Da Bomb!

Yesterday was fabulous. Here's how my day went:
1. Dropped off kids at daycare
2. Came home and took a shower without anyone busting in while I'm soaping my hair
3. Went to a job interview
4. Accepted a good job offer halfway through the interview
5. Came home for lunch with my husband
6. Went to a scheduled massage (ahhhhhhhhh.....)
7. Visited my good friend Trica and sat for an hour while her daughter was down for a nap and looked at her awesome craft stuff
8. Went to the scrapbook store by myself, with no one to pull stickers off of the rolls while I was in there


I've decided that if we had only received an offer on our house it would have been the Best Day Ever. Unfortunately, it stopped short just there. It was still an awesome day!

Corn Roast with the family

Race Day!

Had an indoor Triathlon this morning (the run part was outside); Swam 1/4 mile, Biked 12.4 miles, ran 3.1 miles. Total time: 1:32:45. Personal best! Check out the stats on my training blog (Tri to be Fit). Jim brought the kids for the end, and each time I looped the lake (a total of 7 times) they all chanted, "Go Mama! Go Mama!" It was so cute!

New restaurant

Jim decided that it was too late after working out to wait for me to fix a dinner, so he stopped at a new little Mexican restaurant on the way home. Upon sitting down, Mary poked me on the arm and said, with her hands clasped in sincerity, "This is my very most favorite restuarant. Can we eat here forever?"

Hmmm. I'm not sure whether it was the waterfall sculpture as we came in or the promise of endless tortilla chips that had her at hello, but it was love at first sight. The food was fresh and excellent, not acutally like eating at a Mexicna restuarant at all, which made me like it, too. And it was CHEAP! Not like Taco Bell cheap, but cheap enough to pretend we ate at home and did not affect the monthly budget. We are always affecting the monthly budget. There were haircuts this month, and dog grooming, and, GASP!, I suggested I might like to get a massage after my race on Saturday! That last one, according to the family CFO, would tip the precarious balance into certain ruin. So, after figuring out we were poorer than Uncle Tom, we ate out. Too bad massage appointments aren't ruled by the stomach like dinner is.

Emma-before

Emma-after

Mary-before

Mary-after

Past Glory

As a matter of course, I get sentimental. So I started reading my posts from the beginning. At first I was looking for photos. Anything to see babies again, now that I've mostly forgot the daily agony and only remember (if by choice) the smallness and cuteness that is intrinsic to a new member of the human race. In the beginning, pictures were rare. There is one a month or thereabout. What caught my eye was the prolific typing. What captured my interest was the inane details that I needed to share with the world; how many loads of laundry were conquered, what floors were mopped, what type of lunch detritus was scoured from the table, chairs and floor. It occurs to me that I do not do very much housework like I did back in the day of mewling babies and tiny toddlers. Are we living in squalor? No (usually). Am I more proficient at my housework? No (at least not from practice). Is it getting easier? A hesitant "yes" is in order here. Also, there doesn't seem to be as much to share. Now that both girls are wonderful conversationalists, I am able to get some words out during the day instead of having it all dammed up inside, needing some sort of outlet. I guess what I am saying, Internet, is that I've outgrown the daily missive. Or at least the need for one. And there were naps.

Naps time started off split between the girls, like they had discussed some time sharing of Mama and the agreement was so that one of them was always asleep, to insure one on one parental time. Mary slept from 10-12, Emma from 1-4, Mary from 4-6. There was an allowable 1 hour crossover for meal purposes, apparently. With one child, I was able to do a chore here and there, so that all day I was parenting AND cleaning. And don't forgot the laundry. And the two children in diapers. And the feeding (I was nursing one of them). I was VERY busy. Then came a blissful period of coinciding nap times. THEN I got a lot done. Now, Emma is determined to give up all sleeping, especially the type that occurs when others are awake. And when Mary is asleep, Emma needs a playmate. I get NOTHING done. It does not matter what "quite" activity she tries, it must always involve me. And, Mary is potty training. That means hours lost in a small room with porcelain fixtures. Because, at the beginning, the new potty world cannot be experienced on your own: a parent must attend.

So, with this new found conversation during the day, potty training time, and lack of children napping together, I find myself happy to click a pic and send it to the blog. Titles, now, are supposed to convey volumes of information. "Birthday Bike" means, 'here is Mary a t the toy store with the bike she has picked out since she is turning 3 on Saturday'. "On the Plane" means, 'here we are, Mary and me, sitting in first class eating pretzels together and me reading my book while we fly the friendly skies on the way home from Minnesota'. "At the Zoo" means,'here are the girls, with their cousin Katelyn and their second cousin Darrrell, who met us at the zoo with Mum and Papa, looking at bald eagles and marveling at all of the wild (in captivity) animals while I went and ran 2 miles around the zoo'. All of that is what I am thinking when I click a picture and send it here, Internet. I think, 'here you go, Friends. Here is a speck of my life and I want you to see it and share it with you. I send it to you with the best intentions of writing more later, yet I know I will not really write more later, so please forgive my brevity and smile at my children and poignant moments.' Surely that's what you see, too. I hope you are not too disappointed when you come to my site and see another outtake of my day.

As for the archives, I need to figure out how to save them at home. I highly recommend wasting some time on them. I think I had a great sense of humor about the daily grind. I also think I wrote well, or at least better than I do now. Maybe it is my own sentiment getting in the way, but you may enjoy some old posts. I may even do a regular "Blast from the Past" and repost old ones that I found particularly funny. It's not cheating, really. I'll still send pictures.

A friend indeed

Author Donna Andrews signing in Ann Arbor. A good friend from a
previous life.

Dinner in Ann Arbor

Finding Nemo Delicious

This video is the result of trying to capture Mary's sound effects during a random dinner. We were eating salmon, and since ALL fish are Nemo, or some member of his family, our dinner was analyzed and it was decided that we had killed Nemo (!), cookd him, and were, right at that very moment, eating him. So, as Emma gulped down fish, Mary pleaded and complained in her Nemo voice about being eaten. Ths video I got wasn't quite as funny, and I didn't edit it to get the best effect, but it gets the idea across. Hope you enjoy your fish tale.

Nemo Birthday Cake

I think I forgot to put up the picture of Mary's birthday cake, so better late than never!

At the zoo

Darrell, Mary, Emma, and Katelyn

Emma's photography again

I have finally passworded my iPhone because Emma is obsessed with it.
She has managed to change my background picture, text message random
people, and call out of state family. I'm thinking the interface is a
little too easy...

New bike

Hubby finally broke down and bought the bike he has been stalking for
3 weeks. We have a bike rack, too, for all of those unexpected road
trips...

Roller Queen

More kid pictures

I guess she likes my Precious Momenta figurines. I love the
composition here.

Emma's photos

Emma got a hold of my phone and took some amazing pictures. This one
is an angel figurine I've had since I was 3 or 4.