What Struck Me

One of the most annoying things about being The Mom is finding doctors and dentists for everyone. In fact I hate the taking the kids to the dentist thing so much I made Pat do it for a few years until he got the job in Princeton and couldn’t be around during office hours. Now that he’s local again I suppose I could ask him to reclaim the job- but I won’t.

Now I need to find a new dentist, though, as our old one was getting old and cranky and messed up a couple times (nothing major thank goodness!) I checked with our insurance and was saddened to find about 10 local dentists listed, like that helps me make my choice! Seems that everyone I know travels far distances (like, 15 minutes or so :grin:) to their dentists, and with so many so much closer I don’t want to do that. So I opened the yellow pages and looked for interesting ads. Found two that passed that criteria, so now it’s eenie meenie… and the first one to answer the phone wins. So far they’re neck and neck, no answer either place (that’s not a good sign.) One guy has a web site that lists his office hours, so I’ll call there again when they’re actually open.

The next step is to decided how many appointments to make. Fact is that all five of us need checkups, so I’ll probably let the kids be guinea pigs and get them scheduled. I suppose some moms would say no, let me go first and decide whether this dentist is right for my precious children. But this mom just wants to get them all done by the start of the school year, no matter who sees them.

Andy is visiting my parents for a few days, where they’re paying him and my nephews to paint their garage. They live about an hour away, and Pat was going to drive him up last night so he could get an early start painting today (uh huh) . But instead Pat got stranded at a long business dinner last night. So today after dropping Tim & Nick off at art camp Andy and I hit the road.

I’ve never been a big fan of long drives, at least not from the driver’s seat. The road north to my parents’ house is full of crazy truck drivers, and when I finally arrive I need a massage to break out of the tension (and no one was interested in giving me one today.) It was nice to have Andy’s company, though, and I’d planned ahead for the ride home by downloading an old NPR show into my iPod. Made quite a difference. It happened to be an Ira Glass “This American Life” show that focused on the heat of summer, including a piece on a road trip from SF to Ocean City, MD (hi Ro!). Perfect!

(I know some of you are thinking two hours in the car is nothing- you drive two hours to get to Wal-mart. But take my word for it, an hour in the car in NJ is nothing like an hour in the car anywhere else.)

I found myself actually enjoying the road. I hung back and let the truckers zip by me. I imagined that I was on a highway I’d never traveled, instead of the boring one I was on. Once I got off that road and onto the back streets I use for the last quarter of the drive back home, I didn’t even mind being stuck behind dump trucks lumbering through (three different ones…) because I was able to really look around and notice details I usually ignore or just can’t see when I’m doing 40 MPH.

The idea of a solo road trip has been one of those things that sounds like fun on the surface, but my intense hatred of driving long distances has pretty much shot it down. But, if a simple thing like having a story to listen to as I drive can make such a difference, maybe I should re-think it. Maybe take one of the kids along (but not all three, I’m not insane) and just head toward… someone. I know people, family and friends, all over the nation (mostly thanks to the internet!) and wouldn’t it be fun to just drive?

I’m thinking of adding a bunch of stuff to my sidebar, like some people list books they’re reading, what’s on their Netflix queue, etc. Maybe I’ll list the TV shows I actually watch, the expensive gizmos that most help with my housework (Swiffer Dusters!), the kinds of chocolate I like (that would be dark chocolate, not milk chocolate :yeahright:…)

I’m eventually going to move my blog over to it’s own domain, (um, have I mentioned that? Yes?) and the thought of adding toys to it makes me all giddy (such a geek I am) but meanwhile I need to get the :curse: style sheet and graphics done for the web page I’m re-doing for our PTO (I did the original one, I want to make it more user-friendly.) I’ve got all these Big Ideas but despite my repeated requests for ideas and suggestions I’ve received exactly zero from anyone else. I’m on my own… sigh.

It’s my birthday. I have to change my age over there on the right from 40 to 41. I’ll get around to it, no rush…

It’s been a decent morning. Pat woke me up and made me smile with a “Happy birthday, girlie.” All three kids wished me happy birthday and so far they’ve kept from beating on each other (checking the time… 9:30am. Not bad.) They made me a batch of brownies yesterday but I’m not allowed to touch them till they can put a candle in tonight and sing happy birthday (torture for me to have brownies just. sit. there.)

My parents are coming by, bringing sandwiches for lunch. The weather is ick but supposed to brighten up a bit.

Despite the mini-midlife crisis I’ve been fighting off, I feel pretty darn lucky today. I have a wonderful husband who really loves me, and three awesome sons who I know will always be there for me. Both my parents are still healthy and active. I have family & friends I can depend on, and I have my eye on the future. I’ve actually made progress with my baby-step movements ahead.

So, my 42nd year will be a good one. I can feel it. And if anyone tries to wreck it, look out.

I really don’t watch much tv anymore (which is very odd considering I actually majored in tv) but one of the shows I do watch is Big Brother every summer. I also keep up with the live feeds, which Andy calls “cheating” but to me it’s all part of the entertainment. Bunny does a fantastic (and funny) job recapping each day’s activities so the rest of us don’t have to pay the fees or spend hours staring at little images of people whispering.

Very cool.

Found this cute little thingie at Genuine’s site.

From Go-Quiz.com