I need an easy post. Can't get much easier than stream of consciousness, huh?
1) I sleep like a baby. Contrary to the romantic and idyllic image of a newborn snuggled under her covers with cartoon sugar plums dancing happily above a downy head, IN REAL LIFE this means waking up several times a night. I've enjoyed bouts of insomnia over the past few years, so when I get a complete night's sleep (at least 6 1/2 hours...), I'm ecstatic. Last night was GREAT...and this morning when I woke up the birdies in my yard were singing a cheery tune, my adorable Australian shepherd greeted me with her typical full body I'M-SO-HAPPY-TO-SEE-YOU dance, my children were perfectly behaved--not a grouch or whiner in the bunch, and we hit EVERY GREEN LIGHT on our way to school. Even THEY noticed what a smooth morning it was. A perfect cup of coffee, reading some practical and penetrating words, all is well.
2) The thieves who stole my pocketbook charged $428 at a local grocery store minutes after they shattered my car window. We aren't responsible for the charge, at least while it's under investigation (and definitely not for the full amount), but wow, they were fast :/. My first reaction (and interestingly, Rachel's was similar) was they must be pretty desperate and HUNGRY to do this (as evidenced by charging something at a grocery store). Tad figured they bought 40 cases of beer...and then I wondered if they bought whatever's necessary to produce meth (except that's kind of hard because TN has the "ingredients" under lock and key now).
3) Have you ever used Shout Color Catchers? You should...they really work! You know how colors can bleed onto lighter or white fabric from the same garment? Color Catchers trap the dye, essentially preventing, or at least reducing, bleed. This would've saved several of my kids' outfits when they were younger; seems like a lot of their stuff was ruined from a print bleeding (even when I followed the care instructions on the label). Then again, sometimes the "bleeding" was from a skinned knee or elbow and Color Catchers wouldn't have helped a bit.
4) The interior of our house is being painted. Our house is around 20 years old, so it's due. There are several ramifications to this: a) I have had to choose paint colors...DO YOU KNOW HOW DIFFICULT THAT IS FOR A CHOCOLATE/STRAWBERRY/VANILLA GIRL???! The short answer is "extremely"; not just wall colors, mind you, but ceiling colors as well...and trim. Thank God (and yes, that is a sincere praise) my new friend Jennifer is helping, and my painters are patient and accommodating; b) I am discombobulated. There have been people in my house for over a week now. That becomes wearying. Because I have a shy bladder (don't even mention shy bowel!), I haven't been able to "go" for over a week...I should be exploding momentarily; c) we didn't take before pictures...1) have I mentioned our camera is lemon? and 2) no one thought of it til after. Can you see me banging my head against the wall? Ooops! Now I have some shade of red I can't remember ...or navajo white...or cay...or commodore blue...or morning fog paint in my hair...:/ d) I got BLACK paint on one of my favorite pairs of pants this morning. Unfortunately the Color Catcher mentioned above won't help me. But because of #1 above, I am not going to let that ruin my day, nope, PollyAnna is still in the house. e) We're getting someone else to paint it because 1) Tad HATES to paint and 2) I am SLOW and BAD at it. It'd be one thing if I was slow and GOOD, another if I was fast and BAD, but we've learned the hard way it was worth paying someone else to get it done without Tad having a coronary and so it didn't look like we let the kids loose with paint brushes.
5) What are two of my favorite things? The beach and chocolate!!! Author and blogger Julie Carobini has just published her freshman novel Chocolate Beach. With a title like that, it HAS to be good! To whet your appetite, check out Amy Wallace's blog interview with Julie.
6) I'll upload a video blog of the polyphon soon...with painters invading my personal space in my "blogging environment" I haven't been able to get to it. If you're interested...:).
That's all...that's enough!