Permoplast (clean, odorless, non-toxic, sanitary)

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With the start of the year looming I've been cleaning out my new office and getting stuff ready for the excitement that is The First Day of School. My new school is in a state of flux as we tear the place down and begin a major remodel throughout the next two years. The current building was built in 1959 and cleaning out my area has resulted in some interesting finds. Not the least of which was a completely intact box of Permoplast modeling clay from...1965? According to claims on the packaging it's non-hardening and sealed in a factory. I'm not really sure whether I should place it behind glass for future generations to admire or feed it to the freshmen when they get restless.

Here's a beautiful shot of my brandy-new (for me) office.

Some of the shelves are labeled. From a very long time ago. On Abby's birthday.

In other exciting news we had a visitor last night. A bat somehow got into the house. It flew in circles in The Flower Room with Toku swatting his one good leg at it and Roland whining and crying until I managed to get a laundry basket in its flight path. Despite the madness it seemed fine and we released it into the greater Allentown metropolitan area safely.

Yum

I am enjoying an incredibly tast Friday afternoon cup of coffee, a luxury for me as I don't usually drink coffee this late. Read all about it on the hippy blog.

Overcoming Fears

After dinner the other night, I noticed that Cayden's diaper reeked of pee, so I decided to give him some naked time. The best thing for an ailing diapered butt is some time out of the diaper. So he trundles off while Ty and I are finishing up dinner. Less than 2 minutes later he come walking back through the kitchen making a, "dshuu?" inquisitive sound, while holding out this unidentified object in his hand. He was clearly trying to communicate, "Hey Mommy, check this out. What the hell is it?". I held out my hand, took the object in question and said, "Well son, you pooped", at which point he burst into tears. I am sure his terror of his own poop will make potty training much easier.

The Keymaster

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I'm not sure when he made the connection, but Nubby has realized the relationship between keys and locks. Combine this with our perpetually locked basement door in the kitchen that is often opened but never left open and you have an 18 month old boy who spends 20 minutes a day working on his lock-picking skills. His tenacity is impressive as the below video will attest to. If you listen carefully you can hear him say three things. The first is unintelligible, the second is a garbled "help please", and I think the third is "okay".

Notice also the impressive crescent shaped bruise on his cheek from slamming his face into a hanging ladle.

Whistle Pig

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I finally got a picture of the gigantic rodent that spends his days eating fallen apples beneath the tree across the street. There has been some debate in our home lately as to exactly what type of creature this rodent is. At first we thought it was a beaver, but some aggressive photography revealed that his tail is nothing like a beaver's. So with the identifying picture and a list of the mammals of Pennsylvania we positively identified the animal in question as a groundhog. A really big groundhog.


Turns out that given ideal conditions a groundhog can attain 32 inches in length, weighing in at 30 lbs. Who knew? Apparently they also will whistle when danger approaches earning them the nickname "Whistle Pig" in some regions.

To commemorate our identification of the animal we named our first batch of beer brewed in PA the Whistle Pig. Its a Kolsch style beer and it should be ready by the end of September. If you're in the area feel free to drop by and give it a taste.

Settled?

Well, the madness has abated some what, with the exception of our jet lagged and exhausted progeny who is still going to bed at nine and sleeping for 13 hours. We finished our insane drive and recovered our son from three adoring grandparents, who threatened to write a guest post with all their videos of Cayden romping in the ocean (we both love and hate them for taking him to the beach for the first time without us). Unfortunately, technology appears to have defeated them. Real conversation between me and my mom:
me: You bought him a boogie board? Does he ride it?
mom: Oh god no. He likes to watch it bob in the waves. We are trying to get him to let us attach the leash to his wrist.
Shortly after stealing Cayden back in Philadelphia, we picked up the Walshies and headed to Seattle for wedding fest '08 as a party of five. There will be many stories to follow, unless we get caught up in the insanity of starting new jobs. In which case you will get new stories and have to come visit us to hear the old ones. Needless to say there was much carousing, baby snuggling, wedding dress alterating (no I'm not kidding), laughing, and it turns out I love Chocolate Martinis. Who knew?