Arrivals

Refresh, refresh, refresh.

The JetBlue home page is going to boot me off any second because I keep checking on Colleen and Jacks arrival.

Very excited to have the two of them for a long weekend-- and to see the little man crawl! Nana is going be even more excited than me-- she talks about her great-grandkids all the time.

Outlet covers installed...check. Small toys (mostly) out of reach...check. Stocked fridge...check.
I'm READY!

Privacy, please?

When did my right to bathroom privacy go out the window? Oh right. Probably when Natalie came shooting out of my va-jay-jay.

It's a good potty training tool to show your child the ins and outs of the bathroom. But somewhere between education and every day life, my bathroom door has become a revolving one. If you make it a quick visit you can get in and out relatively unscathed. Stay in for longer than a few minutes, and she's right up in your grill. "What are you doing Mama? What's that smell?"

Argh...

Tonight, to cap off a stressful day, and a late husband... my daughter refused to eat dinner. We must have sat there for an hour trying to coax her. I was really gearing up for some Mommy-time.. You know...the kind where I can mentally and physically check out and have a glass of wine (or two!).

As we concluded dinner and counted it as a loss I began the clean up. Right around then Hubby declares he's off to the men's room. This seems to trigger Nat hanging on my leg begging for help with xyz... Great Mommy moment here: I just brush her off and say.. "Go find your father".

While I'm hauling recyclables out to the street Natalie comes running out to tell me that I need to help her because Dad is on the potty.

HUH? Since when does the dad get a pass for bathroom breaks and the mom is always handed the Go to Jail, Go Directly to Jail...Do Not Pass Go!! card?

I need to come back in my next life as a man.

Are you settled yet?

I think its a question that is raised by people who have not moved in many, many years.

At current post, I have about 30 boxes stacked in my foyer with curtains draped on my dining room table and dust collecting in every corner. (no matter how much I swiffer)

Its been 2 months since we closed on the house, but it is really proving to be an undertaking to get "settled". As the honey-do list grows, the weekend hours seem to dwindle as we participate in fun summer activities. Thankfully, this was a 3 day weekend, so we have tried to maximize every hour with a few trips to Lowe's, one unsuccessful trip to Home Depot (why do we even bother going there at all?) and lots of elbow grease.

Ok, I can't admit to much elbow grease. Over lunch I said to Kevin..'Wow, what a relaxing Sunday...' and he glared at me in his paint covered shirt as he then recounted how bad his back hurt from standing on the ladder to paint. Whoops. I guess I'm a good art director and not such a good laborer.

Should have some new pics to post of our office soon.... Furniture arrives Wednesday and then we can unpack some of the 30 boxes that constitute our "library/office" schtuff....

What were you thinking lady?

Have you been to the mall lately? I haven't... its honestly been a while. But since I was there last, it seems that the quantity of kiosks has grown significantly. As if with our depression....err, recession, small business owners have taken to the streets with their wares and ALL landed at the mall.

For the most part, I've got the whole process down smooth:
- Don't make eye contact
- Walk fast, especially if they are trying to make eye contact with you.
- A quick, "no thank you" if they actually try to stir up conversation

As we have been outfiting the new house, we have had to make a few trips to the mall recently. On one such trip Natalie was doing a good job listening and when the Fruit Smoothie woman offered her a little sample off of her tray I was actually thankful. Nat got a sweet treat, and I spent $0.

Fast forward one week. We're back at the mall. And since we had no appointments that day we strolled a bit through the mall. (That was mistake #1). Mistake #2 was thinking that these kiosk people had common sense. We meandered past a woman holding a sample tray of something. I honestly was doing really good at my "Don't make eye contact" and "walk fast" rules that I didn't care to notice. We were approached with some verbal cues, but both my mom and I both said "No thank you".

What happened next was incredible. My 3 year old daughter held her hand up...the woman handed her a sample cup and Natalie licked it thinking it was a smoothie. It was hand lotion.

I FUH-REAKED OUT and screamed Nooooooo!! (you know how low and slow it comes out in slow motion?) Then I tried wiping it off her tongue before she swallowed. The scowl on my face didn't do my emotions justice. Natalie thought my screaming fit was directed at her so she immediately burst into tears thinking she did something wrong. (Nothing a little FlaVorIce couldn't fix when we got home).

Dear Kiosk Lady: If two adults deny your product, what makes you think that you have any right to hand the sample to a child?