Overheard

A mother to her son:

"Son, six o'clock in the morning is not an acceptable time to start the day. Five thirty is even worse."

I'll let you guess which mother said this to which son. Allegedly, she's said it every day this week. (Wink.)

YMCA!

I said to my sister the other day, "evidently, the baby weight isn't simply going to melt with the snow."

So, in an effort to combat this problem, I have joined our local YMCA. And when I say "local," I mean REALLY local--it's 5 minutes door to door. Hurray! They have a fun-looking childcare room with one of those indoor maze things like they have at McDonalds. Hopefully, we will no longer be living in this neighborhood when Munchkin is old enough to use it, but it's nice to know it's there. I took him with me today for his first "'Mazing Kids" experience, which he seemed to enjoy. Of course, I can only infer that from the grin on his face when I came back into the Maze and the fact that they didn't call me to rescue him.

Things I can tell about the Y experience so far:
1. I am sore. (I should mention that this is my first gym membership in almost four years. The occasional show is great for keeping in shape/eating less because you're always at rehearsal.)
2. The lady at the childcare place looked panicked with I went to take the kiddo out of the carseat. "Don't you want to leave him in there for a while?" Uh, no. That's where the "childCARE" portion comes in.
3. She was fine, after all.
4. There are a lot of senior citizens that work out at the Y during the day. Those old guys can lift a LOT of weight on the circuit machines. Good for them!
5. The girl and guy at the front desk should be fired for incompetence. It took them 30 minutes to process my application (after putting my first name down as "Rose" they had to start over). They told me there was no additional paperwork for childcare. There was. They told me the caregivers would administer a bottle if necessary. They don't. They told me that you don't have to pay a joiners fee if you cancel your membership and rejoin. That is wrong. They told me I could pay with American Express. I can't.
6. After only two workouts, I feel healthier. Not sure how that's possible.
7. People at the Y are meticulous about cleaning the machines. In the circuit training room, they walk around with Purell wipes (provided) and clean every part of the machine they touch every time. This is a lovely change from Bally.
8. There is nothing on TV at noon.
9. They have free parking!
10. I am sore.

:o)

Our Little Dumbo

There have been more animal sightings, here at the Rose Garden.

See if you can spot the elephant!

The Wicked Stage

Unlike some of my friends, I don't audition much.

In fact, in 2008 through now, I have gone on three auditions and been cast once. Which means, obviously, that I have NOT been cast twice. The most recent episode just happened a few days ago. I marvel at the fact that the rejection process never...ever...gets easier. Sure, certain losses of parts are easier to handle than others, whether you're doing it because you want to spend time with your friends, or whether it's a new group for you. Whether it's a role you're not quite sure you can handle, or whether it's one you think was practically written for you. In the case of this particular show, it is one that comes around every hundred years or so, due to the technical difficulties. So, if you're doing the math and simultaneously realizing that 129 years of age is a bit of a stretch for me to play Dot in "Sunday in the Park With George," you've also realized that I probably just lost my one and only shot at that role.

In any case, I've decided there are two solutions to this problem. 1: Go on more auditions to take the sting out of the ones I don't get. or 2: Stop auditioning altogether.

Stay tuned, I guess, to see which choice I'll make.

Camouflage

If you look verrrrry carefully....

You might catch a glimpse of the monkey in his natural habitat.

Go Fish!

Winter is sorta getting to us here in the Rose Family--or at least, the stay-at-home members of the Rose Family.

In an effort to get out of the house, and perpetuate the Fish Fascination, Munchkin and I headed to the Shedd Aquarium, in downtown Chicago.

We saw fish big and small, turtles, sharks, eel, and jellyfish--his favorite for that day. We even found dinner!

Just kidding.

Gerber Baby

With all of Munchkin's weight gain issues, we decided it couldn't hurt to try some rice cereal--even though he's not yet 6 months old (and those of you who know me well can imagine how much it pains me to "break the rules").

Here is his reaction to wearing the bib. Less than impressed.


The first bite.


The second bite. And all subsequent bites garnered the same response...at which time we decided to try again tomorrow.


Day 2.


It's not easy to feed a baby that prefers to eat his hands.


But after making a big mess...


...we finally had some success!


Oh, and for those of you who are still concerned, his weight is steadily (though slowly) increasing. All is well. :o)