The kids and I made ice cream today. It turns out that putting chocolate chips into a ziploc bag and then beating the crap out of them with a rolling pin results in holes in the ziploc bag along and unchanged chocolate chips. Dumping those same chocolate chips into the blender results in very tasty chocolate dust, which can later be added to mint ice cream and enjoyed after dinner. This was important, because other than church and the grocery store, we went nowhere and did nothing today. It was about 150 degrees outside, too. And we were still recovering from yesterday. At least, I was. So...
Hello! I am not dead! Not even missing! I am alive and well but still somewhat mysterious. Honestly, I had these grand plans to be less mysterious today. I took a whole mess of pictures and planned a little photo essay, like a little scavenger hunt kind of thing, to let you see what I've seen and perhaps guess where I am. But then. Then! Then my camera decided it was not talking to the computer I am using here. It's sort of like this Mac vs. PC commercials. My camera is happily jabbering in Japanese while the computer at hand is saying "Hello? Hellooooooo-oooo?" It's very sad. Especially...
Lemme tell ya, this summer vacation thing is no sweat. I mean, you sleep in a little (6:40... WOOO WE ARE REBELS), you run some errands, you go have some free lunch, you throw the kids outside, you yell at the kids to go BACK outside, you let the kids come in and then they fight and then you send them to their rooms for time-outs and then you have a nice cold diet coke with lime punctuated every five minutes with "NO, you may NOT come out yet!" and wonder what you're going to do for the NEXT two and a half months! (Hint: It may involve rum.) Oh, I kid. I'm a huge kidder. I haven't touched...
I made a critical error today. Today was too much fun for Monkey. Like, all-day-long bouncing happy shiny FUN FUN FUN. Which means that tomorrow, I am screwed. [Don't believe me? Here's what happened at bedtime: Monkey: MAMA! I LOVED TODAY! Tomorrow will be EVEN BETTER! Me: Um, well, I loved today too, Buddy, but tomorrow might be less exciting. Monkey: No WAY! Let's do it all again tomorrow! Me: We'll see. Monkey: Maybe we can do MORE! Me: *softly weeping*] So if you don't hear from me tomorrow, it's because I decided to take Monkey to Disneyland.... So tomorrow is Chickadee's last! day!...
(Almost.) You guys. YOU GUYS. I love you all. Bright, shiny Italian leather shoes (purchased on clearance) for everyone! I am so overwhelmed and THRILLED at the reception you gave Want Not today. It's been in the works for a long time, and I was sort of experiencing that whole "I've stared at it for so long I can no longer see it" phenomenon. And so I sent it out into the world last night and promptly FREAKED OUT, worried that my baby was loose in the cold, harsh world and a bully would shove her off the monkey bars. And what did you do? You patted her on the head and fed her cookies and...
I know this is going to come as a HUGE SHOCK, but I'm not exactly the most optimistic person in the world. I KNOW! I hide it really well. And you may be dismayed to learn I sometimes don't have that joy joy joy joy down in my heart, but it's okay. Do not fret. Because SOMETIMES, I wake up in the morning JUST KNOWING that today will be a Good Day. I cast aside my usual angst and embrace the morning. It's a new day; a fresh start; and I am READY. This morning was one of those days. Today would be the turning point. After a couple of weeks of ongoing suckitude, today would be the day I'd look...
Dear Chickadee, This week you have lied about all manner of things both important and inconsequential, insisted on wearing overalls two sizes too small to school, tormented your brother, and generally driven me insane. So it was with some trepidation that I asked you to put napkins in the lunchboxes, this morning, while I ran upstairs to get dressed. I cannot even explain to you how I felt when Monkey's teacher pulled me aside to let me know that you'd tucked a little note into his lunch. It is that seed of unbounded love that I pray will become the mainstay of your behavioral motivation. In...
[Well, except for this: And lo, on the third day, the water table did begin to recede. As of about 2:00 this afternoon, the pumps are actually removing water instead of just maintaining. I expect to hit concrete tomorrow. Never before have I been so excited by the prospect of seeing floor. I turned the pump off at 12:30 because I was afraid to let it run all night, and the water was down to half an inch. This morning? Four inches. KILL. ME.] Anyway. Hi! The kids went back to school today, so I decided to pretend Life Is Normal. After all, life IS normal. Right? Work to be done. Dishes to be...
