Summer's winding down.

The days are getting shorter. The kids have posed for the obligatory first day of school photo with backpacks on at the front door. End of season allergies are kicking in.

It's been a very strange summer...oscillating between joy and despair. Loved ones have passed on, trips have been taken, family has come and gone in a whirlwind of suitcases and playing children, the kids have had a summer's worth of good night kisses and good morning hugs. Time passes and smoothes over some of the sharp edges just a little.

I'm ready for a change of seasons this year. I puttered around in the craft room with some clay and even bought a little yarn for a new project. The house seems all cluttery, and I'm working my way up to caring about it...baby steps, people, baby steps.

The photo above was taken on the Kaskaskia river just as the sun was setting. Those are my two little ducklings tubing behind the boat.

Feelin' hot, hot, hot!

On Wednesday we took in a Cardinals game. Yes, Wednesday, when the heat was still on. Being an experienced mom, I made sure we were armed with Squeeze Breezes and personal fans. We spent more on ice cream than the GNP of a small country. Not really an ideal night to enjoy a game, but the tickets were already bought and paid for...so you suck it up and go. BTW, the Cards got their butts handed to them 16-8.

We took the Metrolink instead of driving in, so we headed out a little early to try to beat the huge throngs herded onto the platforms waiting for a turn on the train. The metrolink workers were already directing folks into tight "train sized" clusters. People were hot, sweaty, and in no mood to be screwed with. Thank God we just had to wait about 8 or 10 minutes for the next train to come along. I noticed one older gentleman standing in the row beside us who looked like he was just about to collapse...seriously. I reached between people and turned my little fan on him. I was miserable, but he looked sick. Just getting a little air moving around him seemed to perk him up a little. A little side note: When we're moving in a crowded place with the kids, D's job is to do the blocking and room making. I usually bring up the rear to make sure all the kids are herded between us. Now, when it came time to get on our train, D and the kids pushed on and I was getting blocked out by the crowd. That same sweltering fella kept an eye out for me and made sure to give me room to get on before he did.

I know that story doesn't sound all that earth shattering, but here's the point. It always kind of surprises me when strangers repay a small kindness. With the world the way it is today, I just don't have all that high of expectations.

It's nice when it all works out.

The photo above is a shot of the time/temp display inside the stadium. The temp stayed within a few degrees the entire time we were there.

A trip to the zoo.

Daughter the Younger was away from home having some sleepover fun, so I asked Daughter the Eldest what she'd like to do with the day we were spending with Granny. "Go to the zoo!" was the reply.

It was hotter than the hinges of Hades when we made our way to the zoo on the 15th. We had an amply stocked roll-y cooler, and a vow to not get in too big of a hurry. A highlight was going through the Penguin and Puffin area, which is kept really cold. Like 45 degrees cold. We pretty much made it around to everything but the River's Edge area. Daughter, Granny, and I made it back home and pretty much collapsed into the wonder that is a cool, air-conditioned home.

Even though it was eleventy billion degrees, we had a good day.

Above is a photo that the young 'un took of the sweet little prairie dogs. They were studying us every bit as much as we were studying them.

Another goodbye

On July 2nd, after a short illness, my mother-in-law Ann passed away.

We are all still reeling from it. Ann was a wonderful mother, grandmother, and friend. I've been sitting here typing and deleting so many things, because the words just aren't right, or enough. The sun keeps coming up and setting and the world is still turning, I just feel a few steps behind it right now.

Goodbye for now Ann. We'll keep you in our hearts until we see you later.

-k

RIP Sweet Boy

I really don't know how to start this, so I'll just begin. On the 10th of May, I had to make the decision to put my sweet little Zippy cat down. He was a constant in my life for 19 years. That's a long time, I know...but you never really feel like it's enough time. He had been suffering from chronic renal failure for who knows how long, really, and it just seemed to spiral downward in the last few weeks of his life. He grew steadily sicker and weaker. We tempted him with his favorite treats, carried him to the litterbox when he could no longer make it himself, and spent his last days loving him as much as possible. He went peacefully with the help of a wonderful, caring vet staff. I was able to hold him the entire time, so the last thing he felt was being held and petted.

It's odd...grieving for a pet. I feel as if I can't really talk about it too much for fear of being the "crazy cat lady". I keep wanting to just get up and dust myself off, but grief doesn't work like that. It's sticky and messy.

-k

A fun little time waster.

You can spell anything with Spell with flickr. I love the "ransom note" quality of the results. The spacing was kinda wonky, and I have no idea how that could be remedied, but all in all a fun little toy.

Yes, please.

You Belong in London

You belong in London, but you belong in many cities... Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sidney. You fit in almost anywhere.And London is diverse and international enough to satisfy many of your tastes. From curry to Shakespeare, London (almost) has it all!

What European City Do You Belong In?

I've actually been to London and LOVED it! The things we consider old and historic here in the USA don't even hold a candle to what the Europeans have. It's also true that while I was there, I kept thinking of all the OTHER places I'd like to go...

City Museum!!!

The kids had an unexpected day off from school yesterday, so we headed over to St. Louis to make the most of it at the City Museum. It's not like a regular museum. It's filled with all manner of recycled bits and bobs from local buildings that are re-used in all kinds of crazy, fun ways.

There is a "forest to climb through and explore. The "Enchanted Caves" are a wacky conglomeration of concrete caves and Mad Max looking decayed industrial levels to climb.

We spent some time on the 3rd floor in Art City. There are always art materials out for the visitors to use, and most are free. We looooovve the free stuff!!! The snowflake lady was there, so we all cut our "animal" snowflakes. She sells books with patterns all kinds of snowflakes. We have a few of the books, and they're lots of fun to do.

We spent a lot of time outside the building in MonstroCity. It's not for the faint of heart. There are twisty, turny, HIGH tunnels to crawl in all the way up to the third floor of the building! There's lots of places to snag the seat of your pants (just ask Daughter the Eldest!) and make the mistake of looking down and suffer heart palpatations. The preferred method of going down from one area to the next is one of the slides.

While the kids were busy climbing and sliding, I sat in the centrally located "tree house" and listened to some podcasts. The most telling description I could give of MonstroCity is that it looks like something my Uncle Byron would make just for the hell of it.

If you're going to be in St. Louis and are looking for something fun to do and see, then you MUST go to the City Museum...

just don't take the bus.

It got a little windy yesterday.

This is what's left of the HUGE shed that we parked our boat in. Our boat is the one with the bit of aluminum lying ever so jauntily across the bow of it. This property is only about 1/4 of a mile down the road from our home. We were so very fortunate that the only problem we had at home was a few missing shingles. I guess they weren't technically missing, as they were still in our yard.

There is also a home in front of the "shed". Fortunately, the only big damage to it was that the front eaves were snapped up and lying on the roof. The kindly neighbors who let us use the space in their shed weren't home at the time, so no one is hurt.

The beautiful subdivision just across the street and down from us took a pretty big hit, i.e. roofs blown off, entire backs of homes just gone, etc. The police weren't letting anyone in that didn't live there. There is still a squad car posted there today.

We missed most of the excitement in our neighborhood as this was happening. We were on the way home from a matinee with the kids . The theater we went to is in Belleville, just south of Fairview Heights, so I wanted to drive home via Fairview to use a Borders coupon before it expired that day. I rarely let one of those go unused. Anyhoo, as we were heading northbound on Rt. 159, the traffic lights started to go dead. That's not a road you want to be on when that happens, because it takes freakin' forever to get through all the congestion. The sky was black and the rain was really coming down, so I weighed my options and decided that paying full price for something at Borders might not be so bad, and proceeded to change direction and head straight home. We were blown about, rained on and pelted with hail for the rest of the ride home.

God must have had a hand in those annoying dead traffic signals. At just the time we would have been getting to Borders, a store in that very same area collapsed (there was a fatality involved), part of the roof was blown off of the mall across the street, and power lines were down everywhere. I think they're still clearing debris away today.

There were emergency vehicles and police everywhere as we got close to home. We were so happy to see our house still standing there. D got up on the roof to patch it up. We retrieved our planters that had blown down the street, checked on neighbors, lit some candles, had some cereal and counted our blessings.

Here is a link to a story that I found. The Borders mentioned is the very one we were heading toward!

Spring may really be here after all!

I'm SO ready to see some hummingbirds. Here's a neat little place to track their progress. Looks like it's time to get the feeders cleaned up and ready for the hungry little creatures. I really don't have a lot of luck in attracting birds, but the hummers and goldfinches usually feel sorry for me and set up shop in my yard.

We have a back porch/lanai type area on our house, and we love to sit out there and watch whoever decides to come in for a little lunch. One time I could swear that a little hummer was reading the paper with my mother-in-law.

Aaaahhh...pretty soon, I'll be sitting out with my glass of iced tea, feeling the warm air, and watching the show.

Ciao.

Birthdays really are nice.

Thanks to all of my family and friends that remembered little old me on my birthday. I made the crew take me out to eat Imo's pizza. I'm the only one in the family that likes it, and the last time we had it was for my birthday LAST year!!! BWAAAHAHAHAHA!!! Being queen for a day makes me absolutely giddy with power!

As you can see from the ginormous candles on the cake, I am 44 years old (or young, as all the old people say), but I prefer to think of it as 22 folded in half.

Ciao baby.

This is my new idol.

I don't even know how I landed on this. Irene has no problem whatsoever in her wardrobe choices. She just may have the solution to all my worries about my wardrobe. She's stylin' and happy. What more could you ask?

Bingo!!!

You Are Likely a Third Born

At your darkest moments, you feel vulnerable.At work and school, you do best when you're comparing things.When you love someone, you tend to like to please them. In friendship, you are loyal to one person.Your ideal careers are: sales, police officer, newspaper reporter, inventor, poet, and animal trainer.You will leave your mark on the world with inventions, poetry, and inspiration.

The Birth Order Predictor

The end of an era

Today is garbage day at Casa de Musicgeek. What you see above are the remains of the trampoline. It was a good trampoline...nice and springy. It stood proudly in the corner of our backyard for 3 (or maybe 4, we don't really remember) years.

Countless jumps have been jumped by our girls and all the other kids in the neighborhood. On hot, windless days, groups of little children sprawled out on it telling stories and secrets. At any given time, I could look out my kitchen windows and count the heads bobbing up and down, and know that everyone was safe and accounted for. Later in the day, moms would call kids in for dinner, which would be gobbled down so the kids could get in "a few more jumps" before darkness and mosquitoes brought the day to a close. Some little stragglers would have to retrieve forgotten shoes before a rainstorm or the lawnmower could find them.

That's been the rhythm of the summer at my home for the past few years. Time goes by, trampolines get rickety and unsafe, friends move, kids grow and change...and mom and dad have to try to keep up with it all.

It's time for a new routine and rhythm. From all indications so far, basketballs bouncing and knitting needles clicking will figure heavily into it.

Mommy just needs to look out a different window.

The wheels on the bus...

went round and round forever, or so it seemed.

I took a little field trip with Daughter the Younger's class to the Illinois State Capitol. We started out at about 8:00 am, and pulled back into school around 6:00pm. It was rainy and cold, but we still had a great day. The kids were thrilled because they got the go-ahead to bring along electronic gizmos of their choosing for the long bus ride. They were also supposed to pack lunch and enough snacks to make it through the day. I'm almost on a professional level with snacking, so my backpack should have come with a llama to carry it. I also brought my scaled-down purse, a book, notebook and pens, a couple of water bottles, Kleenex, hand cleaner, extra snacks in case there were snackless kids, and my trusty Zen mp3 player. I really could have used that llama.

We made four stops on our tour of Lincoln related stuff.

1. The New Salem Historic Village - It was pretty rainy and cold on our first stop. There were volunteers in period costumes in two of the buildings in the village. They had fires going in the fireplaces and answered students questions about life in Lincoln's time. It would be a good place to go back to in nicer weather. The lady at the info desk said they have more of the buildings open in the warmer months. We could look into them, they just didn't have any villagers in them.
2. Abraham Lincoln's Tomb - All of the kids rubbed Abe's nose for luck.
3. The Illinois State Capitol Building - The kids got to see where the senators and congressmen do their thing. I personally think they could do without a few of the $100,000 chandeliers, and get an art teacher in my kid's school...just saying.
4. The Illinois State Museum - This was our last stop, and was within walking distance of the Capitol building. It was the kind of place where you could have meandered through slowly and probably learned a lot about Illinois...fourth graders aren't into meandering. Really.

On the way back to school, the cluster of kids that I was sitting near were trying to keep track of our progress on the shiny new maps they picked up at the Capitol building. They were BIG into the literature that was available there. I just loved it when the workers had to put more out for them. I'm paying for that crap, damnit, so it better be out there for my little darlin's class.Some Kentucky Fried Chicken and a hot bath put the icing on the cake of the day.

After seeing the facilities in the New Salem Village, I'm pretty safe in saying that Abe never had it so good.

This just makes me laugh!!!

Thanks so much to the folks at You Knit What?? for leading me to this little gem! I'm a certifiable cat freak, and really...what could be better that putting stuff on a cat!

First I have to say, I can't even imagine knitting something like this that would truly fit a cat. Secondly, how the hell did this person get it ON the cat without ending up in the hospital with their flesh in tatters?!?

It truly boggles the mind.

Pukety, puke , puke...

yeah, that's what's up here folks. Daughter the Younger has tummy troubles. She's feeling a little better today, but still nowhere near normal. I've been Lysol and Cloroxing everything that doesn't move out of my way under it's own power. I know it's probably viral, and that this will really do no good. It just makes ME feel a little better. If I'm going to be staring down into the business end of a toilet, it's going to be a CLEAN one.

If you come to visit me, and just happen to use the girls' bathroom, this is what you'll see on the soffit above you as you look in the mirror. It's good advice for everyone, don'cha think.