Smellyann Strikes Again

Already Falling Behind

Whoops, I'm a day behind already and we've only been back since Monday!

Wednesday was a busy one for me. We got up pretty early for us on a Wednesday morning (8:30 ish) and had breakfast. Afterward, since Barbara was coming, we had to do some cleaning up. Not a terrible amount, since Stephanie did an awesome job of keeping the place neat while we were gone, but we had gotten some toys out and had a lot to put away still from the trip. The kids were a great help. When they are in the mood to clean up, you can't beat them! When they are not in the mood, you want to! Hehe, kidding of course.

Barbara came while I was still downstairs in my nighty, picking things up, so we said our hellos and how-do-you-dos, and then I high-tailed it up into a shower. Oh, the cool water felt so good. I love a cold shower in the summer, especially after working up a sweat doing some cleaning or something. Do you? Am I the only one? My husband HATES them and will take the hottest shower possible, no matter how hot he already is.

So after my shower, I unpacked my suitcases and put them away, piddled around doing a few more things so she could clean in there, and left.  The kids love going for rides in the car, so I planned several errands for Barbara Day.

First stop: New glasses for Chloë! The day we left for Spain (hi, my trip is over and I'm still excited about it), I had taken her to For Eyes to pick them up. Well, guess what? They were the wrong effing prescription!  Someone had put minuses where there should have been plusses, and my girl said, "Uh, these are not the glasses I ordered. I can't see a thing!" What?! Sure enough, when the tech checked them, they were for near-sighted folks and not my extremely far-sighted little darling. So, anyway, they never called Stephanie in our absence, and she was still wearing the old-old glasses (the old glasses broke) of yore.

[I'd show you a really cute picture of her in her glasses, because I think they look just DARLING on her, but now I can't upload pictures to the computer from my camera at all. Freaking technology!! I finally get Typepad settled down, by switching to Firefox instead of IE once again, and now the computer doesn't recognize that there are pictures on my camera to upload. Thankfully the Europe ones worked, but now I have to settle that mess. Another pictureless blog for you, sorry!]

After that, we headed to the library, to bring back the last book before it was due the following day. I don't relish paying those kinds of fees at all. Well, any fees, come to think of it, but certainly not something totally avoidable. Anyway, I let Chloë out at the curb so she could put her book in the drop box, a new 'chore' she loves to do. I also recently started letting her cross the street by herself, to put out the outgoing mail, and I know she feels so grown up doing it!

Meanwhile, there are kids younger than her doing far more adventurous things on their own, but ours is a busy street, and what can I say? I don't like the idea of a squashed Chloë.

The babies started yammering about being hungry (always wanting to be fed, that lot), so before I knew what was happening, Vanna started turning away from the grocery store and toward our favorite Barbara Day locale: Panera. Oh, Panera, how I missed you during our fortnight away!  Lunch was good, very, very good, and the kids ate all their food. Love that!

A silly old goose of a lady stopped by our table and said, "Look at all your children! They're all yours? Did they all come at the same time?" I just smirked and said "no," but Chloë felt the need to be more informative: "I'm six and a half. I'm the oldest. He's five, and she's three. And he had a twin brother, but he died." The lady looked at me, made a face, shrugged, and walked away, saying, "How nice." I had to laugh, before I turned to Chloë and, yet again, explained that we don't need to tell Every. Single. Person. that we meet about Robby. "But why?" she asked. I blurted out, "Because it's none of their damn business!" And you know what? It's not.

But I know I'll be explaining that one for a while.

I had planned to go grocery shopping, to get a few things in the house that we needed and in preparation for Bunco, but Jack was rubbing his eyes at the table. His father called to check in, and when I asked him if he'd mind going to the store for me when he got home, because his son was tired and needed a nap, Jack snapped, "I'm NOT tired!!"

In the car, five minutes later, he was sound asleep and snoring his little sweet snore.

So we drove home, where I chided the kids as usual for walking on my freshly-cleaned carpet with their shoes on, and settled the kids down for naps. They all must have been tired, because I didn't hear a peep out of them. Zonk.

I would have liked to nap myself, but it was time to set up for Bunco! It took me about 15 minutes, but I finally lugged the big-ass treadmill out of the middle of the room, to the side by the back door. I opened the two new packages of card table and chairs, setting one up on the living room and the other in the office. I took all the booster seats off the kitchen chairs, and set out the Bunco dice, pencils, and bell. Ready! Now I just needed that food.

I was hoping people would be late as usual to Bunco, but every single person showed up right on time! Gah! I was still rushing around, making the vodka punch for Drunko Bunko, and putting out the dishes and forks and server-ware stuff, while the house was filling up with food. I have decided, since we're not leaving this area, at least we need to buy a bigger house so I can properly host Bunco. There just is not a lot of room here!

No? You don't think so? Well, at least I have managed to talk my husband into new carpets. Ours are SHOT. Maybe we'll go for wood floors, though. We'll see. And kitchen appliances are next on the list. Ours SUUUUCK.

Anyway, Bunco was a lot of fun. If you remember my blogging about hosting it last September, I was a nervous wreck!!  This time was so different. I didn't have time to stress about it, Barbara had cleaned the place up, and there was just one issue: the litter box. Ugh. It was full to bursting after two weeks away, and though I emptied it, the smell lingered on. Even my new Oust Air & Surface cleaner didn't take the stench away, dagnabbit, and I found out from Stephanie that they were talking about it during Bunco! Ahhhh! How embarassing. I sent out an email after Bunco, apologizing to everyone about it!

I had bought enough Bunco prizes in Europe for everyone to go away with something. Usually, there are seven prizes, to split amongst 12 people. I bought extras, a little from Spain, some from France, from Italy, from Greece, and from Croatia, so that each person would get something. They loved this idea! They all oohed and ahhed as I brought the items out of the bag where I'd hidden them, and when I asked 15 times if they liked the prizes, they all assured me that they did. Stephanie won top prize, so she picked out a coconut necklace from Nice and a leather-and-beads bracelet from Croatia. Looks great on her, with her coloring, too! (Yes, I actually bought something leather. I know!)

Oh. Drunko Bunko: Steph and I had made prior arrangements to get completely smashed and have her spend the night. I was buzzed early on, but I get red-faced and sweaty when I drink, so I decided to save my drinking for the private post-party.  Stephanie, not so much. She was HAMMERED. And hilarious. We were all laughing at her, and she was laughing at herself. (Now that you know she won first prize, you can see how little skill this game requires!) When everyone left, she insisted on pouring me some more punch. Spiked with the Limoncello from Sicily. Ahh, good stuff. I was toast shortly afterward.  I haven't been that way since I turned 21 ten years ago, and we had a good time, just laaaaughing and laaaaaughing and being silly and raunchy. Rob joined in on the party - not the drinking, just the funning - and the three of us giggled ourselves into oblivion. I have a few funny pictures, but again, I can't show them tonight!

Soon enough, we were passed out on our respective couches, and Rob went upstairs to bed. When he got up at 0400 for work, Steph woke up and texted him that the shower and my snoring were keeping her awake! So he ushered her upstairs to our bed, where she spent the rest of the night.

This morning, I woke up first, when Sophia and Jack got right in my face singing, "Good morning, Mommy, we're hungry!!" Chloë joined shortly afterward, and then Steph made her way down. We had a very unhealthy breakfast of Bunco leftovers, and then we sat at the new card table in the office and made a stickers-and-foam Christmas craft that my MIL had sent months ago (obviously) for project time. I have pictures of this, too, but alas...  We all helped, and it came together quickly. The kids did a really good job, even though Jack threw in the towel early to go play with cars.

After that it was lunch time, and I think I made five different things for lunch. But no matter. Everyone ate something healthy, and their bellies were filled. Time to go to the pool! We suited up the kids and sprayed them down with sunscreen, before getting ready ourselves. Of course, we neglected to use SPF on our own bodies, and that was our fatal mistake.

Man, after two weeks in the Mediterranean and no burn (and no sunscreen then, either, because I am apparently stupid), it was pretty annoying to get such a bad burn today after ONE HOUR at the pool on an overcast day!  Just goes to show you, you can never be too careful or sure where the sun is going to get you. But I am fried, and Steph got herself a nice sunburn, too, for the sixth time in her life. A couple of dumb bunnies we are!

Fortunately, the kids were unharmed. Sophie did get a little color, but Sophie always gets a little color. She tans, though - and yes, I know, even a tan is a sign of sun damage. But it's far better than a burn, especially on one so small.

Anyway, we came home, gave the kiddies a snack, and sent them down for much-needed naps. Again, they were quite worn out and didn't make a peep! Stephanie left then, and I tried a dozen times more to post on the European blog, with no success. But if you'll check, I have finished posting about Day One now, so go read!

Argh, I'm yawning my head off, so it's time to cut this pictureless saga short. Long? Not much happened the rest of the day, anyway, other than my getting the chills so bad that Rob had to lay on top of me to get me warm. I'm better now, and tomorrow is another day.

Fin.

Waiter, There's A Fly In My Whine

I have no pictures of FOs (finished objects) for you today.

I didn't crochet on the little Stephanie dress today.

I did make two loaves of my now-famous cheesy garlicky Italiany bread, to bring to Bunco.

After that, I started to make Chloë's pair of the green batik shorts. I messed up, though, and cut on the right side in some places and the wrong side in other places, so half her shorts are right-side-out and half will be inside-out. You can't really tell, though, due to the nature of the fabric, and anyway I think it's hilarious so I'm going to keep them that way as a reminder.

The pockets got messed up, too, and I had to rip-rip-rip twice to put them in the right way. At least I think they're in the right way. They don't stick up and they don't stick down. Only, they're supposed to be up higher than they are. Much, much higher. I've decided to leave them that way, too. You know. Reminder.

Now I'm stuck, on the casing for the elastic waist. I just don't know what to do. Fold this down, fold that up, but what and where?  Rob is asleep and refusing to answer his phone (my preferred method over standing at the bottom of the stairs and hollering up at him; his preferred method over me walking upstairs and dumping a glass of ice cold water on him) (I've only done that once and he really deserved it) (One time he peed on me and I really deserved it) (I like parentheses), so I think I'm going to have to leave it that way until tomorrow. Which sucks, because now what am I going to do during the day tomorrow?

Oh yeah, crochet. And read to Sophie. And pick up the raffle prize I won from Chloë's school's Relay For Life team.

Where was I?

So yeah, I started the shorts, and then Stephanie came to bring me to Bunco. It was a long way out in her brandy-new Toyota Tundra, so we talked all about the details of our European trip and her watching the kiddos. There are a lot of details. Good thing, because we like to talk about them.  I called T-Mobile to set up the worldwide service, so now she can call me any time of the day or night if someone breaks their arm or someone's homesick or something. And I can call her because I'm homesick for my babies. Good deal.

{Steph, remind me to give you the number for our cabin on the ship, too. You can call there. And you never emailed me tonight with that other information!!}

Where was I?

Oh yeah, Bunco. It was lots of fun, as usual. I was glad to be around my friendy-friends, as usual. Carolyn was a big pain in the ass bitch, as usual. Man, I can't stand her. Someone needs to find a way to kick her out of the group, I swear. I could talk your ear off about all the ways she annoys me - and everyone else. It's not me. I know it's not. Everyone commiserates. Don't care if I spelled that right!

My bread got all eaten up, and I was so pleased, I've decided that's what I'm making every time. The rest of the food was really good tonight, too.  I was able to eat a decent dinner; half the time, it's all beef and desserts. And I won a prize - the Avon (I guess?) Empowerment bracelet in support of (well, you know what I mean) domestic violence. It's pretty cool. Except I think I'm allergic to it.

Time to go dump some ice water on Rob's head.

(Not really.)

(Fin.)

 

No Dice

The tulips I sent myself for Mother's Day

I've been "off" the past couple of days, since Dr. Pal stepped me down on one of my meds to see if it's behind this allergic rash I've been having. I've been dizzy and overly tired. Yesterday, I nearly fell asleep driving home from Chloë's ballet class, and I did fall asleep in the car as soon as we pulled into the driveway. Jack was snoozing right along with me, while the girls patiently waited in their carseats. I even left the car running for the entire half hour, horror of horrors. Finally, the neighbor came knocking on my window to see if I was all right and to help me carry the children into the house. It was a bit embarrassing, but I just told her it was because of some medication I'm taking. She knows all about my surgery so probably thought it was something to do with that.

Anyway, today was about the same. Dizzy and terribly sleepy. I've managed to get the kids off to school on time all week, so at least there's that. Today, Sophia and I mostly snuggled, read a couple stories, and did a little laundry.

Oh, speaking of laundry, I got my Soapnuts in the mail today from Laundry Tree! This bag full of soapnuts will wash at least 300 loads of laundry - not bad for $30. I bought the Ocean Breeze essential oil to scent our laundry with, and Laundry Tree gave me two extra sample bags (with 8 soapnuts each - that will do up to 16 loads!) and four extra drawstring bags free! I love these soapnuts because they really do get the clothes clean and fresh-smelling, and the best part? No waste! You just throw the used up nuts outside and they completely biodegrade. I'm definitely a convert, and I hope you'll try them, too! You can order the sample size for just a few bucks off their site, to try them out.

I eventuallly made it off my arse to go upstairs and shower and get ready for Bunco. It's the one night a month anymore I actually blow-dry my hair and put on make-up. Gotta look good for the ladies! I grabbed my pasta salad and headed out, kissing my babies goodbye.

Bunco was tons of fun, as usual. Everyone welcomed me back, and I was so excited to see them, after having surgery the same day the group last met. They were all so nice, asking how I was feeling, if everything was taken care of, etc. I'm so glad to have such a caring group of friends. We had three people missing tonight, so it was a little tricky to play, but we managed. I didn't win any prizes, but no surprise there. I had the most losses and still lost the prize for that (to a tie)! We decided I would host the July Bunco so that I can bring back cool prizes from Europe. Should be interesting; I hope I find good stuff.

Zat's about all, my friends. I think I'm going to go sit and knit on my cotton stripey blanket for awhile. I haven't touched it in ages, so its time has come.

Fin.

A Long One, As Requested

Wednesday was such a busy day, I came home and went right to bed from exhaustion. This cold/whatever is still kicking my ass, and now all the kids are sick from it, too. I can not wait until winter goes away!

I got up early yesterday morning and took a shower with Chloë, so that her hair would be nice and curly for her Dollar Tree photo shoot. Then we woke up the rest of the children, got them dressed, and everybody fed. I had already spent an hour the night before getting bathing suits, sundresses, shorts and tees ready for the photo shoot - as assigned - and had the directions printed out. So, off we went.

We got a little lost in downtown Norfolk, and I had to call the studio for directions. Who knew there were cobblestone streets in Norfolk, Virginia? Not I. Sophia piped up from the back seat, "We're bumpin', Mommy, we're bumpin'!"

So we arrived at the studio, ten minutes ahead of schedule (hey, more time for the time sheet), and lo and behold, they were expecting much smaller models than Chloë. Like one- and two-year-olds. To model their swimsuits and shorts sets; we weren't supposed to bring our own. Is Chloë's agent a dipwad or what?!  So I was all prepared to be very annoyed about having to get everyone up, miss morning school, drag them all out sick, etc. when they spotted Sophia in the stroller. "Do you think these 18M bathing suits would fit her?" they asked.

Well. Uh. We can try...

And they did! So in addition to the other two models there, Sophia had her pictures done in three different suits and outfits. She was a natural ham - we always say we've got the wrong kid in acting, because Soapy's such a drama queen - and she did a tremendous job. They were so pleased with her, they even sent the two other kids home and kept taking her pictures in another outfit. She would pose with her hands on her hips and turn to one side, then to the other, then blow kisses to the camera, and smile on command - she was great! At first she didn't want to do pictures at all - and she certainly didn't want to wear any make-up - but then we told her to pretend she was at the beach, and she jumped right in there and had a great time.

They even wanted Jack to do some pictures after they sent the other little (uncooperative) boy home, but Jack wanted none of it. He just huddled next to me and shouted, "NO!" I don't know if he would've done if if he weren't miserable, but I wasn't going to make him. So, the Dollar Tree ad will be out on May 18th; pick up a copy and see our newest little star! It'll be a nice little bit of money for her college account, and unlike Chloë, I probably won't even need to "pay" her a little something for doing it, since she won't have realized she was "working." I can just put it all in the bank.

We got out of there earlier than expected, so we raced home to beat Jack's school bus to the house. I was dubious about sending him, but he seemed perked up about going and didn't complain at all about not feeling well, so I made his lunch and got him into his backpack just as his bus pulled up. One kid down.

Then I threw Chloë's backpack and things together and drove her off to school. "Did you oversleep this morning?" the attendant asked when we walked in. "No," I stated, "she was at a photo shoot for..." "Mooooom, it wasn't my photo shoot, it was Sophia's!" Well. True. But she was there. Two kids down.

Then it was just me and Baby Bubba (she still loves that new nickname).  Barbara was coming to the house to clean, so we needed to clear out of there. I ran home to get my knitting, and then we drove to the new Panera for lunch. Instead of my usual You-Pick-Two half-sandwich and small bowl of soup, plus a kids' meal, I thought we'd just get a full sandwich and a bread bowl of soup, and share that. Oh, man, it was waaaay too much food. One thing I have noticed for sure since being on this starvation diet is that I can't eat nearly as much as once as I used to; I actually get full for once! And of course, while Soap can sure pack it away as compared to her sibs, she can still only eat a, well... she can eat enough for a small adult. So we threw away almost half a sandwich (I would've kept it, but she hacked at it and ate pieces of it from all different angles, and it was just a mess) and half the bread bowl. Wasteful. I hate being wasteful. We'll not do that again.

Then we drove to the yarn store. I wanted to do a bit of social knitting, plus I needed to pick out some cute buttons for the sweater set I'm knitting now, and I needed to get some items for the February prize pack I still need to mail out for my crochet list charity thing. We had about two hours alotted for the yarn store, which would have been plenty of time to get all that done. Only... no sooner did I get Sophie buckled into the stroller (to keep her from running amok and pulling balls of yarn out all over) and wheeled to the back of the store, but my phone rang. (And having your phone ring in a yarn store is similar to being in a library, or a fine restaurant, or the movies - everyone turned pissily toward me; oops.)

It was the nurse at Jack's school. He was running a fever, and doing a little coughing, and saying his throat and tummy hurt. Ahh, my poor little guy. I can't say I was terribly surprised. I told them I was down off Lynnhaven and would be a little while getting there, but I'd be there soon.

We rushed to Arrowhead, and I ran in to get my little sickie. One of the teacher's aides from his class carried him out to me, and he looked so tiny in her arms. She said he had been sleeping until I called. He just looked pathetic. Miserable. I carried him out to the car and took him home.

When we were pulling in, the nice Japanese neighbor lady (I suppose I could start calling her Sachi now, which is her name - will y'all remember that? Promise?) and her husband (who is African-American, and who has told me his name at least three times, and I still can't remember it), and their two little boys were outside with bikes and helmets and stroller. They called out that they were going to the park around the corner. Sophie ran over to greet the boys - her new best friends after playing together two days last week while Mommy ailed - and their parents. Did she want to come to the park with them? She sure did. After checking to make sure it wasn't too much of a hassle for them, I agreed, and they were off.  Too bad I had Jack, or that would've been three down, and free time for me! But alas.

Barbara was surprised to see us, and I apologized and told her I'd had to pick up m'boy from school, and I was going to sit on the couch and cuddle him. She said she'd clean that room last and went upstairs. So I lay down on my back, and piled Jack on top of me on my belly, and he fussed and whimpered and didn't want to lie down. And about three seconds later, he was snoring loudly and tucked down into my arm, dead to the world. He slept for a long time and sweated profusely, his poor little feverish self. He only woke up because the doorbell rang, announcing Sophia's return from the park.

I fed Sophie a snack and put her down for a nap. Chloë arrived from school shortly after, and she went to lie down, too. And Jack and I snuggled and napped together some more.

Daddy came home, and asked what I wanted for dinner. "Bunco! Bunco is for dinner!" I cheered. To be completely honest, I was looking forward to getting away from the sick kids and the sick house and the sick, sick, sick. Is that rotten of me? Too bad, I was excited about it.

So I did a little knitting for the hour or so before I had to leave. This is the hat that I made the night before, which matches the sweater dress I'm making now:

It's made of Sublime cashmere merino silk DK and is just as soft and - yes - sproingy as anything. I adore this Sublime yarn; it's one of my favorites. Unfortunately, the hat wouldn't sit up nicely for pictures, so here it is slumped over on its side. I started the sweater to match last night:

All of those bobbles at the bottom are a royal pain in the patoot; I hated making them. They wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have to knit three together - and I've had to knit four and five together for other bobbles, so I've got no right complaining - but it makes the yarn split and the whole row took like an hour to do by itself.  But I like the Vs in the pattern and have since added on two more sets of Vs on top of this. And it's such a lovely color green. Barbara liked it, too. It's slow going, though. I can only do one set of Vs at a time before getting tired of it and putting it down for later.

Soon, it was time to head for Bunco. Oh, Bunco. Always fun. And everyone brought really good food this time, so I could eat plenty and not just fill up on junk. There were deviled eggs - I actually ate one, and I don't eat eggs! And it was good! - and chicken and veggie pizza and pasta salad and all sorts of good things. I didn't feel like cooking (shocking, I know), so Rob assembled small ham sandwiches for me to bring, and about half of them got eaten. He's a good Bob, he is.

Then we started the games. Carolyn, the one I can't stand, was in her usual form. Gah, she is so annoying. SO. She always grabs the dice when she sits down, so she can roll first. I mean, who the heck cares? And she started rolling last night before the head table rang the bell, which shouldn't count, but she insisted. WTF. And she took my score sheet because she couldn't find hers, even though I was RIGHT there and looking right at her. Hello! I know, all this sounds petty and stupid, but she does things like this constantly and is just so irritating, and it adds up. Plus she's just not pleasant and is a grump and I just don't like her. She tried to talk me into bringing her out to Stephanie's in Chesapeake for next month's Bunco, but thank God I have to go a different way, away from her house.

But the highlight of the evening was brought on by none other than Yours Truly. Jill, our hostess, had some lawn chairs around one of the tables, since you have 12 people and need 12 chairs to play. Fine. But these were some deeeep chairs, and I sunk far back into it and couldn't play very well. So as I was trying to get out of the chair and instead just stand on my knees at the table, it collapsed backward and threw my head and back into the corner of the bookshelf behind me, before landing me smack on my head on the floor. Oh. My. God. I was so mortified!!

I just sat there for a minute, stunned and unable to move, while the commotion flew around me. "Are you okay, are you okay, are you okay?" everyone asked. I tried to laugh through the humiliation, but I soon found that I still couldn't get out of the chair! Finally, someone's face (can't remember whose) was over mine, and then someone else's, and they were hauling me out of the chair onto the floor next to it. And I still couldn't get up. I'd hit my head hard.

Eventually, I made it onto my knees, and apologized profusely to Jill who apologized just as profusely back to me, and I joked about her homeowner's insurance, and we all laughed and got over it. But it was so embarrassing!!! Many people came to my rescue, though, and told me similar stories of a chair breaking underneath them. That made me feel much better. And I'm fine today, other than a big, sore bump on my noggin. And as predicted, Rob laughed his tush off when I told him about it.

The rest of Bunco passed quickly, and we all had a lot of fun. I didn't win any prizes, but the best prize for me is always just being there and laughing and being with my friends. Awww, puke.

Today, we're not doing much. The big kids are both home from school sick again, and Jack is absolutely miserable still, and sleeping on the couch. Chloë was probably well enough to go to school after all, but one extra day of resting won't kill her. And Sophie seems to be doing just fine. I've got a little knitting done, and more resting for me isn't a bad idea, either. We've got nothing at all going on today, thank goodness.

I'll leave you with this picture of Sophia pulling up her pant legs so she could check out her pretty dress-up shoes:

  Funny, right?

Fin.

You Turn My Brown Eyes Pink

I have pink-eye. Loverly. So when Jade came today, I could not open my eyes. They were matted shut and I felt like I'd been punched in the right one. When Jack came home from school, we brought her home, and Rob took me to the ER to find out what was going on and get some meds (since I couldn't get an appointment at my clinic). Yep, pink-eye. Is *any* eye infection going to be labeled as conjunctivitis? Because I don't know anyone with pink-eye, and I know it's because I wore my contacts last night...

Anyway, how y'all doin'? We came home Tuesday night. After such an inauspicious start, the trip really turned around and was quite successful for us! I have so much to do, so many people to contact and follow up with, papers to fill out, etc. and have just been exhausted and feeling like poo. So frustrating, that bit, but it's exciting thinking about all that we have ahead of us! For starters, I need to get Chloë a California Work Permit, which her school has to sign and approve for her to fly out for auditions and work whenever we get called up. We're now trying to figure out when and how to move out there, which is causing us some consternation thanks to Rob's being in the military. Anyone want to move with us? Seriously?

She's the only child in her age group that came home with a contract in her hand, from iPOP. She ended up winning three awards total for her acting! Most kids had one or two callbacks, and she had twelve!  I'm so proud of how well she did, for being so young and little and for starting out feeling like doodyballs. When I told her how proud I was after she did her scene, she gushed, "Awww, and I'm so proud of you for just sitting there and watching me!"  Funny kid.

Here are the pictures from her trip, if you would like to see!

We had a really fun time out there, and she cried when it was over and time to go back. Twice. Daddy met her at the airport with roses, and a little boy came up to her and gave her a dozen silver helium balloons, so she was just walking on air when we got into the van to go home.  Oh! and when The Tots saw her, they ran up to her, screaming her name, and she ran to them, and they all stopped and hugged each other tightly. It was the sweetest, mostly loving thing. Then Sophie and Jack saw me and ran to me, and I realized how much I had missed them so. And then I got to Rob, and it felt so good to be back in his arms. It's going to be rough being apart, if we move and he stays behind. Rough, rough, rough.

It's funny what a difference a week makes. Both Jack and Sophia looked plumper than I'd remembered. And they are such funny kids! [The agent wants me to bring them in, too. Too bad Jack is twinless, or he'd (they'd)have tons of work of his own.] Sophia says so many funny things, over and over, and is just such a comical baby, and Jack is just so Jack! I love my babies. It's so good to be back with them.

Last night was Bunco night. Drunko Bunko. We had a really fun time. I just love the camaraderie, the screaming and yelling and shouting and laughing. It's just once a month, but it really gives me a boost. And crappy Carolyn wasn't there, whom none of us can stand, which made it even better! Stephanie came over afterward until 0100, and she and Rob and I laughed and gabbed and ... laughed some more. I'm going to miss my Bunco group when we go!

...Chloë just had a bad dream and is complaining of an upset tummy. Must go!

Fin.

Right Down Santa Claus Lane

Yesterday, we didn't really do anything. I watched Jade all day (I guess I don't have to say "all day" anymore, because if I'm watching her, it's going to be all day. There.), and she cried. A lot. She didn't feel good. And she's such a light sleeper. Argh. I was so tired out, I skipped taking Chloë to ballet or going to the PTA meeting. So that was it.

Today was busier and much more fun. I didn't have Jade, for one thing, so once Chloë and Jack went off to school, it was just me and my baby girl. And the cleaning lady came, which is always a good thing. She was off all last week, her regular week, so the insanity started creeping back in a little bit. I missed her!

Soapy and I started off by going to the grocery store for moolah. I needed cash for my shops. And I'd meant to buy some pasta salad mix to make for my Bunco group tonight, but I completely forgot to buy it. D'oh!

We went out to Laskin Road to do the first half, the drive-thru, of an Arby's mystery shop. I haven't done Arby's in a long time, since Rob quit eating beef, because the purchase requirement is usually a roast beef sandwich. This time - and you didn't hear this from me, because it's top secret (hehe) - it was a chicken parmesan toasted sub. That I can do. So Sophie and I munched on our sub and curly fries in the car.

Then we made our way across the street to do a shop at the Sonic there. We were already stuffed, so I just pretended to eat the food and took it home for Rob and the kids to eat for dinner. Then back to Arby's for the dining-in portion of the shop. Again, we were too full, so we just ate a couple curly fries and took the rest home to Rob and the kids.

After that, I called to make sure Babs (Barbara, Cleaning Lady Extraordinaire) was home and found the check where I left it. She did. Okay. I called to check on BFF Lisa, who is still pregnant and holding at 36 weeks. She's miserable but doing fine. Good, good. So we went to Military Circle Mall in Norfolk to do an Auntie Anne's shop (I don't feel like giving linkage right now, plus I know y'all never click on them anyway! ;P).

Before we got to AA's, we came out of JC Penney's and found the Santa display there. No Santa, but we rounded the corner, and there he was standing at the jewelry store counter, mixing it up with the girls. Sophia spotted him, dropped my hand, and ran over to him, giving him the "up, up" arms. Oh, wait, before that, she saw all the Christmas lights and shouted, "Christmas lights! Beautiful lights! I love Christmas lights!" in her little stuffed-up voice. "Beautiful," "amazing," and "I love you-name-it" are her words du jour. Pretty cute.

So Santa picked her up and carried her over to his throne, and I waited while she looked at him admiringly and expectantly, waiting for some magic to happen. The guys at the booth asked me if I wanted to buy some pictures, but at a minimum price of $26, I begged off that - I didn't even have my other kids with me! So Santa waved me over and told me they gave free pictures on M,T,W if you mention the radio ad. Gee thanks, Santa. So I strolled back over and mentioned the ad!

Her hair was all staticky and she didn't smile, but she looked like his matching little elf, and it was a nice, free 5X7. Sweet.

Then we went and got our pretzel. Good stuff. Have you  had an Auntie Anne's pretzel before? Usually I do the shop at Lynnhaven Mall, so this was my first time at MCM. Both are equally yummilicious. We got the almond one today. But we were still so full from lunch that I didn't even get upset when Soap dropped a huge piece on the floor and had to throw it away.

Then I had to shop for my $10 gift exchange for Bunco tonight. I figured I'd either get chocolates or candles, but the pretzel lady said that no one sold chocolates there, so we turned back to the candle kiosk I'd spotted on the way in. They were selling candles in parfait glasses and dessert dishes, looking like fruits and caramels and ice creams, with drippy sauces and such, and they looked so good and smelled even better. I bought a strawberry-topped ice creamy one that smelled heavenly, got it boxed up, and headed home with my baby and my bag.

Sophie wore her new purple coat and soft, knitted rainbow mittens from The Children's Place, and she looked so adorable all snuggied up. She enjoyed wearing them, too, I could tell by the way she pranced around, demanding attention. She likes to tell us that she's pretty, and she likes to know she's wearing nice clothes, so every time I want to get her dressed in something, I call out, "Come get your pretty pretty clothes/coat/shoes/panties/you-name-it on!" and she comes running. She told me several times that she was pretty in her new coat. And she was.

So we made a quick run to the bank to deposit some of my paychecks (one nice thing about mystery shopping is the little checks that come peppered in the mail throughout the month) before going home to wait for Jack. Barbara was still cleaning upstairs, so we stayed down and fooled around, tickling and smooching and airplaning and being silly. Jack came home in a good mood - for once - and we fooled around some more. Babs left and Chloë came home, so I decided to let the children help me decorate the Christmas tree.  We broke out the boxes of ornaments, new and less new, and each of the kids and I put ours up in turn. Our new tree looks so pretty all lit and dressed up! Sophie kept "just touching" the ornaments so we'd have to rehang them, and Jack was so enamored with the vision that he pulled up his little rocking chair and sat right in front of the tree to stare at it.

Another cute Soapism: "Those ladybugs bit me!" which she said when she touched one of the lights on the tree and it was a little hot. She said this several times because, of course, she kept touching. "Those ladybugs bit me!"

Then we opened the Advent cup for the day. The kids wolfed down their candies, and we read the activity: Paint everyone's toenails red! Fun! Chloë ran up to get the red nailpolish, and then I plopped each one down on the table in turn to paint them.

Even Jack was excited about his pretty red toes!

Rob came home soon after, and eventually I had to take off for my Bunco group. I kissed my babies good-night and headed out with my now-wrapped candle, my potluck food, and... yeah, that's it.

Bunco was a lot of fun tonight, as usual. If you're looking for something to do, I strongly recommend finding a group! We were short a couple of people - what else is new? - but we managed to do our usual screaming and yelling and laughing. I didn't win any prizes tonight, but Gia loooved the candle and I got Gia's present of a cute picture frame and some body scrub that I like. Good stuff.

Well, that's it for now. I've got to get to bed and still need to check my shop requirements for tomorrow night!

Fin.

Reminiscing Baby Chloë

Sick again, I am. Two colds, back-to-back. I'm a little bit cranky about it. Rob's sick, too. And you all know what men are like when they're sick. Not a picnic.

Yesterday I woke up feeling crappy again, so I canceled my shops and just hung out with my baby girl all day while J and C were at school. After they got home and everyone had a snack, we headed out to babysitter-Stephanie's in Chesapeake.

She was hosting our monthly Bunco group, and since Rob had duty and has a whole bunch of work this week, I had to bring them with me. He was hoping to get out a little earlier and come get them - and he did. Leave early, that is. And immediately got a flat tire. Suckage! If it's not one thing with that boy and his car, it's another. They're like a comedic duo. Man vs. Machine, duking it out. Who will be the last one standing??  I vote for the Jetta.

So Steph's husbo babysat the kids in the back room while we girls laughed it up. It was a pretty hilarious night of Bunco, as one newcomer was over-excited about winning a prize and then we all copied her. Fun stuff. Love my Bunco.

We got home very late, and I was glad I'd had Chloë do her homework before the partay started, because the kids needed to get right into bed. I sat down with Rob to knit and watch a movie (I'm making a little baby girl dress in a smoky brown extra fine merino wool now), and before too much longer, I heard someone crying upstairs.

Well, the only one who really cries in bed, and like that, is Miss Chloë. Oh, no, here we go again. Rob went up to check on her and called me up to help. Yep. She'd puked again. She's in the top bunk, and she rained it down all over Jack's bed on the bunk below. It was pretty gross, although now that I'm typing it up, that's kind of funny.

Jack never woke up. Rob did the pukey laundry, whipping his sheets out from under him, while I bathed the sick girl. I held her up with my leg in the shower, and she clung to me like a little tiny baby, so fragile and small. I held her like that long after I was done cleaning her up, just enjoying the bond.

I dried her off and rubbed lotion all over her, telling her that I used to massage her every night like that when she was a baby - and Jack and Sophie, too. And that reminds me of Tuesday evening in the car.

The Styx (right?) song "Come Sail Away" came on the radio, and I started singing it to the kids. Then I lowered the volume and told Chloë that it was the song I sang to her Daddy when he entered the OR, before she was delivered. Some 10 or 11 months earlier, when we were "dating," if you can call it that, he had sung it to me as an invitation to join him and make a life together. Under all those drugs and lights and stress, it burst forth from me and I sang it right out loud when he came in, not caring who else was in the room. Come Sail Away on this new journey, into parenthood.

And then I asked the doctors if I could go swimming the next day.

********

Today was not at all exciting. I canceled/rescheduled my shops again and spent the whole day hacking and doing laundry. Loads and loads, hours and hours of laundry. I chipped away at that mountain, folding the huge piles of clean laundry, washing the huge piles of dirty laundry, and putting away giganormous stacks of the kids' clothes. I've been in transition between their summer and winter wardrobes, and I finally got everything squared away where it should be, six hours in. And I made Sophie's bed and our bed.  That's all I accomplished today.

Oh, and I/we just watched I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, which was aiight. I got some knitting done, and the lacy pattern is emerging. Phew, it worked out. I was worried.

That is all.

Fin.