{ a swoop and a dart }

Ten on Tuesday

1. I went for my first nighttime run of 2012 tonight because it was a glorious, windless 52º outside (and no, Jody, I didn't wear a parka). I only ran two miles, which is less than half of what I know I'm capable of, but the difference between now and last year at this time: I mostly had fun anyway. And I know I'll get better again after I am out more. Treadmills just don't really cut it for me, though I've been making an effort.

2. The best part of tonight:

Tonight is the best viewing night for Jupiter and Venus... not only was it a crystal clear sky with a kazillion visible stars, I was watching planets as I ran. Maddie and I took a Starwalk screenshot on the way out of her book club tonight (it was a busy night):

We love Starwalk, though I'm sure people think we're crazy for waving a phone at the sky. Better that than an iPad, I guess.

3. How do you get Maddie to break into a run? Find and hold up the elusive second book in Rick Riordan's Lost Heroes series from across the library. Nerd. She is also on her seat for the second book in Brandon Mull's Beyonders series, which was released today. If I had been more on the ball, I would have had it preordered and delivered today. Alas. She got the first book in hardcover from Carol Mead (Governor Mead's wife) for being a Wyoming fourth grader (it totally pays to live in Wyoming) so I'll probably spring for the $10 to get her the second one, too :)

4. Speaking of books, Gracie is plowing her way through the Roald Dahl catalog at the moment (hooray!!!). She just finished The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me and has moved on to The Witches.

5. Speaking of Gracie, she is the next victim of the mysterious fever illness that has been moving through our house. First Bridget (last weekend, followed by three days of utter fatigue) then Maddie (this past weekend/Monday, followed by a terrible cough) and now Gracie. When Bridget has a fever of 101º she reacts as if she has a fever of 101º. When Maddie has a fever of 101º she reacts as if she has a fever of 109º. When Gracie has a fever of 101º she reacts as if she has a fever of 157º.

6. I ruined both Matt's and Bridget's day today by causing the van to have a deader-than-dead battery this morning. It is too mortifiying and absurd to tell the story; I will simply state that it involved birdwatching and leave it at that. Bridget missed storytime and Matt had to come home from work, try to jump the battery, shake his head at me regarding the magnitude of damage I did to the battery, go back to work, and then come home again to buy a new battery and replace it. I helpfully pointed out that two hours working outside in the pleasant weather wasn't the worst way to spend the afternoon. And then I ran inside and kept my mouth shut.

7. In my defense: original battery. Five+ years old. Survived the February of -41º wind chill without a garage. OK, OK, there really is no defense.

8. I am starting a new list of things Bridget says. The first thing on the list, in reference to one of my workout DVDs that has a section of boxing with Jillian Michaels: "I could beat these guys with my boxing skills." I'm not even kidding. That child is hilarious.

9. In addition to boxing skills, the Dillow girls now have Laser Tag skills. They were the only girls invited to a birthday party for an 8 year old friend on base recently... they walked in and saw twelve boys gearing up for Laser Tag and totally freaked out. Gracie refused to play the first round (Dark spaces! Loud voices! Weird lights! TWELVE BOYS!) but I finally convinced Maddie and Bridget to try it... by the second round, Gracie's curiosity got the best of her and she decided to give it a try, too. I think she ended up having the most fun of anyone. And how about that Bridget... not sure I trust a girl with a laser gun and this face:

Also, I'm not sure where Gracie learned to hold a laser gun in such a menacing fashion.

10. And now that Grandma has fainted, I'm going to bed.

: )

Ten on Wednesday

1. It is ridiculously windy this week. I was afraid someone's dog might blow past the window yesterday, it was so bad. Last night Bridget and I got back from dropping off Maddie and Gracie at the gym and Hawthorn House was gone—I searched the yard and the 20th AF parking lot for it, but as it turns out Matt was home for a few minutes before he had to go back out and pushed it into the garage (because it had already blown away from its spot underneath the trees). Today Bridget suggested we just hang out in the car until it stopped, until I told her that would probably be tomorrow. If we're lucky.

2. We had a fine, fine, time for our second annual Presidents' Day Weekend in Colorado Springs trip for Georgie's eleventh birthday. We've celebrated her 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and now 11th birthday with her. That's pretty impressive for a bunch of Air Force transients. It's hard to believe that Maddie, Georgie, and Thea were 1, 2, and 3 when they met!

We did a lot of hanging out, and a lot of eating. And drinking milk. Oh, how we miss our Royal Crest milk.

3. There was also a brief opportunity for some playgroup mamas to meet up. I miss them way more than Royal Crest milk. We hit the movies and Mimi's, and it was just like old times. Nicole and I noted that we have known each other a very, very long time—since August 1996.

4. We didn't get to see everyone we know and love in Colorado Springs, but we did get to hang out with our old, dear neighbors for a bit—and briefly see some more playgroup friends, too. Gracie and Spencer are both 7! And I'm convinced that Bridget and Lauren are going to grow up believing that they were neighbors too, and be totally confused to discover someday that they weren't even born before we'd already moved away.

5. We got home five minutes ahead of my planned arrival time on Monday. And then I promptly chained Maddie to her science fair board so she could finish it up. We are both glad her first experience with science fair is behind her. : )

6. My camera battery was extra-extra charged upon our return, because I left it in the charger at home on accident. Awesome.

7. My trusty Cusinart blender officially gave up the ghost tonight. It was ten years old, which I think probably translates to 50 in blender years. I put the Ebay King on it—he already has a list of new trusty blender candidates for me.

8. It pays to be married to the Ebay King in so many ways.

9. Bridget made this amazing Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly today at preschool:

The only problem? [whispering: It is totally going to give me nightmares of Insane Clown Posse-esque proportions if I hang it up. I just can't do it. And this makes me a very bad mama.] But look at that lovely painting job she did on the dress and shoes!

10. I was searching for a picture of Hawthorn House to link to (I know it's in here somewhere) and found this funny thing I said about competitive gymnastics. Thanks, blog, for the healthy serving of crow. Ha.

photos by ImagingB Photography

Ten on Tuesday

1. I am recovering from a four day long bad attitude. You might remember that I'm banned from blogging when I have a bad attitude as bad as this one. And oh, it was a bad one. I'm pretty sure I have Wind Affective Disorder. You know, the little known distant cousin of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

2. Interestingly, the bad attitude recovery can be attributed to a specific sequence of events: Grady Kirkpatrick playing a song called The Golden Age by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour on the Wyoming Public Radio Morning Music show this morning, then promptly buying the EP with said song on it, then turning it up loud enough that I couldn't hear the incessant howling wind that was on Day Four of Driving Me Absolutely Crazy, then discovering that when the EP was over (OK, I listened to it three times in a row), the wind finally died down. Long live Danish pop! And Grady Kirkpatrick! And air that isn't moving at 65 mph!

3. That EP also includes a good version of Safety Dance.* I waggled a fork at Maddie as I handed her a slice of pumpkin pie after school (while dancing to Safety Dance) and she said that wasn't actually much of a safety dance at all. She's a funny one.

4. My memories of the original Safety Dance are a little hazy—they include fifth grade and some sort of video with elves in it. Is that right?

5. It is a well-known fact that I love downtowns. Cheyenne has made some definite progress in working to preserve its downtown—I'm always excited to see what new plans are in the works. It was announced a while back that the Murray Building would be getting a big new mural painted on the side—yay, I thought! But then it was announced that the big new mural would be of a cherub.

Hmm. No offense, but the giant cherub smack in the middle of downtown western-history-filled Cheyenne just doesn't go for me. Ah well.

6. I love Facebook-introducing people who I think will get along splendidly, especially when the opportunity exists for them to become real-life friends, too.

7. Related: I sure do miss Great Falls. But I sure am happy that Great Falls continues to be part of my life, sometimes multiple times in a day. It's hard to believe that I've been gone far longer than I was there.

8. Unrelated, but only barely: I am done. with. box elders. Especially ones that think it's OK to hang out in the kitchen. (It is not OK! You are insects, and that means you belong outside! And preferably not in my mailbox with 567 of your best friends!) Bless the people that live in Box Elder, MT, if it means they have to deal with a box elder problem so large that it gave the town a name.

9. I bought our first bag of clementines today at Sam's Club. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

10. Maddie and Gracie competed at University of Denver on Sunday. It was cool to be in a big gym on a college campus. Gracie is steadily improving every meet, and despite being plagued by her round-off back handspring, Maddie is looking more and more confident, too. There were somewhere between 60-70 girls at this meet; I got the feeling I was witnessing a few future Olympic hopefuls when the girls from CGI (team from Aurora) were competing. Goodness. Both Maddie and Gracie earned red ribbons for their all-around scores (between 32-36 points) and Maddie got 6th place overall (no age divisions this time!) for her beam routine.

How about some gymnastics nostalgia?

: )

*Forget the 70s—the kids of today should defend themselves against the 80s.

Ten on Just-Past-Tuesday

1. I'm so pleased with how the Very Important Photoshoot with my neighbors went yesterday that I can't stop smiling about it. I am anxious to finish up all my editing and hand the photos over, which didn't happen after the marathon day that was yesterday. But here are just a few:

I KNOW. Do you have any idea how many shots it took to get one passable photo for Simple Scrapbooks when I was pregnant with Bridget? About the same amount as I took yesterday, and 99% of those are keepers.

2. I saw the winning times for the New York City Marathon in the paper and for the first time ever, kind of had an idea of what they meant.

2a. !!!
2b. What, are those people GAZELLES? Wait, the answer to that is probably yes.   
2c.. If I ran a marathon at my current pace (don't worry, I have no aspirations to run a marathon) it would take me over five hours.

3. But I am in 13th place as of this morning in Cathy Zielske's November 50 Miles Challenge! I'll take it. Though I am not trying to actually win it, but simply participate literally.

4. This is not a running blog, but I just have to say I know two women who ran the Marine Corps Marathon last month. My friend Marné and Maddie's former principal Dr. Piehota. I feel famous and athletic by proxy.

5. Maddie and Dr. Piehota have been writing letters back and forth since we moved from Virginia. I love her.

6. I bought Maddie a really fantastic poncho at Target today. It is from the girls' department, but I am totally going back to get myself one—ponchos can fit anyone, I say. I promised her I would not wear it on the same day. : )

7. Bridget and I have spent a lot of time with Maddie's class lately. Today we went (and photographed) her teacher's husband present the story/opera Hansel and Gretel. He is both funny and an opera singer, so it was very entertaining. The class all made themselves little finger puppets to follow along as they listened. Third and fourth grade are definitely making up for second grade for Maddie.

8. Funny Halloween story I forget to share: while we were out trick-or-treating, Bridget spotted someone (an older kid) dressed as some sort of swamp monster. She shouted back to me "Look Mama!! It's like in the OK GO video!!" It was in fact exactly like that. It makes me all kinds of happy that our four year old can conjure up comparisons of OK GO videos and Halloween costumes just like that. Hee. OK GO videos are one of our favorites and bests in this household.

 

9. Did you see the big reveal about Katherine's book cover?

Marie took the cover photo, I did the design mock-up, and Katherine wrote all the brilliant text contained inside. Which of course, is the important part. You can preorder it from Amazon now!

10. And while you're there, pick up a Snow Wolf shovel, too. : ) Rumor has it they go very well together.

Ten on Tuesday in Ten Sentences

1. I caused a major scene at Hobby Lobby yesterday when my fingers popped through the side of a glass jar while I was holding it.

2. The store manager almost passed out when she came back to see what happened, but luckily a less queasy and wonderful employee was able to help me—and I needed a lot of help at the moment she appeared.

3. Hobby Lobby: you should hire someone less surly and abrupt in the corporate office division responsible for following up on accident reports by phone.

4. I am sewing Gracie an owl costume using a photo of our neighborhood owl that a neighbor posted on Facebook as my pattern.

5. Wish me luck with that.

6. Bridget and her preschool/storytime friend went out to lunch today and invited their mamas; I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich from the Library Café that may rank as the best sandwich I've ever had, which made more sense once I learned it had four types of cheese, cream cheese, and mayonnaise in it.

7. I may have had a small panic attack tonight about how close Christmas is and how far behind I am on my master plan to make more gifts this year.

8. My sweet neighbor scared the bejesus out of me last night while she was prowling about on the porch after 10 pm, orchestrating a "boo."

9. Does your neighborhood get into "boo-ing," too?

10. Spotted and photographed today at the library so you could make some with your children, too...

...the best use of googly eyes ever.

 

Ten on Not-Tuesday

1. My camera will arrive in Irvine, CA tomorrow. Not that I'm tracking it obsessively or anything.

2. Juliette has one of the best laughs ever recorded. Maybe her mama will post proof of that.

3. Soon I will dig into Ohio photos... there are many. In the meantime, here is a fun comparison:

Gracie, swinging from the tree in Nana's and Papa's yard. I am startled by how she looks exactly like herself.

4. I think I am the only person in the world who does not like pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks. Or any other place, for that matter. I prefer to eat my pumpkin calories vs. drink them, I guess.

5. Why I was allowed to hold Gracie's camera for this portrait on our Labor Day hike I'll never know. This is a family portrait fail.

6. Every morning Bridget and I check the Indians box score in the newspaper; it is going to break her heart to learn that the Indians are now mathematically eliminated from the post-season. She is learning the concepts of "how many games back" and "Damn Tigers" at a young age. Though really, it seems weird to be shaking our fists at the Tigers of all teams. Hmph.

7. We will begin flying our Brownie flag this Sunday. Because Cleveland fans are either the dumbest or most optimistic people on the face of the earth. (We prefer the latter)

8. Here is a funny picture from the September vault. September 2006.

Oh, how they've grown. Georgie, Thea, Maddie, Gracie, and Sam.

9. I can look at pictures from when I was pregnant with Gracie and Bridget and practically smell/feel/taste what it was like wherever I was. I do not have this same ability from when I was pregnant with Maddie, though I do have very specific memories of being pregnant with her. Weird, no?

10. I hope Bridget will have many happy memories of lazing around by the fireplace in this house. Don't be fooled by her summer dress she insisted on wearing while we were inside; it's been cold and wet and gloomy all week here.

Ten on Tuesday: Back to School Edition

1. This is Maddie's sixth year of school (!!) counting her year of preschool in Livermore. She is excited to have the same teacher as she had last year, and so are we. She still has a ridiculous commute to her building, but hasn't been lost since the week we moved on base last October. Unfortunately, we may only have one chance to have all three girls in the same school and that's only if the next place we move has an elementary that includes sixth graders. For now, we'll do the three girls/three different schools thing for one more year.

2. Gracie had the best kindergarten teacher for her last year, and I was really nervous that this year would not compare—but I think the teacher she drew will be a very good one for her, albeit very different from Ms. S. Gracie has been so excited for school that she's appeared on my side of the bed at 6:10 am the last two mornings, dressed, to announce she will fix her own breakfast and can't wait for school. It was a rather painful wait this morning, as she didn't need to leave for her bus until 7:55.

3. I remember first grade like it was yesterday—it was a good year. A lot of fourth grade, too, though fourth grade was my least favorite year of elementary school because my teacher was a big meanie who yelled all the time and had a desk that looked like it had been ransacked by angry people every night. That was also the year Matt Dishong pierced his ear with a compass while sitting in the desk next to mine. EEEEEEEEK. It was as bad as you might imagine it to have been.

4. On the other hand, that was the year I cross-stitched the title on the cover of my Ohio presidents report. It's never too early to be an overachiever.

5. You'll have to wait until next Monday for Bee's first day photo, because she starts next Monday. She is none too happy about having to wait.

6. I haven't spent a full day with Bee alone since May, and let me tell you: that child can talk. And talk and talk and talk and talk. We had an awfully fun day, but I have to say I am enjoying the quiet house very much tonight.

7. An earthquake story related to school: I've only experienced one earthquake in my life; it happened when I was in Mr. Thomas's 7th grade social studies class at Kimpton. A globe fell off the counter in the back of the room, though the entire thing probably lasted less than 15 seconds and didn't win any prizes for strength. I only bring this up because of the earthquake in Virginia today.

8. The thing no one told me about having three children: the school year is like having a small part-time job for the mama. There are many things to remember and places to be and papers to sign and questions to ask to remain caught up, and I apologize if I wasn't fully sympathetic to this plight when I was teaching high school.

9. I printed the paperwork to send my camera off to Canon for a factory cleaning. My unofficial date for having this done was after the first day of school. I know they made the camera and all, but I'm still experiencing a small amount of panic about sending it off into the world without me. Currently, I'm working up the nerve to actually package it up.

10.

Ten on Friday Night

1. The scaffolding came down at our next door neighbors-to-the-right today, which means HAPPY DAY, no more workers in our space (they've been in our space dropping nails in our yard and singing badly to loud radio since the first week of May; they're still working on our street, but we can't SEE them unless we're outside now, and this is a major improvement). I am not anti-construction or renovation in any way, I'm just weary of this particular batch of slow-moving workers. And their dropped nails and off-key voices.

2. Tomorrow! Tomorrow Matt and I see The Avett Brothers at Red Rocks. We are just a teensy bit excited. (!!!!!!) If you are keeping track, this is the second of the Dillow Summer Concert Series. I bet you can't guess the third act. Heh.

3.

Today I solved the mystery of the anonymous Cafe Press gift by emailing Cafe Press and asking them who sent it. (Clever, eh?) The customer service guy who responded told me he couldn't tell me the name exactly, but he could give me clues (this is actually what he said). He went on to provide two clues (initials and shipping city) which solved the mystery immediately. This struck me as very funny, this employee and his clues : )

4.

Don't let the scary earring stretcher and lip piercing (you can't see it in the picture) alarm you: this is, hands down, the best swimming instructor we've ever had. Perhaps you remember the disaster that swimming lessons for Gracie have been in the past, but that's all old history now. This guy? He is fantastic. All three girls are taking lessons this summer and they all started in his class; Maddie moved on after the first session and pouted that she couldn't have him again, and Gracie and Bridget are going underwater and floating and bobbing and kicking like little fishes. What a difference the instructor makes in water confidence and skill-building, let me tell you.

5.


We actually went to Frontier Park (vs. watching fireworks from home or in a field) this year for 4th of July; Tops in Blue performed first—the girls loved it. LOVED it. If you have a chance to see them perform (it's free!) we would recommend it highly. Their schedule reads as if they are performing in every city in the universe, so there's a good chance they might be coming to a town near you. Interesting note: Abby and Wes went with us, and I knew almost every single song they sang save for maybe two; Wes knew every line to one of the ones I had never heard of, which was some disco song about leaving a cake out in the rain. Apparently, it is very famous. Huh.

Apparently, I missed that one.

6. I had the worst run ever tonight. I hear this happens when you start to run more, the worst-run-ever-phenomena. Bright side: there is actually some compare and contrast going on, vs. every run being the worst run ever!

7. The girls said goodbye to three sets of base friends in June. There are many, many empty houses at the moment and we're hoping they will be filled with friendly children of complementary personalities. : )

8.

A few weeks ago at Superday Gracie discovered tractors. She asked me if she could go ask the farmer (rancher?) if she could sit on his tractor; it did not appear that this was an option, but she was so determined I told her to go ahead. She waited and waited for him to finish a conversation with another farmer (rancher?) type, and then very boldly and politely asked permission to be hoisted up there. He was absolutely overjoyed with the prospect, and chatted with her about tractors for a while.

Bridget wanted in on the fun, too.

As did Maddie. Too bad we aren't people with ready access to tractors, farming, or ranching.

9. Frontier Days is just around the corner. Not only are Grandma and Grandpa coming again, but there will be a special session of Camp Dillow-Karahalis, where the Dillow children introduce the Karahalis children to rodeo. It will be fun : )

10. I am officially going to declare July 13 as the day I believe my new niece (who will not be named Flora Alice Pershey) will be born. It is already Katherine's birthday and their anniversary... seems like a good day for a new baby, too!

Ten on Tuesday: Christmas Pack-Up Notes

1. It takes approximately four hours to put away Christmas properly, by myself. I fully enjoy unpacking Christmas with small children and husband present, but packing it back up again is a mama-only job. 

2. The four hours includes manhandling the dead tree out the front door.

3. Neighbors! I hope you weren't up getting a glass of water at 1:59 am! And if you were and happened to look out your window, thank you for not calling the cops on the crazy lady manhandling a dead tree out the front door at 1:59 am!

4. LED lights are not my favorite and best.

5. The lights that are my favorite and best (the very big white bulbs) are the reason our tree dried out so fast. Note: use those lights someplace else next year. Sniff.

6. The GE flickering candle lights were a fantastic investment. I won't take those down until the twelfth day of Christmas. I will miss them terribly when they're gone.

7. It occurs to me that my method of packing up Christmas is a bit Grinch-like, down to the manhandling the Christmas tree out of the house. I hope it does not scar the girls for life to wake up each year and POOF the house is back to normal.

8. I saved a few things out to work on before Christmastime 2011. What a novel idea! Sisters, you don't get to know what I didn't pack. A whole year of taunting about what you're going to get for Christmas in 2011 awaits you!

9. Note to self: buy some special silver ornament-stringing thread at next opportunity and tuck it into the ornament box for next year to repair a few things.

10. Happy fourth day of Christmas! Did anyone bring you a calling bird?

Ten on the 21st

1. It's been a week where the highs have been high and the lows have been low.

2. The snowmen are courtesy of Gracie (the smiling one and the possibly mustachioed one) and one of her two friends that came over today to craft (to make up for the fact that I got a fail in the birthday party planning department this year for Gracie, who I fully intended to plan a birthday party for, but then did not). Her other friend from school didn't get to finish before her mama picked her up, but I'm certain hers will turn out delightfully, too.

3. I have been inside some sort of mailing facility six times now this week (four yesterday alone)(not always sucessfully mailing anything because of lines and/or ridiculously inept employees), and because of a number of factors, I still have three more boxes to send tomorrow. There is a post office within walking distance of our house, practically, but I just don't think I can bring myself to go there because the postman who seems to run it and I don't really get along. Well, maybe he isn't aware of this fact, but I certainly am. But the girl at the UPS distribution center? She gets 10 gold stars.

4. Toffee = fail. I have been reading online about how to fix my ineptitude. How many pounds of butter and sugar will I ruin until I master this recipe so I can tell my grandma and father I have done so? As many as it takes, I guess.

5. Bridget is starting to develop a new superpower: the ability to sing entire songs with the correct lyrics. Like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and Maddie's school cheer, which as far as I can tell, she's only heard a handful of times a long time ago.

6. There has been an argument in our house this month about the correct lyrics to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Apparently, there are two versions because I learned it the same way Maddie has (to you and your kin) but today I saw the way Gracie's been singing it in print in Maddie's piano book (wherever you are) and that shut Maddie right up. She's been convinced that Gracie has been recklessly throwing classic lyrics out to satisfy her own whims.

7. We're going on a field trip to Egypt next week to see King Tut (at the Denver Art Museum) with playgroup. Happy day!

8. Our Christmas tree officially died last night. Yesterday = fine. Today = pre-kindling fire hazard. I've been watering faithfully. Hmph.

9. The squirrelzillas knocked off the big rock I put on top of the trash can so they could have another feast and spread it all over behind the house again.

10. Did you know Bridget's preschool Christmas party is tomorrow at McDonald's? Someone is very excited about this fact, and has told us nearly 20 times today... in between asking 20 more times if tomorrow is the day of the Christmas party. We certainly are lucky to have found this school which has taken such good care of the girls.