An update

Alright, alright. I’ve been holding out on y’all just a little bit.

(Nope, not pregnant or anything. Settle down.)

Andy is back working at the restaurant. He decided that the job we moved here for wasn’t a good fit, for better or worse. He was working with a friend, and friends they still are. No strain on either side, which is a blessing (but I wasn’t really worried about that).

I don’t know where we’ll end up, but that’s the nature of the Christian life; trusting and waiting on the Lord. We’re content to coast here for now, Andy working in the evenings again and being home during the day. (It’s actually quite nice, what with a house full of pre-schoolers and all.)

I know, we’re full of surprises. But now you know!

I know it's late

But I just got home from having coffee (okay, I really just had water) with two of my dear friends, hopped on the internet for a quick check around and saw a headline under my ads for another in-network post, got curious and clicked over to read it.

It's a must-read that I just had to pass on: Mommy Life's Memo to Jennie Chancey on Sarah Palin.

Amen.

One last question, while I'm at it

One of the comments when I asked y'all to help me this week said my blog was finally "fixed." I emailed R directly to ask what she meant and she said for a while my right sidebar had been down underneath all my posts.

Um. NOT GOOD!

I'm sorry to be such a nag, but could you leave a comment if you can't see both sidebars, sandwiching the posts like they should be? It looks fine on both of my browsers. Also, another friend (Hi Debs!) said she can no longer see the brown swirly wallpaper on the edges. So, clearly I have some issues.

Although, everyone else I've emailed specifically about the wallpaper says they can still see it. (So maybe you need a new computer, Deb.)

(KIDDING!)

Andy just took the 'big' kids to the pool so I can get caught up on laundry. So that's what I should go do, now, right?

;)

Because my brain is mush

(I totally copied this from Boomama's, posted several weeks ago.)

What were you doing 10 years ago? I was settling into my new digs as a freshman in college. Let the party begin.

(No, I didn’t really party.)

(Like, ever.)

Favorite Snacks: chips n’ salsa or guacamole, those junky frosted sugar cookies from the bakery that really taste like cake, kettle peanuts, pink starbursts

To Do List: Yes, please, I love lists.

Yesterday my list consisted of the following:

1) Take Drew to preschool (actually Andy took him)
2) Play over at Nicky’s
3) Lunch
4) Naps
5) Sit on the couch and pretend I’ve nothing to do
6) That’s as far as I got

Today my list so far is:

1) Have Andy roll the trash bin down to the street
2) Sit on my bum and drink coffee
3) Feed Adelaide her oatmeal
4) Go to Sarah’s for a swim and picnic lunch

Jobs I Have Had: babysitting, salesgirl at the Limited Express during the Christmas rush and then ended up staying on, Frame stylist at LensCrafters, server at Chili’s, legal assistant at a lawfirm downtown (my “real” job), mama (my other “real” job), making retainers for Ethan (bah ha!)

Places I Have Lived: Born in Madrid, Spain; moved to D.C. when I was three months old; three years in Utah with a three-month stint in Vegas in the middle; Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas; Osan, Korea; Alamogordo, New Mexico; Alexandria, Virginia; Hampton Roads, VA; Las Vegas (three years of junior high); Layton, UT (high school); and then Lookout Mtn, GA for college. Also, a semester in the South of France my junior year. (When life was rough.) Since marriage, spent one year in the Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. And now we’re back down South. Thankyouverymuch.

Bad Habits: Interrupting people (sometimes I don’t catch myself until it’s too late. I’m a work in progress, what can I say?), picking at things, procrastinating, worrying (I come by it honestly, right mom?)

5 Random Things People May Not Know: I competed in gymnastics when I was little, I love a good practical joke, I had a French minor in college that I never finished and no I don’t speak French, my mom made me take piano lessons and no I don’t play the piano, and I’m the only blue-eyed person in my little family (thank you dominant Andy genes)

CDs I would want if stranded on an island: I’m very insecure about telling the interpeeps my music selections because I’m married to a music snob and have deep music issues. So don’t judge (and no, this won’t be spiritual). S'Il Suffisait d'Aimer (A French Celine Dion CD my cousin Vangie gave me in college), SheDaisy, the Finding Neverland soundtrack because I heart it, and maybe something spiritual after all – a hymn cd like Fernando Ortega’s?

What I’d Do if I Were a Billionaire:

1) Wow that’s a huge tithe check, that’d be fun
2) Hire a maid
3) Pay off the house and other random debts
4) Actually I’d sell the house and get one with a craft-y room (with a strong lock) and more than one bathroom. And an actual playroom would be nice (instead of our living room. Ahem.)
5) Spread the love
6) Maybe do something splurgy like a family cruise? Okay, friends can come, too.
7) Renew my pass to the children’s museum and not wait 'till Christmas
8) Go see friends and family in far-off places. (Make sure I’m not flying alone with my three kids. Or if I am, I’m well-stocked in Benadryl. Just kidding. Sort of.)

Help!

Okay, y'all, do me a wee favor.

I normally use Firefox and my blog looks fine. In Safari, though, it looked all wonky. I think I fixed the wonkiness, but can you help a girl out and tell me something? Is there a border around the main post content? Or no? And what browser are you using?

(In Firefox I can see a border around my main wrapper and also around the outer wrapper, next to the wallpaper. In Safari, no borders.)

Today's post brought to you in part by 'A Bug's Life'

My parents are probably at the airport by now. It's always sad to see them go. The past two days have been overcast here and I always have to fight to maintain a cheerful spirit when the weather is gray. And oftentimes I lose. Cup of tea, anyone?

I picked up Drew from preschool yesterday... (nevermind that I was daydreaming and missed the main turn and then tried to feel my way back via backroads. I totally made it there by the hair of my chinny chin chin. They're strict; six minutes late and you have to pay a late fee!)

There were no tears. Andy said he had hopped on out of the van in the morning with a "bye, Dad!" thrown over his shoulder as he trotted off with his new teacher. When I went to get him later he was still just his happy self. Apparently there was a birthday because he said they ate some cake "but not for [his] birthday because [his] birthday is in January."

The other funny thing he told me is "THEY DIDN'T TEACH ME MY ABC'S!!!"

Me: "But, Drew, didn't you learn about "A" today?"

"Yes, and apple."

"It's one letter a week, bud. Not everything at once."

He also asked me if my sisters would be at our house when we got there and I said no, they're at school. He said "I go to school now, too, because I'm big. I'm big like Micah." (Micah was a little boy we knew up North that started kindergarten last year and so Drew naturally thought he was big time.)

Other than that we've just been hanging out with my family, including eating junk food and making a trip to Target yesterday with my mom and sisters. They needed fun things like college room accessories and I needed paper towels. Hmph.

The rain has made the temps a little on the chilly side, so last night I rummaged around in my attic a bit and am happy to report that most of my kids warmer clothes still fit. Madeline's jeans are waaaaay too short, but otherwise we're good to go. Is it just me or did the summer seem not very long and not very hot?

Although, this is the South. We could be warm until November.

The Wasp Saga Continues and also, First Day of Preschool

Yesterday morning Andy was standing at the kitchen sink and got attacked by another wasp. In our own kitchen! He's sure it came in from along that wall somewhere, maybe the window or the light fixture?

We remembered we had seen one outside entering the electrical meter box thingie. Andy took the kids down the street to the hardware store and bought some wasp spray. When they got home, they came inside (for obvious reasons) and Andy opened the box door.

He was expecting maybe ten or so wasps to be in there. Instead, a huge ball of at least a hundred were waiting for him. He sprayed the life out of the can and ran. (Unfortunately I failed to capture it on video.)

So that was probably our problem; they were getting in by following the electrical cables into the house and through the walls. Nice.

Hopefully that will be the end of it. Good riddance.

And thanks to Fay, we started preschool this morning in the middle of a downpour. It's a good thing Andy was around to take Drew or he would have been late. I'm a little out of practice for getting three little kids and myself out the door before 8:45 a.m.

(Okay, I never was in practice. Ahem.)

As Drew was eating his breakfast, I was telling him he needed to hurry so he could go to school and his response was "Yeah! Because I'm growing up!"

True that.

Happy Sunday

My parents and siblings are all here (yay!) so I probably won't be posting much the next few days. (Although I'm sure I'll blog Drew's first day of school on Tuesday.)

(!)

I was busy preparing lunch for everyone after church and a wasp stung my collar bone.

In my own kitchen!

The nerve!

Okay, off to enjoy my coffee and my peeps.

On Mothering and Time

Yesterday mid-morning my kids and I met our friend B and her kids at the pool for swimming and an alfresco lunch. (Hi, B!) We usually have good conversations (children cooperating), and yesterday was no exception.

Incidentally, one of the things we talked about happened to be the very same topic I had recently discussed with two other friends on two separate occasions. Whether or not I can craft it into a coherent blog post remains to be seen. I’ll do my best.

(Within my current time constraints, naturally.)

When I was a young and innocent mother of one, I had a lot of free time to more or less spend on myself. I kept up with the housework (usually) and the cooking (usually), but I also had time to scrapbook, read, watch movies, sunbathe, sew, or whatever else I felt like doing on any particular day.

Even with two kids, I still had my own life on the side. I could set my babies up with toys or a nap and go about my merry way. Sure, the kids took up a lot of time, but it was sort of compartmentalized. I still had a life. They were a large part of it, sure, but they weren’t it.

But with three, woa nellie, that took some adjustment. Of course I still have some time to do those fun things (and I obviously have time to blog!), but it’s on a much smaller scale and I’ve had to take on a different mindset about “my time.”

Previously, for example, if something involving the kids had interrupted me, I would have viewed it as an interruption. Now, I don’t (or at least, not as much). My kids are older and we can do more together. It’s not me and them; it’s us.

We get up, we get dressed, we eat, and we play. Sometimes they’ll watch a movie or play amongst themselves so I can get things done, but we sort of move about our day doing things together.

Which is also why I’m a stickler for naptimes. They need the sleep; I need the break. It’s my only time of day (besides the late evenings) that I can accomplish anything without interruption or sabotage. And often I use that time for the fun things I want to do.

B mentioned she’s had to accept the fact that she’s not going to get anything worthwhile done in the mornings on most days. (Although, she does have an hour when the kids are in roomtime for phone calls, a shower, etc.) That pretty much goes for me as well. It works better for us if I enjoy my kids when they are fresh, and work later when they are asleep or with Andy or whatever.

And I’ve also realized that I’m more of a work-at-night kind of person anyway. I do laundry best when the house is quiet and the kids are in bed. I almost always clean my kitchen before I go to bed, and usually pick up the toys and generally “reset” the house as well. I’d rather wake up to a clean house than wake up to clean the house.

So, all that to say, I’ve stopped worrying over the fact that I have unproductive mornings. It’s just the way things are here, at this stage of my life.

For Clicks

Today I'm guest posting at Chic Critique, solving the (mostly) straight hair problems of the world.

Preschool, Oh how nice to meet you

Drew starts Pre-K on Tuesday.

(What’s that? The angel bells are ringing?!)

This morning Andy and I took him to the orientation and to see his classroom and meet his teachers. We are thrilled with the program and I know it’s going to be perfect for him. And besides that, I’m looking forward to having Madeline around without Drew dominating everything. First-born child and all.

Before school starts, however, I have to teach him how to do the entire potty trip by himself. (Um, mom???) They also need to be able to do everything for their lunch themselves, such as opening containers, etc. Good things to learn for kindergarten, really.

So, no, if you were ever curious, I’m not planning on homeschooling. At least in my current state of mind. I’ll let you know if it changes.

But don’t hold your breath.

Also – there is a peanut allergy in Drew’s class. So that means no peanut butter & jellies. Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor. What the heck am I supposed to make for him? Veggie burgers?! Microwaving food isn’t really an option, either. So that’s gonna be interesting.

That and the 9 a.m. drop-off.

But it’s only two days a week and worth it. I can hardly believe we are already approaching school-age, even if it’s pre-!

The time, is does fly.

A quiet evening with friends is the best tonic for a long day.

That was the fortune inside Nicky's cookie from P.F. Chang's tonight.

And it was eerily fitting.

My friend Sarah called me this morning wondering if I could do a girls' night out tonight even on such late notice.

OhyesthankyouI'llmakeitworkandseeyoutonight.

It was so nice and relaxing and peaceful. They didn't even ask me to cut up their meat or get them some juice.

Whenever we go out we almost always get dessert. (It's like a cardinal rule.) We finally wized up and started splitting one instead if wasting two or three. This time we ordered the 'Chocolate Wall' or whatever they call it. Oh my word it was HUGE. 6 layers of cake. That means we each got our own two layers. But even with three of us, we still left almost half that cake untouched. HUGE.

And then afterwards we stopped in at Target.

Because that's what moms do.

Hello, welcome to my boringest post ever.

Today was non-stop. I had to be up and in the shower before 8 a.m.

Which, like, never happens in this house. Seriously, ever.

I also don’t normally schedule anything for Mondays, but we had a playdate invite for this morning that I didn’t want to miss. We were over there for several hours and my kids were surprisingly well behaved. (Until about the last ten minutes.)

(Always a sure sign it’s time to leave.)

I’d never met any of the other moms, save the host, and it seemed to be quite the diversified bunch. Everyone was nice (now there's a word) and I think we all had a good time.

My kids and I had leftover pizza for lunch (a friend came over last night to watch the Olympics and what goes with friends and the Olympics better than pizza?) and then I sent Drew and Madeline out back to swim.

(Otherwise known as a blink of peace and quiet.)

I was just settling into naptime when another friend called wanting to come over with her new Macbook so I could show her around on it.

Which was really fun but also meant there was no break for me today spent lazing on the couch. When we finished, the kids were up and I had to make a quick run to Wal-Mart (yes, with all three) and whip up something edible for dinner. Andy and I tried to let the kids play at the park after we finished, but there were yellow jackets everywhere. So we left.

The kids were disappointed, so I let them swim in the backyard pool again. Adelaide even got in on the action and thought she was big stuff.

I’m currently working up the energy to push through to bedtime. The baby’s already down and the big kids have their jammies on. Why is that last step so impossibly difficult to finish?!

My Big Girl

Adelaide, my “baby”, has recently reached a whole new level: Toddlerhood. She’s running around (okay, it’s more of a jog), uses real words and phrases, eats her food with her own utensil, shares her opinion quite forcefully, flies down the slide at the park all by herself, is climbing up on beds and couches and out of bathtubs and pack n’ plays.

As my friend Dolly so perfectly put it, an era has ended.

Purely out of curiosity

We've got a wedding to go to this morning (Andy's co-worker and friend) so I have no real time to post today. But I had a curious thought while reading some of the comments on the last couple of posts: it'd be fun to know the people reading here (even if very occasionally) who went to Covenant.

So if you read here with any regularity, or stumbled here by accident, and you went to Covenant (even if we've never met IRL or even if you only went for a semester), leave a comment to this post, would ya?

Oh come on. It'll be fun! (If only in an internet chat room sort of way.)

Ugh, Not Again!

The scene: hall bathroom, 2:47 a.m.

The players: Drew and Mommy

The event: Wet Bed

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Mommy (dressing Drew into fresh pajamas after bath): Do you need to go potty?

Drew: No, I already went.

Mommy (thinking, not aloud, sarcastically): Well there's the Understatement of the Year.

------------------------

(Concluding note to self): Cut off all liquids after dinner.

No exceptions.

A gentle reminder

When I went to the chiropractor the other day, I was served a gentle parenting reminder that I thought I might pass on.

Drew and Madeline had fallen asleep on the drive out there. I was able to park right next to the clinic door, which was most convenient. I gave Adelaide a bottle and everything was quiet, so I went in to see if maybe the nurse/receptionist could keep her eye on the kids in the car while I had my appointment.

And they’ve done this for me before. The last time I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t physically pick up my kids very well (they were small at the time). So the nurse had sat in the driver’s seat and we left everyone buckled in. No children running around the waiting room worked great for everyone.

So today I was hoping that we could do that again. And we did; everything was fine. But the doctor gave me a more or less stern lecture on leaving children in the car unattended.

Any careful and concerned parent would never leave a child in the car on a hot day or in a busy, crowded, public place where the point of business is far away.

But it’s sometimes easy to justify quickly running in to the gas station, where the car is in full view the entire time. Or picking up a pizza immediately inside fully-windowed doors. Or, in my case, at the chiropractic clinic where my car is right next to the office door and no one else is around. And Tuesday was an unusually mild day—there was even a cool breeze.

And did I mention my kids were asleep?

He said that our area’s Department of Child and Family Services has recently gotten more “politically correct” and have taken several children away from parents that left them alone in vehicles no matter the period of time or the circumstances. And it would be at least 6 months before those parents could get their children back.

Which, even if you are certain the circumstances would be safe, is just not worth the risk.

(Which is also why, later that day, I wrestled with my three inside Papa John’s for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes of near-hell, but at least I still have my kids!)

Supermommies

Alternate title: Another Day Full o' Fun

We had a lazy morning. The kids played while Dolly and I drank our coffee and read blogs together. (See? That's why we're BFFs.) After we threw everyone's clothes on we went to the park for a while, got hot and dirty, and then came home and dumped the four older kids in the backyard pool.

You know, to get them clean.

They also ate their lunch outside. I'm all about keeping the mess OUTside. Where the hose is handy.

After a "shower" on the back deck, we tossed them in front of a movie and then down for naps. Dolly and I even got a decent nap ourselves. So it must've been a good day.

We decided to go to the mall for dinner and then planned to let the kids play in the free play area after. Which meant that we had to fit all five carseats into her minivan.

The only way I could squeeze three in a row in the backseat was to have Adelaide in Chandler's seat facing backwards (which she sits that way anyway), and then Ruthie and Madeline's boosters wedged in next to her. I was sweating by the time I had wrestled all the seats into place. And I had to put Adelaide in hers through the back hatch.

At least we're well beyond public embarrassment... Yes, we always load our babies through the trunk. Don't you?

I had a free coupon for something (ahem) and then I also saw "THE FINAL SALE" on a sign outside of Ann Taylor. And because Dolly rocks, she let me run in there to peek at their sale rack while the kids played.

I even found a few steals, which always makes me happy. When we got home the kids each got a small dish of ice cream and were sent to bed. I cleaned the kitchen and Dolly folded my laundry.

See why I love her?

Now we're doing what the rest of America is doing and watching the Olympics.

And also, eating ice cream.

Unexpected Fun

When I woke up this morning I thought today would be just like all the other days. Mostly spent “quietly” at home with my kids, maybe picking up my book at naptime, eating an average dinner, etc.

Instead, I managed to make it to the chiropractor finally. I’ve had some neck/shoulder/back pain that was getting slowly worse. I’m much better now, although he told me to expect three days of soreness (typical for me after an adjustment).

Afterwards we threw nutritional caution to the wind and ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A. I let the kids play in the playland for a bit (and then doused them in anti-bacterial gel afterwards).

This morning I had convinced Dolly to come up for the evening with her kids. So after my kids woke up from their nap, we ran around like crazy people trying to get some groceries and pick up pizza for dinner.

Our local Papa John’s does $6 one-topping larges on Tuesday nights. I’ll take two, please.

We’ve more or less successfully gotten all five (five!) kids in bed – split between two rooms – and D and I are off to Blockbuster.

So catch y’all lata!

The theme of the weekend: Food

Last weekend we had our Atlanta friends up to hang out with us. The guys went golfing Saturday afternoon (I know, must be a hard life) and then we snagged a babysitter for a late dinner together at Andy’s old restaurant.

All four of us were starving and probably ordered way too many appetizers. But it couldn't be helped. For the first course, Andy and I each had the tomato and bread soup (meaning croutons) with Parmesan and basil, to die for. We all got our own entrees, of course, and then attempted our best shot at four different desserts. (Two of which we didn't order; they were sent to our table on the house.)

So basically we ate ourselves senseless.

And then they had to call a crane to get us home.

Liz and Josiah stayed (slept on our newly purchased luxurious ultra comfortable high-end blowup mattress) to go to church with us and then left after we had lunch.

I spent the rest of the afternoon napping. Which is what you’re supposed to do on Sundays, you know.

You'll find me over there

I have the privilege and honor to be guest posting today at Musings of a Housewife. Go on over and have a look-see!

Apparently we need to work on color and pattern coordination

Inquiring minds want to know

What do you pay your babysitters?

Be honest.

(And comment anonymously if you're skeered. I'm just interested to see if there are regional differences.)

Yawn.

Today was long and, well, long. Somehow Madeline got put to bed last night without her monkey, so when she woke up early this morning of course she had to have it.

And of course she let us all know about it by asking (repeatedly, with zeal and determination) for the keys to get it out of the van while we did our best impression of bears hibernating in winter.

When it became a decent hour, I threw my robe on, grabbed the keys, and ran out to get the monkey. Perfect timing as usual, the neighbors were just coming home from their (very! early!) morning at the park.

(Okay, so it wasn't that early.)

I did my best to keep my robe, um, closed, but the frantic hurrying to and fro did nothing to aid such matters as modesty. It would have been fine except for the whole perfect timing thing. At least it was just a fellow mama and her own little crowd. No cable man in sight.

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Madeline looks like she’s been infected with green chicken pox. I guess she wanted to use her dry erase marker and couldn’t find the board. Arms and legs are clearly the best alternative.

I stared at the computer screen the entire length of naptime getting caught up on bills and other boring business-y items. Hallelujah that it’s done. (Until next month.)

I also ordered 209 photos from Snapfish to get caught up on Adelaide’s first almost year-and-a-half (Which actually isn’t ‘till end of September, but you get the point). Let's not even talk about how long it took to select, edit, and upload 209 photos, mkay?

I used PhotoWorks last time and wasn’t at all happy with the quality. So, we’ll see. SF was 9 cents a print, and that seems hard to beat. And the first 50 are free. Just purely FYI.

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And then it rained. I mean poured. And the last several times it’s rained hard, we’ve had a small pool on our bedroom floor. It finally dawned on me that the storm window wasn’t shut and so the water was filling up in the sill, streaming down the wall, and soaking the floor. I had Andy clean out the sill this past weekend, and I managed to get it shut today before the rain started.

Well. There’s a crack below the storm window panel so water was still getting in. I shoved plastic grocery sacks in there with a flat-head screwdriver and called it a day. Obviously we’ll be in need of a more permanent fix the next time it rains. (Must add 'Great Stuff' to shopping list.)

And then late this afternoon I found a bag of potatoes rotting away in my laundry room. The smell, oh! the smell.

So thank goodness tomorrow is Trash Day.

(And also, FRIDAY.)

Just give her 11 years

Yesterday I got a glimpse of Madeline at fourteen. Of my three, she is almost always the most amusing to watch.

She saw me with my ipod, folding laundry, and begged to listen to it. So I slipped it “safely” into her pocket and put the buds in her ears. She had to hold them in since her ears are so small.

I caught her dancing around, totally in tune to the rhythm and oblivious to the rest of the world. Can we say free spirited?

Just watching her made me laugh. She looked like a mini teenager. Her hair goes half way down her back (yes, I know she has adult hair) and her clothes and the ipod only completed the teen-esque look.



(She’s eating a strawberry. Apparently it’s sour.)

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

I didn’t mention it before, but late Saturday evening I heard Adelaide wake up and cry out a little bit. I finished what I was doing (dishes?), dried my hands, and was on my way to check on her when all was quiet. I stood there a minute and then went back to my work.

Then it happened a second time. I walked back down the hallway to check on her and stopped outside her door to listen, but it was silent again.

And I didn’t hear another peep from her the rest of that night.

When I went to get her Sunday morning, though, I discovered her crib was full of dried throw-up. And she had slept in it.

Mother of the Year.

She was completely normal, back to her cheery and smiley self. So we knew her bout with the tummy bug was over. And Madeline had gotten over it just as quickly when she had it last week.

I’ve been crossing my fingers over Drew. Until this afternoon.

He was abnormally cranky at the park. So we came home early. He was filthy, so I gave all three of them a quick bath and put them all in their respective napping locales. (Sometimes I have Madeline sleep in my bed so she and Adelaide don’t try to play instead.)

After a while Drew woke up and said his tummy hurt. I placed a plastic bowl on his bed and said if he felt sick, he could use it. I had laid down with him for a while but then when I thought he was okay, left his room but left the door open.

A while later he called “Mom!” I went in and he had thrown up neatly into the bowl and was pointing to show me. He said he felt better. It was the easiest bout of sickness with a child, possibly ever.

Except that it was followed by a similar sickfest, only without such good aim. (His sheets are washed and currently drying.) And then again later all over the couch.

(I think I’ll now buy some stock in Kids ‘N' Pets.)

I’m a little nervous that the bug is going to make a second round through the girls. Or that Andy and I are going to get it (although I was told it’s a lot easier on the adults). I just bought some Airborne, which may or may not help. It's worth a try, at any rate.

Also, Madeline woke up from her nap in my bed with a leaking pull-up, to top the day off nicely. I have a feeling I’m going to be doing quite a bit of laundry in the next twenty-four hours. Good thing I’ve come to terms with it.

And then I just burned my hand making pasta for dinner. Which makes perfect sense because when it rains, it pours.

Craig's List, my new BFF

We’ve had these two wooden armchairs piled in our living room ever since we unloaded the furniture. Our previous house was much larger and we had the luxury of space to put random chairs in (great for holding cast-off clothes, by the way).

I meant to list them for sale somewhere. But, well, that takes effort. So they sat, taking up real estate in our tiny living room for over a month. Annoying.

Finally yesterday, as I was close to dragging them down to the street to be carried off by gypsies, I made myself take a photo and place an ad on Craig’s List. I received two calls within 15 minutes.

I called a lady back who lived in my immediate area, thinking that’d be easiest. She came soon after and decided to take them. Snap, just like that. (Why did I wait so long?)

Two funnies. The first was Andy was vocalizing in the back hallway when they (she brought a friend) first walked in. Hi, welcome to our crazy house! Second, after they had loaded the chairs up and were getting into their car, I was remarking to Andy how quick and easy that whole deal was. He held his hand up to slap me a high five.

I looked over my shoulder out the window and the ladies, THEY TOTALLY SAW IT.

Slightly embarrassing.

I hope they don’t think they got ripped off because they didn’t. It was a steal of a deal for them, all things considered. We were just happy that those chairs, they are gone. And now we have a little more open space to breathe in.

And to, you know, fill up with stray toys that will inevitably get tripped over or stepped on in the middle of the night.

Fun times.

Random and Unconnected

Happy Sunday to ya!

Couple o' things. First, if you're bored interested, you can now follow me on Twitter (note the little linkage on my left sidebar below the ads). It's like mini blogging. And if you don't have the time or desire to blog yourself, consider it - it's quick, painless, and fun. Easy way to keep up. Send me your link if you do (or if you already have one!).

That means you, Dolly. Pressure's on.

Yesterday as we were discussing possible plans for the day, Madeline asked to do something and I said maybe we would later. She looked up and asked "nexterday?"

I think she just coined a new word.

Nexterday, all my troubles seemed so far away...

And last night I listened to my ipod while I folded all the laundry (that never occurred to me before - what can I say? I'm slow about such things), and I realized I've finally come to terms with the laundry and the fact that there's always more. It used to drive me absolutely crazy. We're friends now.

Or at least tolerated acquaintances.

And, lastly, I stumbled upon a new food crush. Yesterday I felt like eating a big ol' yummy sandwich just like the good ol' days before we got hit by the vegan train. So I toasted two pieces of bread (9 grain), slathered one side with mustard and the other with mayo, and then stacked it with two fat slices of ripe red tomato, dill pickles, a few circles of red onion, and topped it with fresh spinach. SO GOOD! You never even miss the meat and cheese. Seriously, try it. (Make sure the tomato is right next to the mustard and the spinach (or lettuce if that's what you have on hand) is next to the mayo. Yes, it matters.)

You're welcome.

Because my husband rocks

Where do I start?!

Well, when I got home from Starbucks Thursday night, Andy declared he was giving me his bonus money to use for my very own computer. (I think I'll keep him.)

So, thanks to that and our area's tax-free weekend, I now sit blogging on my new laptop. I still have to figure out what to do for internet connection at home because there is no network umbrella reaching here (believe me, I've checked. I even sat on the toilet. Lid closed.) I'm "borrowing" his wireless card at the moment...

Which, among other things, means I'll be able to blog/e-mail/pay bills during naptime and not as much while he's home in the evenings. Yay.

Last night we had a little pool party with a bunch of our friends and all the kids. My girls? They are DARING. Thankfully Madeline kept her water wings on. But she stayed in the water practically the entire time (she surfaced to jump off the diving board and, well, to eat). I think she's part fish.

Adelaide figured out she could jump in and I would catch her. Rinse and repeat nine thousand times. Let's just say she does not fear the pool, either.

Amazingly, the kids let us sleep in 'till 9:30. They started their own bath (both Drew and Madeline woke up wet - all the water and juice consumed post pool) and then hung out in the living room while we dozed. The funny (okay, maybe not so funny) part was I found an empty package of cinnamon-raisin English muffins that was brand new only yesterday.

No wonder they were so quiet.