Suburban Island

Unproductive Moments

QUESTION: What's wrong with a little down time?

WHAT I LEARNED: Some days might be better spend in your PJs.

Ever have a day when you sit down at the end of it and think - what did I do today? And you really can't remember - at least anything really bigger than taking out the trash or checking your email.

Today was that kind of day.

All I can really remember is -

• Dropping off a kid for class,
• Getting coffee,
• Checking email,
• Picking up the same kid from class,
• Checking diary for notes from Diaryland friends,
• Watching Haiku Tunnel - one of my favorite movies - and maybe the perfect expression of my I-don't-seem-to-be-doing-anything angst,

 

• Paying bills and trying to figure out (and stick to) any sort of reasonable budget,
• Banging out a puny 15 minutes of practice on the piano for a 1/2 hour lesson - at least now I know what pieces I am supposed to be working on,
• Answering the phone and answering the phone and answering the phone,
• Wondering where all the towels went and why no one ever replaces the toilet tissue roll in the hall bathroom when it's empty - an inconvenient thought to occur to one while occupying said bathroom,
• Eating a microwave meal for lunch and another for dinner,
• Reading the first 3 pages of Chapter 8 in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - when everyone else is all the way through book 5 in the series,
• Making hot tea and drinking diet sodas,
• Listening to my dad criticize a purchasing decision I had already made - where's the off button on that speech?
• Wondering if I could buy a soundtrack of the background music on the SIMS game,
• Realizing that I am not really getting anything done,
• Giving up and getting into my jammies.

I know I did a few more things but I think I will just stop here, make a nice cup of hot tea, and get back to reading Harry Potter.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

Christopher - 2003-07-31 00:07:02
I hate it when people don't replace the roll. I enjoy having my own bathroom so that when I'm sitting there trying to figure out what to do it's my own darn fault.
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Paula - 2003-07-31 00:42:54
I make sure that I have numberous choices for PJ's. I have short sets, pant sets, long shirt styles, short shirt styles. boxer sets.... you get the idea.. that way when the down time gets here. I am as ready as I can be to enjoy it.. as far as the TP goes.. I have begun wondering in a house where I am the only female..just who is using it all up. I put out two rolls and before I know they are gone, and I know I wasn't the one who used it all up... it has become a habit to check BEFORE even sitting down.. sad isn't it?
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Caribou - 2003-07-31 07:41:13
That's a pretty long list for someone who thinks they didn't do anything all day. Some days the most productive thing I can do is to make it through to the next day. :)
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keli - 2003-07-31 09:14:21
hihi! Really nice to see your note. Your diaryland username already made me smile :) Im sure we'll be able to get to know each other better through writings. Cheers!
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radmila - 2003-07-31 21:20:21
Except for the parental lecture and the picking up and dropping off of the kid...you have just described my dream day. One day, I'm going to rent a hotel room and do just that!
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Long Day - Short Night

QUESTION: Why can't I draw?

WHAT I LEARNED: There is such a thing as too much coffee.

I am glad that today is today because that means that it is no longer yesterday because yesterday was a no good very bad day. Do you remember that great kid's book about Alexander, whose day went horribly awry? The title says it all.

I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day yesterday.

The day started falling into the abyss pretty early on. No time for coffee. Strike one. This is followed up by multiple calls by my husband, who has gotten a misquote on a car loan which seemed to have sent him straight into hyperspace. Who got it straightened out? Me, that's who - by accident if you must know. Because while he was on the phone describing his financial trauma to me is annoying detail - I believe it might have been a dramatic reading but I'm not sure - the nice lady who worked in the loan office called to say the figure quoted was so high because it was wrong.

While fielding high drama phone calls, I was also grinding out reports for work - always a chore - only to get a note back from the new person logging in the report data. It seems they want every field filled out like travel time, for instance. I wonder what the travel time is for an email or phone call to a client? Do I count travel time into the office? Hmmm - not a bad idea.

Next, I fill out a two page accident report about my FedEx truck encounter. I can't believe I have to draw a picture of the accident scene. I realize I draw like a first grader. I use a lot of Wite-Out and eventually stick it in an envelope. I feel a bit ashamed at my lack of artistic capability and hope no one I know ever sees it.

In the afternoon, I head out to get two estimates on the damage to the car and it begins to rain heavily. I get lost going to the second auto repair shop - maybe I was in a haze from the first estimate which ran about $2000. It only stops raining when I have driven through the rain to obtain both estimates.

That reminds me - my side view mirror is now wired on to the car. It is the kind of mirror you might put on a bike and it is held on extra good with silver duct tape. It is kind of embarrassing to drive around town with a bicycle mirror taped to your driver's door. It's worse in the rain.

I finally get to the doctor's office to get my foot looked at. Limp, limp, limp. The office is very hot and there are fans running in the waiting room. The room with the xray machine has no fan and it is hot as hell. I get to sit on a table for a long time with the xray technician tries to get the xray machine going. The xray machine doesn't work though. Maybe it doesn't like the heat. They tell me to come back tomorrow and wrap my foot. Limp, limp, limp - I leave.

At home, we order pizza. When it arrives, my son leans over and somberly peers into the fish tank before exclaiming loudly - one of our fish is dying. I can't eat pizza when a fish is dying.

After downing a piece of pizza that tasted like sand due to the guilt inducing sick fish statement made by kid, a trip was made to the pet store. There a teenage girl asked me basic questions about my tank's PH and ammonia levels when I just wanted to know which of the $14 a pop medicines made the most sense for a sudden fish illness that did not manifest itself as a fungus. We go home and pop half a box of the pricey fish meds into the tank.

But the day was not over yet because I had a big presentation to do the next day. It was 2 a.m. before I was finished preparing for this. I wasn't too tired because I had a cup of coffee to perk me up. It was perking me up all night long. My restlessness was punctuated by the sound of kids bouncing up and down the steps until at least 3 a.m. - my daughter had a friend over to spend the night - and the tantalizing sounds of chick flicks turned up just a notch too loud for the wee hours of the morning.

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad morning when I had to rise and shine the next day at 6:15. However, at least it is a new day and there is one diet cherry coke left in the fridge to caffinate me.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

flyinby - 2003-07-30 01:53:49
if you describe your fishes behavior, appearance, etc, i can probably tell you what's wrong with it and tell you the /easiest/ treatment for it. :) i'm a bit of a fish junkie.
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flyinby - 2003-07-30 01:54:29
oh, and i hope you never have another one of those horrible no good very bad days again! *grin*
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Inkdragon - 2003-07-30 08:36:32
I hope today is just the opposite!
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Marlen - 2003-07-30 09:48:42
Sorry about your bad day ((Hugs))
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Tour Time

QUESTION: Do you know where your phone charger is?

What I Learned: Company time is fun time.

Company came and company went. It always seems a long time in the coming and the leaving is upon us just like that. My best friend and her son arrived earlier this week and now they are gone again already. I really wish she lived closer or at least kept an online diary! I don't get to see her as much as I'd like since she lives so far away. As it is, I use up a lot of my cell phone minutes talking to her and I am sure she does the same.

It was fun for my kids to have her teenage son visiting along with her. Music was shared, movies were rented, carry out was ordered. Many visits to friends were made. The Pirates of the Carribean was enjoyed on the big screen. And late hours were kept.

We even got to do the local ghost tour. Something I have thought would be fun but had never gotten around to doing. Our ghost guide shared some interesting history and some local ghostly tales. Perhaps as interesting as his tour, was his outfit - white open shirt and white pants with a black scarf knotted around his neck. It was my guess that he had a secret yearning to be a pirate or the star of a movie set in a tropical locale. The kids immediately linked the scarf to the stories about the girl with the ribbon around her neck that held her head on. We don't know for sure but it was an intriguing choice of tour guide garb. Because my foot is still hurting me from the curb-stepping incident on Monday, I was especially happy with his last stop on the tour - an old church graveyard - that was just a 1/2 block from where we had parked. Some history, some scary stuff, and a short walk back to the car, made us all happy.

It's always great to have people visit from out of town because it reminds you of what is cool in your own city and buys you a renewed look at it too if you get enlisted into the excursion.

The best thing we did this visit was sit down at a sidewalk cafe under a sea of umbrellas as a cool breeze lifted the tree branches and normal life moved up and down the street in front of us. The occasional honking of an impatient driver seemed to fall slowly to the ground and be crushed under the soft roar of tires rolling across asphalt as the traffic flowed by us - a metallic river under a perfect blue sky. An old man in a straw hat stood for a second to take off his necktie before passing by, a group of tourists in neon t-shirts moved together like a school of fish in the big ocean, jaywalking locals flashed across the street - confident in their city and themselves. And there we were in the heart of it - cool in our umbrella shade - eating chocolate cake and drinking micro-brewery beer (just the moms) and sodas (just the kids) while we waiting for our ticketed time to visit a local attraction. The chocolate cake was amazing and the beer and sodas were refreshing. Best friends, a summer breeze, a city street in motion, and some refreshments too - a perfect moment in time.

Like all good things, the visit did have to come to an end. My friend and her son drove off to their next destination on their road trip as we waved goodbye from the front yard. I miss having her so close at hand already. I know I'll hear from her very soon though because I think she left her phone charger plugged into the wall of my office.

I may have to wait a bit, however, until she runs out of battery power and then a few minutes more until she finds a phone.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

Christopher - 2003-07-26 19:05:48
I wish there were cool things to do here, we tend to focus on the free things to do when we have guests.
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Amy - 2003-07-28 07:08:04
I'm glad you got to see your best friend and her son. It sounds like you all had fun. It is a shame she doesn't live closer to you or has an online diary or something. At least you could talk to her more often.
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Christopher - 2003-07-28 12:55:15
I always click on your ads because I like them and they're expensive.
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michelle - 2003-07-29 13:18:58
Hi, I enjoyed reading your site. Thanks for visiting mine. I'll bloglink you!!! m
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Special Delivery

QUESTION: What's big and white and veering over?

WHAT I LEARNED: It's not always the small things in life that count.

Yesterday as I was driving home, minding my own business, a big FedEx truck decided to change lanes and because I was there just when the driver made that decision it was a real problem.

The next thing you know I am looking at the side of this big truck smack against the side of my car and watching as it tears off my driver's side view mirror.

Another reason to send my mail through the USPS.

Am I okay - well, it was a little traumatic and when I got home my son and I dubbed it another - the day I almost got killed day So now I am limping from stepping off a curb the wrong way on Monday, looking at my kid's banged up knee from his bike accident on Tuesday, and contemplating the damage to my car from a FedEx special delivery on Wednesday.

Three's the charm.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

flyinby - 2003-07-24 19:27:34
sheesh! what a day! i'm sorry... :(
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michelle - 2003-07-24 20:14:20
Stupid truck. Some people really cannot drive. I'm sorry that you had such a bad day.
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Christopher - 2003-07-24 23:05:22
They're called "Federal" Express so we remember they're stupid just like the Federal Government. Federal means BRAIN DEAD.
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Inkdragon - 2003-07-25 08:11:35
Thank goodness you were paying attention! I am so glad you were not smashed, just shaken!
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Floorplay - 2003-07-25 09:25:15
The same thing happened to me...only it was a bus. im glad your not hurt!
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Tricia - 2003-08-01 15:22:01
Yikes! Glad you are okay...sorry you'll have to deal with the hassle of a repair.
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Company's Coming

QUESTION: Who needs a clean house?

WHAT I LEARNED: Do the chores first.

Today my best friend and her teenage son are driving 17 hours to make an impromptu visit. We are all excited to see them since most of our friendship is conducted by phone given the distance.

Of course, this means an emergency house cleaning. That's all right; I can do it if I just whip around with my arms full of spray bottles and paper towels, and a duster in my teeth. It just takes some coordinated effort and a little elbow grease and a few hours less sleep. This is what I say to myself on Sunday night.

Monday night, I stepped off a curb funny and a terrible pain shots through my foot. I have been limping around ever since. I think it is some kind of sprain. Trying to clean the house while saying - Ouch, Ouch, Ouch, leaves something to be desired. Nevertheless, guests are still coming and the desire to straighten up everything in sight is overwhelming.

That's okay, the kids can help. My daughter does help by cleaning her room. Although it wasn't global enough for my taste, as it didn't seem to include any other space in the home - still, it was cleaning and that worked for me. My husband did pull out the stops and clean some bathrooms. Better him than me.

I cleaned out the tub in the hall bath because it had become an extra storage area for towels and personal care items including a Revo Styler, all Revo Styler accessories and an instructional videotape, a hair dryer, a facial steamer, 2 bins of shampoos, cleansers, and the like. Additionally, it housed piles of towels all folded up and waiting for the next shower, as well as all the beach towels we owned - the family's real bathtime favorites. It was like we had all said - Hey, close the shower curtain and voila, a new place for the family to stash junk. I just want to see a white tub with a couple yellow rubber ducks on the edge. Is that too much to ask?

Tuesday night my son flew out the door promising to help me with this chore and others as well. He also swore to knock out his room upon his return. Two hours later he did return with a huge scraped up knee and a story that scared me, because after all I am his mom and all mom's do secretly worry every time our kid is out riding their bike. He tells me the story about how he feel off his bike into the sand and gravel so he didn't tip into the direction of oncoming traffic - even though he was on some kind of sidewalk/bike path - and later as he is asking me for multiple helpings of dinner while he sits around like a wounded pasha, he refers to the evening as the night he almost got killed. Mommy doesn't need any more gray hair, sonny. Let's find the Neosporin and some Band-Aids. No more long bike trips for you.

He got three helpings of dinner served to him on a tray and it looks like I am on my own with the house cleaning. Next time he is doing his chores before he heads out with his pals.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

Inkdragon - 2003-07-23 16:42:08
Children leave little pieces of their mama's hearts all over the pavement, they just don't realize it. And we wouldn't have it any other way.
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Christopher - 2003-07-23 17:36:47
Attila never let us out before chores were done. Never.
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David - 2003-07-24 00:35:44
Have Realized the Phenomema of the Plastic Chair. We counted 18-19 one day about aweek later 40-45. Then the next week it was about 200 all white I tell You. On the other plane,I seriosly suggest you have your foot checked out it could be chipped bone or something similiar. Have a Very Nice visitation.
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Amy - 2003-07-24 10:46:11
<P>Hehe, I know what its like when you have friends/relatives visiting your house. You have a mad dash around the house cleaning like mad. Well that's what happens with me. <P>Oh and make sure that your son doesn't milk it, if you know what I mean.
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Heavenly Bed

QUESTION: Where's my Heavenly Bed?

WHAT I LEARNED: Nobody is making beds at my house.

The heavenly bed that the hotel advertises was indeed heavenly. It was covered with fluffy pillows and a ridiculously thick comforter - all snowy white like big clouds laid neatly across the bed.

I am now back at home and I can't help but notice the absence of the heavenly bed. Not only that, I notice the absence of the heavenly-bed-maker even more. I believe that even a can't-come-close-to-the-heavenly-bed would be greatly improved by simply straightening out the tangle of blankets and sheets and organizing the pillows a bit. Having someone else besides me to do it would be better still.

As it is, one kid is still in bed, one kid raced out this morning without a backward look at his bed, and my bed - well, it's covered in laundry waiting to be put away.

It is glaringly clear that there is no heavenly bedmaker in this house.

Back to reality.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

Christopher - 2003-07-20 16:46:00
sometimes I am so lazy I don't sleep in my bed so I don't have to make it in the morning
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Claire - 2003-07-20 16:53:17
<homer>Mmmmm bed</homer>. That reminds me I need to get some new pillows. Roop is allergic to the feather variety so we have to have the "fake" ones and all the stuffing has seperated to the sides so there is no padding in the middle :o/
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flyinby - 2003-07-20 18:27:28
my favorite thing about a hotel stay is the mysterious way the bed is made FOR me when i return to sleep at night, ,and it is invariably more comfortable than the one i have at home. it almost makes the mini-bar madness worth the trouble!
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Christopher - 2003-07-20 21:43:32
I love your banners, I love them A LOT.
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nightngale - 2003-07-21 12:20:30
*sighs* I feel your pain.
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radmila - 2003-07-21 21:49:19
It's an epidemic! No one but me makes them at my house either!
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Trip Over

QUESTION: How come no one went grocery shopping while I was gone?

WHAT I LEARNED: Home always looks good on the other end of a trip.

I'm back!

I loved Seattle and having a week to hang out with my daughter. She is so much fun to be with and I hated to see our time in Seattle come to an end.

She had her 17th birthday while we were on our trip. It was kind of like one big birthday blast. Such a good excuse for extra shopping too!

There was a big difference for me in this trip and visiting NYC about a month ago for another business trip. New York is a great city - it was so vibrate that it almost seems to glitter and it never quiets down or slows its beat. Even in the rain there is an excitement about it that just doesn't quit.

Taking a trip with my daughter seems to mobilize me though. I plan more and seem to get some extra energizing - like someone popped some extra batteries in my back or gave the windup key a few extra twists. I can just go, go, go and I get a lot into my day with her around. I think it is because I want to make sure it is a memorable trip and so I schedule my time carefully so that I can work hard but still build in time for fun. I actually research my trip and have an idea of what to do and where to go and how to piece it together so everything fits into my schedule in just the right mix.

I found I am more relaxed too. Part of the beauty in a trip is just kicking back and I think I do that better with my kid in tow than when I just come back to an empty hotel room at the end of each day.

Mostly, I am glad to have some time like this with my daughter while she is still at home and can traipse off with me on a conference trip like this. I have learned to grab hold of opportunities like these with the kids because who knows if they will present themselves again. I may be tired but I am surely happy with the road taken and hopefully along the way I have created some great memories too.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

Christopher - 2003-07-20 07:27:11
You never take me anywhere.
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12 Hours at Ten Cents a Minute

QUESTION: Did you disconnect your computer today?

WHAT I LEARNED: Never forget how great your kids are.

Today is my last evening in Seattle. I am still digging the Space Needle. I have eaten some amazingly good food, visited marketplaces, walked through an aquarium, taken boat rides, admired mountains, marveled at the sunsets over the water, watched ferries move like swans across the rippled Puget Sound, walked up some big hills, and climbed more steps than I could count. I have drunk a lot of good Seattle coffee and I have gotten up earlier every day than I would like.

My daughter has been able to come along on this work trip with me which has made it even busier for me but also more wonderful for me. It is so much fun to have her here with me. I need someone to encourage me as I climbed up all those flights of steps and to find that stupid little plastic credit card sized key to the room that is always getting lost in my purse. I am glad to have such a great shopping partner too. She has taste and fashion sense. It's like having a fashion consultant on hand. She's great for sharing a bite of her dessert as well - an invaluable quality in a daughter.

More than this, she is a great encouragement when I do something stupid like accidently leaving my computer connected for 12 hours at ten cents a minute. She is the one who tells me that this happens to everyone once in a while when I am kicking myself mentally. She is the one who talks me into asking for them to remove the charge when I am sure they will not. And you know what - I did ask and they did remove it.

I'm one lucky mom.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

komachi - 2003-07-18 01:23:25
I am amazed how wise children are... they are the greatest..aren't they? I do get lots of advice from my daughter too:)
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flyinby - 2003-07-18 01:41:38
wow! that IS lucky! lol. i got stiffed once on a food bar bill, i took an item out and put it back without eating it, and did this several times while looking for something to munch. well, turns out it AUTOMATICLY charged us each time an item was taken out and put back ELECTRONICLY. it was monitored by some sensor. *sigh* needless to say our bill was $95 in mini bar alone for a 3 day stay, and we didn't eat more than a snickers! (they weren't so nice to remove it for us, claiming we could have purchased the items at the store to replace what we had eaten. *sigh*)
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Christopher - 2003-07-18 10:13:32
You have the best hotel luck, the best.
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whatawoman - 2003-07-18 20:52:58
I'm glad you've enjoyed your visit to Seattle. Living here, I tend to take for granted all of the cool stuff you mentioned. But it *is* cool stuff! From my living room, I have a view of the Olympic mountains rising in the West. Sunsets and daybreaks are amazing on/over them. Have a great last night and a safe trip home!
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Beautiful Seattle Without Glasses

QUESTION: Where did I put my glasses and do they miss me?

WHAT I LEARNED: Don't put down your glasses in a strange town.

I am out of town this week and getting access to the web has been more of a problem than I could ever have anticipated. I am in beautiful Seattle and as I sit here typing, I am looking straight across at the spectacular Space Needle. I love the Space Needle. It makes me feel kind of hip just hanging out here gazing at it.

I have had a lot of adventures and a few mishaps since arriving on Saturday afternoon.

Two big dramas have unfolded since arriving. If I were independently wealthy, I am sure these things would stop happening to me or at least stop bothering me when they did happen.

First, the hotel decided to put the charge for my room on my card prior to my departure and payday. Major financial crisis arises out of nowhere and my shopping funds suddenly evaporated just as I was really getting going.

Second, this afternoon I lost my expensive prescription glasses. I now own a pair of those cute little pocket glasses that you can buy at the drug store. $17.99 and I can kind of see when I put them on. I have a presentation tomorrow and I need to be able to see the printed word.

Now it's off to see more of Seattle!

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

Christopher - 2003-07-14 23:24:18
I hope you actually get to see Seattle.
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Inkdragon - 2003-07-14 23:35:49
Bummer! Hope things improve.
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Cell Phone versus SUV

QUESTION: Do you know where your cell phone is?

What I Learned: Technology is a fragile thing.

On my way home from work the other day, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. As I was leaving a woman in a big SUV pulled halfway out of a parking place and got out - just leaving her door flung open and this big SUV blocking my way. More dinner delays I thought.

Then I saw her go back to the parking space she had just pulled out of and pick something up from the ground. What was it? Her cell phone. She had dropped it, it had rolled under the car, and then she had promtly driven over it and properly crushed it under those big SUV wheels.

It reminded me of the time that I gave my then 2-year-old son the car phone which was really a bag phone. We were all so happy to have these big bulky cellular phones. What will they think of next? The bag phone was in a tidy black bag about the size of a lunch box. He carefully set the bag against the back wheel - creating a lovely black on black effect - while I was opening up the car doors so everyone could hop in. A moment later I was backing the car up and over the latest phone technology. That was some bump.

Yeah, I know how you feel, lady. One minute you are in the grocery store saving pocket change by using your supersaver card and the next minute you are cradling a piece of mangled technology in your hands that will set you back more than some grocery store savings are ever going to cover.

At least she had her shopping done.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

Christopher - 2003-07-10 10:01:28
I love it when the SUV Aristocracy get theres. I hate those Land Boats.
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flyinby - 2003-07-10 11:52:17
roflm*o!
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strangerlucy - 2003-07-10 13:15:28
made me laugh, because I have this old bag phone taking up space somewhere in my garage- and that's probably the only thing it'd be good for now. Maybe I'll run over it tomorrow with my non- suv.
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Amy - 2003-07-13 18:09:19
Okay, this will sound cruel, but I would be standing there laughing at her. I know that sounds nasty, that's because it is, but I have a strange sense of humour, and come on, it is a bit funny. Maybe I wouldn't be laughing if it happened to me, but that is a whole different story....
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Amy - 2003-07-13 18:10:28
That just sounded good by the way, so I thought I'd slip that in. :P
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Amy - 2003-07-13 18:10:43
Okay, this will sound cruel, but I would be standing there laughing at her. I know that sounds nasty, that's because it is, but I have a strange sense of humour, and come on, it is a bit funny. Maybe I wouldn't be laughing if it happened to me, but that is a whole different story....
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