Body ink

Nina noticed my tattoo for the first time today - wearing a tank top (it is a starburst mandala between my shoulder blades). Nina says, "Sun! Touch it!" I said, "Yes, mama has a picture on her back." I could not bring myself to teach her the word tattoo (although come to think of it she has had temporary tattoos). Next time I will point out that I got the tattoo at age 28, and remind her that she can get one at age 28, and not a day sooner. I hope that will be my ace in the hole when she starts requesting one at 15.

Serious VBA here, but Nina likes Yo-Yo Ma. She requests to see him on Tivo or Youtube - "See Yo-Yo Ma. Play cello!" We have a poster from a Pablo Casals festival, and she feels that is Ma also. Not quibbling over details. She also makes a joke - "Yo-Yo Mama" and cracks up.

Forget my earlier post about how hot is is in NC. It is off the charts hot now - at 6pm it was 103, no kidding. It is unsafe to go outside. I cannot believe it. On NPR they reported that a snail in the Seychelles is the first confirmed extinct species due to global warming. Sadness.

PS Happy Birthday to my niece!!

The Wiggles gave me brain damage

I am not kidding, especially the purple one. What is it with those guys? WHY? First of all, I don't think any of them are actually singing - it's all lip synched to studio singers. Secondly, whoever is singing is isn't that impressive anyway. Half their songs are stolen from Raffi. The yellow Wiggle is sort of cute, but I heard he had to retire for medical reasons, and they replaced him. Interchangeable Wiggles?? Nina calls the purple one Jiff - his name is Jeff, but she prefers the Australian pronunciation. The whole thing is a scam, and I'll bet they started it as a joke. And don't get me started on the guy in the dog suit, or the bizarre pirate, or the demented chef. If I have to hear Hot Potato one more time, I'm not sure what will happen.

In other news, you may recall that the J in YJR is for Jews. We were supposed to go to synagogue tonight, finally, but Nina has been sick all week, and it just wasn't going to happen. I don't think I have met one other Jew since we moved here. I did see a person wearing some kind of JCC t-shirt, but restrained myself from accosting her. We'll make it to shul eventually, but for now perhaps I will rename - Lazy Yankee Jews Relocate.

Oh, and finally, in totally unrelated news, the TSA has changed their ridiculous policy on allowing (or forbidding) pumped breast milk in carry ons:

TSA is also modifying the rules associated with carrying breast milk through security checkpoints. Mothers flying with, and now without, their child will be permitted to bring breast milk in quantities greater than three ounces as long as it is declared for inspection at the security checkpoint.

Breast milk is in the same category as liquid medications. Now, a mother flying without her child will be able to bring breast milk through the checkpoint, provided it is declared prior to screening.

Oh, wait, I'll leave you with news of my beloved Duggars. Mazel tov!

Pooping bubbles

I know I shouldn't make fun of my daughter, but sometimes it's just irresistible. So we have this bubble machine that I bought at Costco (more on that purchase below), and it is very cool - makes huge bubbles, bubbles within the bubbles, wow. It does go through gallons of bubble fluid (juice? concoction? liquid? solution?) - I have to figure out where to buy it in bulk. Anyway, $9.99 well spent, and Nina likes to chase the bubbles around the yard. She is very into narrating her activities, and was yelling "Nina pooping bubbles!" before I realized she meant popping bubbles. She soon corrected herself, but the alternative is entertaining as well. Today she was also making fake burps and declared "Nina making noises!" She is just too funny, and cracks us up all day. Also, we feel she is going to be a homeroom teacher when she grows up, as she is constantly taking attendance: "Mama here. Daddy here. Nina here." Awwww.

In terms of buying the bubble machine (or Bubble Sheen, in Nina parlance, no relation to Charlie or Martin), I was chatting with this pregnant woman at Costco, she was saying hi to Nina, and she suggested we get this Bubble Machine, and since I am apparently totally gullible to the enthusiasm of total strangers, I bought one. (In my defense I had been contemplating one anyway, but there is nothing like the Costco "bargain" impulse buy.) Anyway, eventually I asked her when her baby was due, and she replied merrily, "Oh, I'm not pregnant - I'm just fat!" TOTAL MORTIFICATION! I swear she looked very pregnant, was wearing one of those clingy wrap dresses that I assumed was an expandable maternity style. OY. I brushed it off and said that since I had all these pregnant friends, I just saw pg people everywhere, etc etc. Did you ever?

I should apologize for the delay in blogging - somehow got distracted, busy, tired, who knows what, but since I actually had a request to continue, I will try to perservere.

Oh, lastly and randomly, we drove past a house today with no less than FOUR of those new baby storks out front - she had QUADRUPLETS!!!! Turns out she of course blogged about her pregnancy, so here she is:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news&id=5292954

Steve felt we should stop and bring them a gift (total strangers, mind you, but come on), but all we had in the car was a pile of extra Equal packets from our coffee run, and that probably would have just magnified our bizarre social call. I am SO impressed that she is pumping for those babies. I should figure out how to email her & see if she needs any help - they are not far from here. Normally I find those stork lawn signs creepy and unnecessary, but if I had carried quadruplets to THIRTY THREE WEEKS, I'd trumpet it around also. Sounds like they will be coming home soon. Yowza.

How we do it in the OC, bitch

We have escaped for a parents' evening out in Chapel Hill & Carrboro, otherwise known as Orange County. This is an infinitely hipper area than North Raleigh (where the best landmark to describe our neighborhood is "behind the Kohl's") - Chapel Hill is, obviously, the cool college town, and adjoining Carrboro is liberal, hippie, organic heaven. We are hanging in the Open Eye Cafe, a coffee house that has won national barista awards! Who knew? This is after a fantastic meal at Crook's Corner - I'm sure you'll read more in Steve's blog. (PS lately we insult each other by saying, "Oh, go write about it in your blog!")

Nina has started asking questions. Last night I was out with friends (I have friends! In Raleigh!) and she woke up crying. Steve went in to comfort her and she said, "Hi, Daddy." Pause. "Where Mama?" She also likes to name everyone who is present in the room. "Daddy here. Nina here. Mama here."

In other news, my North Carolina medical license came through this week - much, much sooner than expected. If any MD's are reading (perhaps you googled "North Carolina medical license" and ended up in this zany pocket of the internets*), definitely do FCVS - made things significantly quicker. Anyway, now I have no excuse but to work. I happened to get a call this week from a locum tenens agency (think physician temp placements), and they have work at a nearby state hospital, so maybe I will try that out. Would be very flexible, since it's basically temp work - a week or two at a time, or possibly one or two days a week in an ongoing way. I think the latter would be better in terms of logistics and routine - probably easier for Nina. So we'll see how it goes, & I'll put out some other feelers. It is nice to have the option.



* A series of tubes.

North Carolina is HOT

too hot to blog.

brain melted.

i am sitting with steve using stolen wifi (thanks Jacobs family network!) on his work laptop. Hey Jacobs - get a password! We realized that while we know our neighbors, we do not know any of their last names, so our teenage babysitter could be a Jacobs for all we know! WE DO NOT KNOW HER LAST NAME. how big a problem is this? we know where she lives. we know her mom. oh dear.

if anyone is watching anything good on TV this summer, please alert us asap. there is NOTHING on! And we don't get Bravo, so we can't watch Top Chef! What kind of fancy digital cable package doesn't have Bravo?? they don't carry it down here - wtf? i was watching Starter Wife (as alert readers will recall) but it seems to have been a 6 episode mini series. bummer, since it really was pretty good. Sunset Tan, thank goodness seems to have wrapped up - talk about brain melt. we are watching Entourage and Flight of the Conchords. Oh, and I almost forgot Hidden Palms!! talk about guilty pleasure.

steve says: BLAHHHHHGspot. blah blah blah.

good night.

PS Steve says, a propos of god knows what, that he wants to start a reverse fat camp, where you attend to gain weight. menu: pancakes with peanut butter for breakfast, pancakes with Greek yogurt for lunch, sweet potato pancakes for dinner, buckwheat pancakes for midnight snack.

PPS Did I tell you that if you ask Nina if she speaks Japanese, she'll say: "Moshi moshi!"

North Carolina weekends

We are not having the most exciting weekend - I'm sure it will make an even less interesting blog. Mostly hung around the house today out of exhaustion and lack of motivation. Nina took a two hour nap - Que milagro! Eventually we went to the mall, where we sat in the kids' section of B&N and read books that we already own at home, b/c those are the ones Nina is excited to pick out from the shelves. Funny.

Also we shopped in our nemesis, Sears, b/c we have a gift card from the whole washer/dryer delivery fiasco. Steve got new socks - ISN'T THAT INTERESTING? Otherwise, I hate Sears and suggest you never shop there again - some day I will chronicle the whole saga here. It ends with me inadvertently threatening to go to the salesman's house and hurt him (Steve claims that was my threat - it's not what I intended, and obviously I would never harm a meek, balding appliance salesman).

Back at home we had a dance party featuring this gentleman:



If you haven't viewed this clip, I highly recommend you do so asap.

Seriously, this is the most boring blog entry ever - I'm basically writing it b/c I am trying to write more often. But what's the point of that if it's truly so dull that your eyes will bleed before you finish? I read somewhere that "real" writers don't consider blogging a useful exercise b/c it encourages too much narcissism in one's POV.

I do not miss Tasti D-Lite

I just realized this. It's really just chemicals. OK, I might miss rice pudding Tasti, just a little.