schmits.org

Welcome to schmits.org: , , , and virtual front porch. This web site is just that; a place to visit for family, friends, and anyone, who are too far away, to stop by in person. Pull up a chair and stay a while....

Dead Watch Battery

Often, we don't appreciate something until it is gone. So it is with my watch battery. Yesterday, it was fading and I could only read it when I looked at an angle. Today, all hope is lost. The funny thing is that I've realized it provides me security. I think that I look at my wrist less often when I have my watch on it, even when the watch is useless.

I have had my current watch for over thirteen years. The battery has been replaced at least half a dozen times, and the watch band has also. This past January was the first time that I could not find a watch band that was the same as the original. I somehow can't bring myself to replace the "guts" of the watch, even though I have looked into it on several occasions. This one works, and with minimal maintenance, it keeps on ticking...

Let's just hope I don't go crazy not knowing what time it is before I get a new watch battery.

Piece of Candy?

This past Sunday, Andrea went to a birthday party with Dylan. It made me realize how she is growing up.

At previous birthday parties that we've been to with all of us, Dylan will often partake of the birthday festivities and Andrea will do her own thing with one of us watching her.

At this party, that all changed. Andrea did play by herself mostly on the inflatables and other toys. To her credit, there were mostly 4- and 5- year olds, and no one her age. What struck me as being very different was her behaviour during the pizza and cake portion of the party. Andrea wanted to sit at the table with all of the other children. She ate more pizza than probably any other child there. She was getting a bit antsy before cake, but sat still wand watched very intently when the birthday girl blow out her candles. Then, Andrea did revert and want to sit on my lap for her cake and ice cream. But, we were still at the table with all of the other children. Overall, her needs just seemed to be less than at birthday parties in the past. Andrea was very excited to get her goody bag at the end with all of the other children. She was especially pleased with her "piece of candy" that she got.

Speaking of the candy, I sure hope that Andrea's inquiry about a "piece of candy" just before bedtime while I was on the phone with a high school friend doesn't get misinterpretted. Really, we don't tend to give our children much candy. At least we try very hard not too! Andrea was hungry, since she ate dinner earlier than usual at the party. We settled on a snack of frozen blueberries, after Andrea's initial requests of a "piece of candy" and "ice cream" were turned down by me.

Cute Quotes

How many times are there when kids say something cute, and we just wish that we could later remember? Similarly, how many times does something they say sound funny given the context of an adult that it keeps us from getting too upset with them? I'd say that it's infinite.

So, going off on a tangent, Dylan has interest in understanding the concept of infinity, but he still doesn't get it. "Mommy, what's infinity plus one?" "Infinity." "But what's the biggest number?" "Well, there really isn't one. You can always add one more to it." Like I said, he wants to figure it out, but just doesn't grasp the concept yet.

The quote from Dylan this morning was, "Well, then I'm just going to drink all day." The context was that he was mad at me because I didn't have his milk in the car on the way to school. To my credit, I didn't have it because he didn't want it, and I made it as clear as I could that he wouldn't have his cup of milk at any point on the drive to school. Apparently, I wasn't clear enough. As he was ranting, he fixated on his desire to go to school and drink from the water fountain. And, he wasn't going to go to his classroom. He was just going to stand there and drink all day. Some days, that sounds quite appealing.

Rain

As I lay on the edge of sleep,
rain drops pitter patter on my tent
like the footsteps of a hundred children running.

As I drift away,
I overhear the rain talking.
What does it say?

As I wake,
the foggy sunlight evaporates the message of the rain tangled in my dreams.
I reach for them with the fingers of my mind,
but, as I grasp, they disappear.
So, I stop and let them linger until every drop is gone.

Double H Ranch, New Mexico
26 July 2008

Bad Words

Dylan seems to have a fascination with the Indiana Jones movies. I think that it has been fueled by reading about the Indiana Jones LEGO sets and the light-up spoons that we got in the boxes Frosted Mini-Wheats. Yesterday, this fascination led us into a discussion about ratings of movies. This was fueled by my comment to Dylan that he wouldn't be able to see the movie for a few years, and his retort that "Daddy saw the Indiana Jones movie when he was a little boy."

So, I described who could see "G", "PG", "PG-13", and "R" movies. At some point in my lengthy explanation, I mentioned that a reason that some movies are "PG" is that they have bad words. At this, Dylan piped up with "The Surf's Up movie had a bad word in it;" Dylan saw this movie on a school field trip this past week.

"Oh?," I inquired.

"Yes. They said 'Shut Up' instead of 'Be Quiet.'

I did my best to have a look of surprise and disapproval on my face while holding back my laughter. I was pleased with the innocence we have still been able to maintain with Dylan, who is only 4 1/2 years old. I am certain that he will soon learn many more and worse "bad words." In the meantime, I am content with him thinking that "Shut Up" is as bad as it gets.

Goodbye, Starbucks!

I have never been a frequent visitor to Starbucks. I'd guess that I visit 1-2 times a month. Actually, it appears from our financial records that it is much less than that - only 9 times in the past year; I think that must be flawed. But, the frequency is not the point.

I was disappointed while at Starbucks a week ago. My favorite drink, which I know isn't why Starbucks exists, is a Caramel Frappucino. I always order it decaf. Typically grande. Until last week. Starbucks has ceased to make the decaf frappucino mix. They offered me some alternative, which involved the vanilla blended creme mix with decaf espresso. Trying that doubled my disappointment. It wasn't even close to being enjoyable.

I'm also still disappointed that my free Starbucks T-shirt never arrived. Geoff was kind enough to try to order one when I was out to lunch with a friend one day, and managed to place an order. Unfortunately, they didn't follow through. At least I'm not doing free advertising for them. But, I will have to pick a different shirt when I get to painting our bathroom.

So, close as many stores as you like, Starbucks. I'll need something new to motivate me to visit, anyway.

Photo Progress

In the past few weeks, I've made some progress on editing pictures from this year. I previously shared links to the first three albums of the year. Now, the Family index is updated and there are three additional albums:

• Easter
• Second Quarter
• Our visit to the Big Bugs Exhibit at the Morton Arboretum

There aren't new pictures without a typical disclaimer... I am still editing pictures from our recent vacation in June, and we have already taken pictures in July.

If you're only interested in one picture, there's one of Andrea that's not to miss.

Crunchy or Creamy?

Today for lunch, Dylan asked me to make him the apples with peanut butter and chocolate Teddy grahams that are on the back of the package. I asked whether he wanted crunchy or creamy peanut butter. We usually eat crunchy, but I had recently used creamy peanut butter to make him the convertible that was on the back of the graham cracker sticks box. Dylan picked the crunchy peanut butter out of the cupboard.

While making his apples, I thought about, and realized why I have a preference for crunchy peanut butter. I explained it to Dylan, but he didn't seem at all interested. So, perhaps I'll find a more compassionate audience here.

I like crunchy peanut butter because it allows me to keep the ingredients inside of the crackers. One of my favorite snacks has always been graham crackers with peanut butter, or peanut butter and fluff, inside. I like to put a decent amount of filling in the crackers, squeeze the crackers together, and first eat what gets squished out; I know, Miss Manners would not be pleased to hear this technique. With crunchy peanut butter, there is a limit to how much of the filling can be squeezed out. There is always some peanut butter, and possibly fluff, that is left to eat with the graham cracker. And that is why I prefer crunchy peanut butter.

Marshmallow Fluff... it might come from humble origins, but it has gone where few people have gone... into space. But we can talk about fluff some other day.

iPhone

The only time that I ever stood in line for tickets was to get a parking permit in college. In spite of being in line prior to 5 a.m., which was either very early or very late at that point in my life, I didn't get a parking permit near my apartment. I did get one, but it was for the lot that was probably a half mile away.

This morning, Geoff was kind enough to wait until the kids and I were on the way to daycare to start his wait in line for the new iPhone. I hope that he is able to get the one that he wants. At the store closest to our house, he estimated there were close to 300 people prior to the store opening at 8:00. It was moving quicker than he expected, so we'll see if it takes less than his initial estimate of 5 hours. I saw the reality of waiting in line at another AT&T store that is near daycare, which I volunteered to drive past to see if the line was any shorter. I estimated that there were at least 200 people there at about 8:15, which was after the store opened.

On my return home, I heard on the radio that the guy in Hong Kong who got the first 3G iPhone in the world had waiting in line for 60 hours. So, perhaps a 5-hour wait in Naperville isn't so bad afterall. And it will definitely put Geoff at the beginning of the 10 million iPhones that I heard are expected to be sold before the end of the year.

Potty Trained!?!

Okay, I'm saying it out loud: "I think that we've purchased our last diapers for Andrea." We've cancelled our cloth diaper service. We've taken Andrea to public, indoor places, other than daycare, with her wearing underwear.

Over the course of our recent vacation, Andrea made tremendous progress on potty training. It was totally driven by her, with support from us. At the start of vacation, she would tell us she had to pee and would be peeing about three seconds later. By the end, she could wait to pee until she reached the toilet. She also will pee (or try) when we ask her to before we leave the house. She poops on the toilet without hesitation. Overall, she has made great progress.

Since she awoke from nap this past Tuesday afternoon, Andrea has been in underwear exclusively. She had one accident at school on Wednesday afternoon and one on Thursday afternoon. Both were while she was trying to get to the bathroom. She wet her bed overnight and awoke wet on Friday morning. She skipped Saturday for accidents, and is okay so far on Sunday.

Can we call it success?