Prescription filled

I did it. I took the day off yesterday. It was so simple. So full, of time, and breath, and quiet and nothing. I felt 9:00 am, outdoors. It's delicous. I took a walk. I stretched afterwards. I did the grocery shopping, without a list. Felt dangerous. But mostly comforting to fill the family's pantry once again. I had lunch with two girlfriends I hadn't seen in 7 years, at a bakery. I ate dessert. I went to the park and read my book for MORE THAN AN HOUR, uninterrupted, except to breathe in the sunshine and fallen leaves, and to brush little green aphids off the page. That's it. That's all I did.

It was an enormous gift, that simple day. Enormous.

Bed Time

WELL. It's high time to move that video down the page, so I suppose I can think of something else to write about.

Think....

Think...

Ermmmm....

This is not going so well, is it? Of course I'm scattered because of the lack of sleep... two nights in a row, there's been an interloper in my bed. Gosh, I love that girl, but she's killing me softly. It'd be fine if she just came in and went to sleep, but she comes in and wants to chit-chat.

Last night it was [stage whisper] "Mommy! Help me find my CHAPTER BOOK." I had given her one at bedtime, because she was requesting a Chapter Book. "Like AJ's," she specified, "No pictures." I tried handing her an old copy of  "Little House on the Prairie" -- refused. Picutres. I tried a paperback "Nate the Great" from AJ's bookshelf. Refused. So you know what I gave her? Salman Rushdie. "Haroun and the Sea of Stories." (Which is excellent, if you've never read it.) She was satisfied with that one and went to bed with it.

Evidently, it walked off sometime before 4:00 am.

We suspect the solution could be so simple, in getting her a new big girl bed and pretty new covers that she'll adore (I'm leaning toward a full-size, even though in her tiny bedroom, she really needs a lofted bed in order to preserve any sort of play-space). It feels like in order to get a new bed, we'll have to immediately redecorate the whole room. I want an armoire, new bookshelves, new toy storage... But I know I should just get the bed. At least then if she needs someone to sleep with, there will be room for two people in her own bed, or an empty bed for me to retreat into if when she takes over mine.

I've tried to look at furniture online, but I end up looking at Pottery Barn Kids photos, when I should be looking at plain mattress photos. And I'd love to create a room from shabby-chic and DIY and antiqued pieces that I spruce up with my own creativity and spray paint, but... I get stifled and discouraged by the idea of doing it all at once, which would be pretty impossible. But maybe if I just start with a mattress/box springs, and a comforter from the french boutique, Target, I can take the decor part a little more slowly.

So perhaps this first task will be prioritized here in the next few days. Like, perhaps tomorrow. Mom, I think you and I will be making a stop at the local mattress store during our Saturday shopping.

For Cayt, and for being a follower! The Silly Accent Vlog

Aaaaaccccckkk! Embarrassing! But I totally did want to do this, depsite my protestations yesterday. Hi, Mom, here is my accent! The first one of these I watched last Friday was Jonniker's, and then I went into a time-warp and watched about 15 of them, some from bloggers I don't even know. So interesting! Amusing! Anyway, I thank Cayt for prodding me one time, because it was all I needed to satisfy the need to film myself (?!! why?). Hee hee.



Here are the instructions:

Say the following words: Aunt, route, wash, oil, theatre, iron, salmon, caramel, fire, water, sure, data, ruin, crayon, toilet, New Orleans, pecan, both, again, probably, spitting image, Alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, syrup, pajamas, caught

And answer these questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that curls into a ball when you touch it?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?

p.s. I forgot "ruin." But I say, "roo-in," not "run," as some of my friends do. I actually love when I hear an authentic, "ruint." I even have a Mississsippi friend who jokes and says, "rur-nt." HAAAAA!

p.s.s. I don't say, "see-rup," what was I thinking? I realized after watching this a few times, and going BACK to re-watch Arwen's, again (and others' too... obsessed much???), that I had told HER in her comments, that I couldn't IMAGINE saying "see-rup," that "suh-rup" was the ONLY WAY. So I'm feeling the need to atone for and apologize for this grave mistake.

Monday the 17th

I enjoyed all the Accent Vlogs last week! I feel like I'd be presumptious to do one, myself, considering that a good portion of my readership knows me IRL. Heh. "Hey, Mom, here's what my accent sounds like." Plus, living in the South, it's pretty clear that I'll say "cokes" and "y'all." I might surprise you with "pajamas," though. (Short "a" jammies, but "ah" for pajamas. I can't reconcile the two.)

Yatt is telling me about her trip to Urgent Care last week (Friday), after she had spent the day hacking up a lung just on the other side of my cube wall. She evidently had infected tonsils and a fever of 101. Awesome. Where is my hand sanitizer? Every time she coughed last week, I squirted my hands. I wasn't having direct contact with her hands, and I know hand gel can't stop the contagions from flying around through the cube walls into my AIR, but... instinct, I guess. I should have remembered the Lysol spray this morning.

Our weekend was deliciously calm. Both days, we emplyed Divide and Conquer -- AJ and DH to jiu jitsu, and KT and I to Bed Bath and Beyond. (I shopped! For fun, decorative stuff!) In the afternoon, the kids played with the neighbors outside while DH mowed, and I vacuumed inside. I didn't mind! I was GLAD to get the house cleaned up! No one was whining for me to hold them or play with them! Then the babysitter came over, and DH and I went to a new (to us) restaurant, and to see The Help. What a movie. Loved it. It was as good as the book, no question. The casting was brilliant. Sunday was Mass, then the boys went to watch a football game and KT had a birthday party to attend. Afterwards, she crashed on the couch and I got to READ! And do 25 minutes of exercise, which was lovely!

So, another Monday begins this busy workweek. I'm so excited to see my parents on Thursday -- they're coming in to help us with AJ's "fall break," which isn't billed as such but is a 4-day weekend for the students. Us parents are held hostage by having to attend Parent-Teacher Conferences on Friday. There are guests in the office today (ugh) and I have lots of errands to do on lunch breaks. I'm thankful for:

• Time to tend our home, and space to let the kids run.
• A cartful (not a buggy) of groceries last night at 9:30, even though I wish I could cut down on the cost (coupons?).
• Joy in our singing at Mass yesterday, despite some fun(ny) drama!
• Time with my husband Saturday night, just to sit near each other and share an appetizer, and be.
• A delicious cup of coffee. Well, okay, 3 cups. :)

Notes from an Introvert Mom

• Am I the only one who hates Halloween costume parties? Bleeerrrggg. I mean, seriously, I WINCE at the thought of dressing up and then having to also make polite conversation with people. (I am hoping for some rah-rah enthusiasm from all of you other Internet-shy-introverted-and hate to make phone calls types.) It's weird because I was such a theater-nerd in high school -- I LIVED to dress up and play a character. But... no more. I've got invitations to two "Costumes Required" parties, both on the same night, unfortunately; they are people I would like to socialize with, but *whiiiiiine* not wearing extra eye-liner and wrinkled polyester! What to do...? If you DO like dressing up, what was your very best costume idea as an adult?
• We had KT's first Parent-Teacher Conference this morning. (Three year old preschool!) We haven't loved her teacher thus far -- she has NOT seemed as warm and loving as some of the previous teachers we've loved, although I've been somewhat willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, seeing as how she SPENDS HER ENTIRE DAY WITH FIFTEEN 3-Year-olds. Perhaps I would not be all sunshine and rainbows at the end of those days (or the beginning, frankly, either) if I were in her position.
  
  However, the conference went well and she said some very nice things about my girl. She's a leader. She is very social, very emotionally aware, proud of her work, very creative, and very smart. She is writing her name without help, except for a little help with the "K." She is able to count from 1 to 39. She recognizes all the letter sounds and letters. She is starting to learn patterns in "math." She can draw the 3yo version of a person (head, arms, legs -- and she adds hands and feet!) She is a talker -- both in knowing the answers to questions, and in never shutting up. They said it's just part of being THREE, but that they also do envision future report cards with "Talks too much in class." I'm told the teacher has had to resort to "KT, Zip It!" when she just won't stop.

Hee, hee. And oh, dear.

Tangled and Teary

Man, Disney has done it again... here I am, nearly 2 years late to the Tangled party, but I have to share. We watched it several months back for the first time, and of course I loved it. The kids did, too. And so this weekend, when it was just me and KT -- the boys went away on a Scouting overnight -- we watched it once on Saturday and once on Sunday. [Aside -- do your kids do this, too? Get obsessed with a movie or show and want to watch the SAME EPISODE or the WHOLE 2 HOURS over and over and over again? Or is that just mine? I have also seen the two "Good Luck, Charlie" episodes available on Xfinity On Demand about four frillion times in the last 2 weeks.] Anyway, what I was going to say is that this movie, much like Finding Nemo before it, makes me WEEP! Good grief with the mother-daughter issues, and the keeping-kids-safe dilemma, and the kids-finding-their-independence and becoming-their-own-people and now-they-can-never-go-back-to-the-way-it-was!! Not to mention the holy giving of one's own life to save another's-es!! Yeesh! I am a complete MESS by the end of it, and so KT is awfully confused about what's a happy ending and whether or not Mommy needs a teddy bear and a blankie. It kills me when she comes to sit in my lap because she sees that I am sad. Kills me!!

Craving creativity

I guess Pinterest has done this to me... I'm feeling like I want to start doing more crafts and projects.

Well, okay, I'm partly motivated because KT needs a new big-girl bedOMGsheisstillsleepinginourroommostnights. Partly. Motivated. !! But Pinterest helps. I mean, you just see such adorable things there, many of which don't look hard, but require some time and effort.

I get hung up on that part, the time and effort part. But I think, "Well, Lee, if you really WANT IT, go out and GET IT." Isn't that the theme of our generation? Pshaw, you don't have time. Make the time. I have been thinking, if I'd just SAY on a Saturday, "I'm going to Michael's (or the antique store, or wherever) and then this afternoon I am going to paint something...." I have very little project-gumption, I guess, but I would like to have more. And if I want to do these kinds of things -- if they would make me happy (ier), I should definitely fit them in, right?

The other thing I love about Pinterest is that fact that I'm adding some visual beauty to my days. Even if it's just on my little iPhone screen, I'm enjoying seeing pretty things more often. Because I don't subscribe, unfortunately, to Architectural Digest like my elegant Mom did when she was my age. :)

I need a small, achievable something to get me started, and this one seems like the perfect thing.

It would be lover-ly in pinks and greens and lilacs and maybe a brown and a white, in KT's big-girl room, wouldn't it?? I am excited and hope to buy the supplies soon.

Art History, and my idea for a Music Project

When my sister and I were small (probably first and third grades, or so), my clever Mom purchased a teaching guide of some sort, for Art History. It included what seem, in my memory, to have been 9 x 13" prints of works of art from many of the great masters -- Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Picasso, Cassat and Modigliani (impressive, right?). Mom instituted some sort of schedule, hung up the prints of the week (or maybe the month) around our house, with their names, dates and painters written underneath, and then we had little quizzes from time to time. It went on quite a while and I loved it.

We learned "Whistler's Mother" and "Still Life with Peppermint Bottle." I remember many of the works vividly; others not so much, but I can certainly identify styles and guess at who might've painted something, if I see it in a museum or book. I never took Art History 101 in college, which I do regret, but I still feel like I have a healthy basic knowledge, and that serves my humanities-leaning soul (?) well.

I recently had the idea to adapt the Art History plan for Music Literature, for my own kids.

There are certain works I would like them to recognize. Things that are obvious to me when they come on the radio: The Nutcracker Suite. Beethoven's 5th. Baroque period vs. Romantic. Aaron Copland! Granted, my kids are smaller right now than we were during our Art History lessons, but with music, it's never too early to start seeping it into their little ears!

They already listen to their own CDs when going to bed (only until the CD ends; I don't keep it on all night or anything) -- AJ's into kid-pop and has some Justin Bieber, some I Don't Even Know Who Else, China Anne Somebody or other? and some other tunes he picked out. KT's listening to a Disney compilation at the moment or sometimes Laurie Berkner. I want them to continue to choose their own music at times, too, but I am thinking that at dinnertime, maybe one or two nights a week, I'll just casually turn on a CD of Debussy's Children's Corner, or The Nutcracker, or Rodeo by Aaron Copland, and let it play while we eat. I might or might not make namecards for the composers, and set them up (casually!) on the kitchen counter while those songs play.

I'm so excited about this and have played the Debussy a couple of times already (they're enjoying the feel of the words "Golliwogs' Cake Walk" on their tongues when I tell them the name and they repeat it back to me).

I'm going to have to get on iTunes because I know I threw out the one (cheap) Nutcracker CD I had, years ago (the orchestration was not up to par - I think it was a reader's digest version, y'know? Not the real deal). And my classical collection is lacking in several other departments.

AJ has remained uninterested in piano lessons, much to my dismay. I hope I can convince (or force?) KT to take them, but until then, I'm happy to start them off with a little music appreciation.