didionville

it’s eleven in the morning, and already it’s in the mid 80s. it’s early yet, but i think i might have inherited a true distaste for hot weather from mommy. maximizing my discomfort are my TWO lower teeth. everyday they poke out a little more, and boy, has the second one made up for lost time. it is almost as far up as the one that’s been in the works for the last couple of months. i feel pretty beat down, kinda like roger federer. (i was grumpy and uncomfortable, but not so grumpy and uncomfortable to watch sports. nadal just annihilated federer in three straight. that nadal is something else. he’s only 22, and he’s won four-straight french open championships. by the way, john mcenroe and bjorn borg are aging very well; at least, that’s what mommy says.)

back to my distress: i really needed mommy to hold me for awhile to help me feel better. i just wish my mommy and daddy didn’t feel the need to document my EVERY up and down. what, am i like a first-born child or something? oh, yeh, i am.

(mcenroe and borg are talking to each other on the court right now, giving post-op analysis. tennis is fun to watch, but according to mommy, it was ESPECIALLY fun to watch in the late 70s and through the 80s. ha! mcenroe just told borg how great he looks! mommy loves it when she is vindicated and validated and, well, proven right.)

back is still sore; better than yesterday, but i still need to take it easy. i slept all night on it with my legs propped up on a pillow. steven is working from home to take care of d-man. i do have to give props to sore no more. this stuff really does provide good, long-lasting relief. of course, steven is a total hero for assuming the roles of physical therapist and masseur.

i’ll try to post again a little later. i’ve been published in the local paper. it took two weeks, but they printed a letter-to-the-editor i submitted …

since about eleven this morning, my lower back has been aching, and since about two this afternoon, it has been spasming. i don’t think there is a single reason for it (like in 2004, when pulling a big pot out of the oven, i tore a lumbar disc); rather, i think there are many small reasons, nearly all of them associated with a certain little guy … picking him up, putting him down, locking him in, pushing him around, bouncing this way, bouncing that way …

this better nip itself in the bud pretty damn quick. it is really cramping my style … literally.

i’m diggin’ on progressive conservative’s blog “the big stick.” i’m going to assume pc is male (based on his teddy roosevelt avatar, and i apologize if i am wrong.) pc comments quite frequently on ames’ blog, and with didion taking a blessed nap, i have some leisure time to check out pc’s writing. it’s thoughtful, thought provoking, and sincere. i enjoy reading work that isn’t afraid to deal with the grey areas of issues intelligently, and i think pc does that.

i also like finding the similarities between my “liberal” views and pc’s “conservative” ones …

so i hope our loyal visitors (all 12 of you) check out pc and his blog.

i needed a wendy’s fix this afternoon. (by the way, the grilled-chicken “go” wrap is actually quite tasty, but lordy, do we miss in-n-out.) i load d-man in the car, and off we go. i’m pulling up to the window to pay, with my eyes half on the road, half on the cash in my hand. i hand the guy $20 and some change, and he is already holding exact change out to me.

i take the cash and pause, looking at it in amazement. he catches my expression and chuckles:

“i saw you digging around for coin when you were comin’ up. you see, we’re on the ball over here.” he hands me my dr. pepper.

“yeh, you definitely are.”

“we ain’t no mcdonalds. we like to keep things moving!” he hands me my food, and i’m totally happy and laughing.

that guy was AWESOME! he was funny and bright and energetic and charming … a total suprise to find those characteristics in ANYONE nowadays … who would think it would be brimming at the main-street-poughkeepsie wendy’s drive-thru window?! i’m totally not doing justice to the exchange. just know it was very cool. i totally want to invite him over to our house to watch baseball and drink beer with steven and me.

didionville doesn’t give the cat much play, largely because neptune prefers a greta-garbo approach to living. nonetheless, steven took a neat photo of her a couple of days ago …

seriously, she is very chill around didion. she lets him paw at her, and she is very patient. the best part is when she turns around and bites steven after being so cool with the kid. it’s nice to know the cat can appreciate didion without giving up what makes her, well, H-E-R …

here are some photos from mother’s day. my staff has been a little slow getting media updates on track.

photos of the flowers grandma maryann and grandpa jer got for mommy:

a gerber daisy and splash of color from the arrangement …

and the mystery blue flowers mommy loves but can’t identify …

izzie laid on mommy for awhile; after all, she’s his mommy, too …

while i poked daddy in his eye …

finally, mommy took one of her artsy-fartsy pics of me …

lots going on over here, and as usual, the blog suffers … but if you think sir charles has got problems, check this out: poor little didion was super-duper uncomfortable yesterday. the best we could diagnose was a really bad episode of gas and constipation. the last time we saw him so uncomfortable and upset was when he ate jalapeno-flavored breastmilk (my bad). we finally got him calmed down last night, but the intermittent sobbing was long lasting and absolutely heart wrenching …

beyond our decidedly inexpert diagnosis, i also think we are — finally — seeing teeth in his bottom gum. just now i saw two tiny white circles. his teething episodes really have never staved, but the teeth have been slow to show. let’s hope that we have breakthrough soon. i suspect that tummy discomfort and general displeasure are more than loosely related to those damn teeth.

poor little guy.

in the meantime, our new hero, ames, has a great write up about yesterday’s ruling by the california supreme court on the legality of gay marriage. at first i thought, “crap! the timing is horrible! why couldn’t they wait until AFTER the election to bring this up!” i was sure the evangelicals would finally circle their wagons around mccain, assuming mccain adopted the same scare tactics karl rove so very much favored in 2004, but like me, ames is surprised and heartened (???) by mccain’s subdued response to the ruling.

boy, am i lovin’ this holiday! it helps that didion and his daddy are so smart … they were well prepared to pamper mommy … mimosas, bacon and eggs, lots of laughs and hugs …

but bliss, at least for me, never comes without some reflection. jenna bush got married yesterday at her daddy’s “ranch” in crawford, texas. i certainly would never deny a parent’s right to feel happy and proud at his or her son’s or daughter’s marriage. i cannot help but be reminded, though, of another time the crawford ranch was front-and-center on the news front … cindy sheehan will never be able to beam with pride and love at her eldest child’s wedding … her son, casey, is, simply, no more.

so as “spectacular” as jenna’s wedding might have been, i want to hope that somewhere deep in our president’s heart or — dare i hope — brain there is some consideration for the american mothers who have lost sons and daughters in our war in iraq (and in our — more justified, yet often ignored — fighting in afghanistan). i also hope there is even one iota of consideration for the iraqi and afghani mothers whose families are innocent casualties. i suspect, though, there is no such consideration, no hope for empathy … or sympathy … or any other sort of “pathy” (excepting “sociopathy”, that is) …

i deeply support our troops. i deeply support their families. i deeply support anyone willing to sacrifice so much to serve his or her country. i will certainly and fervently support my son should he choose to build a career in the military. BUT I PUT ALL FUTURE PRESIDENTS ON NOTICE: while i support our soldiers, i do not support vanity wars, and i dare any one government leader to try to send my son on any ill-conceived mission.

that said, i am having a wonderful mother’s day. being a mom is an incredibly complicated, bittersweet vocation, but as complicated and as bittersweet as it is, it is also the most beautiful and rewarding adventure imaginable.

Leslie is amazing. You have already read about many of her great culinary accomplishments. But to me, one of her most impressive skills is her ability to make a meal out of “nothing.” Often, when the refrigerator appears empty to me, she will whip something up, and we will have an excellent meal. Today was another example.

There were a couple of chicken breasts in the fridge, and to my eye, not a whole lot else. Some scraps of challah and homemade pesto emerged from the freezer. Add miscellaneous condiments, the grill, and about 20 minutes and we ended up with fantastic sandwiches. Not a combination I could have come up with, but they were so good we ate them standing up at the kitchen counter.