sidetracked, or maybe just plain OFFTRACK

have not been to workout, or swim, since monday. that is 5 days ago.

the bigger little has a horrid ear infection (imagine the loudest, screechiest wailing imaginable. NOW imagine that as you shower, get her dressed, get her sister dressed, get in the car, drive in the car, go through bank drive-through and then arrive 35 minutes early for the appt with her pediatrician and then someone you know comes in with their child. yep, same decibel. same intensity. same wail. for over 2. full. long. hours. jealous ain'tcha?!) needless to say, after drops in her ear and some drugs, she is better.

the smaller little has a cold. and defiant disposition.

and, well, this momma, is sleep-deprived, feeling her own cold (or other creeping-crud) coming on and not really wanting to *work* tonight. or tomorrow. but i will. knowing that there is a jumbo nap in my very near future will help me make it through the day. it truly is the little things! (did i forget to mention that the bigger little's pediatrician called HIMSELF this a.m. to check on her? he at first thought it was a behavioral issue with her wailing, but realize it was a pain issue instead...so he worried that she might not have had a very good night...luckily she slept fairly well. on me. on the smaller couch. did i mention i am sleep-deprived?)

final thought for this week:

DREAM YOUR DREAM

SING YOUR SONG

WONDER THE WONDER

FOLLOW THE TALE

FOR IF YOU DO

YOU WILL NOT LONG

WHEN YOU GO UNDER

- unknown

comfort

* when your daughters get so excited to make their daddy a valentine's day card and brownies! and then preparing a delicious home-made dinner for us at home...and even the littles liked the steak!

* when the *other* vet at the clinic is filling in for your usual vet (who is on a vacation) and the *other* vet is just as good as your own vet! especially when he even takes the time to let your 2-yr-old see where to scratch is on your dog's eye.

* when your dog comes running for her eye drops and antibiotic salve and does not even squirm when you put both in her eye 3 times/day.

* a tenderhearted 4-yr-old who is too worried about her doggie being hurt to be able to look at the scratch. and her telling you that she is glad that her doggie is going to be ok!

* the same tenderhearted 4-yr-old who tells you that when she grows up and lives in her own home she wants to get a kitten. and she will take really, really good care of the kitten. and name it Coco-Nut, after her stuffed kitten. and that she also wants a bunny. and his name will be chester.

* an all-girl snuggle in the brown chair on a tuesday morning when we are all sick. each choose a blanket and then we snuggle down. and watch a couple of shows.

* watching the sisters play together and listening to them pretend to have a big car race. the one not racing is the *"cheerleader" and yells loudly for the racer. adorable!

* having a job that you enjoy - whether it is being a sahm, or your home-sales business, or working part-time at an accounting firm. or all 3 of those.

* when YOUR cat has finally come around to wanting to hang out with YOU. and not just your husband. he's not even his cat anyways.

* watching your kids enjoy friendships. hearing them talk about their friends and knowing that they are learning in small bits about how to be a *good* friend.

* going to get a haircut. that includes a scalp massage. and wonderfully scented shampoo/conditioner. and *new* bangs.

* when husband goes to the grocery store and brings home some of your favorites, even when they were not on The List.

* when husband cleans up the entire basement when you take a nap on sunday afternoon.

* taking a nap during your kids' naptime.

* when the dog, or cat, snuggles up to you during a nap and flops down, gets comfy and then lets out a very satisfied (and loud) sigh!

"i know this much is true..." - wally lamb, author

not in any specific order...

* i am more than a number on the scale - yep, from that diet pill (or whatever it is) commercial. i became a "gym rat" in october 2008 and in the last 4 months the scale tells me that i have lost 10 pounds. which is very disheartening to someone who has way more than that to take off after 3 pregnancies! so, a better "judge of my weight loss" is this: 1) i can now fit into a pair of shorts that i have not been able to fit in since before my last pregnancy, 2) my favorite "pre-pregnancies" coat fits again!, and 3) my knees do not hurt as much as they used to! so, since i am doing a combo cardio/weights program, that explains the size change without a large actual weight change, right?!

** children's EARS are directly connected to their MOUTHS - yep, the minute i say something entirely dumb, stupid, inappropriate or (oh my world, nooooooo!) drop a very justified f-bomb...with in no time that same stinkin' word will drift out of their mouth! ikes!

*** regardless of how not good, yet not really bad, for me soda is, i will continue to consume it. diet coke. diet mountain dew. diet dr. pepper. diet pepsi. i show no prejudice. love 'em all people.

**** this etsy shop's adorable aprons are just about the cutest things i have seen in a very, very, very, very long time! check them out: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5585380


"take what people give you. drink their milkshakes. take their love." - wally lamb, author

crammed with heaven

Earth's crammed with heaven; and every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes, The rest sit around and pluck blackberries --Elizabeth Barrett Browning

the last couple of days have been so spring-ish...i have caught a horrible case of "spring fever". i am not sure if i will recover from it. especially if the cold, drippy, potentially snowy, conditions return tomorrow. sigh. i even had an urge to clean out the garage on saturday. it did not get done, but the urge remains in the undertow.

i love spring. i used to think i was totally a fall girl. but, i am realizing the magical splendor in spring. the sharpness of new-grass-green. the budding of trees. the warm sunshine on my face. the cool breezes that make it perfect for a light sweatshirt with shorts. and sandals. my toes love being untethered.

i am thankful that i live in an area that has 4 very distinct seasons. i love each of them...
the bright, hot days of summer...
the torrid autumn colors...
the breathlessness of fat snowflakes...
and the burst of spring.
i am ready to dig in the dirt. to plant flowers. to pull out the lawnchairs and enjoy some deck time dining alfresco. i am even ready to stain the dingy deck! but until mid-march i will just wait. and make my spring to do lists.

when will i EVER need this? (or "other dumb stuff we say in high school")

true story circa 1988:
my accounting teacher was also my asst. basketball coach. i was team captain, and the only senior on the team. we sucked. we sucked from my freshman year mid-way through my senior year. in fact, we sucked so bad that we held (& could possibly still hold...) the "Longest Losing Streak" in the state of nebraska. seriously. anyways...so, my head basketball coach *made* me take accounting my senior year, despitemy many arguments about it. he felt it was in my best interest to take a"numbers class". i did not. but i took accounting. and at one point i told mr. whittler that there were, like, 101 things i'd rather do than accounting. he challenged me to make that list, with a few perameters, and IF i could successfully do it and he approved it, then i would not have to take the accounting test the next day, and my grade would match the highest grade achieved by one of my classmates. heck yeah i made the list! i do not remember much on it, but i am sure there had to be something like "walk to school" (we lived 1.5 miles from town), walk beans, change a flat tire, whatever. and did it i did! i was quite proud of my 101 things, and i think mr. whittler was surprised i really did it. now, in retrospect had i spent that time actually studying for the accounting test...oh, who knows.

fast-forward to 2nd true story circa 2009:
i am officially back in the corporate world. prior to going on permanent maternity leave after linnea was born i worked at (drum roll now please) an accounting firm. over the past few months some of the people at that firm have left and formed their own firm. and i am now employed there. part-time. couple of evenings and saturdays. just through tax season. what you ask am i doing? ummm...yeah...i am preparing tax returns. so perhaps my high school decisions about accounting are coming back to haunt me, huh? well...probably some college ones, too, since i did not have to take any math per se because i tested out for my 3 gen ed credits. oh, and don't forget about the 5 credits (that i earned an "A" for...) that i took i few years back (paid for by a previous employer...) of accounting. yeah?

circa NOW:
really, when am i EVER going to use accounting, mr. whittler??

an "as it were" moment

**warning! this one contains the topic of bras/boobs**
read on at your own risk...

i had some time to do a wee bit o' shopping last night - i was already out of the house to do an uppercase living install at a chrioproctic office and well, village point pavillion was on my way home, so...that's how i ended up at scheel's. to be precise, i really did need something from there: a couple weeks ago i purchased a new sports bra and it freakin' rocks! i went in with the thought that i had to have the one that oprah was hocking on her show...but truth be told, that one was so not worth $60! but this other one was on sale and is probably the most comfortable sports bra i have ever worn! plus it does not mush 'em together, but does a nice "lift" without the uni-boob appearance (hate that). so....back to last night. i decided that since this bra was on sale, that i should get another one (and a good thing, too, b/c this style that i recently fell in l-u-v with is now being discontinued...hmgphf!). and while i was at scheel's here are some other departments i got sucked into:

* little girls section: oh such cute sporty-girl stuff! my girls are dress-girls, so none of it would really be appreciated at this time. but, if they were or become sporty-girls, then i have scheel's filed away as a "go to" place! i did, however, purchase a new swimsuit for big sister. (will go back for one for lil sister next week - damn that new budget thing...see "resolutions" post for details). somehow 2 of each of the girls' swimsuits got washed with something dark and are a dingy greyish-purple yuck color. not that anyone at the y probably even cares, right? but still...

* shoes: seriously...how could i not go there?!?! tried on the cutest keen's that were on deep-discount. too small. and i am now what i consider to be old enough to know that "cute" does not trump "fit". those did not come home with me. but there were a pair of sandles on the "clearance rack" that did get a new home in my closet. bring on that warm weather (of course, that will mean that i will have to remove the "pedicure" my daughers's gave me a couple days ago...see photo...not real pretty, unless you are 2 or 4 yrs old...both girls had to have a pic of their feet when they saw me take one of mine...of course i do not know how to add more than one pic to my blog).

...and my "as it were" moment:

*dr. martens: i had such a thing with these a few years back. what i call my "pre-k" era (pre-karl). i had 6 or so pairs. some fairly plain. some funky. all i loved dearly. then one day, i decided that perhaps i could venture into more feminine shoes. and they all got sold on eBay. sigh. then last night, on the clearance rack, in my size...softly muted floral docs! i picked them up and thought about how fun these would be with jeans or khakis. they were a mary-jane style. so then i started thinking about the funky socks that i could get to wear with them (me luvs a new pair of socks...). and then i gently placed them back on the shelf. softly patted the toe of each shoe. did not even try them on. instead, i gave a big *sigh* and let the docs stay where they were...in my past.

wren

she is 4 today.

she is beautiful, insightful, tender-hearted and has a big, bold laugh! she is an artist - both on paper and on the dance floor. she loves music, ballet dancing, swimming, singing along with the radio or a cd, doing projects and playing. she takes impeccaable care of her "buddies": mousey, coco-kiki, ardie-the-aardvark, lil gray kitter, pinkie, lil giraffe-moe, wilmer. she makes me proud every day. she loves butterflies, god, her little sister, her daddy, her momma, her dog belle, her cat puddy mcfluffkins. she is a hugger. she is intelligent, funny, sometimes clumsy, but always herself!

she is my wren.

and she is LOVED!

"myrtle" monday...monday...monday

spent the weekend doing a whole lotta celebrating! my oldest turns FOUR tomorrow and we spent the weekend celebrating HER! lots of family was able to join us. and my daughter told me that she had the "best birthday ever"! at sunday school, during the music time, ms. laura always asks who has a birthday during the next week and then we sing to them...my daughter had asked me about this numerous times. on the way to church we had to "practice". and when ms. laura asked...wren exuberantly replied, "ME! ME!" she was so excited to get sang to at sunday school!

so, what does "myrtle monday" mean? well...i am doing the beth moore (she is hysterical!) "ester: it's tough being a woman" bible study right now. and lst week beth was giving some history about ester...who was named "hadassah", which comes from the jewish name for "myrtle" and means "fragrance". so, "ester monday" didn't have the panache as "myrtle monday", huh?! so......it IS tough being a woman...ask any woman you know! and here is why it's tough being me on this monday:

* taxes...humpfpgh! totally thought i was caught up and nearly done getting it all together for our cpa. wrong. so i am finishing up this a.m. or at least trying to. so that hubs can look everything over tonight. now, i have to admit that i l-u-v being self-employed! the tax benefits are great. allows me to be home with my littles - yeah! but the paperwork and record keeping is less than desirable. (truth be told, it is not so much the paperwork/record keeping as it is my procrastination to keep up with it the last couple of months of 2008 - bad me! bad, bad me!) i brewed a pot of yummy coffee and brought the entire pot to the basement. i am hopeful the precious coffee bean will help me muddle through today (photo at top)

so, rather than heading to the y for a workout and a swim with the girls, i am going to be finishing the recording of my expenses and mileage log and other business info for taxes. hopefully, if all goes well, we can go for a swim later this afternoon. and i can actually get caught up on the "ester" bible study tonight. oh, and bake some cookies for wren's birthday tomorrow...she wants to take cookies to her dance class to share.

so, heigh-ho-heigh-ho it is off to work i go.