<p>DC is awesome, and you can do so much in a short time. We were there on an 8 hour layover between Amtrak trains, and we got to see several museums. Nice that subway trains go everywhere and no car needed!</p>
<p>love if you decide on DC call me, you can stay with us if you dont mind dogs and cats, or Dogs (plural) and cat (1). </p>
<p>Ok Launchees- lets talk about us. What have we been doing now that the precious angels are out of the house? I am working harder, going out to dinner with H more often, watching way to much television, reading more, and I got my nails shellaced. Google it, it is funny, especially if you knew my normal level of fashion (everyday I swear to get out of my sweatpants.) But my BF is a girlygirl, and she wanted to try it.</p>
<p>Ha! If only the precious angel were out of the house… but I have two more ■■■■■■ in the wings anyway. So I don’t get any respite. D1 is not exactly blowing us away with implementing the personal changes she needs to make if she wants to go back to MICA. I leave her notes with a few things to do around the house… she ignores it. I come home late after stopping at the grocery store and ask her to give me a hand with dinner and she’s ‘too tired’ (I roll my eyes, sorry, I can’t help it). Manga girl invariably steps in and up to the plate (all the while complaining about how her sisters don’t/won’t/can’t pitch in). We got a refund check for a few hundred dollars from MICA (security deposit for the dorm etc) and it’s made out to D1 (nevermind that we were the ones footing the bill in the first place) who now thinks that she is somehow entitled to that money. If anything, it should go to pay back her part of her student loan (even though it should go back to us). So we are at an impasse over that check. Silly girl. I’ve tried to get her involved – asked her to do the planning for our trip to Germany at the end of the month… but she hasn’t really done anything. She has been driving herself to her therapist (yesterday, but she hit a snowbank with the car) and to the social skills worker who is meeting with her to see what can be done about her lack of independence (she is supposed to drive herself over to meet with this person today - we’ll see if it happens). She is supposed to make dinner tonight (not holding my breath on that one either).</p>
<p>As for me, myself, and I… work is busy. I have three presentations to give in Germany that need to be prepared. The house still looks like a tornado hit it… all the junk from the dorm is still sitting in the middle of the family room… D1 doesn’t seem able to tackle the job of organizing it all and getting it put away. So I guess I’ll have to find some time to do that. I would love to get my nails done again, but I remember how time intensive it was when I used to get them done and I’m not willing to spend my time that way now. I love my Nook – I’m reading The Sherlockian now, having finished Water for Elephants, The Solitude of Prime Numbers, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, and Tai Pan while I was in China. I have Unbroken, A Discovery of Witches, The Bricklayer, Under Heaven, and A Handmaid’s Tale in the queue on the Nook. I would love to go out to dinner more often, but that doesn’t happen much in our house full of celiacs. Maybe, if I’m lucky, DH will agree to go out for Valentine’s Day. I predict he will get me red roses like he does every year. But that beats a vacuum cleaner or parts for the stove (which he wanted to get me for Xmas). Our car port collapsed Sunday afternoon, so there’s that mess to clean up. I had to laugh because we had been meaning to tear it down and put up a shed – but our shed under the deck needs to be rebuilt and DH was dragging his feet over all of this because he wanted to put the wood from the shed under the deck (after he tears it down) UNDER the carport because (get this) he didn’t want to ‘damage the asphalt’ when the carport was supposed to get taken down. So now the carport is down. No worries about the asphalt and he is backed into a corner about actually DOING something about the shed/carport situation.<br>
We watched NOVA yesterday, it was about the IBM computer ‘Watson’ and the upcoming Jeopardy tournament next week. DH works with a lot of the people that were working on that project (DH works at IBM’s TJ Watson research center – and Watson, the computer, is a namesake of the guy that founded the center). I love Jeopardy, but I confess to hoping that the humans win in the end. Will any of you guys watch?</p>
<p>Thanks. You just made me feel a little less overwhelmed by what is and what isn’t and should be happening at my house! Just finished Water for Elephants myself, loved it.</p>
<p>aghhhh Water for elephants could be my best (worst?) one book that I hate but sold so well and now becoming major motion picture
I see why people like it that make me hate it more and more.</p>
<p>Gmom
I heard about Watson ( I was thinking Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick) on radio, did not see the TV but the radio show host asked
" why would you spend millions of dollars so eh, machine might beat human on Jeopardy?"
the answer was
possibility
today it is Jeopardy, tomorrow something much better.
world peace? could it be?
no he did not say it, I just thought that. If everyone in the world “get” each others’ issues in all fuzzy murky emotional level by AI-EQ-IQ’s help, Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan wherever that is, half wars and killing could be prevented?</p>
<p>Ok, I agree that Water for Elephants had a few too many cliches in it. But I did have a hard time putting it down once I started it. At least it was a quick read.</p>
<p>The Nova show last night was interesting because it went into how much harder it is than they first figured – creating something as ‘intelligent’ as a human–and how much we humans are just able to intuitively learn, which machines cannot. As far as being able to put super computer intelligence towards creating world peace… I’m not going to hold my breath. As long as there are crazy people out there… and crazier people that vote for them… I don’t think it’s going to happen. Or, see that! Maybe the problem is really with me for saying that there are crazy people out there and crazier people that vote for them!! Who can say who is right? It would be good if we all just let others live the way they want… if the Chinese family we visited in Yangshuo wants to have a mirror on their gate to keep away evil spirits… why should it bother me? But there are groups of people out there that think they have a god-given mission for world domination – and no super computer is going to dissuade them of that ideology. And there are other groups of people out there that are so hungry for power that they think that they are ‘elite’ and that they have the right to tell all the rest of us how we should live, how they should spend our money, what our kids should learn in school blah blah blah. As for me, I like to pretend that “I’m the boss of me” and I don’t want a super computer to change that!</p>
<p>Oh thank goodness you are all around so I can procrastinate and blow off some steam…THANKS SWITTERS for reviving this!
I now have a kindle so I can download some of those books mentioned above but I find I still pick up the free books to a good home at the library so my reading is very random these days. I am rereading “all the king’s men” that I haven’t read in high school. Weirdly, it makes me nostalgic for the South…I am tired of yankee accents (I myself have a generic yankee–like BBC English…you can’t place me but occasionally a “ya’ll” will slip out from my teen years along with some remnants of UK english from my early childhood).</p>
<p>Well I do have one angel out of the house and it is like he is dead or in a coma in terms of communication punctuated once every other week with a flicker of life to ask call to ask about documents like…can you send me my SS card? what is a W-2? I sent a care package and he called but clearly only because I had said in the note I was sending some money to pay for copays (I forgot to put it in the envelope) and he wanted to “check that it hadn’t gotten lost.” I decided not to send anything for valentines day…totally not appreciated! </p>
<p>In desperation to keep some family communication, I texted him to please call his sister and act like it was not forced on him by me. He did. Highly successful–she talked to him like a human–which makes me wonder if I will have more success with the child at home if I ignore her for 4 weeks and then call her long distance. She discussed next year’s course schedule, why a teacher was fired (I didn’t even know she was let go but daughter revealed that this teacher exhibited bizarre behaviors at school,etc.) , upcoming valentine’s day dance…I got a full update by just sitting quietly in the kitchen and evesdropping. I hope I can orchestrate this again.</p>
<p>Spring break is the second week of March. I have no idea what S’s plans are and I am in training so I haven’t made plans to take any time off. He could come home and put out a bunch of applications for summer jobs…D’s spring break is holy/easter week so we are going to Ecuador…staggered because I couldnt get frequent flier tickets all on the same day so I am going first and then H and D a little later. I am really looking forward to a few days with MIL alone…nice dynamic, really…and eating some street food that my H totally prohibits me from indulging in.</p>
<p>I know S is working hard and also socializing hard but I find it a sad statement of my mothering that he rarely communicates with us. Yesterday, I briefly called and told him to call me back when he was free–he needs to do something to get the scholarship money for this semester into his CMU account. No call. I will just let him deal with it or call me eventually but the late fees will begin to pile up. I hate to see wasted money, even if it is his.</p>
<p>G-Mom…I can see your daughter needs some help transitioning out of MICA and getting to do more things independently but I am going to tell you to draw the line at ONE THING. She needs to clean up the crap from MICA…DONT do it…dont let Dad or manga girl do anything. Tell bravegirl (but also you-are-responsible-for-your-stuff-girl) that you are willing to lend a hand but SHE has to get started, organize how to approach the task and tell you and any other loving volunteer how they can help. No one should put anything away with out her asking…could you carry this here? there? can you help me decide where to put this? So no she doesn’t have to do it alone but she has to be the lead participant. I have the same issue when my kids come back from anywhere–even a year abroad with dad—I did not allow them to purchase a single new thing, do a single pleasant activity until stuff was stashed. Even now, big as they are, I offer my sweat and ideas…I am there to lug, find spots, etc but they have to know where their crap is so then you are not the one to go find it when they need it. Personally, I HATE putting away stuff when I come back from a trip, but I do not sleep until it is done or else the half empty suitcase will be there in my room for weeks. Every once in a while I don’t nag D to put away the basked of clean laundry and let her get away with letting it sit…it leads to serious pile up then for weeks…big mistake</p>
<p>you go Gmom
I was thinking something in the line of
how Luke and gang gotten away because C3PO can convince ewoks, or was it Jaba the Hut?
just that willing/able to communicate correctly would make huge diference, no?
I am awed that I can basically ( sort of) speak “English” now. can read then how many persent, 70 or some % out of 100 in the world? -books that puplished in this language.
yet it doesn’t help me in the area I really need helping. R2D2 would be nice to have around.</p>
<p>yay fammom lives
care to take “whiteness test” in Cooper thread?</p>
<p>Hey, Bears
Luke and gang escaped from both the ewoks and jabba the hutt, if I remember correctly. Lets see… I think C3PO did something to convince the ewoks that he was a god (?) and I honestly don’t remember, at the moment, how they managed to escape from old Jabba. Probably my kids would know. They routinely watch Star Wars - almost more than I watch (or at least used to watch) LOTR. I think you do very well with your English, Bears. You should be proud of yourself. Here I am trying to find a translator to hire so that I can have something of a conversation with my 80 year old aunt in Germany next month – your English is far better than my German.</p>
<p>FAMMoM, I would LOVE to be able to take your advice regarding D1. But I’m having trouble because it’s hard to sit by and watch NOTHING get done. She hasn’t even unpacked from the China trip yet. Yes, I know we’re leaving again in a couple of weeks, but I unpacked and put my suitcase away (okay, there are odds and ends of things in there that I’m going to need in Germany, but my clothes are all out of there – washed and put away even). I have tried to get her to do JUSTONETHING… like find a place to put the umbrella stand… and nothing happens. Gack. I’m so tempted to just shove everything out the door into the snow and leave it. It’s the MICA stuff on top of the stuff from my Mom – boxes of photos and photo albums that I have no idea where to stash, various knick-knacks and knack-knicks…at least it kept me from buying a lot of junk in China, because at the back of my mind was that there was no place to put anymore STUFF. I did breakdown, though, and buy a silk comforter – but hey, that’s useful and it goes on the bed so it wasn’t creating more clutter. The girls and DH got ‘chops’ with their names in Chinese and I brought the two stayathome girls some pearl jewelry, but that was pretty much it.</p>
<p>Ok, gotta run.</p>
<p>Mica’s Parent Weekend starts tomorrow and I’m feeling cranky because…</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Gmom won’t be there! We could have hung out and had the younger daughters play together. She might have even found the weather balmy which leads me to complaint #2…</p>
<ul>
<li>it’s February. How about a nice boat ride to Fort McHenry? A brisk walk along the frosty sea wall? How about wrapping your head in seven scarves so you don’t freeze to death doing any of those things. I don’t mind February, but October would have been so much nicer for walking around the city.</li>
<li>they charged us $25 for registration and would have charged more for lunches. It’s just tacky! We figure we can find a restaurant rather than eating Meyerhoff food.<br></li>
<li>D3 has been refusing to go on Saturday when they have the “younger sibs art workshop”. Hell, I wish they had that for parents. She may be relenting a little. Tonight she said, “I really don’t want to go to that”. It’s an improvement.<br></li>
<li>We can sit in on classes on Friday or Monday but D2’s Friday class is on computer and she doesn’t think it will be interesting to observe. Her Monday class would be, but I’m working then. Sigh. I will let you all know how it goes.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<p>As for doing other things, I still feel behind in that department. I want to conquer clutter and disorder above all other things, and BEFORE it becomes time to do gardening, but I’m still treading water at this point. I did buy two new ceiling fans today to replace broken old ones, so there is a glimmer of hope.</p>
<p>Sigh. Sigh again. I was SO looking forward to parent’s weekend. Plus I agree with you, I would Love,Love, Love a parent’s art workshop! That reminds me of when DH and I had to go to a special IBM event in San Diego. They had all sorts of activities for grown ups, sailing on a racing sail boat, touring art galleries in La Jolla – but the one I chose was ‘art at the beach’. Pfft. First of all it was too damn windy. Secondly, even though it was San Diego in May, it was still cold. And thirdly, the ‘teacher’ was this crazy woman that thinks that any trickle of paint on paper is a work of art. She had paper and really old paints and it was basically a finger painting exercise with no seriousness about it at all. it was okay if sand got into everything, it was all about the ‘experience’. I took my little graphite pencil set to the side and found some cool plants and did some botanical art type things. You know, where you had to put some thought into what you were doing.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’m jealous about the Parent’s weekend. Maybe next year (one CAN hope, right?). Too bad D1 still doesn’t seem to be getting herself together. I left two recipes for her last night, she was supposed to choose one and make dinner. All the ingredients were there. I left a note with special instructions. She ‘didn’t see’ the bottom of the note where I said to use all four packages of meat (so there’d be enough) and to make mashed potatoes and a vegetable and a salad. So when I got home (late cuz I got my hairs done – need to banish that grey) I found a delicious aroma… but enough swiss steak for 1.3 people, no mashed potatoes, no salad, and no veggie. Plus the swiss steak that she did make was a bit burned. Today manga girl will make eggplant/sausage/ziti - -and I’m sure it will turn out fine…but that was another major FAIL for D1. Sigh.</p>
<p>how the G free ziti?
suppose eggplant is grilled? mmmmm…
cut in lengthwise, slice or cube?
mmmmmm
I think that’s what I want tonight.
Jamie Oliver said in his Italian book, it taste so much better if cut in lengthwise, it was with spaghetti and made sense. I would say cube for ziti?
He used tomato, wine vinegar, fried eggplants with oregano, top with fresh ricotta.
It is some old mama’s recipe and was good.
I respect moms(patpat wagwag)who enabled teens and small kids to eat eggplants willingly if no parents are Italian or Japanese.
we are big on eggplants, skinny seedless one we got. nowadays you can find in generic supermarket. If you put American eggplants in the markets in Japan, they’d faint.
In Cinderella, I had to wonder how “kabocya pumpkin” -the only pumpkin we know- could be used for coach. Seeing Peanuts special and finally going to pumpkin land here (farm with hay-rides and stuff during season) did I understand the connection.
Kabocya is great for cooking, if you haven’t tried. again, nowadays it’s easy to find.
I had seamstress at my job from Chile always made me amazing soup with corn, cranberry beans, green beans and mystery yellow broth.
One day I asked her to show me how, the ingredients she brought was kabocya!!!
If AI-EQ-IQ does not promote unity, how about food items?</p>
<p>It is a “lunch” thread, or plan of dinner.</p>
<p>Enjoyed all your recent posters !</p>
<p>Greenwich and Redbug:
Thanks for all your information about my “trip to DC next week” </p>
<p>switters:
thanks for offering us to stay in your house! </p>
<p>Talked to D last Saturday and she prefer to have all the time to stay in Manhattan. So I will stay in Manhattan next weekend, it will be fun. Actually no matter where, be with D makes me excited!</p>
<p>As for communication, it looks like I got a lot call from D. I express my feeling frankly to her and she know her call, her voice will make me HAPPY. I want to make our frequent communication be a habit. Not sure how long it can last but will try … This is suggested by my friend. She had more calling to/from her D compared to me even now. her D graduated two years ago from college and now is in a med school. her success encourage me a lot.</p>
<p>Glutemom: Try to find any improvement your D1 have and appreciate it. She did swiss steak, tell her how good it is and how much you appreciate it. In the last two or three year of D’s high school time, I finally find out appreciation help more than anything else. This is just my thought.</p>
<p>OK, share a fun call I had with D last night:
D:I have a really boring class today, our 4dd(4D Design) teacher let us stand press ourself to the wall for an hour …
Mine: Why you didn’t cheat? you can have rest in between when she is not there?
D:forgot to cheat and really stand a whole hour
Mine:how about the rest of your class?
D: oh, she have us watch turtle having sex … turtle is so slow and then we have to watch paint dry twice.
…
We continue to talk about her class and I feel her teacher maybe is really bad, but D said this teacher is famous and her art is collected in MoMA and maybe she don’t know how to teach …</p>
<p>Is it crazy? for me it is hard to understand this kind of art ?!</p>
<p>As for my life, it is so relax. I didn’t work hard at all, just get the required thing done and at home i watched a lot Korea soap opera. I work out a lot and run half hour everyday. I can run almost 3 miles in half hour now. feel good about it…</p>
<p>I didn’t read and feel bad about it. Freakonomics, switters mentioned in book thread was recommended by D last summer and I read half of it and didn’t get done. Will try to improve my reading …</p>
<p>OK Loveblue, you can have lots of fun in New York with your daughter and we’ll catch you next time in DC. You can also visit the Statue of Liberty and get tickets through the National Park Service. It won’t be crowded in February, so you could just show up at the kiosk near Battery Park too. </p>
<p>[Statue</a> of Liberty National Monument - Fees & Reservations (U.S. National Park Service)](<a href=“http://www.nps.gov/stli/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm]Statue”>http://www.nps.gov/stli/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm)</p>
<p>Apparently, you can reserve tickets to walk up into the crown (whoooooo!) but I checked and they’re sold out until March.</p>
<p>greenwitch: Thanks for you suggestion!</p>
<p>before D went to Cooper, we went NYC two times and one time did a long line waiting to get on the the Liberty island and we watched Broadway “Chicago” and “phantom of opera”.
Will see what D want to do and report after I get back.</p>
<p>Hi love- i think the kids get a long “founders weekend” that weekend that you will be there. Not sure. We may come that weekend too, ill call if we do.</p>
<p>I havent gotten details of my S’s 4d class, but I know he manages to turn some of the assignments into music assignments. </p>
<p>We are having a real conversation about once a week, with daily/every other day texts. Frankly, I feel panicky when I do talk to him because I cant figure out how there is enough time in the day (and night) for all the work. I miss him so much, but I think I need to get over it. This is my life now.</p>
<p>I got 2010-2011 academic calender here says
founder’s Day/presidents day staff holiday Feb 11-14th Fri-Mon
but loveblue is still at home and today is 11th, yes?
when are you coming for how long?
we got Toyfair going on I have pile of work (no foolin’ around besides occasional -hourly CC posts check) but if you wanna cheer me up or cut some bear skin after hours, call me on, moms.
love, does your D sew? she must be neat whatever she does, no?
switters, check out the Whitney show ending on 13th if you do come. I wanna know what your H have to say.
now
if that 4D class is what Ms. Day said in openhouse, what’s that, “not exactly video, but post Einstein” it sure sound weird but very Cooper.</p>
<p>Bears i think you are looking at the wrong calendar. Its next week</p>
<p>It’s in the view book 2010/11 page 2
typo or changed, hum?
Cooper do that, we (CE class kids) get typo-ed dates, cut paste from last year’s without no one checking dates.
again, very Cooper…</p>
<p>I will be still in the dumps, til March 10-sh.
shoulda be happy to have a job yet yet…</p>