Sometimes it feels like I’ve been with the husband for an eternity. And I mean that in the best possible way, honestly. But it’s strange to think…it was just three years ago this very evening that we both went “hmmmm”. We’d met years before, knowing each other through our activism and a certain circle of friends. We even wound up working together for a while. Then he took off for the West Coast, to live in a vegan paradise also known as Berkeley. Life was good for him…for a time. The weather treated him well, his allergies were less aggravated, he had an awesome roommate and a job he enjoyed. Then I lured him back to Minnesota. Mouhahaha. He’d been home for the holidays, visiting his family. I kept tabs on his comings and goings via a mutual friend, who suggested a group of us go out to dinner for New Year’s Eve. It had to be a fairly early evening, as the little man was quite young then (just having learned how to walk, but still really wobbly) and I rarely went anywhere without him. The lot of us had a lovely meal at Grand Shanghai and I found myself not wanting the evening to end. When I gave the husband (known then as J) a goodbye hug the butterflies kicked into gear. Afterwards there was a cute courting period. I mailed him a mix tape, he sent me double chocolate chip cookies. Lengthy emails were exchanged, and the longest phone calls of our lives were had (and I didn’t do all of the talking, I swear). He came to visit me here. Then he flew me out there. The he came back again. The long distance thing was endured, for a time, before he gave up and moved back for good…and he was promptly infected by my infamous bad luck. But at least we’ve got each other, right?

The latest developments to make me raise my tiny fists at the man:
1: Homeland security warning puzzles almanac publishers. This is ridiculous. Now people carrying almanacs are to be regarded with suspicion? I don’t even want to think of what might be next, especially as I re-read Fahrenheit 451 not too long ago. But remarkably rich, I find, is that part of Tom Ridge’s own department is tasked by congress with providing the information in those suspect almanacs. *snicker*
2: I don’t know how I missed this story last month…but the husband gave me the heads up last night. The Federal Department of Health and Human Services has been getting their act together, and working on a pro-breastfeeding advertising campaign. Unfortunately the highly regarded American Academy of Pediatrics seems to be in the pocket of corporate interests. Their newly installed president voiced concern about the campaign “immediately after aggressive, personal lobbying by representatives of one of the AAP’s biggest financial contributors, the $3 billion U.S. infant formula industry.” According to pediatrician Dr. Jay Gordon: “the AAP leadership has weakened and emasculated (the ads) to suit the manufacturers of formula, and as a result of their craven disregard for America’s babies and families, more infants will get sick and die each year. I wish that this greedy, immoral, reprehensible act could be met with criminal charges.” I couldn’t agree more. Ugh, this makes me spitting mad.

Today turned out to be happy fun doc visit day. Woo-hoo. First off, the husband returned to his eye surgeon for their little routine. Every few weeks he heads back to have a few stitches removed from his cornea. Thinking about it makes my crotch hurt. And there are still thirteen more to go. When he got home, with one eye swollen shut and oozing goo (really, should he be driving in that condition?) I took off for my follow-up at the hospital. Everything seems to be healing well, and the staff had more time to impart information to me (some of which would have been more helpful a few weeks ago, but what can you do). Unfortunately the chromosome tests we were waiting for weren’t quite ready yet. The results returned thus far are encouraging, but inconclusive. It will probably be a couple more weeks of waiting on pins and needles. Until then, the jury is out on whether or not we should make another attempt to procreate together. I wasn’t planning on trying again this instant…but it would be nice to know if our genes are more like oil and water, or chocolate syrup and soy milk. Uh, yeah. Enough with the mixed metaphors. In less serious news, the husband was playing around with his new inhaler. It comes with a clear warning…to never attempt taking the inhaler apart. He disregarded this entirely, but he got lucky. Upon prying it open he failed to find any sharp pieces capable of puncturing flesh, or otherwise harm his person. Inside was just an innocuous-looking curled up strip of tin. So this time around cat 1 / curiousity 0. Or something to that effect.

This evening the little man hung out with the in-laws as the husband and I had a grown-up night out…with his three sisters, and two brothers-in-law. Our entourage arrived at the Bryant Lake Bowl hoping for the best. Naturally the place was jam-packed. We got our names on the waiting list to score a lane, then had to head elsewhere for food. Ended up at Chiang Mai Thai, which is accurately described as “Americanized Thai food” and an “amazingly fancy trendy restaurant for sticking out of the backside of a mall”. But it was near the BLB, and, armed with cell phones, we were able to make it back in time to snag a much sought after lane (hadn’t realized they run a “Cheap Date Night” special on Mondays). About once or twice a year I manage to get myself to a bowling alley, and always have low expectations about my performance when I do. I’ve never been very competitive, which allows me to have a better time doing this sort of thing. And tonight I had a blast. I enjoy the husband’s fam, and I had the pleasure of running into an old friend of mine…whose new boyfriend seems to be an expert yo-yo, uh, guy (not that she mentioned it, but the husband belatedly recognized the fellow, who has a pretty unique name). Naturally I was distracted by the socializing and merry-making, so imagine my surprise when I discovered I’d broken 100. And I came in third place out of the seven participants. Very strange. I wasn’t even concentrating. Perhaps that’s the key. Or it could have been my happy fun rainbow socks.

Sort of slacking today, at last. The house is a disaster from a good week of neglect, and there have been legions of new toys added to the fray. I should be cleaning. Or I could be getting a leg up on composing my top ten lists for the year (in the categories of music, movies, books and moments with the little man). Haven’t yet gotten around to posting my holiday photo gallery either, and sh1ft’s A Day in the Life…New Year’s Eve project is just around the corner. Instead of taking care of any of those things I’ve been lying about, re-reading some beloved books (uh, research for the top ten list?) and playing Playmobil with the little man. Making me a pretty happy girl for the moment. Below, photos from yesterday’s adventure with Auntie D.

After endless days of activity I’m trying to fight an overwhelming urge to stay home, and in my pajamas, all day long. Luckily the little man is content to stay in, as he’s currently obsessed with his new Playmobil sets. They are pretty danged cool (even though it took the husband over two hours to painstakingly put together the airport terminal). But still, this afternoon will be our last chance to hang out with the boy’s paternal aunt for some time. To that end we’re considering a visit to the Twin City Model Railroad Museum. Soon, in the coming weeks, there should be plenty of time to sit around in my jammies…catching up on the web browsing I’ve been missing out on. You know, the important stuff, like Lady X, Monobrow, and the mating habits of barchan sand dunes.

And we’re not even in the home stretch yet. This afternoon the little man is slated to have a visit with his bio-dad’s family. Afterwards we are tentatively scheduled to attend a Boxing Day dinner (depending on the status of my sister-in-law’s cold/flu bug). Tomorrow is another holiday party, the highlight of which will be reunions with old friends. Sunday we need to swing by my folks’ place, for the presents that were accidentally left behind on Christmas Eve. Monday we will be bowling with the husbands’ siblings at the BLB. Tuesday the husband and I each have doc appointments. Wednesday will mark New Year’s Eve (already?)…and we may actually be able to lie low for a bit. I, for one, am ready to heartily re-embrace our hermitude.

My in-laws live in the city, not too far from us as a matter of fact, and just the way I like it. But some of the extended family lives further out. Today we travelled to a suburb, not too far from where I grew up (just the way I don’t like it). Strange memories floated to the surface, but the aunt and uncle in question are nice folks, so I got over it. Unfortunately they live in one of those neighborhoods where all the houses look alike. So alike, in fact, that we walked right in upon arrival…to the house next door to theirs. Doh. I’d only visited once before, many months ago. My father-in-law had been the one driving our delegation, and my mother-in-law led the charge up the driveway. Naturally the little man pulled ahead at the last minute, though, and was barreling right up the main stairs of some very confused citizens before our error was fully realized. We should have known something was off when we saw the “Laos War Veteran” sign above the garage. Some hasty apologies were made before we booked it one house over, on the double. But I could hardly tell the difference. The houses had the exact same layout and color schemes. What a weird way to start the day. But not as strange as another tale of unlawful entry…early this morning Minneapolis Police found someone stuck in the chimney of one of my favorite bookstores.

“The 34-year-old man was treated Thursday for bruises and abrasions at Hennepin County Medical Center after being found naked and lodged in the furnace flue at Uncle Hugo’s Bookstore, 2864 Chicago Av. S. He is expected to be charged with attempted burglary on Friday.”

That’s one way to spend Christmas, I guess. The rest of our day was less weird, but very long. More tomorrow, including the promised photos.

There’s too much material to cover, so consider this my Cliff Notes version of Christmas Eve. Just the highlights, folks.
I brought the Low Christmas album over to my parents’ house last night. When their droning rendition of The Little Drummer Boy was on my smartass step-brother asked if the CD was stuck.
The little man made quite the haul this year. And really, isn’t that what it’s all about? His first score was a Tonka Mighty Motorized Dump Truck, with special features designed to drive parents crazy! It was bad enough when the new house was being built next door…but now I can constantly be reminded of those glory days when the little man puts his fancy Tonka Truck in reverse, perpetually beep-beep-beeping at me.
Since last night he’s added to his vocabulary of words that mean “having to wait for the payoff”. First there was “rewinding” (I bought too many VHS tapes before we got the DVD player). Then there was “downloading” (generally referring to those Mo Kin quicktime videos). Now there is “inflating”, thanks to my parents’ purchase of the Jump-o-lene (made with SUPER-TOUGH™ vinyl). Big props to the husband for patiently inflating the sucker last night, especially since the whine of the electric pump is likely to leave his ears ringing for days (I hid out in another room, like the punk that I am).
Speaking of the rents, the newest addition to their family is a crazy Siamese cat named Sushi. Last night the little man alternately referred to him as Smooshi or Slooshi, to the amusement of all. For some reason he has an easier time with the other cat’s name…another Siamese named Sake. I hope that isn’t a sign of problems to come.
Santa (aka my Dad) threw in a couple of goodies…a Hoberman Super Flip-out Transforming Sphere (he already had the smaller glow-in-the-dark version) and some hot new wheels courtesy of Tyco RC.
And finally, I have to admit a certain fondness for the little man’s new Neopet (now with Voice Activated Grarrl™) despite the boasting on the company’s web site: “Neopets® is the greatest Virtual Pet Site on the Internet”. Now really, is that such a claim to fame?
Later on today, round two with the husband’s family. More photos to come.

Ah, another busy day for the homebodies. Yesterday it was playgroup, today an adventure with Auntie D…the little man’s paternal aunt. She lives out of state so we see her just twice a year…but we both enjoy her visits immensely. Today she joined us for a few hours of play at the Children’s Museum, followed by a low-key lunch at Babani’s (the first, and perhaps only, Kurdish restaurant in the states). Then the poor dear had some last minute shopping to do. I’m quite relieved that mine is all taken care of. The gifts have even been wrapped for a few days now. When I was finishing up last week I took the little man to Toys R Us, and let him pick out whatever he wanted for Xmas. The boy showed amazing restraint. He only picked out two items, neither of them extravagant. Just a construction worker kit with play tools, and a pair of plain, polar fleece slippers. I was all set to throw in the 12-inch Batman, who he likes, and Green Lantern dolls (pardon me, action figures) but he shocked me with a patronizing “Mom, put them back on the shelf”. Maybe he realized they would have been more for me than for him. Busted!