Quick Update

Well, we got the furniture all rearranged in time for bible study last night! Yesterday was a total whirlwind - I seem to get the most done when I have a deadline. A lot of stuff got "hidden" in the garage, so that's something we'll have to work on this week. It's really nice to have a clean house again! All that clutter wears after a while. What's funny is that it's not stuff I want to get rid of. It's only really clutter because it was out of place. One thing I'm looking forward to when DH has a "real" job and we have extra room in the budget is to be able to get organizers (plastic or canvas bins, bookcases, shelves, etc.) so we can get everything out of boxes!

Late Night Lovin' on my Boy

So I'm headed up to bed (at 11:30, oops) and I'm picking up toys and such along the way (Lego pieces strewn about, a book ok my bed, a zippy cup in the middle of the entry way, the contents of my nightstand drawer spread out on the floor) and it just makes me smile! Even though I'm tired and our house is a mess, I love seeing the evidence of our little one who's been sound asleep for hours!

(I'm posting this from my phone - we'll see how it goes!)

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Yeah, I'm still here (I think)

I haven't posted in a while. I haven't been feeling well. Just ask DH. I spent most of the weekend on the couch. DS and I watched all of Wives and Daughters on Saturday (third time. Thanks Elizabeth - let us know when you want it back, btw...) I'm also suffering coffee withdrawals. It's miserable. We watched a movie last night (Appaloosa, pleasantly unpredictable) wherein they drank a lot of coffee. It was torture. I got my act together enough to get a WFMW post up today though. (Gotta get those weekly numbers boosts!) We're supposed to be rearranging our house. It's something like this: the realtor wants our living room to have less stuff in it so it's obvious how big it is (because apparently potential buyers have no imagination). This is what it looks like now:

(Well, no, not really. RIGHT NOW it's a pig sty and I would be MORTIFIED if anyone were to knock on the front door and ask to come in) But that's what it's supposed to look like if anyone wanted to see the house. The realtor's problem is that it's divided into two rooms, because of the computers. Here's another view.

So she wants us to move the computers upstairs. In her mind: "Easy! They're only using two of the three bedrooms, just move that stuff out of the third bedroom, move the computers up, done!" What she doesn't realize: the cable connection (i.e., how we get on the internet) is in LB's room. If the computers go upstairs we have to put them in the room with the cable connection, so his stuff would have to move into the third room, which is not as empty as it looks. So, RIGHT NOW, LB's room is full of half-full boxes of baby clothes and sealed boxes of My Little Pony (I'm a collector. I should blog about that.). The third bedroom is so full of the stuff we pulled out of the closet, you can't even walk in it - you have to step over and around things, and there's one corner that's completely inaccessible to anyone but the cats (who, of course, take every opportunity to hide themselves in that corner so we have to drag them out and close the door behind us lest they have an "accident").

We decided to invite our bible study group to our house on Sunday, so the downstairs has to be PRESENTABLE by then, and my parents are coming the following week, so the upstairs has to be LIVABLE by then. And I haven't been feeling well (did I already mention that?). So I haven't blogged recently. Haven't uploaded any videos either. Are there any new videos? I'm not sure. I would check on that, but apparently uploading those couple photos, using Firefox, and listening to Pandora are all a little too much for my poor overworked computer, so I won't tax it any further. (yeah, doing those things should NOT be too much. Spiffy (that's my computer's name) needs a tuneup).

On the topic of "tuneup", LB's 18 month check up went well yesterday. The doctor gave him "straight A's" (she probably says that to all her patients). He only got one vaccine, and he didn't even cry. He kept his eyes on me the whole time, so I made sure to smile and say reassuring things. She (the dr) did refer us to a pediatric dermatologist to get an opinion on the hemangioma on LB's chest. (I'd post a pic but I don't have one. Oh, and even if I DID, looking for it would crash Spiffy, again.) It's not worrisome (yet), but it's largely subdermal, so she's being cautious. She also talked about doing an MRI and an ultrasound to make sure there were no hemangiomas on his organs. That sounds expensive. We're still paying the bills from his seizure last Oct.

Haha, here's a funny: my parents are coming next week and we're planning to go to Gatlinburg again. (Last time we went, LB had an unprovoked seizure. Click to read more). We're not staying in the same condo (but we're not superstitious or anything, really), but we MAY try to eat at the little cafe where IT happened (cue dramatic music).

Okay, that's enough nonsense, I should go do something "productive" (reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar over and over (and over and over...) is productive, right?)

Little Reminders

I have found that little reminders throughout the day are very helpful! My phone allows for several alarms to be programmed, and to repeat only on certain days if I wish. I thought I'd share what reminders I've found helpful. Your schedule, of course, may be different, and you may have other reminders. If your phone doesn't allow for multiple alarms, perhaps your email program does (Outlook does). The trick is to be sure the alarm is loud enough for you to hear it. And be sure not to schedule alarms to go off during regular events (such as church)!

6:00am - Time to get up (repeats Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun) Notice it doesn't go off on Saturdays - my one day to sleep in (if only DH didn't have so much work and he could watch LB for a while...)

8:30am - Hot Spot fire drill (repeats on weekdays) Hot spots are those pesky places that always seem to collect clutter. A hot spot fire drill is five minutes to clear it off. For me, it's my kitchen island.

9:15am - Where's your laundry? (repeats weekdays) This is when I usually get a load started because LB has gone down for a nap

11:00am - Are you drinking water? (repeats Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat) Why is this so hard to remember to do??

1:30pm - Where's your laundry? (repeats every day) Switch the load into the dryer

3:30pm - What's for dinner? (repeats every day) I've already meal planned for the week, so each day I just need to figure out when to start dinner so it's ready on time

5:00pm - Hot spot fire drill (repeats every day) Amazing how that spot attracts the crud!!

7:00pm - Where's your laundry? (repeats every day) Get the load out of the dryer and take the time to at least fold, if not put away. It won't take that long, really! (Yes, I need the pep talk EVERY TIME)

9:30pm - Go to bed (repeats Mon, Tue, Wed, Sat, Sun) Now, if we actually DID go to bed before 10, that 6am alarm wouldn't be so bad!


I hope you find something helpful here, it certainly works for me!

Our Backyard

Our peach tree is in full bloom. It is so pretty!


Speaking of blooms, did you know that Rosemary blooms? I didn't know that until we planted it. I don't think it bloomed the first year, or maybe even the second year, but it's in bloom now too.

The peony, however, is looking as dead as it did last October. I seem to remember it sprouting sooner than this last year. It's probably good though. We want to take it with us when we move, so we've been meaning to dig it up. Should probably do that soon...

So since our house is on the market and we don't plan to be here past July, we didn't plant a garden this year. It's kind of sad (though there's a part of me that's a little glad - it was rather frustrating last year because of the pests). The cats, of course, are ecstatic that their "giant kitty box" is still available. We did, however, plant some turnips because I like turnips and they can be planted before the last frost. So, while we appreciate the fertilizing benefit the cats provide, we're wondering whether the turnips will survive much more "benefaction".

Etsy: Up and Running

Yep, I finally got the pictures taken and the ads written. It's a little easier than doing ebay ads because they don't let you use HTML, so I don't have to create the ad to look all neat and nifty, like we do for ebay (which is a royal pain, btw). So here are four of the items. It seemed like I had done so much work, but there are only five items, lol. That's okay. It's fun to do.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade wjcolion.etsy.com

I'll also put a similar widget in the sidebar that will be there permanently. Any feedback you have would be appreciated, and of course it almost goes without saying that I would love for you to tell anyone who might be interested about my store :)

Mugshots

I know I've already written a post today, and I don't like posting more than one in a day, but I had to share this. I think it's funny.

DH emailed me in a state of minor panic that he needed a mugshot of himself. I don't know what it's for (probably something to do with something that's being published). So I rifled through our picture directory and pulled out some that were possible candidates. I cropped them and emailed them to him (after he emailed me a second time, slightly more panicked than before.) I asked, "Will any of these do?" Here are the pictures I sent him:





I think he'll appreciate that I gave him choices. I hope he chooses the second-to-last. I think it would be perfect.

A little too much empathy

I cried in church yesterday. I was sitting in the pew, gripping my husband's arm hard enough to leave fingernail marks through his sweater, eyes shut tight, with tears streaming down my face. I could hardly breathe. If I took a breath, I knew I would completely lose control and start bawling. I was trying to be quiet. (Have you ever cried really hard, without making a sound? NOT easy).

The sermon was on compassion. As he usually does, the pastor was using a true story to illustrate a point. The story involved a 12 month old baby and the extensive abuse it had suffered. I don't know why it hit me so hard, but it did. As he was telling the story, I wanted to put my fingers in my ears so I didn't have to hear it (but I didn't feel I should do that) then I wanted to get up and run outside (but I didn't feel I should that either). So I stayed in the pew, heard the whole story, and tried to keep from disrupting the service. (At the end of the story was the point, which was that the baby calmed down and actually smiled when a loving caretaker held it and comforted it, you know, showed compassion. I'm sorry to use "it", I don't remember if it was a boy or a girl.)

During offertory (which is before the sermon), we had watched a video called "Cardboard Testimonies". That had made me cry too (but I was able to control myself). I don't know why I was so emotional yesterday! I'm not usually so affected.

I know the pastor saw me. How could he not? There aren't more than 50 people in the pews on Sunday morning, so I couldn't "hide". I thought for sure he was going to say something to me after the sermon, but he didn't. Perhaps he was embarrassed. I wouldn't feel too good if I told a story that made someone react like that. Maybe he thought it was unrelated.

I was able to compose myself during the rest of the sermon, and when it was time to be back on stage (I'm part of the worship team), no one could tell I'd been crying.

Etsy Update

Well, although I had rejected it to begin with, I decided to go with "wjcolion" for my Etsy store. I wasn't sure it was a good name because it's unpronounceable as a single word (pronounceable business names are typically easier to remember). But, it IS unique, and there's nothing quite like it on Etsy (or many other places, for that matter), so if someone remembered part of it and searched, they'd probably find it. Also, a Google search of "wjcolion" returns a page of results that are all me (actually, ALL the results are me, in one way or another. What a weird feeling!). Apparently, "wjcolion" is my internet alias. I didn't realize I'd used it so often! (If you're wondering why I didn't choose Lirazel for Etsy, it's because it was already taken. It often is. I have a very long list, actually, of names I tried to use. But they were all taken. So I ended up with a "last resort" name...as I often do, thus explaining why I've used wjcolion so often... Perhaps it's a better name in the end.)

So, my Etsy store is at wjcolion.etsy.com. But there's nothing in it yet. I've entered some uninteresting policy information, etc., but there are no products yet. I need to take pictures and write ads for most of them, and for the others, I need to fix the PDFs.

"PDFs? What do you mean, you need to fix the PDFs?" Let me go back a bit. Okay, a lot.

When LB was a lot littler, I made diaper covers for him. We made a pattern and put together instructions (really good instructions, with pictures and everything). We turned them into PDF files and sold them as digital items on ebay. It was a most excellent business venture. Although each pattern sold for less than $5, once they had been listed, I didn't have to do a thing! When someone bought a pattern, they paid for it, and then they downloaded it. Once in a while there would be an issue with the download and I would have to email the file to them, but no biggie. It felt like free money! (Granted, a lot of time and effort went into CREATING the patterns/instructions. But once they were done, we made money in our sleep!) Then ebay changed their policies. They changed them to the point that it was no longer possible for us to list digital items and expect to walk away with any money. We were rather angry (especially since they made the change without warning, deleted my listings so I couldn't even save the ads, and replied with very lame explanations when I emailed them about it).

Enter Etsy. Etsy is all about handmade, but they DO allow digital listings. Yay!! As the patterns and instructions are 100% made by me, I fulfill the requirements of selling them on Etsy! It was this information that finally convinced us to go ahead with Etsy.

What was the point of all this? Oh yeah - I have to fix the PDFs before I can list them on Etsy. I have some updates, some minor changes, etc. I can make all the changes to the instructions and turn them into PDFs again, but the pattern has to be "attached" - it's like adding two PDFs together. This is the part I need DH's help with.

So the plan is to spend some time putting the pictures and ads together in the next couple days and the goal is to have SOMETHING listed by the weekend (the end of the weekend?). I'm sure I'll let you know.

Cobweb remover

I learned this cleaning tip recently and thought it was great! For an inexpensive cobweb remover, use a paintbrush! It's small enough to carry around while you're cleaning, it can get into those tight spots that cobweb brushes can't get, and it's easy to clean: just rinse it in the sink or wipe it on a rag.
You can use any size. The one I use is 2 1/2 inches because that's what I found in the garage. The one pictured is 1-inch and costs a whopping $0.79 at Lowes. The one downside is that you'll need a step ladder or to stand on furniture to reach high places, but that's not so bad, is it?

Etsy Shop

I need a little help, dear bloggy friends. I'm looking to start an Etsy Shop. If you haven't heard of Etsy, it's similar to eBay stores (no auctions) but it's exclusively for handmade items. I have several crocheted items (including baby hats and booties and a market bag or two like the one in yesterday's post) and ideas for other items. But I'm having trouble coming up with a name, which means I can't even "open shop" and list items. I don't want to be limited to just crochet, but I want something interesting and memorable. I thought about some of the phrases from Proverbs 31, but "the fruit of her hands" and "fruit of her hands" are already taken (although they're not really active anymore) as is "Proverbs 31" (who hasn't sold anything since 2006). I don't know if I can get the name from them.

But I was wondering if anybody had any ideas. I'm not good with this sort of thing - my creativity doesn't do well with a blank slate. The last business name we came up with was "Board Game Bliss" - then it turns out there's an erotic game on the market called "Bliss". Oops.

So, any help would be very much appreciated! Thank you!

Market Bag

This is my "market bag". I don't actually take it to the grocery store, but I have used it a couple times. I mostly use it to contain a current crochet project. It's made with two balls of that yummy cotton yarn (Peaches and Cream? I think?). The pattern calls for three balls, but I managed to eke it out of two. I felt very thrifty.

The whole thing is worked in the round from the bottom up. I didn't count my stitches at the end of each round, but when I counted them at the top, I had many more stitches than I was supposed to. Somehow I'm adding stitches. It's something about the way I join rounds in single crochet (I don't have this problem in double crochet). I need to pay better attention to what I'm doing (and counting stitches wouldn't hurt).

What happens when you let me out of the house

Well, my WFMW post yesterday didn't bring in the visitors and comments like I hoped it would. At the time I wrote it I thought it was pretty good. Then Wednesday morning I go to connect the links, and it turns out the host of WMFW PICKED THE SAME TOPIC!! Talk about not fair. Oh well. I linked up anyway, since I HAD spent the time on it. I have a better one for next week.

Yesterday was BUSY. I didn't get any work done at home because I was hardly AT home. It was actually really refreshing! A few years ago I never would have thought that I would be so glad to have a day OUT of the house. When we moved to Nashville I got a full-time job. I started in June. My first day off came in September: Labor Day. That day at home was so refreshing! We didn't go anywhere (DH, as a grad student, doesn't get holidays like the rest of human working-folk), I just puttered around the apartment and enjoyed myself. Now, I'm home all the time, and a day OUT is like a vacation! Really, all we need once in a while is a day off from the routine.

What made yesterday so special was that I HAD THE CAR! LB had a dentist appt. at 10am, so I (we) had to drop DH off and I got the car :) Although I could drop DH off on any day we choose and I can have the car just about any time I want, it's not economical to do so. So we don't. (Besides, I don't like getting up any earlier than I absolutely have to.)

So we went to the dentist (LB was fantastic, btw. He just laid there and let them brush his teeth and look in his mouth. One of the front four bottom teeth still hasn't come in, even though he's now got molars, but all's well). LB fell asleep in the car on the way over and was very sleepy even while we were in the waiting room. His sleepiness was nothing compared to the pair of girls who were there. When we came in, they were sound asleep on a couple of bean bags in front of the tv. Sound asleep. Turns out they'd been medicated. I told DH about it later, and wondered what kind of procedure these young children could possible be needing to go through that they had to anesthetized for it! DH commented that perhaps it was just a regular visit, and they (their parents) had opted for "sedation dentistry". I was appalled. We hear ads for it all the time on radio, "come in, go to sleep, wake up with a new smile!" I can understand someone who hasn't been to the dentist in a long time, maybe needs a lot of work done, perhaps they have an unhealthy fear, but CHILDREN?! Seems to me these parents are teaching their children to fear going to the dentist! DH is just speculating, we don't really KNOW why they were medicated, but it's certainly a disturbing thought.

Then we went to Walmart, right next to the dentist's office, not our regular Walmart. (our Walmart got rid of the sewing/craft section!! I couldn't believe it when we walked in there earlier this week. Very, very upsetting. They were the closest shop for almost 20 miles AND had the best prices. JoAnn's, Michael's, and other such stores have all moved to Mt. Juliet, and I can't just hop over there any time I want.) THEY had a crafting section, so I took my time browsing, just enjoying that they still have the stuff. I picked up some thread for my sewing project and some yarn for a crochet project.

Then we went home and had lunch.

After lunch, naptime? Nosiree, we had more things to do. Okay, "had" is the wrong word. "Wanted" is probably more accurate. We did have a belt to return (DH needed a new belt. He found one he liked. He picked one a size bigger than he thought he needed because he doesn't like it being buckled on the last hole. When we got home, it was way too big. We returned it. He got one the next size down. When we got home, it was way too big. So I had it in the car to exchange AGAIN). Now, the belt came from TJMaxx, where they also sell purses. Me, I have a thing about purses. I seem to be always looking for the perfect purse. The problem, of course, is that my idea of the "perfect purse" changes every few months. I have a big ol' bin in the garage FULL of purses. I can't get rid of them, because I might want to use one of them someday! I had been using a purse I liked very much, but it was starting to feel cramped. (I explained to DH that the design of the internal pockets did not take advantage of the vertical space, so everything fell to the bottom, and it wasn't wide enough for that.) My mom made me a beautiful backpack purse in the vein of Vera Bradley. It's great, we designed it ourselves! But has just one little, itsy-bitsy, flaw: the straps are too short. I can't wear it like a backpack unless I'm only wearing a t-shirt type layer. (There are a couple other, totally surmountable, issues, but I won't go into detail.) (If you're reading this, Mom, please don't be offended! I LOVE the backpack. It'll be great this summer, and when we go to the Renaissance Faire, and when we go to Gatlinburg when you're here, and other times. I...I have a purse problem, and I can't seem to resist.) But at TJ Maxx, I saw a purse I REALLY LIKED. The color was fantastic, the design looked good, it was a little on the trendy side, but that's okay. It's a little bigger than I like, but I think I've been a little delusional about how much stuff I like to carry. I am a MOM, after all, and I seem to end up with all sorts of things that aren't mine.

The price on the purse was $39.99. I realize to some people that is beyond reasonable, but for us, it may as well been $399. Way outside our budget. Way, way, way outside. (Is it really considered a budget if your bare-necessities expenses exceed your poverty-level income? Hmm, good question, but so not the topic.) So I gave up on the purse. I was slowly relinquishing it, letting it fade from my mind, when DH had a suggestion: didn't I have some gold jewelry I'd been talking about selling? Let me tell you, I was SO excited yesterday morning! We didn't have time in the morning, but after lunch, the first place we stopped was a little hole-in-the-wall jewelry shop I'd found last Christmas when DH needed his ring reshaped (and engraved. I had forgotten to do it before our wedding, and he had engraved mine, so I finally got his done.) They buy jewelry. Their sign out front says "highest prices paid." That's good, but I didn't really care. So long as I got enough to cover $39.99+tax.

The guy weighed my item and quoted me $105. I tried not to let my eyes pop out of my head as I smiled and told him that was wonderful. Then he paid me in CASH. Two bills, in cash. I think I floated to the car. Okay, time out. I KNOW what Dave Ramsey would say to do with that money. (We'll tackle that debt, Dave, we promise, as soon as we can. Please see above about bare-necessities expenses exceeding poverty-level income.) And I KNOW I just sold something that will last a really long time and I'm looking to purchase something less durable. SO. NOT. THE. POINT. The point is that we don't have the budget for little things like frivolous purses. The point is that I had never worn the jewelry since it had been given to me. The point is that I was trading something I didn't use and got no joy out of for something that I WILL use and will enjoy very much.

So we went to TJ Maxx and headed straight to the purses (after returning the belt). I took my time looking it over, playing with the pockets, clasps, zippers, etc. LB helped. He liked the pocket flap on the outside. We even went over to a mirror to see how it would look on my shoulder. Yeah, it's a little big. But if I'm going to resign myself to big "mommy purses", it might as well be a flashy one, right? Besides, I had been thinking about it since last Saturday when we had purchased the FIRST too-big-belt (the one that was two sizes too big). If I look at something, put it back, and it dominates my thoughts for the next three days, I figure I'll get good use out of it (can you follow the logic on that?)

I paid for them (the purse and the belt) in two separate transactions: the purse with cash (have you ever paid for something with a hundred dollar bill? It's pretty thrilling) and the belt with the cc (because THAT was coming out of HIS gift money, NOT MY CASH. I'm a little protective...). And then we went home. LB went down for a nap. I crocheted. Then it was time to pick up DH, then have dinner, then clean up (DH did the dishes, bless his heart!), then American Idol Results. We missed the singing on Tuesday night. How could we possibly miss American Idol?? We were doing taxes. What fun! </sarcasm> That's a whole 'nother post: coming to grips with getting a very large chunk of change "back" even though we didn't pay any taxes. But this post is long enough.

Oh, I couldn't let you go without showing you my new purse. You're dying to see it, right? I looked for a photo off the designer's website, but it's not in the current line up, which is probably why it was at TJ Maxx (although they had other purses that ARE on the designer's site...). Purty, ain't it?
I like the over-sized buckle. It creates an illusion that the purse is smaller than it is. And of course the color is gorgeous. They had yellow ones, but it wasn't a pretty yellow (as usual). It was the only one there of this style in this color. I was really glad it was still there yesterday :) Yeah, just looking at it makes me want to go somewhere so I can carry it. Ooh! I do have somewhere to go: dentist appointment this afternoon! (lol, DH, LB, and I go to three different dentists. Just the way it worked out. DH went on Tuesday, LB went yesterday, and mine's today.)

Okay, the coffee's kicking in, my head's overflowing with more nonsense I could blog about, but I better publish this and redirect that energy to something "productive" (I wonder if crochet counts...)

Meal Planning: the Easy Way

(When I wrote this post last week, by the way, I had NO IDEA Kristen at We Are THAT Family was going to choose the same topic! Crazy, huh?)

I don't like meal planning. Actually, I think I hate it. It's so hard for me to figure out what I want to eat for dinner not just for tonight, but for the next 5, 6, 7 nights. I guess I base too much of the decision on what I FEEL like eating, and how can I know what I'll FEEL like eating tomorrow night? I can't. So I don't. And then dinner time rolls around and I have no idea what to make and next thing I know, everyone's cranky (including me) 'cause they're getting hungry. What I need is someone to plan the meals for me. If someone would just say, "This is what you're eating" - that'd be perfect.

And then I found just that: an online service that plans a whole week's worth of meals and all I have to do is buy the groceries and cook the meals (and they're easy, tasty meals too). This particular service is even budget conscious! Their meal plans are designed to correspond to the current week's sale at the grocery store and include an aisle-by-aisle grocery list. And, get this, the total cost of a week's worth of groceries for 4 to 6 people averages only $75! Seventy-five bucks to feed your whole family for an entire week. That's pretty hard to beat!

Your question: How much does it cost? It's $1.25/week. They have you buy 3 months at a time, so that's $15 every three months. Not bad for what you're getting: free meal plans, recipes, and grocery list, and a lot of savings in time, money, and frustration!

Click on the banner for more information (yes, I do get credit if you sign up, thanks!) You can look at sample meal plans for free and read all about the service before signing up. And if you want to ask me anything about it, leave a comment with your question and I'll be more than happy to answer it. We've been using the service since October (so that's, what, 4 months?) and love it. I'll never go back to meal planning on my own ever again.

I tell ya, it's the best $15 I spend!! And not having to rack my brain for yummy, easy meals for my family certainly works for me!

Must....Find....Motivation....

I'm struggling this morning. I want to just sit here, sip my coffee, and browse the internet, pursuing any link that interests me. But I have work to do. The problem is that I'm frustrated with the work. It feels like no matter how hard I work, it's all undone the next day. And there's no penalty if I DON'T do it. It just sits there and waits for me. Take the kitchen for example. Without going into detail, let's just say that it didn't get cleaned up after dinner one night. The next morning I worked on it, but didn't finish. That evening, we just piled more dirty dishes on top and left it. Now, this morning, I have a mountain of dishes and very little motivation. (It doesn't help that I've put holes in my last pair of rubber gloves, so my fingers get all wet and clammy.)

I'm supposed to work on straightening the desk area that's covered in papers and whatnot. But it feels like they'll just pile up again. What's the point? So what if the cats get muddy pawprints and cat hair all over everything? I know which piles things are in, how is that different from filing them in a cabinet?

I'd rather research a business idea DH and I had. I'd rather work on a sewing project I'd like to finish by Sunday. I'd rather finish any of the crochet projects I've started and never finished. I'd like to feel like the work I spend my time on won't be undone before I go to bed!

Well, I CAN'T just sit here, feeling sorry for myself. LB will only sleep for so long. I'll take another slug of coffee, turn up the music, and drown my sorrows in dirty dishwater. Thanks for joining my pity party.

Time Well Spent

DH has a lot of work to do this weekend (as always). So the plan was for him to get as much done as possible while I took care of LB. But LB had different ideas: he is absolutely insistent that his daddy read to him. We tried switching places, DH even tried hiding, but LB would not be gainsaid. It's really the sweetest thing in the world when he chooses to spend time with one parent. He doesn't consistently choose the same parent every time, so there are never hurt feelings. I don't know why he does this sometimes. Other times LB is perfectly content with either parent, or he plays by himself. But not this afternoon. So DH is sitting on the couch and reading the books that LB brings over to him. He'll still have to get the work done, but it can wait.