My fatal mistake was making it all public

That list. It's sitting down there mocking me. Stupid, stupid me to get so ambitious out here in the open where everyone can see! Monday was a fail, right? Then Tuesday morning, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. to puke. (Oh, hello there! Got your attention didn't it?) I felt better by noon, stayed careful by having broth and Sprite for lunch. Tuesday evening, KT puked all over the couch. And then twice in her bed. The parents' gold-medal event is always Puke Patrol in the middle of the night right? We went in there like a well-trained team -- he handled the sheet-changing, I handled the kid-clean-up, wham-bam, back into bed in 10 minutes or less. Annnnnnd... Wednesday, AJ's school nurse called and DH had to pick him up. Puke again! Which is how I find myself working from home with him today. What a week.

I guess the photo albums are going to have to wait, huh?

AJ and I are going to work for a while (he's on the Mac, I'm on my work laptop, on opposite sides of the kitchen table - cute!), I hope he'll do some coloring -- he's been really into coloring this little comic book lately -- and we'll probably head to Wal-Mart for a few essentials (LYSOL WIPES) later today.

I'm just thankful it's a little stomach bug that seems to go away, and not H1N1. Since we never did get our shots.

What're you doing today?

Monday fail

I did none of the things on my list. Wait, I read a chapter of my book. Felt crappy due to a lingering -- impending? -- cold, and just went to bed early. Hoping to make the salad quick-like tonight before dinner. Sock drawer, bills, and laundry... well, thank goodness for DH doing laundry. :) Still. Gotta have goals.

Just don't sit down

Monday
check bills
make black bean salad for Tues. dinner
yoga, book

Tuesday
bath night/vacuum downstairs
organize sock drawer (yes, seriously)
laundry
yoga, book

Wednesday
vacuum upstairs
put photos in photo album (1 year behind OMG)
yoga

Thursday
more photos/laundry
yoga?
Project Runway

Friday
yoga, book

If I can keep from sitting down on the couch all week, I'll be fine.

Lent again

I'm surprised that the only previous blog post about Lent that I could find was this one. I feel like I write about it every year, but I've been combing through my categories and finding nothing. At any rate, it's our first Lent with a child who is learning what Lent is. It means we have to actually practice it, ahem.

AJ came home on Mardi Gras saying his only homework was to choose something to give up for Lent. I thought it was odd that they're still mostly teaching the "give up" theory of Lent, when all we adults hear these days is, "It's not a diet; do something MORE, don't just give up chocolate."

Well, I gave up chocolate. AJ decided he's giving up his DS, which, if any of you has a 5 year old boy, perhaps you know what a MAJOR sacrifice this actually is. And did you also know that Lent is 53 days this year? We counted. I am already impressed with him for even thinking of it. I hope it doesn't come back to bite me this Saturday with a big WHINE FEST. I gave up the chocolate because I thought it only fair for me to give up something tangible, and DIFFICULT, that he can witness. DH gave up Vault, by the way -- his first "give up" too, as a lifelong non-Catholic who is now raising Catholic kids. Bless him.

But the other thing I want to give up is Wasting Time. It's directly related to my Monday and Tuesday -- I was feeling unusually listless at work, unable to start any of my projects, flipping windows in IE with plenty to do but no place I wanted to go. I know a lot of people give up the entire Internet, or Facebook, or blogging, but I can't really go there. I have to be on FB for my job, actually, and I think it would be impossible not to check on my own peeps once in a while. However, getting sidetracked to the point of reading the same status updates twice in one day? Not acceptable. Surfing Google Reader for more than 10 minutes during the workday (eek, yes, I do this) -- no longer. Blogging to say not much at all, when I have work to be done? Won't work in this scenario. All are poor uses of my time. (I sound like my second grade teacher, Sister Anne Mary! God Bless her!)

Does it help others? Is it a spiritual exercise? Probably not. Still. I'm posting here at 9:00 pm while I watch Project Runway. I won't be able to do that every night, but I also don't want to fall asleep on the couch at 9 every night. I should go to BED if I'm sleepy. Or stand up and go get a photo album organized for 20 minutes. No time wasting! I like it. Yesterday (Ash Wed.) and today, at work, with my plan in place, I got a lot done. Hoping the momentum will continue. It might be a little thin around here until Chocolate Day Easter, but I won't completely disappear. I would be interested in hearing if you have any Lent traditions or goals.

Butternut Squash Soup could cure a lot of ill in this world

Anyone out there have a fantastic recipe for butternut squash soup? Please send it my way. I just finished a lovely bowl of it at Atlanta Bread Company, which admittedly included a hunk of sourdough bread (not a loaf bowl -- I still have SOME dieting scruples), and probably also a lot of cream and salt. But it was sweet and thick and delicious, and I need to know how to make it myself during these cold winter days.

Winter seems different this year, yes? Sooooo cold! I know a lot of the country has had it worse than us. We've had it great, actually -- all of the "pretty" and none of the "power outage/no school for days on end" nonsense. Our snow was sticky and wet, perfect for the Georgia kids to actually get to build a snowman. For two days, us parents motivated ourselves to take them outside because we knew we had to -- kids need the chance to do this, at least once in their lives. So we did it, with all the subsequent shedding of wet clothing in laundry rooms. And just like that, it's gone again. Still cold today, but the sidewalks and trees look like nothing ever happened.

I love watching the Olympics, especially when it feels outside the same way it looks on the TV. Brrrr! Bring me my blanket and a cup of cocoa (who says "cup of cocoa?") -- and turn on the Men's Half-Pipe. Oh, okay, Figure Skating (who am I kidding). I do laugh, however, at the Visa commercial -- they're giving away tickets to the Winter Games "For The Rest of Your LIFE." Ummmm.... a chance to go stand in a crowd, 30 rows back, on a snowy hillside every year? In various Arctic locales? Doesn't sound like something I'm that keen on winning. You keep those tickets, Morgan Freeman. I will take my 40-inch HD view and Bob Costas' goofy fireside interludes any day.

Quick posty before worky

So much to doooooo! So much to doooooo! I miss blogging with purpose. That is, blogging other than just to "say hi" or record events for posterity. I remember when I used to actually WRITE here.

Oh well. Blog Guilt-Free! Moving on: I woke up today with 2 things to look forward to: lunch with 2 coworkers at a Mexican place (yum), and my parents' arrival tonight (and probably dinner out, as well). Yay! They're coming for KT's birthday weekend! She's TWO! So hard to believe, but on the other hand, a lot has happened in those 2 years, and she did say this morning, "I wannna wear Pink Dress," so she must be two, because babies can't say such adorable, grown-up things. Also, I would like to go shopping nowkthanks.

We're doing pink and yellow for the family-only party, due to KT's wish for a Sponge Bob cake. Perils of having an older brother, I guess. She is super excited about her "Bir-day com-eenup."

I feel like AJ has been getting ignored by me lately. I know it isn't true, and that 2 years ago I wailed things like, "When will he EVAR learn to play by himself so I don't have to entertain him?!?" I guess that's what has happened, Thank Heavens, and I'm certain I can look forward to more loosening of those apron strings as time continues to go by. But my Mom-guilt won't let it happen without saying something: I hope I pay enough attention to him. His Dad was army-volunteered to assistant coach T-ball this year, so that's some good father-son time he'll get, at least. DH said he really loves that they can sometimes hang out and just talk "like two dudes hanging out." I melted when he said that.

I think AJ's also getting taller. Finally! I mean, he's still a tiny little dude, but he's definitely growing some.

So, happy Valentine's weekend, and Birday weekend for us, and stay warm out there!

I'm stuck on water-related posts

Last night we had a chat about travel. We don't do a lot of it, unless it involves grandparents and kids. We drive to one of their houses, or meet them in Destin or DisneyWorld -- and that has been the extent of our vacationing since 2005. I've been absolutely cool with that. Traveling costs money, and requires taking time off work, and we haven't had a lot of either one to spare.

HOWEVER! Guess what is coming up in 2011? Our tenth anniversary. Here at the office, we've been doing some promos about a cruise, and my friend is going to Sandals in Jamaica next month, and my other friend is taking a honeymoon cruise this Valentine's weekend.

It's still a long way off, but we've always thought we should "do something fancy" for our 10th. We might be willing to try a cruise, although I'm hesitant about the size of the cabins and the motion-sick-inducing ocean. So if not that, it's going to be an all-inclusive somewhere, and I already can't wait. Granted, we beach-it every summer for a week, but not just the two of us. Not where we can lay on the sand and fall asleep, and then swim over to the pool-bar and get another daquiri. And GOOD LORD, SLEEP IN. And have Brunch.

Both Tess and Jess have mentioned having PLANS to look forward to, and I'm very excited to be joining them.

I'm posting it here to force it to come true. Because certain people hold me to the things I post here. For instance, last night DH rolled up his pants legs and GOT INTO THE BATH to wash the kids' hair. And lo, they laughed. Hmph.

And the devil will drag you under...?*

Do your kids have trouble getting their hair washed? Man alive, mine do. AJ has never liked baths -- not since his very first washcloth bath in the hospital, I don't think. Not when we got him home and carefully laid him in a terrycloth-lined baby tub, with honey scented Baby Wash and adorable towels that matched his very own bathroom decor. Not as he got older and learned to splash. He has always been too concerned that his head was getting wet, or his eyes, or any part of his face.

It has finally gotten a little better for him in the last year (he's now 5 and a half), and it's partly because he's such a good big brother. He lets KT dump water on his head, actually. It mostly rolls off the front -- I guess the way his hair is cut allows for that -- and thank God, because if it gets in his face he STILL says, "GET ME A TOWEL. TOWEL, MOMMY, I NEEDATOWEL." And he means a dry one. Only a dry towel will do. He won't wipe even one drop of water with his own hands, because they're wet and I guess that doesn't make sense to him.

KT hasn't been quite that severe about her displeasure in the bath, but it seems like when it comes to the washing-hair portion of our program, she always cries. I obviously use tear-free shampoo, and I try to be so careful. I ask them to lean their heads back (using a cup to rinse the shampoo out). I put my hand at the top of their foreheads to stop any drips from entering the facial region. I attempt not to get any water in their ears. AJ requires a (dry) towel over his eyes during the rinsing, and I comply with that.

I just don't understand what is the BIG DEAL? It's warm water, right? I would think it feels nice. They're not drowning in the ocean depths. I have tried singing, being silly, letting them "practice" on a toy/doll, letting them do it themselves... anything I could think of short of getting in the tub with them, which is NOT going to happen. My Mom used to lay us on the countertop with our heads hanging over the kitchen sink. Just like being at a salon. AJ likes that, but KT, so far, freaks out at the upside-down sensation.

So I need some parental advice. I'm wayyyy too late asking about this, but I'm finally tired enough of the bathtime drama, and some of our friends with 4-year-olds report their kids taking their own SHOWERS! I can't even fathom (heh). Before *I* drown, throw me a life-raft. Help!


*One of the boat songs I sometimes sing them in the bath is "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat," from Guys & Dolls. It's fun, useful (Sit Down), and I happen to know all the words. "Dreamed last night I was on the boat to heaven... And the people all said sit down, sit down you're rocking the boat.... And the devil will drag you under by the sharp lapels of your checkered coat! Sitdown sitdown sitdown sitdown, sit down you're rocking the boat." Maybe it's that one line that's scaring them??