My first meme!

A meme is: "A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another." In the blogger world, a meme is like a theme passed from blog to blog. In this one, I am being interviewed by the Library Lady.

1)Most Jennifers seem to know lots of OTHER Jennifers. Were you the only Jennifer in your classes at school?

Ha! Every class I can remember had other Jennifers in it. More than one teacher wanted to call one of us "Jenny," and another "Jennifer," but fortunately my parents had impressed upon me that my name was JENNIFER, not Jenny, so it was probably the only time in my elementary life I didn't cave to authority. Most teachers called me "Jennifer D." to differentiate me from all the other Jennifers.

Interestingly, there were no other girls called Jennifer in my vet school class. One girl named Jennifer went by her middle name Jill, and the other was called Jenny. So, I was the only one (hurrah!). There were 3 girls named REGINA in my class, and they all went by REGINA (quite unusual, eh?), and no one ever thought to try to shorten or change their names.

2)You mention moving around a lot. Where besides Texas have you lived?

I was actually born in Queens, New York, then we lived in Dallas, then Cincinnati, OH, then St Louis, MO, then Coppell, TX. My high school years were spent in Midland, Texas, and I was actually there at the same time as W. when he was failing in the awl bidness (oil). Then I spent 7 years in College Station, TX getting my degree. That was actually the longest stretch I lived anywhere until now. After graduation and the wedding, we lived in Copperas Cove, TX for 3 very long years, until we finally broke away and moved to Austin. People in other Texan urban areas are annoyed that Austinites are so proud of our fair city, but it really is the only civilized place to live in, in the state of Texas!

I also spent a month every summer during high school in England. I spent 6 weeks there "seeing practice" as a senior veterinary student. Its enough to keep me from donating blood (due to the Mad Cow scare). There is a part of me that will always be English. Hail Brittania!

3)Do you think sons or daughters are easier to deal with?

It depends...I think when you are talking about small children behaving in public situations, the girls have it down. Little boys love to run and jump and be loud! But, I think as we approach the teenage years, the complicated emotions of girls will prove to be quite difficult. Ask me again in 10 years!

Coming from a family of 3 girls, I was thrilled when my first baby was a girl. My son has totally surprised me -- I didn't know you could love a little boy so much. I could stare at both of them for hours, amazed and analyzing them.

4)What is your favorite thing to cook?

Italian food, without a doubt. I was so nervous the first time I had my Italian friend, Romina, over for a meal, and she asked me to make risotto. Apparently, I did alright. She since has taught me a lot about Italian cooking - use good, fresh ingredients, keep it simple, with a balance of good flavor. I wish she hadn't moved back to Milan so we could still cook together.

I also love to cook on the grill, because of the easy clean up! Also, that smoky flavor can't be beat.

5)Have you ever read a book to one of your kids and then regretted it because they want it read over. And over and over....?

Oh my goodness, yes. Can you say, "Pat the Bunny?" You know its bad when they accidentally turn extra pages unknowingly and you don't care! There was also the "Gnome" book - my sisters and I had it growing up. Its actually a charming little Dutch "textbook" about gnomes, as if they were really living under the tree outside your window and your just too unobservant (or stupid) to notice them. I had to read it to Anna every night last winter. Well, at least my abbreviated version, which included a synopsis of every cute watercolor picture but did not include the scary stories about naughty trolls holding gnome's bottoms to grinding sharpening stones at the end.

Right now I'm reading a chapter of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books to Anna every night, partly inspired by the Library Lady and partly by Catherine Newman. I am absolutely loving this: I remember just enough to love all the characters like I grew up next to them, but I don't remember all the specific details. So almost every night, I'm just like Anna -- I can't wait to read the next chapter the next night. Now, as a parent, I am totally terrified by the constant danger of pioneer life. And, as a 21st century parent, I can only imagine the drudgery and solitude that Caroline must've faced. And, I wonder, did Laura really remember all her childhood in such detail because she wasn't corrupted by television and constant mass marketing? Or did she make a good deal of the details up?




Like this meme? Want an interview of your own? Instructions:

1. If you want to participate, leave a comment below saying “Interview me.” You must leave your blog address so I can think of good questions for you! Caveat: Offer is limited to the first 5 responders with a blog.

2. I will respond by asking you five questions - each person’s will be different. I’ll post the questions in the comments section of this post.

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Precociousness

Anna said, "Vino is falling in love with me!"

I said, "What does that mean, falling in love?"

Anna said, "When you dance, and dance, and dance.... (pause) And have a baby."


*******

Anna stuck out her hand, and said, "Nice to meet you."

I decided to practice conversation, like she might have with a new adult. So I asked, and she answered, "Where do you live? Where do you go to school? What grade are you in? How old are you?"

Then I asked, "When is your birthday?" and she said, with 12 year old attitude, "Uh, could we not do this anymore? You are my parent; you know all this."

Water on the Brain

You know you spend to much time trying to get the little people in your life to use the toilet when you ask the GROWN WOMAN you're working with, "Did you tinkle yet?"

(She had told me she needed to use the bathroom before we saw the next patient)

You're the Next Contestant

Did you know that The Price Is Right is still on TV? It was on today while I was at the gym. I remember watching it when I was home sick from school as a kid. I haven't watched it in over 20 years, and it hasn't changed. Except now Bob Barker isn't grey, he's colorless.

When it starts, those stage lights are still glowing around the TV screen. The set hasn't been updated since the seventies - those dorky curlicues are still everywhere. The Price Is Right girls still look like gesturing Barbie dolls. They have big Barbie hair and huge Barbie smiles. In one scene, they demo'd a sailboat, in nerdy polkadotted ONE PIECE bathing suits with low rise legs.

However, these size 0 girls in their fancy clothes and high heels next to Bob in his Armani suit make the audience look like they're from another planet. All the contestants wore huge Tshirts and baggy pants. I could forgive the college guy who wore his UCLA shirt, but everyone else wore the cheapest, most casual clothes you could imagine - baggy cargo pants and badly distressed jeans. And, they all were all - uniformly - at least 30 lbs overweight.

People, if you go to the Price is Right and your name is called, you're going to be on TV! You don't have to dress in formal wear, but at least wear something put together! That way, when you're staring out into the audience, hoping someone out there knows whether the 3rd number in the price of a car is HIGHER or LOWER than 5, you'll look like you at least knew how to dress yourself before you got under those bright lights and forgot how to think. And then when you hug Bob Barker and jump up and down, he won't look like he was wishing it was time to remind everyone to spay and neuter their pets.

Lots of Photos from Sunday

We started out the day eating beautiful pastries Anthony had made the night before. Anna says, "Oma, when can we eat these Fruit Torts?"

Later that afternoon, we went to Ashlynn Bohmfalk's third birthday party. There were lots of Bohmfalk cousins to play with (such nice people!) and there was the SUPERSLIDE to play on.


Colin spent most of the party engaged in his favorite activity, "Bahbegoll."


Mommy and Colin go down the superslide! (one of just 3 times)


Anna goes down the superslide (one of a 1000 times).


Aunt Regina goes down the superslide (one of more times than I want to count!)


Anna chows down on a hotdog, and Colin eats a bag of Cheetos. Funny, he'd never eaten them before, but he sure knew what they were called and how to recognize a bag fast! Cheetos and birthday cake were his dinner that night - serious nutrition!


The birthday girl, Ashlynn, with her favorite babysitter, Paige.


What party is complete without showing your Coppertone butt-crack and mosquito bitten cheek?


Ashlynn blows out the candles, with additional Anna, Ian, and Daniel spit blown on the cake. It was decorated by her big brother, Patrick, aged 8.

Back to School

Today was Anna's first day back to preschool. She was so excited, she could hardly eat her breakfast! Here she poses on the way out the door with her new ladybug lunchbox.

At school, Anna was welcomed by the teachers, and lots of little girls came up and said, "Hi, Anna!" and gave her awkward little hugs. Then she gave me a hug and kiss, and ran off to play. Very different than 2 years ago, when I dropped her off, and she suddenly had the horrible realization that I was not staying for school with her. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she said in this tiny, sad voice that crushed my heart, "Want to play on the slide with me, Mommy?"

I much prefer today's version: "Bye, Mommy! See you later!"

An Assortment of Images

Last night Colin woke up at 11:30, crying inconsolably. At midnight, we figured out why when he vomited all over the place. Then he nodded off on my lap, and was so adorable Anthony had to take a picture, despite being covered with vomit himself -- he did most of the unglamorous parenting that night, and I just got to hold the sleeping babe while he cleaned up.


Fortunately he was back to normal this morning, and no one else has gotten ill.

Since my in-laws are visiting this weekend, and that's a good thing because I really like them, I made them a grilled dinner including mostly veggies from our garden:



Anna had to throw herself on the floor and wail in protest when she found out we weren't going "out to eat." Then later, she couldn't keep her cotton pickers off the platter of grilled veggies and pork tenderloin while I tried to take a beautiful food shot:



Also, a Montana update: Montana had a grand mal seizure on Friday at home, while both Jessica and Anthony were here. I was at work. The seizure lasted less than 5 minutes, and by the time she got to my work, she was completely normal. I ran some labwork, which was basically normal. She hasn't skipped a beat since then, and has had no more seizures. We are hoping this was just a freak, isolated incident, that won't be repeated. We have some Diazepam on hand here, just in case.

Last Day of Summer

As I lay in bed waking up this morning, I realized it was my last official day of summer with Anna, as her preschool starts next Monday. Sure, I'll still have weekend days with her, and it'll still feel like summer here in Central Texas until October, but the laziness of summer will be gone. So I sleepily made big plans.

After breakfast, we went to the Rec Center, so Anna could see Ms Anja, one of her favorite people, and so Mommy could get a work-out. Afterwards, we played basketball in the gym and Anna ran around the track. I asked Anna where she wanted to eat lunch, and she said, "I know... CHUY'S!" I really didn't have a sit-down restaurant in mind, but she said it with such awe and passion, I couldn't talk myself out of it.

Taking 2 small children to a real restaurant by yourself can be like asking for a big serving of indigestion and public distain. However, I had a good feeling about these two little people, and they came through for me. It helps that Chuy's is loud and irreverent, and that the kids LOVE the food, and that they serve chips immediately. Anna said please and thank you to the server, and Colin stayed strapped in his high chair. He asked for seconds on "guacamole - with chips"!

After we stuffed ourselves, we went swimming at a natural swimming pool in Austin, Deep Eddy. It is spring fed, so no chlorine and it was COLD (though not as cold as Barton Springs) - perfect on this hot August day. The water was so refreshing and didn't reek or dry you out like the chlorinated kind - it reminded me of a lake and I wanted to pee in it (but I refrained). After the second adult swim was called, I told Anna it was time to go. She threw a little bit of a fit, but I told her I had one more surprise for our fun-filled day. "What is it, Mommy? I can't hear you...what? Did you say gelato?" That was sufficient motivation to get her moving.

When we got to the gelateria, I opened the van to find Colin nodding off. He's still in between needing and not needing an afternoon nap. "Come on, Colin," Anna said, shaking his arm, "Its time for ice cream." He opened his bleary eyes, looking like he wanted to return to REM, but murmuring, "Ice Cream...."

The intense, cold dessert was the perfect end to our farewell to summer day. You can bet that Daddio was jealous...

Hunter

Claudio killed a cockroach in the kitchen last night, even though I declawed him.

I love that cat!

I am not Tyrone

Anna has quite an imagination. Lately, she insists we role play stories that are important to her. At first, since we are reading the Little House on the Prairie books, a chapter per night, she pretended she was Laura. I had to be Pa and shoot a deer and hang it in a tree so the wolves wouldn't get it, and play my fiddle so she could sleep at night. Sometimes I was Ma or Mary, but poor Colin always had to be Baby Carrie.

That lasted about 3 days. Then we launched into imaginary land in Anna's favorite TV show, the Backyardigans. This cute show on Nickelodeon has 6 characters that have pretend imaginary adventures in their backyard. Its format is like a musical, and the characters dance and sing about being pirates, or cowboys, or Yetis, etc.

Despite the fact that there are 2 female characters, Anna decided I would be Tyrone (a moose) and she would be Pablo (a penguin). Colin was Baby Austin and Anthony was Daddy Austin. If I called her Anna, she would correct me and say, "You mean 'Pablo.' Say 'Pablo,' Tyrone." All day long, I had to call her Pablo. And there was no more Mommy, just Tyrone. Even in the lullaby I sing her at betime, I had to sing her name as Pablo.

For 3 weeks.

At the end of the 3 weeks, she saw a new Backyardigans episode (The Tower of Power), in which Pablo and Tyrone are Supervillans, Yucky Man and Dr Shrinky. So now I'd say, "Time to brush your teeth, Anna - I mean Pablo." And she'd say, "You mean Yucky Man, Dr Shrinky." She was correcting me all the time, because I was forever forgetting who it was I was talking to. "OK, Dr Shrinky," I'd say, and she'd yell, "No, that's YOU! I'm Yucky Man!" Then she'd do her Supervillan laugh, "Mwaa-hahahahaha!"

Colin, incidentally, was Captain Hammer. He'd wake up all sweet and sleepy from his crib, and say sweetly, "Hi, Anna!" And she'd say, "No! I'm Yucky Man!"

Last night, we read a nature magazine about Seal Pups in the arctic (the cute white kind that get themselves clubbed for fur coats - but it didn't mention that). Now, I have been miraculously transformed into Seal Mommy, and I have to call her Seal Pup. There's lots of Barking and Fish Eating going on.

I am so happy to be called Mommy again, even if its preceded by seal.