Author Archives: Natalie

“The Musical Baton”

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Well, you caught me Andrea. You somehow figured out [through covert missions, no doubt] that I did indeed take baton lessons as a child (gotta love the 70’s) — and that is no doubt, your motive behind including me in your memetic spray.

Let me do some of my patented twirling exercises….1….2…3. Okay, here goes.

Total volume of music files on my computer: 197MB. Yikes! Only about 50 songs. I guess deep down I’m still just a pop-’em-in-the-changer-and-throw-it-on-shuffle kind of girl. A musical luddite, some might say.

The last CD I bought was: Hmm, that’s a tough one. It’s a toss up between the Garden State soundtrack (downloaded on iTunes), and the Waifs 2-cd set (purchased old-school at the bitchin’ record store).

Song playing right now: Okay, so this is where it gets really sad. None. Nap time = no music. How about instead I answer which song I would like to be playing right now: I kind of have a hankerin’ for a little bit of Ben Folds’ Rockin’ the Suburbs.

5 songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me: In no particular order, Come Rain or Come Shine by Billie Holiday, Isn’t she lovely by Stevie Wonder, Perhaps by Cake, Million Miles Away by the Pilmsouls, Candy by Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson. Mostly, these songs have some nostalgic pull…some sentimental component of my life, wrapped up neatly in a song.

And I thought my lessons would not come in handy later in life…

When the going gets tough, the tough watch tv.

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So let’s file this one under the “I will never…” category in my own rules and standards parenting manual (that, as you have probably figured out by now, has had about 600 pages ripped out).

With the remodel done, and the looming task of rebuilding our physical space to some sort of normalcy, we are yet again reminded of what they refer to in scientific journals (or at least should) as the ‘toddler effect’. It goes something like this: take the project’s overall hours in heretofore “normal” hours, multiply that by about 37, multiply that by 2, divide that by the cosine of the root of 76, then add 6. It is precisely this multiplier effect that calls for desperate measures…pulling out the big guns…calling in the cavalry, yes folks I parked her cute little butt in front of the TV. Out came the entire 12-volume DVD set of Baby Einstein, and the 2 High5 DVDs and her comfy ladybug chair and away we went.

Guilt demands that I find an upside; that I somehow make this an okay thing; that I rationalize it until I have actually turned it around to a *good* thing. No matter how hard I have tried, I just can’t reconcile the fact that a video is *good* because they teach the merits of exercise….while you are sitting on your butt watching it. There is also the trance-like affect that these videos have on her. No other television evokes the same intensity of engagement. It is like those perky faces on the other end are somehow beaming laser beams into her brain willing her to watch without blinking — the same way they are burning their inane songs into my subconscience. I wake up singing them, for God’s sake!

All of this evilness aside, Steve and I actually had an opportunity to work…side by side….for, like an hour at a time! If it wasn’t for that &$^% plumbing nightmare that surfaced Sunday morning, we actually would have really been able to get through one entire project. Instead, we are now halfway into about 3 — which, in our world is pretty damn awesome!

And I would like to thank the Academy….

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So our adventure, although far from over, is quickly winding down. All that is left is the details — those nasty, nasty details.

Thank you again to all of you who helped — both directly and indirectly. In no particular order we wish to thank the following:

The grandmas: for all their babysitting, their ‘husband-on-loan’ program, their ability to repeatedly travel (sometimes through the most heinous of circumstances) and of course, their ability to continue to keep our golden child stocked with cute, fun and exciting stuff.

Dad Walston: for filling in as Master Lackey, for doing it not once — but twice, and for doing it while sick.

Dore & Lewis: for not just offering to babysit once, but many times, and for officially being Stella’s first real live sleep over.

Scott:for getting up and leaving by 4:00am, driving yourself and a 30+ foot trailer chock full of cabinets for 11 hours, delivering them, then turning around and leaving at 4:00am the next morning for home. We salute you…and your insanity.

Andrea & Brian: for their patience, tolerance, their spare bedroom and their amazingly helpful insight on kitchen design (we predict that by 2015, no home in America will be without a ‘Last Chance Junk Drawer’)

Our neighbors: for putting up with the hammering, sawing and all other forms of racket at the wee hours of the morning — even on Saturdays and Sundays.

All of our friends and coworkers: for listening (or at least pretending) to our relentless updates and woes during this chaotic experience.

And of course, thanks to Dad Anderson: for doing all those things you usually wouldn’t on a job, for never getting frustrated, or impatient or overwhelmed, for living in your trailer for 6 weeks straight and still insist that you loved it, for getting to know our daughter, for making the effort to reach out to both of us, for making the reconnection.

This project brought so much more than just the new kitchen, floor and bathroom. It brought us the realization that we are surrounded with amazing and generous friends and family. And no amount of fancy appliances could ever top that…well, except maybe that sweeeet Viking Range…. ;)