Cruisin’

Part two of Nostalgia week continues today-When the air turned warmer and the sun dipped below the horizon my parents would sometimes turn to me at the dinner table and say, "Hey, Vic- you want to go cruisin' tonight?" "Yeah!" I would reply and off we would go, all of us piling into my parents silver Datsun 200 SX. I loved that car, no matter what time of year it was it always had beach sand in it and it perpetually smelled like sunscreen and summer.Off we would go driving around the coastline of Lil' Rhody often ending up in Weekapaug at a scenic overlook. I would gaze out at the ocean and its vastness, so dark and churning and only a bit out of reach. The stars overhead twinkled as Wolfman Jack played on the radio. We cruised to music that is still around today. I think for my … [Read more...]

Memories of my Grandfather

Sometimes when the whole house is still asleep, I will creep downstairs and read in the orange glow of my small kitchen light. I will pour myself a cup of coffee, settle into the quiet of my house, and just lose myself in whatever book I am reading. Later when I unfurl myself from my hunchback sitting position as I simultaneously realize that the sun has come up I remember this-Sometimes in the still dark early morning, I would creep out from beneath my Rocky and Bullwinkle sheets and peer out into the darkened hallway of my grandparent’s house. The sounds of my grandmother snoring quietly filled the space down at the end of the hall. Peering down the other end of the hall would always be one constant thing. The golden light over the kitchen table that would encircle my grandfather as … [Read more...]

They Call it the Gates of Hell

I forgot how the air smelled here. It's quite pleasant really. I can't even describe it. I also forgot how long the roads seem out here in the desert even after having my favorite version of Tom Yum soup (like ambrosia from the gods, I swear). Then after getting stuck in Coachella traffic, being in the sitting position for the last ten hours and banging around two airports, I wanted to hurt someone. The arid desert landscape was not renewing my senses either. It's a beautiful 98 degrees here. I drove by our first house that we had left six years previous and my old office. As I drove by old haunts I realized that the 'not comfy in my own skin', extreme loneliness feeling I had when I lived here was overcoming me again. I missed my family and immediately wanted to hear TD and The Comedian's … [Read more...]

Ringling Bros.and Barnum & Bailey is Over the Top

As a kid I absolutely loved the circus. It's perfect only child entertainment. No need to bring a friend and you don't need siblings to enjoy the festivities either. I loved the lights, the animals and especially the aerial acts. When MomCentral and Feld Entertainment asked me if I would like to help them out with the DC Metro area promotion I jumped at the chance to participate in the 'Greatest Show on Earth'. It was a great night for the whole family even if TD was a little bewildered at first. She refused to have her picture taken with the performers we were able to meet before the show and even when we took our seats. However, once the show got started she loved watching the dog tricks, elephant paint, clowns cavort and see Daniel Raffo and his Bengal and Siberian Tigers. She … [Read more...]

Angry Woman Kicks 1,4-Dioxane to the Curb

I'll admit I'm a bit cantankerous today. I was up all night with TD who has a hellacious cough and the poor kid is just not herself. Combine that lack of sleep with an issue that just generally gets me riled up anyway and you've got one angry woman on your hands.That must mean it is time for a SOAP BOX RANT! I've climbed up. Attention please! Let me begin.I love my kids. I want what is best for them in every possible way. I want them to feel safe and secure at all times. Their welfare and health is at the tip top of my list on a daily basis. So that is why I get so steaming, hell-fire breathing mad when I read that companies that many parents have trusted for generations, companies that love to court us mommy bloggers, just really don't give a shit. There. I said it. They don't. … [Read more...]

Free To Just Be

Ever since we found out we were going to be parents H and I knew that we would without a doubt let our kids feel free to be themselves. Their quirks and personalities, likes and dislikes were free to gad about and we would not try to stifle them. Lefties are welcome just like kids with blue hair and opposing political views.Then the other day I realized we actually haven't been doing that. TD has some wildly untamable hair and everyday we run the gamut of detangler, soaking every layer and then combing it out. "Combing out the weave" is what H calls it. It's definitely a process and one that goes completely AWOL about ten minutes later. Inevitably I end up combing her whole head about three more times in a day. If I don't do this it looks like a pack of rabid squirrels ran through it while … [Read more...]

It’s Nothing Like Last Time

I feel I should check in despite it being a Sunday (read: a day I don't normally post on) because-A. My blog is making my Dad nervous.2. I've had a lot of concerned emails, new twitter follows and some comments that are longer than the norm expressing heartfelt concern and love. I can't even begin to thank you all for all of it. It never ceases to amaze me that the Internet is my friend.andD. I made cupcakes and didn't frost them so clearly there is a problem.If you got that screwed up sequencing then you get a gold star. It's from Home Alone if you didn't.And now for the update:I did some talking with H this weekend. However, all that came after this amazing woman came to my rescue. Really, if someone had told me that a blogger would show up on my front step less than two hours after I … [Read more...]

Grandma Scares Me

My first holiday with H and his family was one I'll never forget. It was Thanksgiving 2001 and we traveled to Arizona to spend a few days. It's where I learned that my spouses family is REALLY into games too. True, I had a taste of it on a ski trip we had taken a few years previous. But, I had chalked all those games of domino's and Monopoly up to the fact that it was freezing and snowy outside and not everyone wanted to be a ski bunny 24/7. What else was there to do but raid the rented chalet's game closet, right?! Me? No, I'm not much a of a game person myself. I'm an only child. We don't 'do' games that well. Every Christmas I would get board games for gifts and look at my relatives like they had three heads. "Thanks so much! Who the hell is going to play this with me? My four … [Read more...]

Don’t Mind the Sign of The Pox on Our Door

Because our house should be quarantined right now I bring you the "I'm Thankful For" edition of The Mummy Chronicles early this year. It's the week of the Turkey anyway, right? I'm not that blitzed out on Afrin and other cold meds to be a total mess.I'm thankful for my family who has taken care of TD, Dash Two, H and I for about a week now. I'm still dealing with this 'ferocious beast' of a head cold and so is TD. I have been sent to bed to while away the day (Grey's Anatomy via laptop anyone?) while my parents tackle the following things. -A cleaned humidifier to circulate healthy air in our El sicko abode. Thanks Dad!-Numerous trips to the store for cold and food supplies by both parents.-One clean tea kettle that looks brand new. I confess I had no idea it was that dirty. … [Read more...]

Damn, He’s Good.

He takes her out to play while I make dinner.He gets up in the middle of the night when I am usually the one on first alert. He soothes her potty/bathroom light fears and puts her back in bed with a tenderness I do not posses at that hour.He reads her bedtime stories. Let's her ride her bike in the house.He tells me I'm still his HW (Hot Wife) even with 10 years, two pregnancies and a very uncomfortable, cursing like a pirate, whining like a two year-old third trimester with me. The man is willing to trim "down there" since I can no longer see it. Or paint his own toe nails with me during a pedicure. Salt scrub included. He folds laundry. Takes out the trash. Does the dreaded commute daily and sometimes more so we don't have to. He doesn't grumble over my weekly girls nights unless I … [Read more...]