Finally- some rain. It's one of those great spring rains where everything smells good. It's wicked cold, though, but not that raw fall cold. It's a great morning to skip church and lie around in my pajamas and make pancakes...and do laundry and go buy Molly some sandals and clean house and...

apparently, call a locksmith since Harry has locked the bathroom door with all of us outside of it- and now he has to go to the bathroom. Karma much?

Yeah- you read that right. Snow Day. April 28 and we've got a foot of new snow and school's canceled. My original plan for today- stay home and nurse my bad cold so it doesn't get worse, has been thwarted by the addition of two munchkins and a TMOTH. Just as well I suppose but dang...who would have thought we'd have a snow day at this point?

That reminds me- must turn on grow light. My poor babies will probably spend their whole plant-lives under that light, now that the next ice age is upon us...

Okay- maybe that's a fib. We actually have a blue sky this morning. The kids are acting like vampires- frightened by the sun streaming in through the front window. A bird was singing this morning and Molly froze in her tracks when she heard it, turned to me very slowly, and whispered "Mama, what was that NOISE?"

I defy anyone to say this hasn't been the longest, coldest, darkest freaking winter in history. Well, since the Ice Age- that was probably longer. Not colder, but it gets points for duration.

Molly has a playdate this afternoon. I'm dreading it with a fiery passion because the mom is- how can I say it?- less that chatty. Nothing more awkward than watching your kids play (yes, kids. Harry has to go because he has no school and I have no place to leave him) in uncomfortable silence. The upside is that they sugar, so Molly's all excited to see the process. Harry did tons of that stuff at his pre-school, but Molly's preschool doesn't do it. Of course, once she sees where maple syrup comes from, she'll probably decide not to eat that either.

TMOTH set up the grow light last night, so my seedling babies are going to start growing like crazy...or a neighbor will see the glow and turn me in for growing pot. Which I'm not. Growing pot. Not at all. (In case law enforcement is doing searches for words like pot, marijuana, hemp...oh hell.)

The point is? I'm only growing flowers and vegetables. No herb. Well, lavender, but that doesn't count. Just Cosmos, petunias, tomatoes, peppers...all the normal stuff. Nothing to see here. Move it along.

Harry's second parent conference is this afternoon. This is one that *he* leads. I"m sure it will be a trip. Especially considering that his OT/ASD conference is next friday- that's the one where they'll tell us why our kid (the one multiplying, reading words like "performance" and wondering why some eclipses make the moon blue) needs to be in Special Ed. Nothing wrong with the system- oh no. Just with our kid.

and it's a balmy 0 degrees outside- up from 10 below this morning! Yippee! Sounds like playing outside weather to me! And we're going to get more snow- which we *desperately* need. Really. Honest. Actually, I'm a little afraid to start my seeds, only to see them wither and die when I'm unable to plant them because of the remaining 18 inches of snow we're going to have in July. H and I are going to take the kids to the dump this morning (to dump recycling, not kids- no matter how crazy they may be making us) and then to run around at the gym in order to burn off the energy that they *won't* be burning outside due to the encroaching ice age. Imagine I'll head home this afternoon in order to welcome the returning TMOTH, fresh from his conquest of the looming peaks of New Mexico. Or Utah. Or wherever. Doesn't matter so long as he's coming home to relieve me of the responsibility of keeping my children and myself alive singlehandedly. (Case in point, Harry just informed me that his brain has a rash. Where does someone pick up a rash like that? Sounds like poor mental hygiene to me.)

The February break experience ("deathmarch" seems strong, you know?) continues. Got up to H's last night- unbelievable, intimidating, frightening, unholy amounts of snow up here. Seriously. The snow is 6" higher than the ede of the porch. In places, it reaches the trees. It's like nuclear winter. Or the re-glaciating of the earth. And it's still snowing. Sheesh.

Sledded, made a snow fort, threw snowballs- all the normal winter stuff- yesterday. This morning the little boys are on the playstation first thing in the am, Molly's plugged into JoJo's Circus, and I"m thinking I"m going to pass out from exhaustion. Note to self: Never share a bed with a 4 year old. They kick and squirm and take up the whole damn bed. Thank heavens I"m up here where there are new and novel forms of entertainment.

Now I must fix breakfast for Molly and try to imagine a world in which I'll be funcional all day. :::Yawn:::

How is it that my family produces 3 loads of laundry between Thursday and Saturday, but only 2 loads between Sunday and Wednesday? Who is wearing more than their share of clothing in that 3-day span?

2 hour delay this morning, which means little considering that I DON'T HAVE TO WORK TODAY!! Whoot.

Grandma goes to rehab today, . It's a step up from the hospital, but her opinion of the move is exactly what you'd expect: "No, no, no."

My plan for today? Gym, Target, grocery store, toenails and knitting.

Ah, President's day. How I love you...

The week from hell is over. After driving a total 15 hours in the last 6 days (many of them in the icy, snowy, pre-dawn hours), the nightmare week is over. (Insert exhausted, unenthusiastic "whoot" here) Now all that's left is the cleaning up. TMOTH's finally back on his feet (sort of) after the back injury to end all back injuries and the kids have entered a *lovely* stage in which they actually want to help. (I know- who knew it was possible? They fight over who gets to set the table, who gets to refill the water cups...I feel like I'm in the twilight zone) Now if we can just a) avoid another snow storm and 2)dig out of the laundry nightmare that threatens to take over the house, we should be good.

Things I should do today:
Go to church so my kids don't grow up to be Republicans
Laundry so that we don't have to be naked tomorrow
Shopping for groceries so we can eat
Change beds to avoid visit from DCFS
Scrub floors (see above re: DCFS)
Cook for the week (ditto)
Send care package to sick grandma (sigh)
Play with kids (see above re: Republicans)

Things I will probably do today:
Laundry
Nap
Lie on Harry's bed and avoid playing with the kids by claiming that being in the same room *observing* their play is the same as playing with them
Lie on Molly's bed and play "mama's napping"

At least I don't have to work tomorrow. For some archaic reason, I have President's Day off. No on else in the world has President's Day off, but apparently my ultra-liberal employers view this as our token observance of right-wing values. I guess it's our small way of acknowledging that maybe some folks who work there might be republicans- though we shall never speak of it again.

Yawn

And yet again we have no school. It's a good thing that budgets run out on June 30, forcing school to close, or we'd be in school until August. TMOTH is flat on his back for the 3rd? 4th? day in a row thanks to a back injury incurred while playing basketball with guys half his age on Saturday. He's on major meds and yet *still* is not drugged enough to agree that I need to order a 50" plasma tv for the living room. I'm hoping to double his dose later and give it another try. Our wonderful neighbor is currently snow-blowing the mess from our driveway, thank heavens, and the waffles are done and I'm actually drinking a second cup of coffee out of a real mug. Life is very, very good. Think I"m going to order my seeds today and try to figure out how to set up the nursery in the back room. Now that Junior's gone, I can actually put my baby seedlings out without worrying they'll become kitty food. I miss the little monster, but sometimes cat-free life isn't so bad.

Two-hour delay this morning. I don't think we've had a regular week of school since New Year's. One would *think* that a two- hour delay would mean sleeping in, having a fairly leisurely a.m....which is exactly what it's been for TMOTH and Molly.

Harry, on the other hand, crawled into my side of the bed at 6:40 pleading nightmare (code for: I don't want to be in my room and need a snuggle) which would have been fine if "snuggle" didn't mean "wiggle around and ask questions (Mama, how big is a new kitten? Mama, did you know yesterday was Chinese New Year? Mama, how old do I have to be to drink coffee?) until Mama finally gets up.

So now we're up. There's some snow, some sleet, some general yucky, and there's Harry playing baseball with his lunch box and building structures involving Legos and the contents of the aforementioned lunchbox (you haven't lived until you've seen a Lego- tortilla chip building. Very structurally sound- not to mention tasty.)

Man oh man- there's not enough coffee in the world to keep me going today. Suppose I should go shovel. Whoo freakin' hoo.

Couldn't sleep last night, so got up to watch the sun rise (remembering how Harry used to wake me up *every* morning to watch the sunrise- he would sit on the sofa wrapped in a blanket and stare out the big window in our living room until the dark turned grey and then pink and then blue. He'd always say the same thing- "It's going to be a beautiful day, Mama."

Big day here today- phase one of the whole Christmas decorating thing. (Phase one is the "inside decorations that sit" phase. Phase two is outside decorations. Phase three is the tree. We have very specfic systems around here where the holidays are concerned.) Of course, there's still a bit of Thanksgiving carnage to clean up. All those serving pieces have to be squirreled away again, the fall decorations have to get packed up, and there's some general housework to do. Thank heavens TMOTH did the laundry on his sleepless night- one thing I *don't* have to manage.

Not figuring on participating in Black Friday- though there are a zillion things at Target that I want. Heather and I will have shopping on Saturday and Sunday (girl's weekend), so I need to figure out what I *have* first, then what I need. Otherwise I end up observing the final Thanksgiving rite- buying ribbons and gift tags that will go into the overflowing box of ribbon and gift tags that I have left over from the last 15 Christmases.

This moring the kids came into our room around 7:30 (I'd gone back to bed- it's warmer there, even't if you aren't sleeping). Turns out that they have started going into each other's rooms in the morning and snuggling in bed, looking at books and talking until the parentally-approved 7 am get up. I know this won't last, but it does my heart good to imagine them talking about secret stuff and snuggling together. Harry's started asking to put Molly to bed at nap and bedtime. He reads her a book or two, sings her a song, says prayers with her...he's so proud of being the big brother, the guy with all the answers. She's started asking him for help with lots of things- from getting ice from the freezer to finding things she's lost. I hope that, on down the road once they get through the hormonal nightmare of adolescence (during which time I fully expect them to hate me, their father, and each other), they'll reconnect based on whatever it is that they're building now.

Harry's right- it is going to bee a beautiful day. I may have to move Phase 2 ahead of Phase 1. I don't suppose it counts as really changing the order unless I plug the lights *in*, right? Right.

This, courtesy of Hoarded Ordinaries, speaks more fully to my long blog silence than anything I could write on this grumpy, tired, gray morning:


There’s an oft-quoted Zen saying that says “After the ecstasy, the laundry.” Presumably after the thrill of enlightenment has faded, all that remains are dirty T-shirts and undies. And yet, I’d beg to differ with this oft-quoted saying, or at least the preposition therein. It isn’t that laundry comes after ecstasy; it’s that laundry is ecstasy. If you fully embrace your life with all its tedium and drudgery–if you fully embrace the monotonous routine of the same old spouse as you head off to meditate, again, on the same old cushion–you discover your laundry and your ecstasy are one in the same. What is marital bliss, after all, but the repetition, ’til death do us part, of the same old chores, the same old laundry, and the same old ecstasies?

I've been down for two weeks with what I *thought* was allergies, then a little cold, then a big cold and now, finally, fully diagnosed bronchitis. Remember when I took the bad medicine that made the Black Death seem easy by comparison? Apparently, I got confused because I took it again night before last. Suffice to say, I'm just know feeling sort of up on my feet. Sort of. Had to take the kids to school this morning ('cause no matter how sick *I* am, they still have to get where they have to get) and ended up pulling over for a little nap on the way home. TMOTH is coming down with it too, but hopefully he'll dodge the worst of it.

More importantly, however, IT"S FALL! Really- full blown fall. The leaves are starting to turn, the mums are all bloom-y and finally, my tomatoes are starting to turn red. Love this season. Really, really love it. Just wish it didn't lead to winter.

Time for a nap

We go back to Sunday School today. I'm going to give it a shot- there are ice cream sundaes afterward, so that should help. Harry and TMOTH went to a car race last night and didn't get home until late, so there's a double whammy of exhausted kid and kid who was exposed to a seriously rowdy group of individuals last night. (I'm withholding my *real* feelings about TMOTH taking Harry to the speedway because it made Harry *so* happy.)

Why is it that my kids need to be *on* me all the time? Seriously. Since 6:45 when Molly got up, there has been someone trying to get on my lap or under my arm or hanging off the back of my shirt...At this moment, I'm typing with one arm pinned under Molly. Harry spent the first 40 minutes he was up sitting on my stomach. It's 8:15 and I'm done for the day, but what lies ahead of me is:

1. Getting dressed myself
2. Wrestling kids into clothes
3. Driving to church
4. Disentagling crying children from my arms in order to deliver them to Sunday School
5. Go to the service which I *won't* enjoy because I'll spend every moment wondering when someone is going to come get me to take one of the kids because he/she won't stop crying.
6. Navigate the ice cream Sundae line
7. Bring sugar buzzed kids home and try to force them to eat something for lunch
8. Try to wrestle kids down for naps- which will be unsuccessful (see sugar buzz above)
9. Try to find something to keep kids occupied while they bicker and try to drive each other crazy
10. Put something together for dinner which *no one* will eat.
11. Make lunches, give baths, read books, wrestle kids into bed.

Luckily, TMOTH is on laundry duty this morning so at least that's off my agenda. I'll still have to fold and put away, but at least I won't have to lug the baskets to the basement.

No wonder I'm already exhausted.

Since tomorrow is technically the start of fall, I feel like we need to do both some summer stuff and some fall stuff. So here's the list:

1. Go to Stonewall Farm to buy coffee and veggies and take the kids to visit the animals.
2. Put out the birdfeeders.
3. Cut some flowers for the table. (I have a couple of Cosmos plus a couple of sunflowers- just enough to fill a vase, I think.)
4. Stop at the store for buttermilk- I want to make pancakes tomorrow to put in the freezer.
5. Play in the yard- this morning is chilly enough to make it perfectly clear that fall will be here soon. It should warm up enough for the sprinkler, I think...)
6. Put away the summer decorations (wreaths, and the like) and get out the fall stuff. (I already bought mums, so this is a pretty short task.)
7. Make salsa before the peppers spoil.
8. Make *something* to take to a potluck on Tuesday.
9. Nap in the hammock.

And of course there's always the same old- laundry, dishes, picking up, etc.

The last saturday is upon us. The start of school has kicked our asses, metaphorically speaking, leaving me feeling a bit desperate and unsupported at times. TMOTH to the rescue, though- he let me sleep this morning and took on the early morning kid detail. Harry crawled into bed with us about 4:30, but neither of us had the energy to put him back. Besides, he *really* seems to need the reassurance and that's apparently a normal part of being six. Good thing I don't mind sleeping in the middle.

Going to run some errands this morning and then to a baby shower this afternoon. All FOUR of us are going, which seems odd to me, but there you have it. We were all invited, therefore we're all going. Tiger Football starts this afternoon, so we're TiVoing it and will tailgate this evening.

Finally have a few red tomatoes, but the deck plants are starting to show that they know fall is coming. Saw my first foliage on the way to Concord earlier in the week, and the air certainly *feels* like fall. Birds are starting to migrate too- need to get the feeders out. (And hope the bears have found somewhere else to forage) Bought some mums, but need to get them into new pots before they choke. Maybe today...

I'll leave you with this link to an article about what makes kids happy. Must admit to being really, really pleased at the results- that it's not about the stuff, but about the relationships. I'm reading The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness which says a lot of the same things, so I guess I need to let myself off the hook for needing to return Harry's Cars T-Shirt because he doesn't *really* need it...Just let him snuggle in bed with us and he'll be fine, right?

Yesterday marked the 87th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. For some reason, that seems more important to me today, as I dropped Molly off at her first day at preschool and watched her walk in like she owned the place, wearing her favorite dress, and realized that, in *her* world, she can be both a princess and play on the floor with the trains. She can take care of her babies and also play "going to work." She speaks her mind and believe with all the passion a 4-year-old can muster that she has the right to choose *not* to eat meat or to wear her crown to the grocery store. The point is, for Molly, there are nearly no boundaries in her future.

So why am I thanking Harry? From from Jone Johnsone Lewis via MotherTalkers

When thirty-five of the necessary thirty-six states had ratified the amendment, the battle came to Nashville, Tennessee. Anti-suffrage and pro-suffrage forces from around the nation descended on the town. And on August 18, 1920, the final vote was scheduled. One young legislator, 24 year old Harry Burn, had voted with the anti-suffrage forces to that time. But his mother had urged that he vote for the amendment and for suffrage. When he saw that the vote was very close, and with his anti-suffrage vote would be tied 48 to 48, he decided to vote as his mother had urged him: for the right of women to vote. And so on August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th and deciding state to ratify.

But more important than my buddy Harry, I think, are all of the women who did it on the ground between 1920 and today. The women who applied for jobs, fought for the right to have them and keep them along with their famillies, and plowed the way for those of us who now hoe a much easier row. Thanks to our moms, to my mom who refused to allow me to see that there were people in the world who believed that my ovaries were my identity and my uterus my destiny and to the other moms who did the same for their daughters and their sons. We appreciate it.

So fall is nearly upon us. Spent the *entire* day shopping yesterday- didn't get everything I needed, but did pretty well. Today I only need to get coffee (oh the horror of discovering that I only had enough to make 1/2 a pot this morning!) and a couple of Target things. Will make for an easy day. Took the kids to the library yesterday (our first Post-Reading-Program- Completion visit) and ended up with as many videos as books- which is okay because we *all* need some low-key vegetating today.

Discovered this today and couldn't help feeling good about it. Judy Blume certainly filled in a few blank spots for me, back in the day, and I had a mom who was willing to talk- can't imagine what fresh hell adolescents must have been for those with more reticent parents.

Candidate-O-Rama continues- I'm up to 52 points thanks to an Edwards staffer. Thinking about going to the Edwards event tomorrow, but it's at the football field which will be hot and the kids don't do great there and I'd be on my own anyway because TMOTH is back at school....Think I'll be content to stand at 52 points right now. Besides, it's a long time 'til the primary.

Wish I had more to share, but all othe other topics I can think of are single-post worthy. I promise to be better about updating. Eventually. Really. As soon as I get the pre-back to school work done.

You are Betty Grable

The ulitmate girl next door You're the perfect girl for most guys Pretty yet approachable. Beautiful yet real.

Thanks to Sus for pointing me to this scientific way of proving what most of us have known all along...

It's freakin' hot. I *love* hot, but not hot you can taste. This hot, I can taste. I tastes like feet and decomposing foliage with just a *teensy* bit of desperation mixed in. And it keeps raining, so the humidity is like 2000% (and I"m from the midwest, I know from humidity). Lucky for us, though, we have AC. Actually, ACs (plural). Many window units installed all over the house. (I know, "How very environmentally sound of you!" you must be thinking.) No matter. When you have little kids and they're hot and whiny and exhausted from not sleeping, you'll agree with me- screw the planet. Bring on the freon.

So this morning, when newly dry-all-night but too-scared-to-get-out-of-bed-on-her-own Molly called for me at 6 am *again*, I turned on the AC in the living room on my way up to get her since the living room had a temperature equal to the inside of my oven AT 6 AM!

No one turned on the dishwasher last night, so the dishwasher is running too. All of which means that as I sit here at my table, sandwiched between the AC and the dishwasher, I am enveloped in a serious funnel of white noise. White noise which prevents me from hearing Caillou on the TV (which just seems bonus, you know?), from hearing Molly whining incoherently because she's so *freaking* tired she can't put a sentence together. White noise which, were it possible, I would stay in all day long.