ABCs of today

Addicted. It's Sunny in Philadelphia. Netflix. Need I say more? Okay, I'll say more. I love Charlie Day. I think he is so adorable and told Chris that if there were a movie version of our lives Charlie Day would play Chris. I then reenacted a scene from It's Sunny in which Charlie's teeth fall out because he never brushes them... Chris was not amused but rather bemused (Chris brushes his teeth). "It's the actor! Not the character that reminds me of you!" I'm not sure he bought it.

Back and Bootcamp and Birthday- I strained a muscle in my upper back yesterday (no, Mom, no tooo badly. Just like a big knot) and it's too sore to go to bootcamp tomorrow. I'm totally bummed about this as tomorrow is my birthday. Does that sound crazy to you? For people's birthdays in bootcamp we do everything in sets of their age. So tomorrow we were going to do 33s. I'm bummed.

Coffee, what else? Despite my neurologist's recommendation to keep caffeine to two cups of coffee a day, I've been letting it creep up again. It's always a caffeine roller-coaster around here. Not really a caffeine roller-coaster... coffee. Just coffee.

Dirty. Well, maybe not dirty but messy... our house that is. I've been trying to clean all week and it's messier than when I began. How does that happen?! I think because I'm trying to clean out and reorganize and not just hide away all of the crap. Our house is weird because we have several areas that are basically empty (like the cabinets underneath all of our bathroom sinks) but then we have crapola everywhere that doesn't seem to have a place to go. Reorganizing makes everything so messy. Messy, not dirty.

Erik Weihenmayer aka My New Hero. Remember how I only want to talk about Everest or Antarctica? Well, guess what... Erik Weihenmayer has been to both. He's done the Seven Summits and is so lovable and, oh by the way, he does all of this blind. I need everyone to read his book so we can talk about him all of the time. I emailed his facebook contact page and got a reply from his manager (or some such person). She asked me where I live so that they can consider inviting me to an upcoming talk. Oh my gosh I reeaaalllly want to go hear him speak. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do to sign up for his No Barriers commitment. Let's all do it. It doesn't have to be a physical challenge. Anyone else want to sign up?

Freaking stalker... yikes. If all I want to do is talk about Sir Ernest Shackleton that's fine. But somehow having my new hero be someone living makes me sound like a stalker... I'm not, just to be clear. Although if Erik Weihenmayer lived nearby I would invite his family over for dinner... sooo... hmm. Just read the damn book and you'll feel the same way. Trust me, I never throw out a broad "you have to read this" to everyone I know, but this one. Yep. Read it.

Girl Scout Cookies. I think the solution to the "I want to buy a bunch but not eat a bunch" problem is to purchase the "Thanks A Lots" and give them to people for whom you are thankful. We bought four boxes of cookies, ate two, and have two to give away. Perfect solution. I can't wait for kids to join scouts (years from now I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in cookies and popcorn and look back on that sentence and roll my eyes).

Hoopla. We just realized our library has Hoopla and we can borrow digital media - ummm awesome! So at the moment we're listening to Disney audio books. C is snuggled up on the floor and Nils is wandering around with Pup-pup and King Julian (his two lovies).

Ingredients. The ingredients we always have on hand? Ingredients for red beans and rice, homemade pizza, pasta, and stir-fry. These are my go-to meals when I don't feel like going to the grocery store. Except that I always forget about stir-fry so we pretty much never have that.

Jimmers. When I went to Beaumont this week the plan was to come back with Jimmers' boyhood dresser aka my childhood dresser aka Nils' new dresser. With Jimmers' help I filled the entire bed of the truck. I came back with the dresser, an awesome ancient trunk, a small table for the backyard, two huge cubbies from my old preschool, and two blue velvet wing-back chairs. Needless to say, Chris was surprised.

Katie. Oh thank God for Katie. Katie is the first friend I made after we moved here and she is fabulouso. We have kids around the same age and they all love each other so that works out nicely. Nils talks about her boys pretty much all of the time. Last Friday while our husbands were at Dio Council Katie had us over for pizza and ice cream and when bedtime came I tossed my kiddos into pjs and one out of two fell asleep on the drive home. Since Friday every single time we've gone anywhere at all Nils has cheered "Cooper and Charlie's house!" and is disappointed ("ooohhh") when we pull into anywhere that isn't their house.

Lent. The day before Ash Wednesday this year I was still like, "Oh yeah... Lent... I don't feel like it this year" but then I recalled that Lent is about remembering that I am not the Creator. I am the creation. So, perhaps the years when I'm "not into it" are the most important years of all. Perhaps those are the years when I most need to remember that I am not God. So, I'm doing it. Lent, that is.

My mom. I'm in the mood for my mom to come visit. We can go thrift-storing and hang up pictures in my house and rearrange furniture and watch chick flicks. Come over, Mom! It will be fun fun fun!

Nils. That little guy is hilarious. Like, purposely hilarious. Yesterday evening the kids went to the neighbors' house to play. I made dinner with our back door open and listened to the squeals of happiness coming from the yard next door. Being old enough to go play with the kids next door? What fun for all of those kiddos!

Oatmeal. My current breakfast. Old fashioned oats, a sprinkling of chocolate chips, and a spoonful of peanut butter all stirred together. Yum.

Piney Wood Fever. We came back from Beaumont with sore throats and itchy eyes. Why is that always the case when it's the same eco-system? Carolena walked through the kitchen yesterday and said in a croaky voice, "Well, it feels like I've got the Piney Woods Fever." Ha! Piney Woods Fever! That kid. From henceforth all southeast Texas allergies shall be known as "Piney Woods Fever."

Quest. I'm on a quest to find a bicycle built for two. Not a quest like I'm looking online and going to buy one for a couple hundred dollars quest. A quest like I'm checking Goodwill often and hopefully this quest will end with me paying like $50 and laughing manically every time I ride it that someone marked it $50. That kind of quest. I'm also on a quest for vintage hats. 

Rush. I'm really excited about our birthday present for my nephew Rush this year. I had to clear it with my sister, but if you don't want me to ruin the surprise then stop reading. Ready? A jar of worms. Hahaha. Really. Yeah. I think I'm going to make one for us too. I'm going to put layers of dirt into a big jar (with holes in the lid, of course) and then fill it with worms. It's going to be awesome. Don't you wish I were your aunt too?

See America First. Oh my gosh - while at my parent's house my mom gave me a big trunk with a See America First sticker on it. I'm giddy. See America First?! That trunk must be like 100 years old. I wonder who put that sticker on it. I wonder where they went. My RPTS side is geeking out.

Too damn early. Why are my kids waking up too damn early everyday?! Stay in bed! Sleep! Geeze Louise.

Under our bed. We have more things stored under our bed than under my bathroom sink. That seems strange to me.

Vacuum. Yep, we got a new one. Again.

Walrus. "Carolena, if I didn't know any better I would think you were a baby koala" I said to which she innocently replied, "Mommy, if I didn't know any better I would think you were a big fat walrus swimming in the sea." Evidently if you are 4.5 then baby koala and big fat walrus are comparable in the list of okay things to call another human.

X - x was Carolena's letter of the week this week and she brought in a T-Rex. We thought and thought and thought about what to bring. The morning her letter bag was due we still had nothing for it... until I tripped over the T-Rex, picked that sucker up, and tossed him in the bag. Thanks Carolena's school homework guardian angel!

Yesac. That's my backwards name. Amileen and I used to love figuring out how to pronounce everyone's names backwards in elementary school. Huh, Amileen is now probably what you think her name was... it was Neelima. Or was it...? Now you're confused... bwa ha ha!

Zoo! Tomorrow is my birthday and we're going to spend the day at the zoo. I can't wait. I love my birthday (yeah, I'll admit it) and I'm going to live it up. I was going to start the day with bootcamp, but alas, I guess I'll start the day some other way. I'm definitely getting Starbucks though. Probably. Maybe. Eh... I'll just make coffee at home. And then we're going to the zoo! Hooray! The zoo is one of our family's favorite outings. Everyone has a blast. We get to be outside. Kids are consistently well-behaved there. Zoo! Zoo! Zoo!