eBay is for Gimps?

eBayer: there's a title I never thought I would have.

Joe to Geneveive: "She's in the other room ebay-ing."

Seems like borderline activity.

It is.

Definitely for people with a LOT of time on their hands.

Definitely addictive.

A fun way to make your useless crap seem more valuable.

Global Flea Market.

What cracks me up is that I have a listing that has 4 "watchers" 1 bid and I have already gotten a question from a potential buyer in Bretagne, France who wants to know the shipping costs to France and could I please send her a photo of the soles of the boots?

What possessed me to go into the miscellaneous chat room on eBay to keep up with the latest buyer-seller disputes? Funny thing is that everyone is doing their damnest to protect their feedback rating profile. Green "donuts" are positive FB (feedback) and red "Donuts" are a cyber-scarlet letter. One seller was so horrified that her "packaging reputation" was marred because one of the 6 glasses she sent arrived damaged and though the buyer awarded her a green donut for "good customer service", this OVERACHIEVING EBAYER was VERY STRESSED OUT! It reminds me of my days in high school when, as Freshmen, we were so concerned about maintaining our perfect GPA, that we were constantly calculating and figuring our cumulative average and class rank; as if it really mattered.... Even funnier was that at least 6-7 folks in the eBay community were telling her not to worry and that 10 years from now nobody would care and that she should "move on".

Whole different world out there.

When I set up my profile, I realized how "naked" my reputation is. NO FEEDBACK! What if people won't buy from me? Well, everyone has to get started sometime, right? I started to feel this subtle jealously for the "power sellers" on eBay the sellers with a fb of 99.7% positive and 1137 "unique" positive feedbacks. Then I saw an option on the profile page. It said

Create your eBay BLOG

It was then that I realized that I had hope. So I wrote a few sentences about how this is my "First Day Off the Job" and I am excited to start my new "eBay career". Funny thing is, that I have more comments on eBay wishing me luck and good health in one day than I have gotten in a few weeks on blogspot!

Whole different world out there.

oh, and just in case your looking for some fashionable patent leather pumps.... click here for my eBay listings!

Keeping Warm Thoughts...

I realized tonight, that our faithful blog-readers didn't get a fair dose of Texas this year. Given that we were supposed to be in SA both this week and next, I am going to treat us all to an impromptu cyber visit to the Lone Star State. This is my first time around with One True Media and I can't figure out how to do the music, so feel free to hum the Oscar Peterson tune of your choice (may he rest in peace, dear soul), I picked Bye Bye Blackbird.

I also couldn't figure out how to do the captions. Below are highlights of our Texas vacation in August 2007:

Scene 1: Lunch at Blanca's with Baby
Scene 2: Playdate with Rosemary and a trip down sepia-toned memory lane
Scene 3: Harvey practices for his next gig
Scene 4: Genevieve takes Harvey to the Childrens' Museum. Harvey bakes a pie with a little help...
Scene 5: Tasty peach pie
Scene 6: Joe's gig at the Continental with Elana and friends
Scene 7: H puts on shoes, getting ready to go home
Scene 8: Back in PA - we had a "grape" time! (sorry, bad pun, but aren't those grapes divine? I do declare that they look rather biblical)

By the way, I am on heavy doses of Percodan and Advil to manage sugery pain. This has caused cloudiness of my brain function and increased daytime sleepiness - hence the 3:30 AM posting and inability to figure out how to keep up with the latest blogger technology. PS Thanks KKH for the idea to do this. I LOVED yours!

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Foot Notes

The Extensor hallucis longus is a thin muscle, situated between the Tibialis anterior and the Extensor digitorum longus that functions to extend the big toe, dorsiflex the foot, and assists with foot inversion. Wow! That's a pretty important tendon. I met with Dr. Wapner, the great foot and ankle surgeon, on Friday and he scheduled me right away to have my EHL tendon repaired at Pennsylvania Hospital (founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1751) on Wednesday.

Laura(to Dr. Wapner) : So I guess I won't be going to Texas on Monday...

Dear Joe and Harvey stayed in PA with me to help me get through this ordeal. I told them they should just go without me (I've been getting kinda grouchy lately) and that I could stay at my mom's post-op. (Of course, I really didn't want us to be split up on Christmas!)

We had a beautiful Christmas morning with all the presents that Santa brought. Harvey loved tearing off the wrapping paper - one little piece at a time! Joe gave me a Scrabble game to help stave off boredom. Harvey liked his new car book with wheels on it. He has been showing his Curious George doll (his new best friend - poor Frosty and Paddington got the shaft) how to play the piano on his new toy keyboard which, by the way is a perfect fifth sharp. How is H supposed to develop perfect pitch when these tone-deaf toy manufacturers keep messing up the notes?

Joe is organizing the closet we just had fixed. What a mess. Why do we have two tunnels, two strollers, etc.? Stuff really piles up with a kid in the house!

Meanwhile, I am catching up on reading Doctor Zhivago for book club and adjusting to slowing things down. I have been busy getting so much stuff ready - bills, paperwork, Fontainebleau Bulletin, etc. Somehow this whole "getting ready" business reminds me of week 40 of pregnancy. Ahh memories!!

I promise to have pictures up later.

My Left Foot

Tomorrow is the BIG day with the BIG TOE guy of Foot and Ankle surgeons in Philadelphia. Harvey will be excited to get an extra day of day care at the Childrens Garden. The babysitter reported to me tonight that Harvey was reluctant to leave his playmate at the end of the day. Tomorrow will be his last day with the "little sunflowers". In January he will move upstairs to be with the older tots in the "Forget me nots" room. Joe is coming home on an early Amtrak tomorrow morning. What a tough week it was running around to foot doctor appointments and MRI and sitting on the telephone waiting forever to get through to Dr. Wapner's office. After 30 minutes on hold, I got the receptionist and accidentally pushed the wrong button and hung up. Called again. 20 minutes. Hello, can I get an appointment to see Dr. Wapner. First available is end of January. I tell her about my torn tendon and my limp big toe. She says she'll talk to the doc when he gets out of the OR to try and get me in "real quick". 6 hours go by. I talk to more people who sing the praises of Dr. Wapner. I call back. 15 minutes. I ask if I have a chance of getting an appointment. She tells me to come in on Friday at 1:30 and gets all of my insurance info. Fingers crossed that I will get a surgery appointment very soon. The MRI result showed a completely severed tendon with an approximate gap of 3 cm. The podiatrist informed me today that I need to get this done ASAP and that I will be on crutches for 4 weeks post-op. I just keep saying to myself - at least it isn't my hand...

Not-So-Happy Feet

Just keep counting your blessings. All I can say is...I am so glad it isn't my hand. Yesterday I was walking along, minding my own business, contemplating which stickers to give out - the monkeys or the sparkle frogs, when I heard (and felt) a "SNAP" in my foot (think rubber band). I knew exactly what it was. The tendon in my left foot above the big toe snapped. Rewind two months to when a kitchen knife fell on my foot resulting in a dramatic trip to the ER, a few stitches, a special shoe and a few trips to the podiatrist. Stitches came out, shoe came off, a month goes by, do a few yoga sessions, experience a little too much tenderness in the area and a funny little bump and wonder if I should call the doctor. Too late! Now I cannot move my big toe. Today's trip to the doctor almost confirmed my worst fears: tendon is balled up above injury site and will require surgery to sew it back together. I say "almost confirmed" because the MRI will be done on Thursday.
L: What about San Antonio, Doc? We are supposed to get a flight on Monday? Should I get this done right away?
Doc: What day do you leave? (24th) When do you return?(2nd) ..... Well you could do it right when you come back provided that you get wheelchairs at the airport and stay off your foot as much as possible. I am actually going away next week and return on the 31st.
L: HMMMMMM. Anything bad that could come of waiting?
Doc: Well, I just don't want to see the tendon retract any further - it gets hard to have to start fishing around too far up. (UGH!)

To be continued...

Feeling Festive

Okay, so obviously the picture wasn't taken in the last few days. I was so so proud of my flowering plant that lived into the month of November. Now of course we are dealing with rainy yucky weather; the kind where I don't feel like schlepping around in it with Harvey (who LOVES going with me on errands). Today he was very upset when I left without him - but it was just so miserable out!

It has been a rather festive weekend. Yesterday we had 20 piano students over and they all played Christmas Carols and duets. Everyone gathered around the piano for a hearty round of Jingle Bells, and then we ate fabulous Sant Ambroeus cookies from Madison Avenue and polished off a batch of my crystallized ginger cookies. Last night was the Aberwyck Christmas party and Harvey was quite the hit with all the senior residents. After a couple glasses of GLOGG, I played the piano and everyone sang about a zillion carols. Usually Joe is the one who heads up the entertainment, but he had to work last night. Today we all slept until 9:30 AM! I love Sundays around here lately. I have come to the point where I just don't want any commitments on Sundays. I love the down time. The New York Times, leisurely coffee, listening to records (Joe just fixed the turntable - Hurray!), Harvey being Harvey, etc. Today we got some good headway on the Christmas Cards. Joe calls it the "Christmas Card Sweat Shop". We also did a lot of around-the-house chores like putting up pictures and organizing closets. I even managed to polish the silver for the first time since before H was born. (It had gotten pretty nasty!) The icing on the cake was when we put some Christmas lights up in the living room. We decided not to get a tree this year for numerous reasons (I'll explain later) and so it hasn't really felt like Christmas, but putting the lights up gave me a festive feeling. Now all I have to do is find the Bing Crosby Christmas Album...

The Secret Life of the Babysitter

I can't find the tablespoon. The bib is in the wrong place. Can't she at least clean up after Harvey's trails? Why are there toys in the middle of the hallway - which I tripped on and nearly caused yet another pain in my behind? How come the crib tent wasn't zipped up? The blinds weren't drawn. I can't risk having sunlight wake up my 8 AM snoozer... Another book cover was wrinkled and destroyed - which I neglected to shelve because it JUST ARRIVED!!

Joe to Laura: "Well maybe we should put the good books away so they don't get hurt"
Laura: "Yes, but he should have access to books. He has to be trained not to hurt books. ALL books should be treated like library books. Books are sacred. The babysitters need to catch him in the act and correct the behavior! Harvey needs to learn...."
Joe: "Honey, I am hungry. Can we talk about this after dinner?"

How come none of this ever happens on my watch? I don't consider myself supermom. But at least I can remember to turn on the sleep music CD. It is bad enough that my microwave smells permanently of artificial butter from that disgusting bagged popcorn they bring through here...





Yes folks, you got it. I am getting a really hard course in letting go. In all of the parenting books they prepare you for the crabby, sick, bored, hungry, stubborn and uncoordinated toddler. I expect him to test my patience. What the books don't tell you, however, is that if you are the kind of person that likes things a certain way (e.g.: always start with vegetables and protein and then save the starches and fruit for dessert otherwise carbohydrate baby will just stuff himself with pasta and have no room for the other good stuff.) then get ready to let it go. What was that book? Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and it's all small stuff.

Babysitters sometimes leave some cute tracks - like the scrap paper I found the other day with fancy wedding style handwriting: "Suzie and Jonathan; Rachel and Ben; Sarah and Aaron" (names have been changed to protect sitters from embarassment)

There is one cardinal sin that cannot be forgiven:

The nightly use of duct tape is NOT optional!

Last night the sitter neglected to tape up the toddler and when I went in to check on him at midnight,

(to my HORROR)

there was a poop stench in the air and a naked baby sleeping amongst dozens of little poop-lets (and a few big ones too. Sorry, I am not sparing anyone tonight). I quickly performed the necessary sugical proceedures (re-diapering, taping, de-pooping the crib, changing the sheet) and returned HS to his bed. Thankfully he slept through the whole thing. Harvey, please, please, won't you please keep your pants on???

n.b. If you are one of Harvey's beloved sitters, don't worry, we still love you. I just needed to blog this one out of my system.

I think we eat better than rabbits!

Henri Rousseau, The Meal of the Rabbit, 1908

It was a blast of a weekend. Our friend Cindy was visiting from NYC. Friday night we kicked off with a late supper (Joe's red beans and rice and Cindy's mixed greens with Orange Muscat Champagne vinagrette) and played just about every song in Lullabies and Night Songs (music by Alec Wilder and full-color drawings by Maurice Sendak) while conducting taste tests of various ports from the liquor cabinet.

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Barnes Foundation which is one of the world's largest collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings, with extensive holdings by Picasso (46), Matisse (59), Cézanne (69) , Renoir (181) and Modigliani (11). Oh, and it happens to be in our neighboring township, Lower Merion. Did I mention that there are an eye-numbing 181 Renoirs!!!? It was founded in 1922 by Dr. Alfred C. Barnes (pharmacologist, chemist and M.D. ) who made his fortune off of Argyrol, an antiseptic silver compound he developed in 1907. If you want a REALLY good excuse to visit Philly (other than seeing master harvey) come be our guest and go check out the Barnes before it moves into center city. (controversial subject about why it is moving click here for the scandal and soap dish...)

We continued the day with a Tango concert at the Kimmel Center and then off to dinner at a local Trattoria (Grilled marinated vegetables, Osso Bucco, Seafood Risotto, Veal Scallopini and Tiramisu).

Sunday began with Cindy's granola, yogurt, fresh pomegranate (a new favorite for Harvey) and pineapple and a refreshing walk to the park where Harvey insisted on going down the wet slide that we had to dry off with the tissues in our pockets - oy! I guess we have to start bringing towels with us to the park during the drizzely season.

Last night we bookended the weekend with a Belgian film masterpiece- La vie en Rose (2007)with Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf and directed by Olivier Dahan and of course dinner (Frenched Pork Chops with herbs de provences, home-made Cranberry-Orange Sauce, Wild Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto, Tiramisu ice-cream)

The only thing better than living...is living!

Harvey on a Horse

Firsts updates: This photo was taken on Thanksgiving day in Berryville. Funny - there is always another first to enjoy. I read somewhere that one of the gifts of parenting is reliving our childhood joys. Another was the gift of unqualified love that we receive from our children. Still pondering what that means exactly...

First Pomegranate.

Word updates: apple tops the list. He probably says apple more than we say "five more minutes" every morning. Other new words: "diaper", "boat",

Activities of the week: picnics with Frosty and Paddington, putting the reindeer to sleep. Insisted on wearing his coat to bed (It has little cars on the front and HS LOVES cars).

It was a blast of a weekend. Our friend Cindy was visiting from NYC. We spent Saturday afternoon at the Barnes Foundation which is one of the world's largest collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings, with extensive holdings by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Renoir and Modigliani and it happens to be in our neighboring township, Lower Merion. 181 Renoirs!!!

Good Karma Food

Yesterday I brought dinner to Christine, a mom who had a c-section a few weeks ago for child #3. It was a rather challenging task. I had to juggle all of the regular daily chores and myriad errands and then put together a balanced meal (while balancing Harvey), feed Harvey lunch, get him out the door to day care at 12:30 and get to my first student by 2:00 PM. I agonized over the menu and had to go to a few different grocery stores. Ironically, I wound up cooking with ingredients that I had already had in the kitchen because of time constraints. I even managed to roll out a few crystallized ginger cookies and bake them up just in time!
Joe's Chicken in his "secret" marinade
Rice dish with peas, onions, peppers, olives and tomatoes. Christine was so greatful to have a nice dinner. I felt so good giving it to her. It was truly a gift to give. When I was sick with Guillaime Barre Syndrome, a mother of one of my students brought me a dinner she had cooked. I will never forget how much it meant to me and how "balanced" it felt yesterday to move that good karma forward. In the last 24 hours a number of good things have happened. I can't help but think that this is no coincidence. What a miracle it was to hear the maintenance man knock on our door this afternoon with the new lumber for our dilapidated closet which has been in disrepair for almost a year! In this picture, Harvey is gazing at a Buddha statue in Berryville.

From Karaoke to Taci-oke

Joe calls Karaoke the "Instrument of the Devil". No matter how good your voice, somehow you wind up sounding like crap on that microphone. Everyone seems to think they can do better than the last person. Do they put something in the drinks? Across the street is Taci, where everyone sounds sublime. Iya, Russian WonderWoman at the piano, makes it even better. The sinful chocolate desserts and incredible host Leopoldo (center) makes for hedonism to the max!

Date Night is KING!

Once a month we live it up. Here was our last fab venture in Manhattan a few weeks ago. Joe's friend was living at his apt on and off while she waited for her Dec. 1st lease and in exchange gave us some babysitting "gift cards". I love date night. I never realized just how important it is. How can I describe the beautiful feeling of rejuvination. No worries. Just fun and fancy free. After dinner in Chelsea we joined some friends in the Village for Karaoke and then on to Taci for some bottomless glasses of vino, hugs from Leopoldo and unforgettable arias from up-and-coming stars of the stage. The best part was that we didn't have to drive home. New York - I LOVE having CABS!!!!!

Smokin' Good Time

A Good Day...
8:45 AM Reveille. Listen for Harvey noises. Decide that coast is clear for "5 more minutes. Roll over and discover that Joe is already brewing fresh coffee.
9:00 Joe is standing in the doorway asking if we should let him sleep longer. "Bien sur! It is Sunday" Little coughs from the next room. Uh Oh! Saddle 'em up for breakfast.
9:30 Straighten up about a thousand things that Harvey has scattered about the house.
11:00 Prepare pancake breakfast for Josh and his daughter Mary Ann who is visiting from Dallas while she auditions for undergraduate voice.
12:00 Harvey entertains the guests and then we feast on blueberry flapjacks, sausages and fresh fruit salad.
1:00 Nap for H. Mary Ann sings Faure and I accompany her. General feeling of Bonhommie ensues.
2:00 Bon Voyage and then straighten up. H has managed to get stuff scattered again - very active child.
2:30 Throw in 2 loads of laundry. Make soup - onions, leeks, carrots, celery, bell pepper, parsley, stock, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, green beans and milk. Discover more stuff that is out of place (compliments of H)
3:30 Fuss with kitchen and find a cool Christmas gift on Craigslist.
4:00 Admire the new glass recycling bin in our office (which is supposedly safe from H) - wait a minute...how did the Duplo blocks get in there?!?!?
4:30 Transfer clothes to dryer. Note that 75% of them are H related. Empty dishwasher. Discover that the cycle wasn't complete. Attempt to re-load the dishwasher. Did H turn it off mid-cycle?
4:45 Still straightening. Can't imagine that I haven't put everything back in place yet.
5:00 Peek into H's room and he's up and smiling at me. Scoop him up and cuddle. Joe walks in the door from the gym.
6:30 Family heads to Trader Joes for shopping and sampling.
7:45 Dinner (soup, crusty bread, pork chops and Sancerre). Begin a cool new tradition of keeping a wine journal. (More on that later!)
8:15 H plays with Frosty and Paddington - straps them into the stroller. Lays out all of the reindeer and covers them with scarves for blankets. Joe and I continue to eat.
8:45 Joe puts H to bed while I prepare the cheese course (cranberry goat, and morrocan spiced cheddar, pears, apples and grapes). "Honey...where's the Eucerin creme" "Harvey probably moved it" (It was under the changing table - and I vaguely remember him rolling it under there and I already had 10 things in my hands that had to be put away/straightened)
9:00 Desperate Housewives avec cheese course.
10:00 Watch more of the Dog Whisperer.
11:30 Time for blog, book and bed.
11:45 Still more straightening...oh forget it. H will just mess everything back up tomorrow!