Snowday

Snowpocolypse!!!

The weather reporters in Pittsburgh are known for their doomsday takes on just about everything. Its very much a War of the Worlds type thing, but in the form of a five day forecast. My conspiracy theory is that they know there is a high concentration of old people in Pittsburgh and old people tend to take the weather reports very seriously. Thus, not being all that old, I usually listen to the weather and then cut their forecasts in half.

This time, tho, it actually was doomsday. The snow started yesterday and when we woke up today, it was ENORMOUS. I have'nt seen snow like this since I was a kid in Ohio--easily 2 feet of undrifted piles and piles of snow. The birdbath next door looked like there was a huge coconut cake sitting on it. And you couldnt open the frontdoor all the way for all the snow on the porch.

Whole Foods was closed so all three of us got to have a snow day. It turned out to be very traditionally gendered: I cooked, baked and cleaned, Mike shoveled the snow and took the boy out to play. Which was fine with me, since I had a cold from walking thru the snow last night. Here are some shots from Snowpocolypse 2010 on Polish Hill:

Dang--Where Was I Going?...

God Lord but its been awhile! My apologies.

Since the last time I wrote a whole lot has happened--namely, Donovan was accepted into the Pittsburgh Montessori PreK Program. That is the only magnet Pre-K program in all of the Pittsburgh School District.

Now that I'm typing this, I'm wondering if I've blogged about it already or just told so many people that it seems like everyone should know. In case I'm repeating myself here I'll just touch on the major points 1) its an excellent program 2) in a beautiful old school building 3) in a lovely neighborhood near Sheryl's restaurant and down the street from Mike's store, plus 4) ITS FREE!!! Oh, Be Joyful, its FREE. Come September I will stop writing a check for EXACTLY HALF OF MY TAKE HOME PAY to Waldorf. Don't get me wrong, Waldorf. We love you, we really, really do. But honestly, what do you expect? We've got bills to pay, honey, its not you, its us.

So Donovan starts Montessori in September and finishes his first phase of (also free) occupational and speech therapy come his birthday in April. The next phase will just be speech therapy and will continue over the summer and into his schooltime.

He's talking really well, tho still not really making conversation. He is making jokes, however. I've been trying to teach him to say "Yes, Mother Dear" but he will only reply, "NO Mother DEEEEEEAAAAR!" The bolding of that word was to imply that he shrieks it very high and shrill. May not sound funny but his timing is pretty sharp.

I personally have some schemes that I'm scheming that, if luck is on my side, may lead to some nice changes. Sorry to be so cagey but its a little early to give too many details--and, no, its not another kid so you can dispense with that theory. Unless perhaps you'd like to have the Gestational Diabetes for me. Then we can talk. ANYhow, one thing I will divulge is that 2010 is the year of trying to live Frugally. Or Downshifting. Or Voluntary Simplicity. Or whatever you want to call it. I'm trying to figure out how to get more out of life, cut down on stress and not spend as much money as stupidly as I've been known to do in the past. With the exception of last night when the premenstrual craving for a buffalo chicken pizza proved too strong, I've been doing well. Mike's in all this with me but he's already very frugal so he's being supportive and I'm being radical. Kind of like I'm Emma Goldman and he's Alexander Berkman. Sort of.

Speaking of anarchist farming collectives, here are some photos of the kid playing with The Funny Farm, a belated but now beloved Christmas gift from his Aunt Shirley and Uncle Becky"a/>

When I picked Donovan up from Waldorf last night we were walking to the busstop and he stopped under a streetlight, pointed up and said, "MOON!" I looked up and wondered if he was refering to the streetlight as I did'nt see anything. "Where's the moon?" I asked him. He looked at me with something between disdain and disbelief: "Its up in the sky."

Of course. Silly me.

And it was visible, in case you were wondering. Mama's eyes; they ain't so good.

"See Ya!"

Here are a list of things that Donny says "Bye bye!" to on a regular basis:

* Ovaltine
* Upstairs
* Downstairs
* Christoper Walken (see earlier entry on "The Guy")
* the Christmas Tree
* the Christmas lights around the front door
* the house
* the stovelight
* the dishwasher
* prunes
* various stuffed animals
* "Daddy's sneeze"
* "Stuff in there" (referring to contents of a bureau that he's been banned from opening)

The best part is the intonation of his "Bye bye!" is very dreamy--I've likened it to the gamine Hollywood starlet saying goodbye over her shoulder after one too many cocktails.

New Year: So Far So Good

Today is the last day before heading back to work. The extent to which I do not want to go back to work is rather stunning and has me thinking.

I made a few resolutions for 2010 and a few of them all blend together: creating a serious household budget, spending less money on food and using some of the old Hungarian/WWII era skills I soaked up in my Elyria childhood. Today was a good day for all of the above, in that I made:

* Banana Bread
* Shrimp Salad
* Vanilla Scented Granola
* Ham and Bean Soup (currently simmering as I type)

All of the above was done to use up left overs--the only things we had to buy were sliced almonds, onions and a carrot. Not bad, not bad at all.

I also wanted to mix up Donny's agenda a little bit today. I knew we werent going outside so I downloaded some coloring book pages. I bought the coloring book PDF on Etsy for $3 and now I can print out as many as I want so I won't feel too bad as the kid learns his way around a marker.I was rather proud of myself for coming up with the Tape The Pages to the Mirror Tabletop idea. Worked like a charm.
This one is Donovan's. Not bad for a little guy.
This one is mine. Markers are not my usual milieu, in case you were wondering.

Donny also got a cool puzzle from my Cousins Meg and Larry. Its all sorts of different bugs with metal rivets in the middle. It comes with a little puzzlepiece net with a magnet hanging off a string.
Hours of fun.

It was really great having so much time off to be with the boy. He's good company. I'm definitely going to have some Donny withdrawal tomorrow.

We Wish You a Very New Year.

Hello Everyone, and welcome to 2010!

I don't know about you but I'm considering 2009 a fairly total wash and I'm excited to ditch those calendars and have the hopeful, charmingly naive blank pages of a new calendar cheering me on. GO TEAM!

I realize that, beyond posting photos of our tree, I did'nt mention much about Christmas. The short answer is, it was very nice. Mike, Donny and I went to Elyria for Christmas proper and got to hang out with my Mom, sister, Aunts and some favorite cousins. Mom told me on the phone last night that her sisters (known collectively as "The Aunts." Much like the mafia is known as, "The Mafia") told her how wonderful Donovan is and how he's talking and singing and is just so smart! Keep the adulation coming: I like it!

We came back to Pittsburgh and got to spend some time with Mike's family including Donny's Aunt Claire and Aunt Heather, who did us a solid by babysitting the boy one of the days he was off and I had to work. He's now enamoured of them and will look up from whatever he's doing and say, "Aunt Claire?" or "Aunt Heather?" He seems pretty sure they'll stop by to play with him again pretty soon...

Here are a few photos of the boy and some of his holiday loot. I'll leave out most of the details--today is my last day off before work and there is much to do in that sweet window of Donovan Naptime!