On the Other Hand...

Mary Ellen was right. I have been wanting to go to Playground of Dreams. The kids want to see the new improved equipment. Maybe if others were going I could be convinced to abandon my hemit status for an afternoon of parkside socializing...

Being a Hermit & Loving It

Clint is off to a California tournament for 10 days. He left Friday. You might think I would want to kick up my heels and party while he's gone. Or attack long neglected projects with gusto. Or at least get together with my friends as much as possible. No, I've been happily nestled at home doing nothing. Well, not really nothing, but nothing that "counts". Reading. Making real breakfasts for my kids instead of bagels. Cleaning up each mess as it happens, instead of waiting until it's challenging. Taking my preteens to see 13 Going On 30 (ok, we left the house for that one!). Running. Reading an awesome book to the kids; we can hardly put it down (Among the Hidden). Pondering what I'm supposed to be doing with my life (this because we're so broke we're thinking I need to get a job to make ends meet). Making cheesecake and devouring it with my kids. Cuddling with Tamzin 'cause she's sleeping in my bed while Clint's gone (to keep me company). Having a family tea party with real china cups and teapot because Tamzin wanted to.

There are tons of things I should be doing. Painting those #%@ doors. Weedwhacking the devil cheatgrass in my yard that enters my house with every step, and threatens to destroy my new carpet! I'm feeling a little guilty that while I expect Clint to work eveyr available weekend on the house projects, I haven't started one myself since we finished grouting the tile.

But, I'm going to do my best to keep guilt at bay and enjoy every moment of my laziness. I'll be over it soon enough, and off on another round of endless "to dos".

Pollution's No Joke

We lost four fish to hardwood floor finish fumes. When I got home from the cabin, I noticed the water looking cloudy. When I asked Clint about it, he said he had changed the tank water, a task long overdue. I figured the cloudiness was because the water hadn't settled from the change. Next morning Shelby found four floaters in a tank of opaque water. Turns out Clint changed the tank before the finish went on. The poor things were gasping for air in flthy contaminated water. What a way to die (sob). Could I be partly responsible, too, since I've secretly been wishing all my fish would die so I wouldn't have to clean the tank anymore?

The Recital

Shelby and Rhiannon had their Spring Piano Recital Monday evening. We got home from the cabin with just enough time to shower, primp and go. I'm glad they care enough about making a good impression to want to dress up for it. There were a few kids wearing their grubbiest jeans...Somehow it seems to diminish the significance of honoring their accomplishments if you treat it like any other day.

They were both great! I was so proud of them! It's so hard to get up in front of a bunch of people all by yourself to perform. I'm so impressed with their ability after just two seasons of lessons. They both got awards too, which i know is so exciting for them, although they later asked me to explain what Best Rookie and Most Improved really mean, prompting a whole conversation about who got awards, why, and why I'm not sure such rewards are even a good idea! After all, Shelby wasn't REALLY a rookie, and Rhiannon has progressed very steadily since starting lessons, and didn't REALLY experience a huge "improvement", but a steadily increasing level of ability. There were four awards for 25 kids. I think the teacher just wanted to recognize them. But even they say they probably won't get awards next year, because they think the teacher will want to recognize someone else. I think they're right.

I love listening to all the kids play their pieces. The young ones with their simple pieces, the experienced ones who play eight page songs, even the ones who struggle and make lots of mistakes...They all deserve credit for making the effort! Most of all, I'm thrilled that Shelby and Rhiannon chose music lessons on their own, and are sticking with it not because I make them, but because they want to (OK, I do remind them to practice, I admit it).

Into the Woods

The girls and I were exiled to the cabin this weekend. Clint (and some hardwood floor guys he found to help him) sealed and finished the hardwood floor, and we were told we couldn't be here for a couple of days because of the toxic fumes.

Things were nice up in the woods. Very green, wet and rainy off and on, but not wet enough to keep us from taking walks and picking lupines. The girls gravitate to the creek, where they love rock hopping and exploring on the shore. Rhiannon was convinced that the opposite bank was much more attractive, and that we would have a much better time if only we could get to the other side. In mid-summer, you can cross the creek on rocks and logs, but right now the snow melt creates a raging torrent...not a good time to be attempting to cross the creek. Of course, she became so fixated on crossing the creek that she couldn't stop talking about it, and eventually made me grumpy! I wish I could trust them to be sensible, so I could just say "Go down to the creek and play". Instead, we all go together, so I can hover and warn them when they're getting too daring.

I was too worried about lunatics and robbers coming to get us, and was so careful about keeping the cabin locked tight at night that I locked us out of the cabin on one of our walks! I feel very secure now, knowing that the cabin is JUST ABOUT IMPOSSIBLE to break into! I was ready to break a window when the Ed, the guy who runs the little store, came and showed me how to take the hinges off the back door, and we were in. Very useful skill, that. I'm going to carry a hammer and screwdriver in my car from now on!

Meanwhile, back at home, Clint planned to sleep in the garage, but I convinced him that was silly whe my bother has a futon couch, so he went to my brothers and fell asleep sitting up on the couch because it was his bed for the night and the guys who were hanging out there that evening were all sitting on it! He spent the second night in his truck. Said he was more comfortable (it's like his home away from home, since he sleeps in his truck when he goes to tournaments).

Coming home was like Christmas morning. I walked in to see this incredibly beautiful floor, shiny, golden, and gleaming! We don't need to watch TV anymore. We like to just sit on the steps and admire the floor. It's corny, but it's so great to see such a beautiful result from all our(really Clint's) efforts. We'll get to enjoy looking at the floor a lot, since we have no furniture to put there anyway.

New rule of the house: No shoes in the house. Might as well preserve the floor as long as we can.

A Gap Toothed Smile

Clint is now back to normal. Thank goodness. They took out the stitches yesterday and said he's healing well. He can now smile normally, and when he does, he flashes the great big gap in his teeth. He says he looks like a true Benton City-ite now. He's trying very hard to be cool about it, but I know it hurts his ego to have a flaw in his normally handsome exterior!

Happy Mother's Day

I'm so lucky to be a Mom! Shelby cooked French toast for me for breakfast (and cleaned up after, too!). Rhiannon made me a Shrinky Dink bookmark. Gillian made me a Shrinky Dink card. My brother brought me a beautiful bouquet of multi colored roses, and my husband sweated all day sanding the new hardwood floor. Then, after finding out we'd overdrawn the checking account, are broke, and have essentially been living beyond our means for the last 5 months, we went out to dinner at Mongolian Buffet.

Too much time?

Do I have too much time on my hands? Or am I avoiding accomplishing something substantial? After the incredible high of finishing the long incomplete office file purge, I went on to tidy up every drawer and shelf in the office.

Then, I started working up a project history spreadsheet and a master builder reference spreadsheet...on a whim. I figured it would come in handy to have this information at my fingertips, on one document, instead of searching through files now boxed in the garage for project or contractor information. (This is how I spent the day that my list was missing). Of course, now THIS project is incomplete, so I will have to add IT to my "to do" list.

Then yesterday, I cleaned my closet. My closet has become the new receptacle for things that have no home. My office used to serve this function, but with the files and drawers so clean, I didn't want to "defile" the space. My closet, on the other hand, is so huge I've been able to dump stuff in there for a while before even noticing that there was a large quantity of STUFF in there with no home. So, instead of painting doors, or sanding floors, or painting bathrooms, or cooking real meals, I cleaned my closet yesterday. I even went through all my little boxes of miscellaneous stuff and got rid of various strange things I have been saving over the years. Of course, it's not going to the good will. Now my kids have these items. For them, my closet is a Mecca of neat stuff. Glass pigs, empty perfume bottles(saved for scenting drawers), cool scarves and evening bags from my retail buyer days, miniature dishes from Mexico, dice, shells, dried roses, sachets... And I'm still saving some of it because I'm an incurable romantic and I love the nostalgic feeling I get from perusing the pieces of my former lives.

I'm a Lousy Nurse

After 9 days of constant whining, I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't keep asking my poor suffering husband to tell my how he was feeling. I couldn't keep pretending to be concerned about the numerous detailed aches and pains that have overtaken his entire existence since his dental surgery last week. I thought if I just kept being concerned, and interested, that he would eventually have had enough of whining and complaining. Like the theory about letting your kids eat all the sugar they want and they will eventually get tired of it? Well, he wasn't getting tired of it. In fact, the more I listened, the worse it got.

Understand that Clint is always talking about some malady. He's tired, or he has an upset stomach, or his knees are hurting, or his elbow is hurting, or his head is aching...It's always something. The thing is, usually I don't say much, because what am I supposed to say? I murmur something sympathetic, and then change the subject or go do something else, because in my view there's no point in dwelling on minor ailments. It's boring, pointless and a waste of time. But with his dental surgery, I thought I should make an effort and be really supportive, because it was pretty obvious that it was an awful deal. But I had no idea what I would be in for. Even when Gillian shattered her thumb and had surgery and pins she didn't complain like Clint has this past week.

Not only does he complain all the time, but he's constantly grumpy, and closets himself in the bedroom with the TV when he's home. I guess he feels he's too ill to give his kids any attention? So, finally I got irritated and told him what I thought. Told him I'd tried my best to be patient, but that I thought he needed to attempt to rise above this bummer mood and move forward, for all our sakes. He was pretty mad. Felt I was ungrateful, since he'd been doing hardwood flooring in spite of his suffering(for two days of the nine. He also fished two days, too.)

The next day, he was almost normal. Told me he quit taking the antibiotics, and felt much better. Said he thinks the antibiotics were making him feel ill. Then he left for a tournament. The question is, was he feeling better because he was getting better? Or because I quit coddling him? Or because I called him on his whiny behavior? Or because he quit taking antibiotics? Or because he got to go fishing?

Girl Scout Cooking

Sometimes being a Girl Scout leader is a drag. Like when I'm overwhelmed and don't feel like I have time to deal with all the details. Other times, it's awesome!!!

Yesterday, we had a GREAT Girl Scout meeting. Rhiannon wanted to work on a cooking badge, I've been interested in teaching the girls about outdoor cooking, so we decided to combine the two ideas, and it came out great!

The girls had lots of fun creating no bake yogurt berry pies, complete with decorations. Then they went to town with all kinds of creative smoothie concoctions. I wasn't sure they would be interested in inventing their own egg recipes, or that they would want to eat anymore after the smoothies and pies, but they were game to give it a try!. Each girl came up with a unique idea for cooking an egg, and then they learned how to use a camp stove to cook their creations! I was most impressed that the girls were willing to light the stove, as it can be unsettling the first few times.

Sometimes I worry that our troop is too small, but having fewer kids made this a fun and intimate activity, with every child getting a chance to create something special.

Finishing a Task

I've FINISHED cleaning the files!!!! Wow. I"m in shock. Progress on this project was so slow I was practically going backwards. I've gotten rid of so much paper! Now business paperwork for years 2000-2003 is neatly boxed and stored in the garage for the day the IRS decides to audit me.

The TOP of my desk is still a mess, but I could find anything in my files now. It's so clean, I'm thinking about printing out neat little labels for the file folders and the drawers!

Now, on to the next major project. But wait, I've lost my list. What am I supposed to be doing???!!!

Chelee's Hand Me Downs Rock!!!

I'm so lucky to be on Chelee's donation list! She just passed down a very comfy recliner to me! Chelee's furniture rejects find good homes with me! The girls pointed out we now own three comfy chairs provided by Chelee! Hooray! Maybe someday soon my entire family will be able to sit together in the same living space without someone sitting on the floor!