Sibling Revelry

Olivia, after school:

"Me and Alyne are like sisters. We both have brownish hair. We both like High School Musical. And we can both hop on one foot."

International Awe

We stopped by the international fair being held at the university next door. It was a nice reminder of the diversity that exists within our community, one that is not that obviously diverse to the eye. It was also nice to be able to score some bubble tea on the cheap.

Beni and I weren’t the only ones who went home not-empty-handed – Olivia picked up a Japanese balloon yo-yo and a giant piñata (not really…just a picture of her by the candy-stuffed burro).

Post-Postgame Analysis

The Super Bowl may have been played nearly three weeks ago, but our child’s memories of it live on, especially of the play when the Steelers’ James Harrison was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty for punching (and then swiping away?) the player from the Cardinals.

The funny thing is, Olivia didn't see the play or much of the game, for that matter. She learned about it the day after from her teachers, who treated the Super Bowl with the reverence they normally reserve just for Christmas.

Confessions of a Narcoleptic

I met with our family doctor yesterday morning to get the results of my sleep test– earlier in the month, I spent the night and most of the next day at a sleep clinic to see why I can fall asleep at any point of any day at the drop of a hat. Well, I’ve learned that I have narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characterized by sudden and often uncontrollable, though often brief, attacks of deep sleep.

During my time at the sleep clinic, they tested my ability to fall asleep for naps on the even hours – 8 a.m., 10 a.m., noon, etc. I fell asleep every time, and it took me an average of two-and-a-half minutes to visit dreamland, whereas “normal” people take upwards of 10-15 minutes to fall asleep for naps, provided they’re able to so when commanded.
The truth of the matter is that I actually feel refreshed – emotionally, not mentally or physically, of course – by the news. I feel a bit like Theo Huxtable did when he was diagnosed with dyslexia on “The Cosby Show” – he and his parents were ecstatic to have a name to what it was that was ailing him.

Narcolepsy is incredibly annoying and debilitating, not to mention potentially dangerous, but at least I can now curse it by name and decide how best to treat it versus having to continually live with the loop playing in my head wondering what the hell was wrong with me – those lingering feelings of self-doubt would be enough to make a “normal” person exhausted.

My Kid Could Paint That

This entry’s title is the name of my movie pick of the week. It’s about Marla, a four-year-old art “prodigy,” and the stir her works caused in the art community several years ago. It’s a fascinating documentary, one that had me traversing the emotional plains of anger, sadness, and amusement.

And this is all a horrible segue to the brushstrokes of my four-year-old, who today helped me paint the walls of her room and her baby brother’s.

Miss Pronouncer

Today, according to Olivia, is Valen-times Day, which is one of our favorite mispronounced words of hers. It’s on the short list with sgab-hetti and us-pposed to.

Happy Valen-times Day, everyone!

Inn Time

A weekend in the Hamptons and a weekend in the Hampton Inn mean completely separate things, but to Olivia, getting to spend four nights in the local hotel – we’ve been temporarily displaced from our home because of issues related to the water in our basement – meets her definition of luxury: it has a heated pool, bountiful breakfast, and TV with several cartoon networks. My mom has graciously offered to put us up here while our basement carpet is getting the chemical and heat treatments to fend off mold and other enemies of the estate.

We, too, are trying to find the silver lining in all of this. For four days, we’ll have cable and Internet access, both of which have not yet been installed at the damp digs. And so when we start to feel sorry for ourselves, we can distract ourselves with HBO original programming and Facebook.

Raining on Our Parade

It may be the case that the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain, but apparently the rain in our backyard drains directly into the finished basement of our new home.

In the morning following an overnight storm, Beni noticed some water in the corner of a storage closet. But that, as it turned out, was just the tip of a melting iceberg. By the end of the day, we were having to deal with water getting in our basement in a variety of ways: from a leaky master bathroom shower, a clogged sewer line, a broken PVC pipe in our sump pump system, and the tears of frustration.

Were we so unlucky that we’d potentially lose our finished basement in the first week of moving in? Or will our responses to the above issues be enough to save the part of the house that we were looking forward to using the most as a family? I guess only time will tell.

High School Maniacal

Olivia, as we’re passing the local Catholic high school today:

"That looks like High School Musical, but it’s not East High."

Hannah Montaña

This is what you get when you mix a Disney pop star and princesses with a Mexican luchador.

(My favorite part: before asking if we’re ready to rock, Olivia mentions that we’re going to have both Girl Scout Cookies and Boy Scout Cookies.)

Closing Time

At eight o’clock this morning, we became the proud owners of a lovely brick ranch home. We’ll start moving items that’ll fit in our cars during the week, and then will get a truck and some friends (time to start making some!) to help with the big items this weekend. We still happen to own the house out of which we’re moving, and so our hopes and desires from November still hold.

What a Treat (Bag)

Beni and I were treated to these treat bags this morning. Olivia deflated the air-filled plastic bags that Amazon uses when shipping items as her gift pouch, and then filled it with items she had either received as gifts herself or constructed (see ruler).