Support

I've got nothing to post today, but I did want to direct all of you over to my sister's blog. She's having a silent auction to benefit Stephanie Nielson. Read about it over there.

Rolling

I have been told that my blog isn't funny enough so today I sat down to write a funny post. The only thing that I found funny in the last 24 hours involved poop and I don't really want to write about that. Plus, it's not really funny retold. It's kinda gross.

So I'll be on the lookout for something funny Dad and when I find it I'm posting it here.

In big letters.

And possibly yellow font.

Because yellow is funny right?

What font do you think is the funniest font?

If there was a problem then I solved it.

When Dan said, "I think I should try playing basketball twice a week this year instead of just once a week. I think that way I will really get enough of a workout in to maintain my fitness level," the other day I could have sworn my head exploded and blood came rushing out of my eyes. Apparently it didn't.

You see the problem I saw with this scenario don't you? You don't? Well, I was kinda mad that he got to work out two times each week without even worrying about what to do with Charlotte. He could just assume that I'd be fine with him being away from home. It never occurred to him that his exercise needs and my exercise needs both need to be met for optimum happiness in our home. Also, that we can't just leave our baby alone while going out.

Instead of addressing this issue like a rational mature person, I stewed. I stewed and I stewed and I stewed on this one until just the mention of basketball was going to send me over the edge. Then a miracle happened. One that probably saved my innocent, unknowing husband's life. A friend of mine that lives only blocks away complained that she can't ever exercise anymore with her little girl.

You don't think this is a miracle? Well, we came up with a plan. We borrowed some pilates DVDs from a friend and Charlotte and I go over to her house three days a week. The mommies exercise while the two girls play more or less successfully together. Now I get to exercise three times a week and I don't have to hurt my husband.

So I still don't get to go out running with Charlotte, but also I don't have to spend any money. Another great plus is that my friend and I both insist on exercising in the mornings so we don't have to get ready for the day twice. It's great.

When I told my darling husband about my new solution he was very happy for me, but was completely surprised that I even cared about how much basketball he did. I just had to laugh at the monumental argument we were having without him even being aware.

Better and Better

We have some friends here who have a little boy just older than Charlotte. I'd say in the range of 9 months. It's been really great to have them around because it's like looking into the future. Her little friend went through a phase where he wouldn't eat. Now Charlotte doesn't want to eat. He learned to stack blocks, and now Charlotte is stacking blocks.

I remember my friend saying that she just loved the 18 month age. That it was so exciting to have her son saying words and communicating with him. She said that being his mom was getting really fun again. When Charlotte was 9 months and just learning to walk I was thinking, "Yeah right! Nothing could be as fun as watching her taking her first steps!" Then a few months ago we went through a time that was not so much fun. Charlotte was whining all the time to try and communicate. Anything and everything elicited the same response. And I think I was going crazy. But this week I've really been remembering her remarks and realizing how true they were. Charlotte has exploded with words. True, most of them sound exactly the same, but she's trying and most of the time I can understand what she means. It is so much fun to say something to her and know that she knows what I'm saying because she responds. Also it has cut way down on her whining, which has the reverse effect on my sanity.

Not Spellchecked

Now that things are starting to settle into a livable level of organization in our home (will it ever be really organized-right now I don't think so) I'm realizing that I've got to get myself back into my happy routine. I vaguely remember a nice routine I had last year through the haze of construction dust. I just can't really seem to feel caught up. I feel like a contender on American Gladiators going through the eliminator. They make it so far and then they have to go up the, well, I can't remember the name of it right now, but it's the incline with the treadmill thingy on it. They've worked so hard to get there and they want to get going, but they just can't keep their feet under them. Yeah, that's kinda how it feels.

I really want to get Charlotte to walk to the library with me one day a week. It's only three blocks away. Then we'd get in some nice physical activity and we could check out some new books each week. I'd also like to start going to the botanical gardens again. I love being there and just letting Charlotte go wherever she wants to. It's great. I'd love to take her to Music Makers every Friday morning. She loves music and I think she can get a lot out of it. Also I want to keep her going to the Medical School Wives playgroup. I think it's good for her to interact with all the different aged kids there.

And then there are the things I want to do for me. I want to have my sewing space set up so that I could finally make the curtains I have fabric for. I also would love to start exercising again. I haven't been since we started this house deal and I realize now that I miss it. I tried to go running with Charlotte, but she's now too heavy to use a regular stroller. I've felt very good about using what I had, but I just can't do it anymore which basically means I'm not going to exercise again until I find a new solution to that problem. Also I would like to have time to either take a class (like my wood working one that was awesome) or read some more books. I also want to have time to go visit with my friends and just talk.

When you look at each of those things they aren't that much to do. It's when you add all of them into your schedule that things start bumping into one another. Especially when you realize that on top of all the things I want to do there are the things I have to do. I still have to unpack things and organize things and we still have to eat so I still have to go to the grocery store. The millions of little errands that will never end. Gah!

So how do I pick the best things? My tendency, and I know this about myself, would be just to cross off that whole paragraph about the things I want to do for me. That can't possibly be the right choice though. Each thing I cross off my list though brings a little bit of sadness, and if it's something I'd like to do for Charlotte a little bit of guilt. If I don't do it am I really being the best mother I can be? I don't mind making decisions between good and bad. I don't even mind really making decisions between good and better. It's hard when the choices are between good and good. Who's to say what the "right" choice is then?

Don't get me wrong, I know I am truly blessed to be able to have this dilemma. Many women, and I guess people in general, don't have all the many options I have. They don't get to choose their wants at all for various reasons. I am so grateful to have these decisions in front of me, but now which choice do I make?

Not a Photographer

Well we're done working on the house for now because Dan's school started up again last Monday. He came home last night all depressed because he's going to have to take Saturday to study. This is exactly what most of his Saturdays were like last year, but somehow he must have thought it wouldn't be the same this year. Yeah, right. So I thought I'd share a few photos of our house in this stage. I'm not a photographer and I had a hard time getting good angles to show off the rooms, but here's my best shot at it.

The Entry:

We found this table on Craigslist for $20. Originally it's a sewing machine table where the machine sits inside and the top flips open and then the machine comes up, but the insides are broken. We're just using it as a hall table so that doesn't matter anyway.Do you like the circle rug? I love it.

The Living room:

If you're looking at this photo thinking, "Why on earth did she put horns above that mirror?" The answer was that my husband thought it was a funny, funny joke to hang them there. I like having something above the mirror, but those belong in the bedroom with the other cowboy stuff.

Notice the horns are gone. I thought this shot showed the paint colors nicely. Again, I haven't put out our decorations yet or put any window treatments up so it looks a little bare, but I'm just excited that the furniture is in! I thought this showed the layout of the room well. We kept going back and forth about that rug orientation. We're living with it like that for now and then I'm going to switch it and see what we like best.

The Bathroom:

It is very hard to get good photos of such a small space, but here's my attempt.
Those shelves are there until Dan can make the built in shelves behind the shower. That'll be a while so I decided to paint the shelves we already had and put them there in the mean time.

Dan and I both thought that the hotel shower curtain rod my dad insisted we get was a little silly, but now we love it. It makes your shower feel loads bigger, but doesn't take up any larger footprint in the room. What a great idea.

Well, that's it for now. What do you think? There's still no window treatments in any of the windows and it sort of feels like we're living in a fish bowl, but that will come as soon as it can.

Dear Sweetie,

I think I may be more in love with you today than ever before. I have loved listening to you work and play and enjoy our daughter all day today. Right now you're sanding wood, listening to a CD and singing along. It makes me smile to hear you sing, "If the whole world was a honky tonk." I love listening to you laugh with our daughter and explain what is going on outside. I woke up to you giving her a bath this morning and the two of you playing together. We have a lot to get done and we're working hard, but I needed to take a moment to remember today. What an amazing day. I love you with all my heart.

Love,
M

Boring

I sense that my short posts about the house are getting fairly boring for everyone. I'm sorry. There's only so much of me I can give and, well, the Internet gets the least of it. In fact that seems a theme of my life right now. There's only so much. Physical, emotional, and financial limitations are real and I seem to be running into all of mine at the moment. What is strange though is that I don't seem to be feeling as overwhelmed about that fact as I used to get. I sort of feel like I'm living inside of a Dave Ramsey book. I write down what I would like to have done (in my head) and who I would like to see or help then I face the fact that there's no way on earth that I'm going to get it all done. I work and give and help until I go to bed and I say to myself, "The other stuff was below the line." I feel bad that I can't get to all of it, but tomorrow will be the day for the next thing on my list. Mostly I just feel bad about all the people over the summer that I would have loved to see, visit with and get to know.

Usually my mantra is that the mopping can wait, but right now it's not mopping that is requiring my attention. It's the whole house. And it can't wait. Dan's going back to school next week. On Monday he went in to talk to the head of the ortho department and left me alone with Charlotte and it nearly killed me. I forgot how hard it is to try and accomplish something while being the sole person watching her. Now I'm very, very worried about school starting. My way of dealing with it to pretend like it doesn't exist. I'm focusing on this week, this job, this time we have together instead of the looming school year.

So I'm boring right now. Things might pick up later. Just remind me in a month about what Dan thought would be a good dinner for Charlotte, or what wildlife we see in our backyard even though we live in the center of a big city, or the color of our porch right now, or the beautiful flowers that were growing in our backyard. We never even knew about them until they burst forth with a brilliant pink bouquet. I can see them from my kitchen windows and I love them. I wonder what kind of flower they are and how I can keep them coming back next year. (So OK I've told you about the flowers, but I love them and I kept it short.)

Squeals!

My living room is painted. Yes, there's a big hole in the ceiling, but that'll be fixed Tuesday. We also set our furniture up in there so it's looking less and less like a construction zone and more and more like a house. We are also working on the bathroom. I painted the baker's shelves I had to put in there until Dan gets around to make our built in shelves. I measured them and found they would fit snugly, but that would look great. Then when I went to put them in I realized that I measured the skinniest part of the shelves and the widest part of the opening. Now I'm laughing at myself. Oh well, they'll work in there sideways until the built ins are there. This week is all about getting ready for the family picnic for the incoming SLU med student families. It's at our house and so we need our house to well, look like a house.

Charlotte just emptied all of Dan's Netter's Anatomy Flash Cards on the floor. I gotta go.

I was going to say

I was going to write this post about how we finally chose the family room colors together. How there's a beautiful blue above the picture rail. We painted all the wood trim too. And today we were fondly calling "Operation Gobi Desert." The color for the main part of the wall is called Gobi Desert. All that was going to happen.

Then Dan inspected the stain in the ceiling that kept coming through the primer. The stain was wet. Turns out that the T-joint in the plumbing to the vanity in the bathroom was s-l-0-w-l-y dripping down onto the ceiling and that's why the stain kept coming through. Dan went to work trying to fix the darn thing without having to completely rip everything to shreds. He was hoping to salvage some of Operation Gobi Desert. Then Lowe's was out of stock for the part he needed. Then the Home Depot apparently didn't even carry that part. We were forced to abort the mission.

At 6 PM he found the part he needed to fix the leak.

Tomorrow will be Operation Gobi Desert.

And Operation Bath time. (We were both skipped yesterday and were planning on this morning before the leak happened.)