Month: August 2005

I was talked into letting my stylist iron my hair today. It’s definitely a different look – I’m not sure whether I like it or not. Fortunately, all I have to do is get my hair wet and it will be back to it’s curly self. It’s very strange to actually be able to run a brush through my hair while it’s dry.

I was worried that Carrie might be upset by it, but she didn’t seem to mind. I know she likes my curls better though, because she plays with them while I’m holding her, and especially while I’m rocking her to sleep.

We’ve had several power outages this summer. I guess the local power company hasn’t upgraded their lines and service enough to accommodate the extra load from all the houses that have been built around here recently, so sometimes they have planned (!) outages and sometimes it just happens. But it always seems to happen when I’m trying to put Carrie down for a nap.

Now, you may ask why it matters whether there’s power or not when putting Carrie down for a nap. It shouldn’t. Granted, I play her lullaby CD, but I’m perfectly capable of singing her to sleep. So really, that’s the least of our worries. It’s everything else that’s the problem.

This afternoon is a pretty typical example of what happens when the power goes out:

1:27 PM – Carrie is peacefully nursing to the sounds of a celtic lullaby.
1:27:30 PM – The power goes down, comes up, goes down, comes up, goes down and stays down, all in a matter of seconds.
1:27:36 PM – Molly flips out because the house fan is no longer running; the UPS in the office starts beeping.
1:27:38 PM – Molly (and Murphy, who’s just nosy) barges into Carrie’s room. Carrie is now fully awake and giggling at the dogs.
1:27:39 PM – Molly tries to climb into the rocking chair with me. Nutty dog.
— at this point, I lose track of time because the clock radio is not functioning. —
10 minutes later – The windows in Carrie’s room are now open to the world, as the A/C is not running. The dogs have been kicked out. I am again nursing Carrie and singing lullabies. She’s started in on those long blinks that precede peaceful slumber.
30 seconds later – The idiot down the street (IDTS) on his mini dirt bike (has anyone told him how ridiculous he looks on that thing?!?) buzzes by like a gigantic wasp, blowing his air horn. Carrie sits up, once again fully awake.
5 minutes later – Carrie is almost asleep. The IDTS has apparently gone around the block, and again buzzes by. So much for those tired closing eyes.
5 minutes later – Oh. My. God. Someone needs to do something about the IDTS or I’m going to find a slingshot or something. Carrie is now completely awake and struggling to get off my lap and go play. Fine. I give up. Go play.
— An eternity passes, during which I try to keep my sanity while watching a child who should be napping because I really really really really need a break. Said child, being overtired, is in extra-cranky-danger-baby mode where she’s super clumsy and also very sensitive to the least little bump or frustration. Not a good combination. —
3:32 PM – The power is back on. The A/C is running. The windows are shut. The IDTS has apparently found something better to do. The dogs are calm. After much wailing and gnashing of gums, Carrie has ceased struggling to get out of my arms to play some more, and is finally almost asleep.
3:37 PM – I tiptoe out of her room. She’s finally napping, two hours after she really needed to.

I think I’m going to send my electric company a bill for the therapy I’m going to need soon. Oh, and for the wig I will need to cover up the bald spots from where I was pulling my hair out in frustration. Can you bill someone for mental anguish?

To the person who dented my car door in the Pittsford Plaza parking lot this evening:

Thank you. Thank you very much. I really appreciate the fact that you dented my new car. Yes, I know it’s a year old, but it’s still my new car. In fact, it’s the very first new car I’d ever owned, and it was – until tonight – in absolutely perfect condition. And the whole not leaving a note thing, yeah, that was an extra-special touch.

The really funny thing is, I can only think of one way you could possibly have used your driver’s side door to dent my passenger door the way that you did. You must have opened it with such force that my side mirror snapped forward. Since it was in it’s normal location when I got back to my car, you obviously very kindly pushed it back into place. I do appreciate that. If I hadn’t noticed the dent and the mirror had been out of place I might have gotten to the expressway and not been able to use my mirror to change lanes.

Now, some would say that it’s only a little dent and I shouldn’t care so much – and they’re probably right. In the grand scheme of things it’s not something to lose sleep over. I’m certainly not going to contact my insurance company over it. And, honestly, if you had bothered to leave a note apologizing for your actions I probably wouldn’t have bothered to contact your insurance company either.

But since you didn’t leave a note, and I can’t thank you in person, I’m writing you this public thank you note just so you know how special you made my evening. I hope your evening was just as special.

Thank you again.
Sarah

Today we had tickets to go see a baseball game, but the weather didn’t cooperate and they cancelled the game. We were all set to tough it out and watch an inning or two even if it was drizzling, since it would have been Carrie’s first baseball game. Thankfully, Denis thought to turn on the radio on our way there so we found out about the initial rain-delay before we got all the way there and paid for parking. And Carrie was all decked out in her adorable little Mets outfit, complete with too-big hat, too!

But it all worked out for the best since we were instead able to go to Henry’s third birthday party. (In fact, I even thought to put Henry’s gift in the trunk just in case – I had a feeling that we would end up at Lisa’s one way or the other!)

Now we just need to find a time to exchange our tickets – although there’s only one afternoon home game left in the season, and a 7:05 PM start is too late for Carrie (bedtime starts around 7:30!) so I guess if the weather’s bad that day we’re just going to have to forget it until next year.