Diego, Go For Help!

Every night, about half an hour after she is put to bed, Ninjababy yells out for more milk. I trundle upstairs (or Thammuz does) and she points to her bottle and says "more." We go and get more, she says "night," and goes back to bed.

Last night, the scenario hit a snag. I guess we didn't hear her right away, so she started to get upset. Anyway, I finally go upstairs, get the bottle and bring it back full of more milk. Instead of saying, "night." She got a bit agitated and said, "D! D!" So, I look around and there's her Diego action figure, about a foot away from her crib on the floor.

Here's how I imagine what happened in Ninjababy world:

"Mom! Dad! I need more milk!"
(pause)
"More milk!"
(pause)
(wild scream)
"More! More!"
...
"Crap, they can't hear me. Diego, go for help!"
(lobs Diego out of the crib. Diego lays there, inert on the floor.)
"Diego, you are useless!!"
"Mom! Dad! Milk! Milk! And Diego is trapped too! Help!"

Ninjababy is so much fun.

Harder Than It Looks...

When it comes to the movies, can you name five people whose movies that you would see without reservation? It's harder than it sounds. Five people in this industry that, no holds barred, you buy what they sell? Here's my picks:

• Neil Gaiman: whether he's the screenwriter (Mirrormask), executive producer (Beowolf), or the movie's based on one of his books (Stardust) - if he's involved, I'm going to watch it.
  
  
• Holly Black: She has only made one movie, the upcoming Spiderwick Chronicles, but I have high hopes. A very talented author, she is the film's screenwriter and producer.
  
• Wendy Froud: mostly involved in special effects. She was behind many of the creatures in Labyrinth, the Dark Crystal, and she created Yoda. The woman rocks.
  
• Tim Burton: what can I say? This guy is an amazing director. I'll watch pretty much anything he puts out.
  
• Johnny Depp: the only actor on my list. It's rare to find an actor that you can unequivocally say that you will watch any movie that they appear in...but Johnny Depp is one of those rare actors. I'll even watch pure crap just to see what he does with the role.
  

So, who's on your list? Even if you don't have five, I'm interested to find out who makes your movies magic!

Anywhere But Here...

Do you ever play that game? Right now, my anywhere but here is actually only a few feet away.

It's pouring rain today. Anyone who knows me at all well knows that I love it when it rains. The house is cool and fresh air is wafting through the open windows. You can hear it drumming into the roof and the ground outside.

If I were anywhere but here, I would be sitting outside right now on my front porch sipping chicken noodle soup from a mug with a blanket wrapped around me. Maybe I'd be idly reading a book now and then. But, with both kids sick, and surprisingly still rambunctious, I can't leave them on their own while I indulge myself.

But, maybe this afternoon I'll convince them to both nap. Then I can steal a few minutes to myself on the porch, watching rain drift from the sky, pooling into puddles on the street below.

Kids are Cool, Cows are Not

So, our son, who I am currently dubbing Pirateboy, was in a good mood this morning despite being sick. Oh yeah, the whole house is sick at this point. Thammuz is getting over his illness from last week, Ninjababy is still down and out (and downright cranky), Pirateboy has a slight fever and a horrible racking cough that kept him up all night, and I am suffering through the annual lilac attack. Our entire street is lined with May Day trees...the stench is unbearable and I am downing allergy pills like candy to function. Blah. Actually, though, you couldn't smell the trees this morning as the smell of the glorious nearby cattle feedlots was overwhelming them. Gotta love it when the wind blows from that direction.

But Pirateboy still had his good mood. He leapt out of the house this morning with a bound and yelled, "Aaaahhh...smell that fresh air!" Then, the feedlot smell hit him: "Um, actually, it kind of smells like EWWW."

Awesome. The kid's brilliant. Brightened my whole day.

Ninjababy is Sick

Took Ninjababy into the hospital tonight. She's had a slight temperature off and on for the past few days along with a bit of a cough. Today, that morphed into a higher fever, runny nose, chest cough, and vomiting. Poor thing. She was so exhausted, she would fall asleep between bouts of vomiting. The nurse actually brought us a garbage can, thinking somehow that I could convince an eighteen-month old to bend forward and use it. Right. I finally asked her if she could get me a petri dish or similar that I could actually hold under her mouth. Have trouble believing a nurse wouldn't have thought of that herself...I mean, a garbage can? Isn't that what a panicked elementary school teacher grabs?

Anyway...enough with the graphic details. Ninjababy appears to have a chest infection that has spread to her ears. We are to alternate motrin and tylenol and give her antibiotics every eight hours. Then she has to go back to see the doc again on Wednesday.

Feeling a bit stressed since this work week is not really designed to accomodate potential illness...Thammuz and I are both juggling right now to try and make it work. But, baby comes first...so we'll see what we can manage!

Love is Fickle

Ninjababy has a new paramour. Hulk has been thrown over. When interviewed about his loss, Hulk simply said, "Hulk SAD. Hulk SMASH." The interviewer was then forced to flee.

And who is this dashing new man in Ninjababy's life? Well, let's just say that Hulk really had competition. He is young, Spanish, and pretty cute. His name? Diego. Or as Ninjababy refers to him, "D". Note: She gets that from her Dad. Thammuz feels the need to refer to people by their first initial.

An animal rescuer , "D" is also rumoured to be fabulously rich with his links to the impressive Dora the Explorer franchise.

Here he is:



Perhaps Ninjababy needs to start compiling a Freebie Five?

PS You can't go thirty seconds in our house without hearing "D!" It's true: ask anyone who's visited in the last week. Ninjababy is seriously obsessed.

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic...

Spazzy came into the library yesterday, all dressed up for work. She was in a suit with her hair done up really nicely. Here's the thing: It was pouring down rain and she still looked great. Hair not frizzy, suit not wet. And she had no coat or umbrella to be seen!

Okay, so was it:

• Rain let up for a brief moment. AKA: Clouds part for Spazzy
  
• Spazzy parked really close to the building and is good at sprinting. AKA: Spazzy has super-speed
  
• Spazzy has a force-shield and rain just bounces off of her
  

Seriously, I am in awe. Awe! I looked like a drowned rat yesterday. Spazzy, how do you do it?

Star Trek Gets All Monty Python

This is primarily posted for LibraryChik and Violette, but I know there are other lurkers out there reading this that love both Star Trek and Monty Python...so, enjoy!



PS Even if you aren't a Trekkie, you should watch this. It's freakin' hilarious!

It's May Day Today...

Happy Beltane!

Yes, Conferences are Work!

Hi All,

Have not blogged all week except for post on Daemon because, well, it was quick and easy, and it is a funky cool book thing...so I had to do it.

Spent four days at Jasper conference. It was a ton of fun, I learned a lot, but it left me feeling pretty drained. I was good and went to bed fairly early like a good girl rather than partying, but still tired. If you do party, this is a good conference to go to, though. There was free booze everywhere: the opening banquet, the various library-hosted partays, and even the freaking bus ride. Seriously, they served beer and wine on the bus...and then kept coming back and asking if you wanted more. If I was a big drinker, this could have turned into a bender. I did take advantage of the free doritos, though. Who could turn down free doritos?

The one crazy thing...I ran into all these people that I know. This should not be surprising since there were quite a few of my colleagues and former classmates in attendance. However, there were also people who I knew from totally outside of library-land and was a bit shocked to find at conference:

• Banna. If you don't know Banna, she is SoraJen's sister. If you don't know SoraJen, then I can't help you because I like to maintain secret identities on my blog. Suffice to day, I practically lived at their house when I was in high school. Apparently, Banna is now on a library board and got to scam a free Jasper trip. Way to go, Banna!
  
• Girl I went to Kindergarten with...isn't that odd? Knew she was a librarian, though, so shouldn't have been too shocked.
  
• Girl I went to undergrad school with...took Anthro together and now she works in a library.
  

Anyway, totally weird. Also had a ton of people introduce themselves to me because I was carrying a purse that said "Evil Needs Candy Too" with a Roman Dirge illustration. Apparently, it was memorable enough to catch people's attention.

Oh, and for future reference, Nicolas Basbanes is glorious. Glorious! To quote Lainey: love, love, love. Read his books: he rocks.

Will post pictures when I feel like digging the camera cable out of the desk. Right now it's too irritating to consider it.

Love to you all.