Hank Green’s song about “The Man who throws the Tetris piece” made me laugh.  I loved that game – I haven’t played it in years!   I love the Nerdfighters – dedicated to decreasing WorldSuck.

Daughter1 woke us up this morning looking for her library card.

 “I need it for class today.  We are going to the library to get books for our research project.”  One of those things I wish she would have brought up last night.  I got up, found her library card, looked online to see if she had any overdue books, and wrote a check to pay for the fines.

After I gave her the card and the check, she said, “I need to bring a lunch today, since we’ll be at the library during lunch.”  Of course, we have nothing easily thrown together for a bag lunch (haven’t been to the grocery store lately…)

I stopped at the grocery store to grab some lunch items.  As I am running through the aisles in heels I think: they should have “Forget to pack a lunch?” area by the checkout.  They could just  have a few bag-lunch type items; some fruit, cheese, crackers, drinks.  I grabbed some healthy snacks for Daughters2 and 3, as they hadn’t had breakfast.

As we headed towards Dunn Brothers on our trek across town, I slowed down to avoid a Golden Retriever in the road, who was voraciously eating a road-kill squirrel.  His “mom,” a lovely young woman wearing a suit and heels, ran across the street to get him.  He  looked at her guiltily, dropped the squirrel, and ran back across the street. 

We went in to Dunn to get our coffee from the harried barrista, and the girls watched the guy roasting the beans. (*homeschool learning opportunity)

“It smells like burnt toast,” say D3.  “I like the smell of burnt toast.”  I mentally note that they have a “forgot your lunch” cooler  with healthy but overpriced salads. 

We got across town with plenty of time to spare (a minor miracle for our chronologically challenged family.)  I help Zisixi fill out paperwork, as he is seriously paperwork phobic in the best of times, let alone when his brain is not functioning well.  I had to call the insurance company to get claim numbers and contact information, and finished well before the appointment.

The girls and I sat in the waiting room.  I finished reading Princess Academy, and we read the funnies together. 

The exam took about 1 ½ hours.   After about an hour, I was startled by a huge clap of thunder.  I hope the MRI machines have good surge protectors.  I imagine Zisixi returning home with a new superpower…

We left with a CD of zisixi’s brain, so I can bring it home and worry about it overnight.  Is this normal?  What is that? 

We were all hungry after the appointment, so we stopped at a Mongolian Barbeque place.  It was loud and crowded, and made me feel kind of jangled, but the food was pretty good.  Its kind of like a stir-fry salad bar. I helped Daughter3 choose her items.  They have raw eggs (good thing someone pointed out that they were raw – she thought they were hard-boiled.  We would have had quite a surprise when we got back to the table.) She put some “dragon hot sauce” on her noodles, and was practicing her chopstick skills. 

NOTE:  Do not practice chopstick skills on noodles covered in dragon hot sauce!

It’s a good thing nurse Mom is trained in the art of eye lavage. 

1.      Rush child to bathroom.

2.      Grab a clean plastic cup from the drink area.

3.      Tilt child’s head over the sink so dragon hot sauce eye is down (so spicy stuff doesn’t get in the good eye)

4.      Rinse until the stinging is gone.

(A similar crisis happened when eating at a Korean restaurant with a friend and her kids.  Her son got kimchi in his eye.)

Voices from the backseat on the way home:

Daughter2:  I have won – I am the Queen of Silliness

Daughter3:  I demand a refund!

Daughter 2: You mean a recount!

(Explosion of giggling)

Question from guy on the radio:

“What do ice cream truck guys do in the winter?”

Time for a little stress-relief blogging. 
  
I got up early and got Daughter1 up and ready for school.  She informed me that her glasses had broken. Again.  ( Zisixi fixed them last night.)  We got to school and I had five minutes to fill out her school picture form,. figure out what “package” to get, and write a check.

Then I drove to LensCrafters to get her glasses fixed.  They didn’t open until 9:30. I drove over to Dunn Brothers for coffee, and stopped at Half Price Books.  I got a book about Taoist masters for Zisixi, a book about the Iroquois for Daughter1′s history paper, and Lilo & Stitch 2 and Open Season ($2 each) for the kids to watch tonight.  Zisixi and I were planning to meet some friends for dinner, and then go to see David Sedaris at the State Theater.

I got the glasses fixed, and drove back to school to drop them off for Daughter1.

On the way home, I stopped at the accountants’ office to check on some tax paperwork.  Last Thursday, I had dropped off the business’ quarterly 941 form for them to review. I thought it needed to be filed by the 15th.  It turns out that it doesn’t have to be filed until the end of the month.  I guess I should know that, but I’m switching accountants, and this is the first quarterly report with the new accountant. 

Then I went home, got the other girls something to eat, and read-aloud The Princess Academy.  (Daughter2 had a small meltdown last night because I was too tired to read when we got home from Winona.)

I got a call from the woman who is buying my mother-in-law’s home, and she needed me to fax the purchase agreement to her loan officer.  I also faxed it to the title company, and the estate lawyer.  I had to fight with the printer/fax/copier, as stuff kind of got jammed, it said it needed more paper, had to change the cyan…

I encouraged Zisixi to stay home today, as he was still not feeling well  after  getting hit by the semi last week.  He slept much of the morning, and got up around 1pm.  When he got up, he was really out of it, and still had a raging migraine-like headache, along with nausea.  I followed him to the mechanic so he could drop off his car, and then drove him to his chiropractic appointment at 2:30.  Then I drove the girls over to pick up Daughter1, and returned to pick up Zisixi.  The chiropractor, massage therapist, and the office workers were all very concerned, and had called in a referral for an MRI.  They advised me to get him in as soon as possible.  Sometimes concussion symptoms can show up several days after the impact.

Since it would take about an hour and a half to get him into the radiologists’ system, we decided to go to a reflexology appointment, and then try to get the appointment for the MRI.  I debated taking him directly to the emergency room, since we passed it on the way to the therapist’s house.   I asked him, and he said, no, he wanted to go to reflexology first.  I figured if things got really bad, we were only about 2 blocks from the hospital.  At that point, he was in so much pain that his communication was in mumbles and grunts.

The reflexology was amazing.  He went from being white as a sheet and ready to throw up, to wanting pho at the Vietnamese restaurant.  We sat down and I made an MRI appointment – the first thing they had was tomorrow morning.  Then we ordered our food, with the usual description of Zisixi’s allergies:  no corn starch, no corn syrup, no wine, no onions…  He got the pho, and I got fish (lots of ginger and garlic for their anti-inflammatory properties.)  He had ordered the steamed fish before, and we made absolutely sure the waitress understood that I wanted ONLY the ginger sauce, which doesn’t have corn starch.  It took a while for my fish, and when she brought it to the table, it had the black bean sauce, which does have corn starch! 

The waitress apologized profusely, and suggested we order the fish with Vietnamese fish sauce next time, and order the sauce on the side.  Zisixi thought that would be a fine idea, and expressed his love of nuoc mam, and she started telling us how her mom made home-made nuoc mam.  The waitress’ childhood neighbor used to love the nuoc mam so much that she would come to their house and eat all of it. Finally her mother made a batch for the neighbor.  Later, the neighbor was driving to work with the fish sauce in her car and had to stop suddenly.  The nuoc mam spilled all over her car.  She wasn’t mad that her car would be all stinky, she was upset that she lost all of her delicious nuoc mam!

Though now able to carry on a conversation, we decided trying to get to Minneapolis to see David Sedaris wouldn’t be a great idea.

So we are home, and I am waiting for Daughter1 to finish her homework so I can go to bed!

Zisixi says that he had a great birthday. 

We all got up early to have coffee and pastry at the local Swedish bakery.  After dropping Daughter1 off at school, I called The Morning Show at 89.3 – The Current for a birthday dedication.  I told the host that it was Zisixi’s birthday, and that he recently had Lasik surgery.

Zisixi said, “I’ll bet he plays “I Can See Clearly Now.”  They play two songs in a row with a “theme” when you make a request. 

A few minutes later, they did indeed play a version of “I Can See Clearly” by Johnny Nash, which happened to be a great morning song.  The second song was “See You Tomorrow,” by Bruce Cockburn.  Not so great as a morning song, but still fun.

We stopped by the cable company to pick up a DVR for the TV – a “birthday gift” for Zisixi.  We have been talking about it for a while, and don’t even watch TV very much – usually after the kids go to bed. 

We dropped the younger girls off at a friends house, and Zisixi and I went out to lunch at a Turkish restaurant.  They have limited seating, but the tables are separated by hanging beads.  Great food and a fun atmosphere. Later that evening, we met a friend for sushi in St. Paul. 

Today I am trying to get everyone ready for a mini trip to Southeastern MN/Southwestern WI.  I have spent the morning herding the cats (I mean kids) to get their stuff packed up.  Anxiety is starting to set in, so I’m going to sit down and do some deep breathing.  I know, I should have packed last night, but we were busy having fun. So if I were better organized, I would have gotten ready the day before.  Oh, well…

I’m taking a class in Winona on Saturday and Sunday, so zisixi and the kids were planning to come with me and do some bike riding on the Elroy/Sparta bike trail.  I had the map of the trail, the weather reports, bike rental companies, etc.  But bike riding is not the activity of choice for someone who has recently been hit by a semi.  So hopefully they will find something fun to do while I’m in class.  

After our “field trip” to see Will Steger, I decided to visit PolarHusky.com.  Their tagline is “Adventure learning for the K-12 classroom.”  Each year, a group of explorers and educators visit a different Arctic site, and subscribers can follow their adventures via emails and a series of live chats.  They also have free downloadable curriculum.

I get their emails, but have not been to their site for a long time, so I have no idea of my login or password.  That happens to me often, so I was looking for a place to click on “forgot password?”  I didn’t find one, so I clicked on “Support.”  I paged down and found “our agents are ready to help 24/7″

Great!  “Taylor,” the avatar, is happy to help with my question.  I type in “lost password.” 

Taylor responded, “Where did you lose your password?”  Since Zisixi was sitting next to me, he adolescently said “in your butt.”  So I typed that in.  Taylor responded “Are you asking about my butt?”  I replied, “yes.”  She said, “I don’t want to talk about that now.”

Me:  “forgot login”

Taylor: “My brain has catagories.  Your question does not fit any of my categories.”

Then she started asking me questions.

Taylor:  “What is your favorite food?”

Me: “Cheese.”

Taylor:  What kind of _ do you like?

Me: “Wensleydale”

Taylor:  “What color are your eyes?”

Me:  “Orange.”

Taylor:  “That is a very unusual color.”

Me:  “What is your favorite food?”

Taylor:  “I require only pasta.”

Me:  “Do you like cheese?”

Taylor:  “Yes, I like it, especially cheddar.”

Me:  “What is your favorite color?”

Taylor:  “Blue.”

Me:  “I knew it.”

Taylor:  “How did you know?”

Me: “I’m psychic.”

Taylor:  “What card am I holding now?”

OK, now I’m getting kind of embarassed.  I read:

“If Taylor does not know the answer to your question, we will see it and program Taylor so that the answer will be available next time the question is asked!” 

I took Daughters 2 & 3 to see Arctic explorer Will Steger talk about global
warming.  I have listened to him for years on WCCO radio, and was excited to see him in person.

Daughter3 had informed me that her
Neopet fortune said “don’t rush into anything, or you and your friend will get into hot water.”  Taking it seriously, she got ready in slow motion. We arrived a few minutes late (not unusual for us); as the
introductions were being made.   The girls got some
cookies and lemonade, then we finally made our way upstairs and found a seat.

The Arctic ice cap is melting.  Heat that used to be reflected by
the white ice is now being absorbed into the darker ocean water. The
result is an increase in ocean temperatures, which exacerbates the ice
caps melting.  The subarctic areas once covered with permafrost are
beginning to melt.  As the recently thawed plant materials begin to decay,
more heat is released into the atmosphere. 

Of course, the girls were most moved by the slide of a polar bear that
died from starvation. 

So I’m thinking about the things we can do to reduce our carbon footprint:  get LED lights, remodeling will certainly make our house more energy efficient, I’d like to do solar or geothermal heating. 

Then, there is the Durango.  So not good for CO2 emissions. 

It has been almost a year since our Subaru Outback was totaled when it was hit by a jumbo pickup truck. We are still going to the chiropractor.  Zisixi is still in a lot of pain, and one of my ribs often pops out of place.  So the bigger SUV represents safety for our family:  side airbags in all rows, all wheel drive, 5-star safety rating for front and side, driver and passenger. 

Still, I’m thinking that maybe we could find something a little more atmosphere-friendly.  I think Toyota Highlander has an hybrid option.

Later, I was waiting for Zisixi to get home from work.  We had a dinner date with some friends that had already been rescheduled several times due to busy schedules.  He called and said:

“I’ve just been hit by a semi.”

Not what you want to hear from your husband on his way home from work.  He sounded ok, and said the rear bumper was cracked.  He had to go exchange information with the semi driver, so he haid “Gotta go, I’ll talk to you when I get home.”  He got home, we inspected the vehicle, and we went to meet friends for dinner at a Korean restaurant.  Zisixi self-medicated with sake and ibuprofen, and had previously scheduled a chiropractic appointment for today. 

So I guess, for now, we keep the Durango and plant a few trees to offset our carbon footprint.

I didn’t know what a “lifestyle barn” was, but I was intrigued.  The Parade of Homes ended today, so it was the last chance to drag my family to the $2.5 million “farmhouse.”    The setting was beautiful, a winding driveway through an apple orchard led to the house and barn at the top of the hill. 

A sign in front of the barn door read “Tour starts here.”  Inside, the barn was nearly empty.  There was fresh sawdust on the floor, a few hay bales, and a John Deere tractor parked inside.  The developer welcomed us.  The barn was attached to a silo, which, as the kids discovered, made an excellent echo chamber. On the wall were blueprints of different ways to customize the lifestyle barn:  a swimming pool, basketball court,  artist’s studio, six stall garage.

We passed the picturesque windmill on the way to the house, and started the indoor tour.  I asked if the windmill actually provided electricity for the house, which would have been really cool.  It didn’t. 

We checked out the house, which was huge and beautifully decorated.  I took note of many features that I would like to incorporate in our future remodeling project: pocket doors, a pantry off the kitchen, soapstone counters, wrap-around porch, “Jack-and-Jill” bathroom for the kids.   

The finished basement had a wine cellar, bar, big screen tv, a work area devoted to making fly-fishing flies, and another one for scrapbooking.

I thought this would be my dream house, but its not.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it was missing the mess.  I know that model homes are meant to look immaculate (not lived-in,) but the size amplified the effect.  It kind of reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode, where everything looked real, but it wasn’t. 

Twilight Zone Fifth Season:  “Stopover in a Quiet Town”

“Bob and Millie wake up to find they are in a strange town. Everything appears to be props – trees, animals even cars. They try to catch a train and are picked up by a giant hand. They have been abducted by a giant alien, and are now the toys of his daughter.”

“The moral of what you’ve just seen is clear. If you drink, don’t drive. And if your wife has had a couple, she shouldn’t drive either. You might both just wake up with a whale of a headache in a deserted village in the Twilight Zone.”

Tonight I took the kids to the German Settlement Heritage Society’s Barn Dance in Hudson, WI.  Zisixi didn’t come, as he was literally sick and tired (after getting up at 4:30am to go in to work – blech.)  It was sort of a mini  family reunion, as many of the attendees were descendents of the original settlers. 

One of my uncles played in the first band, and my mom worked selling bratwurst and apple strudel.  My sister came from Minneapolis, and cousins came from Illinois and California. 

The highlight of the night for the girls wasn’t the music, food, or relatives.  It was the cats and kittens.  Daughter3 tried to pet the gray cat in the barn, but it scratched her.  There were at least 3 other cats that the kids played with, and 3 kittens that were “FREE to a good home.” 

Daughter1 met a couple of girls her age, and they had a good time talking.  Daughter2 spent much of her time with the cats and kittens.  Daughter3 mingled and danced.  She also found a friend her age, and they went around with the “Free Kittens” sign, asking everyone in a British accent, “Would you like a free kitten, sir?/ma’am?”

Daughter3 and the ”feral barn cat”  

(Just watched “The Office” last night, where Dwight gives the barn cat to his girlfriend.  My mom, growing up on a farm, has nightmares about feral barn cats. I think one jumped on her once.)

  Daughter3 dancing with California cousin

  Mom and sis

I have a list of “Morning Songs” on my mp3 player.  While my morning coffee jump-starts me into consciousness, music keeps me going until I am fully awake.

My search for the perfect morning song began last year whenlistening to a local radio station that had a delightful combination ofannoying people talking and annoying music. It was an incentive actually get out of bed and not just hit the snooze again and again.

Every day, I would wake up to the song “You Had a Bad Day,” by Daniel Powter.  I just looked at the lyrics, and it repeats “you had a bad day” 11 times.  Enough already. 

My criteria for what makes good  morning music is difficult to define.  I have a pretty good idea, but I don’t knowfor sure until I hear the song in the morning.  It has to be in a major key, have a good beat,and have positive lyrics.

The first 5 songs on my morning playlist:

Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) The Proclaimers
Philosophy – Ben Folds
Who Needs Sleep? – Barenaked Ladies
Do You Wanna Dance – The Ramones

On the way home from zisixi’s Lasik surgery Wednesday, I found myself singing “Suddenly Seymour” from The Little Shop of Horrors.  I assumed that it was because it was on my morning song play list. Then I realized it was the perfect song for someone whohad just had Lasik.  (At his appointmentThursday, his vision was 20/15!) 

This morning, shortly after 6am, zisixi and I were on the road to Minneapolis for his Lasik eye surgery.  We were up too late the night before, and didn’t stop for coffee before we left. 

We were listening to The Current (89.3), and the morning djs often play music I consider inappropriate for morning music.  Sure, it is very folksy and sometimes obscure music.  But today I found myself yelling “No! You can not play that song at 6 am! The first one was an oldie by Pete Seeger – “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy,” a Vietnam protest song.  The radio guys introduced the song, saying how Seeger was supposed to sing the song on the Smothers Brothers Comedy show, but it was considered too subversive. 

I happen to enjoy a good sad song once in a while:  “Billy, Don’t be a Hero,” “Seasons in the Sun,” Johnny Cash, and the blues.  Just not at 6 am.  My semi-conscious mind absorbs the negativity and sets a sour tone for the day.

The next song was even worse…”Headdy Down” by Woodie Guthrie.  It was a LULLABY.  I am imagining Subarus, Volkswagons and Volvos (all with 89.3 The Current stickers) crashing all over the metro area, as their drivers fall asleep at the wheel. 

Zisixi’s Lasik went beautifully.  The procedure itself only lasted about 15 minutes.  He came home and slept much of the day (thanks to the Valium.)  He woke up to eat lunch, and then again to pick up Daughter1 from her wonderful 10-day field trip.

(She reports “It was amazing!”  Big sigh of relief.)