he had to have the refrigerated antibiotic through pencil-sized needles every four hours but that it probably saved his life.

I was hysterical by this time, but I managed to choke out the answer to my mom's inevitable question.

"I thought he was going to say they had just invented FIRE!"

More than Mexican

The Hat Trick and I got to have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants with one of our favorite people today. Around the corner from the newspaper where Geddy and I once worked is LaFiesta, home of the bestest Mexican food ever. From the newspaper office, our dear friend Angela edits Newnan-Coweta Magazine, so she was able to meet us for lunch.

As usual on the rare occasions we get to see her, our visit was way too short. She's practically a member of our family -- she was at the births of all three children, who call her "Auntie." She filled me in on my old work crowd, which reminded me that as of December, I have been at home longer than I worked there.

Some of her updates gave me a little pang, thinking of the fun we used to have and how great it was to feel in the loop. Others reminded me with a jolt how stressful parts of the job of a journalist can be, and validated my claim that I would never be able to do my old work and raise my family. (Some people can, just not me!)

It's always nice to have another perspective, especially from someone I dearly love, gently reminding me what a privilege it is to be at home with my not-such-babies. Being at home, especially when we've taken on the responsiblity of The Hat Trick's education as well, certainly isn't easy. But as I shared some kid funnies and boasted a bit (who wouldn't, if they had my great kiddos?), my zest for mothering and teaching got a great boost.

If homeschooling and at-home motherhood is difficult at times, getting too bogged down in day-to-day duties and worries is way too easy. Today, it was fantastic to share my enthusiasm for my current job with a captive audience.

Oh, and the chips and salsa were great, too!

Crime or sleep?

I am a crime show/movie/book/article junkie.

There. I wrote it.

I also haven't slept well since about October, and it's starting to be a problem.

I've tried melatonin, Ambien and now Lunesta. Some help, not much.

My friend Laura made a startling suggestion yesterday: Give up my crime shows/movies/books/articles for awhile and see if I don't start sleeping again. It worked for her.

What?!? Give up my NCIS, my Dirty Harry, my First 48? My Erik Larson and Jack the Ripper? My Crime Library? Oh, not my Criminal Minds! And geez, it's the 50th anniversary of the Clutter family murders in November, you can't expect me not to be glued to In Cold Blood (hey...maybe they'll show the American Justice episode!).

But having just seen the doctor and professing to be desperate for sleep, I am, in fact, going on a cold turkey detox program starting this weekend. I'm finishing the Dirty Harry movies (three to go!) and will be allowed to watch Harper's Island until it concludes in July, and because Kenneth Branagh is a SERIOUS actor I will be allowed to watch the third episode of Wallander.

My sponsor -- I mean husband -- will monitor me. I like him pretty well because he says I can still watch Ghost Hunters. ;o) I have to delete all my crime show timers from the DVR and get rid of the episodes already recorded.

Laura, you'd better be right!

Phineas and Ferb

One of the many reasons this show cracks me up:

Doofenshmirtz: "I told him his macaroni and cheese was too cheesy and not macaroni-y enough. I just insulted a whale's macaroni and cheese recipe -- how much more diabolical can you be?"

Mr. Good -- I mean Monkey -- Wrench

Friday was lovely and cool and we made it to the Birmingham Zoo at opening. Lots of cool animals. And on the way in, we passed a cute downtown area where we thought we'd stop post-zoo.

After a brief tour, we decided to head elsewhere but our car wouldn't start, necessitating a tow. Happily our Volvo roadside assistance actually did assist. The system wouldn't recognize our coded keys, so we were unable to get the steering wheel unlocked, forcing the tow-er to drag our car onto the truck, which was extremely stressful.

Again happily, a Volvo dealer was just a few miles away. Repairs (replacing the starter and recoding the keys) took a couple of hours and then we got lost on the way to the hotel, but we still made it to the Barons game in time to get a free cap -- hooray!

We spent some time in the hotel bar eating glorified chips and dip and cheese that tasted like a goat pasture smells. We watched people come and go, paid triple for our drinks because of the "ambiance" and eventually concluded no matter how you dress them up, people and hotels are just that.

We slept well and late on our ultra-plush bed, then headed out to the Vulcan statue. Despite my terror of heights, I managed to get off the elevator and stand for a full 45 seconds on the mesh at the statue's lookout. I was a little bummed to miss out on the Sloss furnaces -- the remants of a beer festival nulled the usual tours. I had wanted to visit the reportedly haunted areas. (What can I say? I was feeling particularly brave that day.)

Oddly enough, I wasn't a bit disappointed in our anniversary trip. Geddy and I chuckled and snarked our way through and had a really great time. It was a perfect getaway for two smart-aleck part-time misanthropes who plan on growing old together.

Anniversary plans

Friday is Geddy's and my 16th wedding anniversary. We're going to Birmingham, where we plan to visit the zoo and attend a Barons game. G booked a nice hotel suite -- I think at a Marriott -- as well.

Wednesday is his birthday, so we are taking him to The Grillage, a locally owned restaurant similar to Moe's Southwest Grill (only better!). I have a small gift for him which I will not reveal because he sometimes reads my blog, but he already knows he wants a drum head that he will have to pick out himself.

I am re-reading In Cold Blood and planning for our year-end homeschool group cookout today. The littles are at Youth Police Academy and Larry and I are just hanging around the house. He's making battle plans on the phone with one of his friends who recently had a birthday and received a BB gun. (The same friend had a birthday party at Jumpin' Joey's yesterday, and I played in the inflatables with the kiddos. The slides were awesome!)

The rest of the week should be generally quiet, but I did register for a web seminar for an online school called St. Mark's Academy, which we are considering for Larry's high school years. It's a little pricey but not much more than a good high school curriculum or correspondence course, or even the local classical co-op. We'll see, either way. I just can't believe this will be his last middle school year. Come to think of it, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around being married 16 years, too!