The Final Goodbye

Last night was the last episode of The OC. I was a fan of the first two seasons. Mr. Doodlebug and I watched the first season on DVD while watching the second season on the air. I was totally hooked. The show was a true outlet for me. I was teaching at a middle school outside Washington, DC and hated my job. Hated might not be a strong enough word to describe my feelings about that particular teaching experience. I made it through the school year without quitting for two reasons. First, I told myself repeatedly that if I didn't want to teach after this year I didn't have to. And second, I watched The OC when I got home from work and on Wednesday nights when season two was on. I got lost in the characters and the drama. I loved talking about the episodes with Mr. Doodlebug, who was almost as into the show as I was. And I've always liked teenage dramas (90210, Felicity).

The OC was on a definite and determined decline starting with the second season. The second wasn't as good as the first and the third wasn't as good as the second. This last season was terrible. Marissa was dead and Ryan suddenly falls in love with the strange dorky girl they used to rag on. It turns out she's ok looking and Ryan found her dorkiness charming. I kept watching all the way to the end.

Last night's episode had some reality flaws, like there is no way Taylor would be on a terrorist watch list, and Ryan is not the class of 2012 he is the class of 2011. Or when Bullet flies the entire wedding party and some guests to Berkley because Julie doesn't want to get married without Kiersten.

It has been reported that one of the reasons The OC failed was because the teeny boppers who watched didn't like the emphasis on the adult characters. I found just the opposite. Sandy Cohen was probably my favorite character. Then again, I'm not a teeny bopper -- far from it. Another supposed reason for its failure is that the teenagers who watched the beginning of the show were getting too old for it and losing interest. It was hard for the show to pick up a new audience half way through because of its downward spiral. I think the real reason it is now off the air is because the writing was bad and got worse.

All of that said, I teared up when Summer gave Julie the locket with Marissa's picture in it -- I know I'm such a sap. And I got chills when Summer walked down the aisle to marry Seth. Both good moments. I wish they had played Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley as the last song -- now that would have made me cry. I'm sad to see the show go, but now we can start watching 30 Rock.

spring?

I can't wait for spring. Baby Doodle and I are slowly, and I mean slowly, getting over our second colds in a month. I can't believe how many times I blow my nose in an hour despite the fact that this is day 10 of the cold. This afternoon I have back-to-back dentist appointments (one for a cleaning and one for a filling) and am leaving BD with a friend who also has a baby. After agreeing to babysit she called back to say that her baby is just getting over a cold. Mine too, I said. I don't have a choice so BD will definitely be going over there this afternoon, but I hope what ever germ that baby has is the same as BD's otherwise the end of this cold and the beginning of the next will just be one seamless transition. We're a germ haven over here.

Melt, snow, melt so we can go for walks and to the park and be generally more free.

snowed in

Mr. Doodlebug went to DC yesterday for work and baby Doodle and I were on our own for the night. Luckily, I went grocery shopping for the fantastic dinner I'm making for Valentine's Day yesterday. I've already made the bittersweet chocolate mousse cake. It's chilling in the refrigerator. And the beets are roasting in the oven as I type.

Baby Doodle and I are both sick. This is the worst cold I've had in a while. My glands are swollen, my throat hurts, I can't breathe through my nose, and I'm achy. Maybe I have the flu. Baby Doodle has a cold, too, which makes things a little harder. He's in pretty good spirits today.

It snowed about three inches last night and then sleeted. There is a layer of ice over the snow so we're not planning to go out at all today. Hopefully, Mr. Doodlebug will make it home from DC without incident.

Happy Valentine's Day.

The bad seed of our neighborhood

I live across the street from an employee of the City of Philadelphia. He works in some capacity for the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, a job that he obtained by throwing a few fundraisers for Mayor Street. His house is the biggest eye sore on our street. The stucco on the exterior of the house has huge cracks in it in numerous places, some of the windows are missing and have been replaced with plexiglass, he has been known to store broken down cars on cinderblocks in his huge yard, and he puts large pieces of garbage on the sidewalk -- which he claims as his own -- and waits for garbage-pick-up-day after garbage-pick-up-day for it to disappear. The City doesn't pick up large bulky garbage every week, only on designated days. But our neighbor doens't care about leaving his box springs, refrigerators, old bookcases, huge pieces of contorted metal, etc . . . out for days and weeks for everyone to look at. One of our good neighbors considered putting Christmas lights on one of his piles of trash before a holiday party she was having. Instead of curtains this family has decided to use old sheets as window treatments. The house looks like crap. What a great representative of the NTI. He's sure transforming our neighborhood!

This guy has a wife who seems to make a living suing people, including the Phillies. That fact isn't really necessary to understanding our neighbor but I find it too interesting to leave out.

Our neighbor drives a city issued car with municipal plates and uses it for personal use. I have to assume he uses it illegally because it is always parked outside his house or around the corner (to try to fool those of us who know he doesn't work hard, more on that in a second). He and his wife own an SUV that she uses mostly, and no other car. They're not the type of family to just own one car so he uses the city's car as his own. I hate to think of my taxes going to gas-up and repair his personal car.

Because I'm a stay-at-home mom I know that this neighbor hardly works, if at all. He is home around 1:00 p.m. most afternoons and sometimes I see him putzing around his yard -- not making it look any nicer just walking around it -- in the morning, like at 10:00.

This neighbor also has an attack dog who is out in the yard all day and all night during any type of weather. He was out all week during this deep freeze we're having where the temperatures have been in the teens and twenties during the day. The dog used to wake up baby Doodle and us, but now we're all used to the barking and seem to be able to block it out. Whenever someone walks by or emerges from their front door the dog barks until you walk or drive away.

Last spring he was on the ballot (in the primary election) to be some sort of neighborhood Democratic official. Mr. Doodlebug and I didn't vote for him, neither did our good neighbors.

I just discovered that our neighbor who doesn't deserve the job at the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative is a candidate to be a traffic court judge. I'm sure he'll be elected because he's a Philly political hack and there won't be much, if any, competition for the job. I'm sure he'll suck at that job too and get all of his friends out of paying their deserved parking tickets, like when they undoubtedly park on the sidewalk in Roxborough.

gotta love Ikea

It has been cold this week, cold like the highs have been in the teens and single digits. Monday was the worst. I took baby Doodle to Ikea to play. Their mock play rooms and kids' bedroom displays are a great place to let a baby play and explore. Not to mention Ikea has great facilities for moms with babies. There is a family bathroom complete with a changing table, diapers, wipes and a chair in which to nurse. We met Girlfiend and the Fiendling there so we had twice the fun.

Though Ikea has been great during the winter, I'm ready for the warm weather. I can't wait to take baby Doodle to the park and on long walks again.

baby Doodle is sleeping quite well

I got the best night of sleep I've had since baby Doodle was born last night. We were in a hotel in Rockville, Maryland ironically enough. He hadn't taken an afternoon nap and was super tired. We got to the hotel after going to a 3-year old's birthday party where he spent a lot of energy. I nursed BD, the hotel staff brought up a Graco portable crib, which Mr. Doodlebug set up on his own! That is where BD slept from 6:30 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. when he got up to nurse. I fed him and he slept until 7:00 a.m. (in the crib). I fell asleep before 9:00 p.m.! It was great.

Here are some pictures of our little man who is growing up too fast.

Now that baby Doodle is on the move it's hard to get a shot of him that isn't blurry.

Looking like a kid -- so sad.

Coming toward the camera. He just won't sit still anymore.

10 months

Baby Doodle turned 10 months old yesterday. It turns out that what everyone says about your kids growing up so fast is true. We went to DC on Monday and stayed for a few days. We visited a friend who has a two-month old boy. He just laid there. He doesn't roll over, he doesn't smile intentionally, he's up until 11:00 p.m. He is very different than my big 10 monther.

Baby Doodle now officially crawls the traditional way, with his butt in the air and his knees underneath him. He can move pretty quickly. He goes from one room to another and really enjoys exploring the house without being carried. He can also walk when someone is holding his hands.

He has favorite books -- Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Chugga Chugga Choo Choo. He turns the page when I'm finished reading it. He also has books he doesn't like, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is too bad because that's a really good book.

When we were in DC baby Doodle and I had lunch with two of our friends. BD was getting into playing the game where he drops something over the side of the high chair and someone picks it up and gives it back to him only to have him drop it again. My friend held out her hand and encouraged BD to put the spoon in her hand instead of dropping it. He got the picture and played along.

Then, two days later I was giving BD a bath. He sits in a baby tub that is inside our big tub. He dropped his rubber duck overboard, which was a drop of about three inches, then I gave it back to him and held out my hand. He then pretended to drop the duck, but instead would put it in my hand. He did this over and over and over. Getting a kick out of it every single time. It's funny that he felt the need to pretend that he was going to throw it overboard. It's like he understands the joke, the fun of the game.

Happy 10-month birthday my little boy. I'm dreading the big ONE.

Wow the drivers in Philly are mean, well one is

It has been a while since my last post and there has been plenty to write about.

Last week, or was it two weeks ago?, baby Doodle and I were on our way to the playground and the street we normally take was closed so we had to take a detour which was poorly marked. I came to an intersection where I could either make a left (the way I should have gone) or a right across a bridge (the way I did go). I made the right and though there was not a stop sign there I slowed in order to make the turn. The driver behind me honked his horn repeatedly. I proceeded across the two-lane bridge. The rude driver in tinted windowed car passed me on the bridge. I flipped him the bird, and though maybe I shouldn't have, after he did what he did next I'm glad I gave him the finger. He slammed on his brakes as soon as he was in front of me. I had to swerve and slam my brakes in order to avoid hitting him. We both sat there for 60 seconds before he moved forward and hit the brakes again. I didn't follow suit. I pulled to the side and let another car get between us, then continued to get lost and work my way back to the park.

What an ass hole!