Slowly Spinning Down

As the Christmas holiday has passed and my biggest client work has trickled away, we're slowly settling down a bit. Whew! We spent the pre-holiday weekend at my folks' house, along with my sister and brother-in-law and my dear cousin, Bill. We all had a terrific visit and the girls behaved nicely. Sunday night we headed home, dumped out the dirty clothes, piled gifts in the living room, and repacked to head to DH's folks' place the next afternoon. We both worked a half day and then drove south. Again.

The holiday at his family's house is always quite different than at mine, but I can't complain. Though busy and chaotic, all the kids were on excellent behavior and the grown ups minded their p's and q's for the most part. I only had to come up with one chirpy comeback to a snide remark, and it was after midnight, so I'd consider everything to be a success. We returned home late Christmas night, unloaded, dumped more gifts and luggage in the living room, and crashed.

Wednesday through Thursday, we worked through the days, and then began unpacking/repacking luggage in the evenings. Friday after work, we piled into the car and headed south yet again. This time, the girls and I wished DH well as he went to work at a TEC weekend. I'm writing this post from my parents' house right now, where we've been since Friday night. DH finished up this evening, so I'm sure we'll head back home to stay for a while. (I sure hope so - I'm beat.) We had one new development this weekend - Breanna climbed out of the crib. Great.

Work-wise, I'm going to have a huge adjustment in the weeks ahead. My favorite client of all time, who has basically provided me with full-time writing work since April, has lost funding for outsourcing. My last day was Friday, and I'm so sad to have had to wrap up. The people I worked with were terrific - it was the first time in years I'd had a "boss" who I truly respect. And the work was interesting every day.

I have a few new freelance projects (very little ones) lined up for the next couple of weeks, but nothing major. It's hard to justify paying for daycare if I won't be making money, especially when I don't have maternity pay, so I'm going to keep the girls home with me and say prayers for work to come my way. Thankfully, I've socked away a lot into savings, as always, so it won't be a scary time in that respect. Exhausting, I'm certain, but scary, not so much. Of course, DH is worried as can be. But I have faith that the good Lord will provide, as he always has. The timing of this isn't really in my favor, with this gigantic belly poking out the front. But I'm sure everything will fall into place as it needs to.

My pregnancy has been progressing quite nicely. It's a relief to know that this kiddo is already much bigger than Lillian was when she was born, and we still have almost 2 months to go. On Thursday, I start my weekly dr. appointments already. Have I told you yet that we're expecting a little boy? Where has the time gone?

Anyway, I'm going to go grab a cup of coffee and kick back in a recliner next to dear old dad and hope the girls nap long enough for me to empty my cup. It might be my last moments of downtime for a while. Happy day to you!

Bridal Shower Games

What's your favorite bridal shower game?

I'm throwing a shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law on January 13 and want to keep the party moving along quickly. I think it will be the largest shower I've been to, which means lots of gifts to open, which means let's get through everything without delays.

Please leave a comment with your ideas for a fun/unique/not-too-time-consuming game. Thanks!

Pig Tails

As DH and I tried to prepare the girls for another attempt at Christmas photos, I told him I'd like to put the girls in pigtails. He raised an eyebrow. Pig? Tails? I said, "Yeah, their hair is so long and I think it would be really cute with their Christmas dresses."

Pig? Tails? "What on Earth is a pig tail?" he asked. I showed him. He said, "You mean pony tails." I then explained how two on one head makes them pigtails. He thought I was insane and told me so. Oh well. The pig tails went in and the girls looked adorable.

We spent about 45 minutes in front of a large section of plain wall in our apartment. The girls had other intentions. The whole 45 minutes. After at least a dozen escapes each and no both looking at the camera at the same time, we gave up. Even sparkly garland wasn't enough to keep them still. As DH had them on the floor, tickling them and laughing, I happened to walk by just then and capture the shot. Pig tails still in tact. Whew! The only "good" one is the black and white below. Finally!

One Word Answers

My sister sent this to me and I had to laugh. Here are my responses.

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.


1. Where is your cell phone?  Purse

2. Your significant other?   DH

3. Your hair?   Shiny

4. Your mother?   Loving

5. Your father?   Teaching

6. Your favorite thing?   Hubby

7. Your dream last night?  Parade

8. Your favorite drink?   Coffee

9. Your dream/goal?  Kindness

10. The room you're in?  Vacuumed

11. Your ex?   Pathetic

12. Your fear?  Fish

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?  Happy

14. Where were you last night?  Home

15. What you're not?  Skinny

16. Muffins?  Raspberry

18. Where you grew up?  Minnesota

19. The last thing you did?  Sip

20. What are you wearing?  Pretties

21. Your TV?  Off

22. Your pets?  Missed.  :(

23. Your computer?  Busy

24. Your life?  Fast

25. Your mood?  Content

26. Missing someone?  Yes

27. Your car?  Unsold

28. Something you're not wearing?  Necklace

29. Favorite Store?  Herbergers

30. Your summer?  Nonexistent

31. Like someone?  Yes

32. Your favorite color?  Red

33. When is the last time you laughed?  Recently

34. Last time you cried?   Unsure

35. Who will/would re-post this?  Friends

Cookie Fest

What a great weekend we had! My folks and cousin Billy came up for the weekend. They stayed at my sister and brother-in-law's house, but spent all day Saturday here with us.

We baked all of our favorite Christmas cookies, listened to carols, and had a grand ole time! The boys went out to see the progress on our house at one point in the afternoon, while us lady elves continued to slave away in the kitchen/dining room. My sister learned the finer points of Finnish tart making, and I learned about a pretty nifty material that works as a super-slippery cookie sheet liner. This picture is of my sister and Lillian making keifels and another one of my mom with the girls. Always a busy household!

My mom made Christmas aprons for my sister and me - adjustable to fit around pregnant bellies. And the girls got to open some Christmas presents early. Grammy and Grandpa brought hats and scarves to match winter jackets, holiday socks, as well as some little rocking chairs. The girls rocked and rocked throughout the weekend.

DH grilled a great big beer-filled turkey and baked potatoes for an early supper, and all was great. We tried to get a real family picture of DH and me and the girls, but eh, not so lucky. We put on our winter coats and boots and lined up by our fence, hoping to get a nice snapshot from our deck above. Lillian was tired and antsy and my camera fogged up once it went outside. Oh well. It was worth a shot. Here's a cut-off shot of DH and Breanna. For those expecting Christmas cards, we're still working on a picture. I'm determined to get one at least of the girls in the next evening or two. Stay tuned and watch your mailbox just in time for Christmas. I'm not good at being this last minute, but what do you do?

The one other highlight was when we placed Breanna on the potty chair before her bath on Saturday night, and lo and behold, when we encouraged her to potty, she did. Hooray!

Not Nesting Tonight

Apparently I go in spurts. Tonight, I'm absolutely beat. It probably has something to do with getting out of the shower this morning, sitting on the couch to rest for just a minute, and then waking up a half hour later to the sound of giggling girls ready to get out of bed. My day has been a bit off ever since.

I'd originally planned to work on a pro bono newsletter project, but eh, it's donated time. I'm putting it off until another night. And I was going to make some more candied nuts - I was going to bring some to my OB appointment tomorrow for the nurses. Eh. Maybe next time.

It's 8:35 and DH is still working, which means I had kid chaos all to myself tonight. Don't get me wrong, my girls are really good, but really hands on right up until they finally give up on staying away and let themselves crash. Tonight, the squaking stopped at 8:12.

From there, I cleaned up high chairs and bibs, washed out sippy cups, tossed a load of laundry into the washer, wiped down the tub and put away bath toys, and poured myself a cup of pear juice. And now here I sit, blathering on in my favorite time-wasting fashion.

To make it not such a boring post, I'll entertain you with a quick story. On Monday, Grandma Becky asked how strong my stomach is. Not a good way to start the afternoon pickup. She then told me of how she put the girls down for an afternoon nap. (They go in a gigantic playpen together.) They did their usually babbling back and forth for a few minutes, and then it was quiet. GB sat down with a cup of tea and put her feet up, ready for an hour of rest. Then the giggles began. She got up to peek in on them and found them painting each other. Breanna, the magical strip artist, had pulled off her pants and poopy diaper and she and her sister were having a grand old time painting each other. Lilli had a stripe that went from her eyebrow all the way down to her collar. In their hair, ears, clothes, everywhere.

So GB did what any person would do. She grabbed both girls and hauled them off to the shower. Unfortunately, the girls gave her big hugs as they went, so all three stripped down and hopped into the shower. Apparently, the girls let GB know that they don't appreciate shower whatsoever. Poor GB. She commented that perhaps the girls were grossed out by her pudgy wrinkled body, but I reassured her they see much worse in our house sometimes. It's gotten so that they walk up to me and pull up my shirt, poke my now-outie bellybutton, and laugh.

Anyway, Monday night, I went to check on the girls before I went to bed and found Breanna stark naked in her crib. Thankfully - VERY THANKFULLY - she was still clean and dry. I dressed her again and put her back in the crib.

Tuesday evening, I got to GB's to find Breanna wearing a pull-up OVER her pants. Oh no.

GB quickly explained that it's a great solution to keeping Breanna clothed. She hasn't figured out how to get the pull-up off. Yet, anyway. So she sent a pull-up home with us to put over jammies, and wouldn't you know, guess who woke up with the top half of her jammies off, but her onesie and bottom half of her jammies still on. Yay for inventive daycare grannies!

And yay for having one daughter who actually likes to zip her clothes up and act modest.

Queen of the MultiTasking

In the midst of everything chaos around us, I've managed to cook up three batches of sweet and spicy nuts (stirring every 5 minutes for 30 minutes per batch), wrap up and decorate take-out boxes for the nuts, bake a batch of muffins, label 25 CDs for a Mothers of Multiples project, start putting together a pro bono newsletter, paint my nails (once everything was in the oven), compose two really great business-related emails, burn myself a CD of some cool jazzy stuff, write a Christmas poem instead of a holiday letter, and print off return address labels for our holiday cards.

And I'm still wearing lipstick. Yes, I am the queen.

TGIF

What a week! I just finished putting away the groceries at 11:00 Friday night, and am finally sitting down with a cup of Oh My Chai and a deep breath. I'm absolutely beat. And yet, I need a little sit-down wind-down time before getting ready for bed.

Poor DH ended up with our bug, so he was up all last night and had a tough day today. Hopefully it's as short-lived for him as it was for me. He's planning to work both Saturday and Sunday to make up for cruddy productivity today, and to hopefully squeeze some time in at our new house. It's been a mixed blessing that he's been so flooded with work - the weather has been awfully cold to be working outside on our place. I think it's been about two weeks since he's spent any time out there. Slow progress, but oh well. Better that than frostbite.

During the past few weeks, I've been enjoying little bits of holiday shopping here and there. For the first time, I'm wrapping as I go instead of saving it as my last (and favorite) part of preparing for Christmas. So far, so good. While I packed away all of our decor (including Christmas stuff) deep into storage, I was smart in keeping out my wrapping goodies.

We've talked about doing a family picture and sending it with Christmas cards, but I can't imagine when we'd possibly squeeze it in. The girls are over a year and a half and we still haven't had a real family picture taken yet. How ridiculous. So when DH asks me again tomorrow - as he has been daily for a week - what I want for Christmas, that's what I'll tell him. I've been drawing a blank 'til now (except for the Moby wraps, of course).

Well, my tea is gone and I think I'm ready to retire for the night - or better yet - for the week. Unfortunately, 7 a.m. will come bright and early tomorrow, so I'd better hit the sack. Good night!

New Day - Hooray!

I feel like a whole new woman today. Seriously, except for the aching back, ribs, and tummy muscles, I can barely tell how violently ill I was just a few short nights ago. And the girls are totally back to normal, too. Yay!

They giggled in the tub tonight more than I've ever heard. It was like they got the giggles in church and just couldn't stop, and the harder they tried, the worse it became. We had a great time!

After the gigglers were freshly jammied and teeth were brushed, DH came home and relieved me so I could run to the mall in search of a maternity blazer or suit. I have a big day tomorrow and really wanted to wear more than a nice blouse and slacks. Hooray - I found a decent black suitcoat at Motherhood Maternity. I picked up some nice buttons at JoAnn Fabrics on my way out, and headed home, where I am now putting off replacing the buttons and shortening the sleeves. I also need to apply the topcoat to my nails. And then off to bed I go, hopefully to enjoy a fulfilling night of sleep.

If you read this before my 8 am-to-noon meeting tomorrow, please say a prayer for a fruitful morning for me. I'll explain details sometime after the meeting, so as not to jinx myself. : )

So Not Invincible

The flu hit me last night after many sick-free years. And it made up for lost time. It's 1:00 p.m. and the first time I've left the couch for more than a bathroom run or a pedialyte run. I can't believe how good it feels to sit upright.

Our girls had a great weekend - their bug from the Thursday all-nighter seemed to have been short-lived. Monday at daycare, though, Lillian tossed her breakfast and both girls had icky pants all day. For the first time, I thought luck was with us. They had a scheduled doctor appointment for checkups and flu shots. No double co-pays due to timing being off a day or two. Ha - fate was playing a big mean trick on me. The girls are fine, by the way. And Lillian finally topped 20 pounds - 21 pounds even! Breanna came in at 24 - woo hoo!

Anyway, last night I ate an apple and then got ready for bed. When I laid down, I thought I possibly recognized a glimmer of queasiness. At 12:30, my wretched night began.

As I once explained to my friend, Lettuce, I can't think of anything more gross than puking in a toilet. Buckets are great - they're clean, they're portable, and they're easy to wash out. Plus, no butts have been in them (at least I hope!). So last night, I had three buckets handy - one next to the bed, one next to the tub, and one next to the couch. And like clockwork, every hour and a half I needed one.

Up until now, I've always been pretty ok with ralphing. It's quick and awful and then you move on. However, puking with a big pregnant tummy is a completely different story. The baby kicked and kicked, often stirring more nausea. And when I was yakking, the contractions were crazy. I have the goosebumps just thinking about it.

It will be quite a while before I eat another apple. Or anything with substance, for that matter. In the meantime, weak decaf tea and oyster crackers are my new best friends. Happy stinkin' Tuesday.

Another Late Night

I awoke at 1:04 this morning to the sound of retching. Poor Miss Lillian was hurling in her crib. Approximately two minutes later, Breanna started in. They are so in sync with each other it often scares me.

Two buckets, four showers, six bedding changes, eight footie pajama changes, and many hours later, we all made it back to bed for close to two hours. Until we started all over again at a little after 5 o'clock. By that time, DH had decided to go to the job site and get his project set up for his workers so that he could stay home with the girls during the day. He returned at a little after 7, when Breanna was just falling back to sleep. I got ready and headed off to work.

Needless to say, the day improved for DH and the girls as the day progressed. Lillian even graduated to jelly toast for supper. And now for some downtime and hopefully a long, sleepful night. Sweet dreams, all.

The Crap of Cancer

Our 6-year-old nephew, Connor, has been battling leukemia for a couple years now. And after numerous hospital stays in the last month alone, he went into emergency surgery this morning. I haven't heard an update since. His Caring Bridge site is www.caringbridge.org/mn/connorterfehr

And my TEC friend, Nathan, is battling cancer as well. He's only been married a year. His site is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nathanmeeks

My friend through osmosis, Amy (I've never actually met her, but I know her sister, Jean from What's for Dinner), is also battling leukemia. I don't know of any website, but I get updates from time to time from Jean. She's been struggling with cataracts that have developed as a side effect to some of her cancer treatments.

These three cancer cases have touched me. Please keep the patients in your prayers. And pray that a cure is found soon. The battle is one that young people should not have to even think about, much less suffer through.

Sling - a - Ling -Ding

Have you ever heard of Moby wraps? My friend Crystal introduced me to them at a little pre-holiday open house a couple weeks ago. They're baby slings that appear to be quite awesome. I'm putting one on my Christmas list.

Crystal has two little boys who were born a week or so after my girls - even earlier than the girls. And she and I both come from the ad agency world. And both love high heels. And both have beautiful hair. And are both master goddesses when it comes to juggling family and career.

She showed me how to use the Moby on Breanna, and I was shocked that Breanna just hung out, cool with being confined. The bonuses of versatility: you can wrap twins and carry them up to 40 pounds. And - drum roll please - you can nurse a baby while you walk around and no one knows. I can't wait to try one with the new baby! I'm going to see if we can even get away with not having to buy a triple stroller - instead just keeping the girls in our double and using the Moby for Baby C.

Check these babies out - www.twopeaspod.com. This is my new favorite find since BabyLegs. Yay for cool products!

Winter Welcome

I just arrived home from my shift at the Giving Tree at the mall and slid all over the place. Our first snow of the season and it's beautiful outside! I donned the pimp coat and big red mittens and felt so festive, I even decided to stop at the grocery store for muffins.

Our Thanksgiving was lovely, very mellow and relaxed. The rest of the weekend followed suit. I even wore velvety lounge pants one day and got to visit Newzgirl a bit.

We officially welcomed winter at the festival on Friday. It was pretty brisk out, and there was even some wind. The girls were well bundled in BabyLegs (legwarmers), denim overalls, snowpants, winter coats, hats, mittens, scarves and boots. We plunked them into the stroller and a wassailing we went. The fest was just as romantic as I'd remembered from past years. People caroled, cocoa and cider were sipped, bonfires crackled, lights twinkled, sleigh rides glided by, and kids laughed all over the place.

Lillian was the social butterfly of the evening, blowing kisses to pretty much anyone she made eye contact with. Breanna just took it all in, singing along from time to time. After a healthy supper of corndogs, cookies, cider, juicebox, and donut holes, the girls were pretty tuckered out. We decided to go back to the car just a little bit before the fireworks began. As we walked, the snow began to flutter down softly.

At the car, when I pulled Lillian out of the stroller, her boots got stuck in the leg holes. Being bulky in a pimp coat (plus being pregnant), I was less than graceful in jostling her out of her seat. Once I finally buckled her into her car seat and pushed up her hat so she could see, I realized she was sound asleep. Out cold. I had to check to make sure she hadn't frozen to death, but she softly snored away. Miss Breanna fell asleep on the way back to Grandma's and Grandpa's house.

Now that the girls have had a good dollop of outdoor freedom, I think we may be in trouble. They sure enjoyed the fresh air throughout the rest of the weekend. Winter, here we come!

Heading Home

To all of my Lake Country friends, I really hope to see you at the Nisswa City of Lights festival on Friday night.

DH and I are heading to my folks' house in Lake Shore tonight for the long weekend. He's coming back to town tomorrow with my sister and brother-in-law, but the girls and I are staying through Sunday.

And Friday night, we're going to introduce the girls to a wonderful small-town tradition. The little Normal Rockwell town just a few miles up the road from my folks' house is overflowing with festivals. The one on the Friday immediately after Thanksgiving is my favorite. All the little shops (that's the only kind of shopping there is - boutique-land) light up their storefronts at dusk and put out little luminaries.

An oom paa band plays just a short distance from the huge bonfire at town square. And of course, carolers sing, hot cocoa flows, everybody's cheeks turn pink, fireworks paint the sky, and Christmas season begins. This year, the girls are big enough to come with. I have the snowpants packed and all the warm goodies, so we're almost ready to go.

In my last free hour before I pick them up from daycare today, I'm going to post my wish to you all for a lovely Thanksgiving. Then I'm going to pack clothes for DH and me, and load the car. When he walks in, we're hittin' the road.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And if you're out and about in Lake Country this weekend, give me a call. I'm feeling particularly social this week!

The Midnight Parade of Firemen

To satisfy Mrs. RadWag's curiosity, here's the promised story about how we wound up with three firemen in our apartment at midnight on a Sunday.

At about 11 o'clock, I took the final step in my bedtime routine. After teeth were flossed and brushed, hair combed, face washed, contacts out, jammies on, chapstick applied, I went to check on the girls.

I opened the door to their room only to be assaulted by the pungent odor of eggs. I literally took a step backwards and shook my head. DH had just climbed into bed and I made him get up to come smell. As he rolled his eyes at his pregnant, smell-sensitive wife, he appeased me by getting up.

As he neared the door, he agreed. There's definitely something rotten. So, naturally, we checked diapers. Nothing. And then we remembered that natural gas is supposed to smell like eggs. We whisked our sleeping babies out of the room, investigated a little more, still found nothing, and then called the local PD.

We were baffled, as DH explained to the dispatcher. We don't have any gas appliances. Nor do we have food in the bedrooms. Nor are the girls gassy. She reassured him that he made the right call and urged him to get us out to the car ASAP.

Quickly, we bundled the girls and as we opened our front door, the parade of firemen were coming our way. At 12:05, three firemen came in with fancy little handheld detectors. They checked all over the place and came up with nothing. In the meantime, since the door to the bedroom had been open for about an hour by then, the smell had somewhat dissipated. Not completely, but enough so that the firemen said they didn't smell anything. We still smelled it.

After they reassured us that there was nothing to worry about and that we should call any time we smell anything funny and that they're glad we called that night, we put the girls back in our bed and decided to investigate ourselves.

I smelled all the outlets - maybe some neighbor's cooking was leaching into our space. Nothing. I checked the patio door. Nothing eggy outside. DH checked the toy box - no melting toys or rotting snacks. Nothing whatsoever.

So we went to bed, and when I poked my head back into the room about an hour later I got up to potty the first time, I still smelled it with certainty. When I got up the second time, about 4, for yet another potty break, the smell was completely gone.

Strange all the way around. Someone suggested one of the girls most likely ripped a gigantic fart. But we're still not convinced. So, we 're on the lookout for the real story, both doubtful we'll ever know it.

Men!

Thankfully we women know how to communicate. Otherwise I'm certain we'd all be dead - from killing one another out of sheer frustration. My daughters just laid down for a little nap after a super-quick outing this afternoon. We'd just arrived at WalMart and taken our coats off and were heading to the back of the store, when DH called, stating he had an emergency.

Of course, I immediately thought Emergency Room. He quickly went on to say that he needed me to go into his work email account and find an email from a vendor and look up the specs on the top of the PDF. He wanted me to verify the dimensions of a window.

I calmly explained that we'd just arrived at WalMart and were planning to pick up a few groceries and some laundry detergent. And that it had taken me 45 minutes to get out of the house. He asked if we'd filled the cart yet. Not yet. OK, great, then would I mind loading the girls back into the car, rushing home, going up down up down up down the stairs until we made it inside, and then calling him once I found the email.

Grrrrr. Being a nice wife, that's just what I did.

Another Saturday with the Kiddos

The weeks seem to get longer and more tiring. My DH and I were wild and crazy last night. After the girls went to bed, we brushed and flossed and climbed into bed and the ripe old time of 8:30.

He left to go out to the house at about 7 this morning, and I got up with the girls at 7:10, and thankfully I feel refreshed. The girls don't seem quite so refreshed.

So far, we've changed pants, gotten dressed, brushed teeth, made and eaten waffles and monterrey jack slices and a fresh pear and bacon (and a cup of decaf coffee for mom), sorted the laundry, found mom's knitting needles and proceeded to poke one another with them, unsorted half the laundry, stripped the bed and cribs and put on clean sheets, played ring around the rosie, sung the ABCs (three times), loaded the dishwasher, cleaned up from breakfast, changed messy pants, and snapped and unsnapped overalls about a dozen times.

I hope Breanna isn't showing a preview to the career path she seems destined to. She sings, dances, and strips off her clothes every chance she gets. Tonight I'm going to start pinning the zipper on her jammies before bed so she doesn't wake up cold and wearing only a diaper.

Anyway, it's almost 9. The first snow of the season is peacefully floating through the air. The girls are yawning and I'm ready for a shower. This all adds up to only one thing: it's nap time. Happy Saturday!

And now... part 3

Today is the first day of my third trimester of pregnancy. Where the heck did the first two go?

On Tuesday, I had another great OB appointment. DH was working out at the new house, so I went alone for the first time. The first thing the doctor said, "Did you leave your chatterbox at home?" I told her I thought I'd save both her and me some time. And, boy, was it ever quick without him there.

Everything is still looking terrific. I've gained three more pounds in the past month, which is a little low overall, but nothing to worry about. The doc and I both are convinced it's because of all the fruits and veggies I eat. Do you realize how good pears are this time of year? I eat one every day and they're just wonderful! And our girls love them too.

She asked me when was the last time I ate chips, and again, I had no idea. Apparently, the fact that I don't munch on chips and salty snacks just baffles her. She even teases a little bit. I did enjoy a grilled cheese with tomato slices and a side of french fries (with salt) at lunchtime today, so I felt a little more mainstream.

Now when it comes to sugar, that's a whole different story. I won't even get started down that road.

To celebrate feeling great in my third trimester, I'm going to get ready for bed early and maybe even read in bed a little bit. Cheers!

Free Day Ahead

The girls are finally napping (whew!) and I'm finally taking a break. OK, technically they're not sleeping yet - I still hear them. But they ARE going to take a nap, darn it, because I need a break today. What a long Saturday - starting from 7:15, they've gone strong til just now.

I am continually in awe of stay-at-home moms (and Dads - cheers Josh and Looky Daddy). Talk about exhausting! And I can't imagine how they get anything done whatsoever. I hope it's a little different for them, with opportunities to monkey-proof a bit.

In our little rental, the kitchen is smaller than even the one in my very first apartment, an efficiency, no ess. This means that we don't have the luxury of keeping the junk drawer out of reach. Or the coffee pot or magic bullet or kitchen garbage can. Or any of the other stuff that I don't want them getting into. Oh, what I wouldn't give for handles on our cupboards or a wide-enough baby gate to keep them out of the kitchen.

Even cooking the smallest things is such a chore because I'm constantly pushing the girls back out of the kitchen. As soon as one is out, her sister comes in and goes to a different drawer or cupboard. If it were just the hassle of cleaning up a strewn-about tupperware cupboard, I'd have no problem. But I don't want them to cut themselves on a can lid from the garbage. Or break the coffee pot. Or taste test the dish soap. The battle is constant, but at least it's only when I'm in there. I suppose I should be flattered that they want to be with me.

Anyway, the real purpose of this post has run away from me. What I really wanted to say was "Yippee - I'm taking a free day on Monday!" I'm not going to work in honor of Veteran's Day. But shhh, I'm not telling daycare. After I drop off the girls, I'm going to go back to bed for an hour or two. Then I'm going to load my trunk with stuff for Goodwill and am going to drop it off. Then I'm going to Don's Car Wash for the works. Inside and out.

And then, I'm going to start the first step in my adventure of finding a bigger vehicle. Since I don't think I've even driven an SUV in the last 5 years, I foresee a lot of test driving ahead. Wish me luck. I already have a line in mind to keep the sales vultures from preying. My mother from down south is moving up here later in the winter and needs a small SUV that will fit three car seats. So, I'm just sampling a few way in advance to help her narrow down the market. Let's see if it works.

If I still have time left over after all that, I'll begin the chore of tarping our furniture in the second stall of the garage to protect it from whatever might come our way this winter.

To the veterans in the audience, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your sacrifices. I appreciate the freedom to have the wonderful life that I have, all thanks to the heroic efforts of our soldiers who ensure that freedom.