Dear Diary...

not quite the worst mom ever, but still...

this afternoon, cam's speed stacking class was cancelled, so to try to stave off the disappointment i knew he'd feel, i told him that we could go do something together.  he chose, without hesitation, ice skating. 

so we stopped by home for mittens for him and socks for me then headed off to the ice rink.   he's been asking for AGES to go ice skating.  i've always found a way to put him off.

it's been about 15 years since i've been on ice skates.  i took lessons when i was a new teacher, splurging on my own skates and went about 3 times a week.  i could spin and do mohawks and go backwards nicely.  however, even in my fancy white skates, my feet ALWAYS killed.  like walking on daggers kind of killed.

so, i strap on my sleezy rentals and we head out onto the ice.  my feet started the old familiar cramping, even worse because i was going inches at a time rather than gliding gracefully.  we made it half-way around the rink when cam decided he wanted a break.  thank god.  by the time we got back around to the benches where our stuff was, i wanted to die.  believe me, foot comfort is something i take very seriously.  foot comfort was paramount.  ice skating is anathema to foot comfort. 

so, i went and found a skating instructor to take him skating to the tune of $40 for half an hour.  fifteen minutes later, he got off the ice, saying his feet hurt.  we got hot cocoa and french fries to make our barking dogs feel better.

damn, forgot the camera.  couldn't record this first momentous occasion of lazy assed motherhood enabled ice skating.

cam's having surgery again...

sigh.

the tubes he had put in last april, while effective in the short run, have stopped working.  he has a moderate hearing problem at 40% loss.  it's hard for him, because he spends a lot of time saying "huh?"  and "what?"  and "turn up the tv."  he'll be going in next tuesday for bilateral tubes and adenoidectomy.  he'll get to keep his tonsils.

missing most of a week of school will be hard on him.  he has to stay home to keep away from potential infection sources, and we all know what hotbeds of germiness kinder classes are.  my mom (hi mom!) will be coming down to help keep the boy entertained (yay!)

i'm told the pain from the adenoidectomy is minimal, but i was told the tube insertion in MY ear wasn't going to hurt and it hurt like a mofo.  thank goodness children are given a general.  bad news today though from the surgery scheduler at the ENT's office.  the surgery was pushed back until 10, with our hospital arrival at 8 instead of 9 and seven. 

an additional hour trying to keep a little hungry kid's mind off his empty tummy.  i told her that he gets up between five and six, and it's possible that by surgery time he will have been awake for eight hungry hours.  her advice, wake him at three thirty and feed him.  i laughed at that one.  no way that kid's waking up at 3:30, and even if he did, no way he'd eat anything.  some people.  i  doubt she has kids.

i'm not worried about the surgery, i'm more worried about a crankypants boy.

the SAGgies!

no not braless women over forty...

the Screen Actors' Guild Awards.

the office won for best ensemble cast of a comedy!  whoopty!

cool product!

as a major the office geek (you think?), i added jenna fischer (pam beesly) as my friend on myspace.  they sit around on the set and play on myspace since their computers are actually online.  so, she has this product, the cupcake courier  listed on her myspace page and as one of those moms who take cupcakes hither and yon, i thought it was very cool.  she's related somehow to the creator of the product.

i bought one.  yup.  so i can take a picture with my cutie son and post it on her myspace page.  oh god.  the shame.  such a goober.  but the cupcake courier looks cool nonetheless. jessi- you might be able to find a lo-cal recipe for cupcakes to take to school.

the office is out of the ordinary

i think part of the appeal of the office is that the people are so normal looking.  attractive, some.  ordinary, most.  there's not much on television that features ordinary looking people. even the reality shows focus on the gorgeous people.  casting calls for even a show like the biggest loser look for the gorgeous fatties rather than the ordinary fatty.

case in point:

jenna fischer stars as pam beesly.  jenna is beautiful, but not out of this world, hollywood-style stunning.  pam is certainly cute, but ordinary cute.
(pam beesly)
(jenna fischer)

then there's john krasinski playing jim halpert.  while i happen to think they're both adorable, and totally my type, despite the 12 year age difference- he's no brad pitt.

(jim halpert)
(john kraskinski)

the rest of the cast is much the same way...
(michael scott played by the 40 year old virgin star steve carell)
(dwight schrute played by the amazing rainn wilson.  i know people like dwight.)
kelly kapoor (played by mindy kaling- also a writer and producer on The Office)
(angela martin played by angela kinsey)
(stanley hudson played by leslie david baker)
(phyllis lapin played by phyllis baker- she was originally one of the casting directors, reading with the actors auditioning for other roles)
(ryan howard played by b.j. novak.  he is also a writer and producer on the show.)
(kevin malone played by brian baumgartner)

i haven't felt this way about a show in i can't even think how long.  i want to quit my job and become an intern at nbc so i can hang around the office set and be friends with these people.  i want to develop a heretofore untapped talent for writing witty dialog and television screenplays so i can become a writer so i can hang around with these people.  I WANT TO BE ON THE OFFICE.  sigh.

the office

i am so in love with this show.  i've watched it on and off for a while and truthfully it took a while to get into.  i bought all three seasons from iTunes and watched most of it last weekend.  some episodes multiple times...

if you haven't seen it yet, put it on your netflix cue or get it from iTunes.  perfect for the waiting room of your doctor's office.

a sample of the brilliance that is the office...

health

here's my ali word for 2007:

i've got to renew my health.  it's just terrible.  ringing in 2007 was awful for me, healthwise.  there are many reasons, but one solution.  going to get on it in 2007.

here are some synonyms, thanks to apple's thesaurus widget:

and inspiring quote from the big man himself:

wiggly fun...

Wow. Just wow.

The theatre was such an intimate venue. Every seat was a great one.

Paul Field was the MC- wearing Wiggly Dancer Red.

Camels. Tigers. Albino boas. KANGAROOS! Baby oranguan.

Bindi was darling and the Crocmen are HOT!

Prison Break's Dominic Purcell was in the front row with his family. He's scruffily gorgeous.

The Wiggles did an abbreviated set- not their full length show- it wasn't as intense and loud as a huge arena show, with all goers there to see the Wiggles. But it was intimate and lovely. Our childless seatmates cracked up at Cam's dancing in time to all the songs.

Met up with two Wiggles Message board moms (yes, there is a wiggles message board) and their respective broods after the show for a chat and pictures.

Goodie bag was great! Hot Potato seat on steroids... even a Wiggles CD! And TIM TAMS. Nothing beats the Wiggles and Tim tams in one bite. : )

weekend...

tomorrow cam and i go to see the wiggles.  again. 

for those of you not in the wiggly loop, the lead wiggle, greg (yellow), retired late last year due to a medical issue that won't allow him to sing or dance like a wiggly anymore.  he turned over his yellow skivvy to sam moran, his longtime understudy.

our first wiggles concert, way back when cam was about 18 months, saw sam standing in for greg while he was attending his mother-in-law's deathbed.  naturally, cam doesn't remember this.  sam was great.

so, in preparation for sunday's concert, i reminded cam that greg wouldn't be at the concert and we'd be seeing sam.  well, to my great surprise, cam fell apart and cried for about 15 minutes.  it was so sweet. 

i'm afraid that this might be the last year for the wiggles for us.  he's on the old end for a wiggler.  all it will take is one of his kinder cronies to say, "the wiggles are for babies," for the wiggles to come crashing down.  i hope this won't happen.  i cherish his innocence and the wiggles are certainly a part of it.

greg, we'll miss you-

crazy guys

the favorite gift at christmas was cranium's mega mask and giggle goggles.  santa was kind enough to stop by costco and pick up a set.  the thing is hilarious.  lots of play in it.  interchangeable pieces and even a voice changer with different voices.  jefe enjoyed it almost as much as cam.

i sent this picture to my father who wrote back "how'd you get jefe to pose in that thing... never in a million years!"  like i could have kept him out of it.