Thursday Check-In

It's 1:30 in the afternoon and I'm still in pajamas.

How did that happen?!

I spent last night on the floor in c's room. She had a highish fever again (why?!). So we spent today at home. Again.

We all have some cabin fever around here. We've been home a lot of days. A lot. Including Easter Sunday.

Today we've made the most of it though with plenty of Disney centered conversation, some audio books, and the creation of a giant countdown to vacation banner which I need to finish assembling.

I've had countless cups of coffee and a Diet Coke. You know... because I'm still in my pjs, so why not?

Kids are both napping. I've consumed an entire bag of edamame. I want another Diet Coke. Disney countdown assembly is awaiting. I've changed like 80 diapers today.

I feel crazy.

Thank God the clergy spouse retreat starts tomorrow. I plan to leave our house early and get a much-need haircut. And maybe have dinner with Scarlett and Rhett before heading out there (no, I haven't completely lost it - that's the book I'm reading).

Friday, where are you?

Oh Swell

Every once in a while I look around and see that I am the source of the problem. Everyone's new cubbies look like a mess?! Oh wait... it's just that mine has exploded with stuff. Our dresser is constantly covered in crap?! Oh... my bad. Tripping over shoes in the living room? Hmm... anyone else around here wear size 9 blue suede loafers? Rats. Me again.

Last night Chris came home to chaos. Total chaos. And this time it definitely wasn't me.

Had Chris come home to bathed and pajamed little angels it would have been because I'd lost my shit and forced the kids to take a bath while I drank a mint julep and read my book. Had Chris come home to a fresh mint julep it would have been because I was drinking one and pretended like I made it for him when he opened the door. Had Chris come home to a calm quiet dinner for two it would have been because the aforementioned children had peanut butter sandwiches while contained in the bathtub.

But he didn't.

He came home to people who were hungry and tired and melting down. He came home to a wife who was drinking water and trying to finish dinner so that we could enjoy a nice peaceful meal. He came home to kids who threw tantrums at the table (one of whom literally threw his veggies in protest).

I would have made a great 1950s housewife.

Monday Monday

Yesterday Chris had the day off of work (Monday after holy week the office is closed) and as the kids were at school we had a date day. It was the best day ever. The weather was perfect and we had lunch on the patio at Dish Society, a local farm to table restaurant. It's a very hipster restaurant in La Centerra (I love La Centerra. It makes me feel like I live in Aspen) and thus, much to my dismay, didn't have Diet Coke. I am one of those people who falls in between Gen X and the Millennials. I am much more like Ms than the Xers (almost M to a T) but have some definite X traits like being annoyed that a hipster restaurant didn't carry my poison drink of choice. Stupid hipsters carrying Maine Root drinks instead of Coca Cola.

I actually love that restaurant. Farm to table? Awesome. Outdoor seating? Yes please. Normal sized salads instead of entire bag of lettuce in a bowl? Yes. I might leave and come home and eat a bag of chips (oops) but I love restaurants that don't overdo portions (unless its Mexican food and then bring on the chip baskets!).

We also volunteered at school for C's class' library time. It was so fast with two people and way more fun with Chris (as most things are). And we managed to get our announcement together for telling the kids where we are going on vacation this year and had time to veg on the couch. It was pretty much heaven. If we'd gone to Goodwill and bought a ton of books I would have exploded with happiness.

When the kids came home from school we had a big chest in the doorway with a note on it about how we'll be going on vacation soon. When they opened the trunk Mickey and Minnie balloons floated out and I dumped a bunch of small Disney balloons over their heads while we yelled, "We're going to Disney World!"

They were mostly excited about the balloons.

Yeah.

Now we can finally start obsessing about our upcoming trip and make a big countdown chart for the kids. I'd tell you when we're going but I don't want you to come rob my house, Kelly. Perhaps I should count the pineapple iced tea spoons before we leave.

The day ended with homemade pizza and mint juleps and dinner on our deck. Kids went to bed easily and we watched more It's Always Sunny. So, hmm, yesterday was pretty much an ideal day. What now Tuesday?!

In other news: I'm off the wagon on pretty much everything. I'm out of control on caffeine. I'm eating whatever the hell I want and thus over my ww goal (oh crap). I'm drinking mint juleps (duh, it's spring and we have a deck. Plus I'm rereading GWTW and that doesn't help). The only thing that I haven't gone off the rails on is working out. I've even been sleeping in til 6am. *SIGH* I wish I could get motivated to get a grip but I can't seem to find a "why" for any of those things. I know my neurologist would have something to say about my caffeine but I'm doing well with migraines soooo... bring on the coffee...? I know the mint juleps are adding to the ww weight problem but... it's spring. And they're good. I know I'm going to have to weigh in for April and I'll have to pay (I've been at goal for like 18 months. I really don't want to pay) but I just can't seem to get a grip. The problem is this: I've gained five pounds and I don't see why it matters. I don't want five to turn into ten and that's why I need to get a grip... but the five didn't really make a difference in my life other than having more fun. I know that five pounds less is about as small as I get. Five pounds heavier and my clothes still fit (not as well). Chris thinks I'm beautiful no matter what (God bless him). I'm still exercising. Losing the five gained will require the loss of my mint juleps and not eating enormous amounts of pizza. I need to find my motivation. Perhaps for now I will concentrate on losing weight so I don't have to pay for April. I'll let Future Casey deal with the caffeine. For now, another cup of coffee.

Magazine Life

Somehow, miraculously, yesterday's peace and potential resulted in this:

Now would be the time when Nils pops up out of nowhere chanting, "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
Yes, he does that all of the time. It's awesome and amazing and does in fact boost one's energy. I told you, we're raising an 80s villain. He also likes to sing "Go Mommy! Go Mommy!" for me... and himself which is the best "Go Nils! Go Nils!"

Seriously though, Casey! Casey! Casey!

You know how magazines are always acting like people can turn nothing into something just by digging around their house? For once, that worked for me. A few months ago my mom snagged some awesome Kindergarten cubbies from my old school and saved them for us. They were awesome, real wood, and huge. So we cut them in half and turned them into this:

They are so useful. I could have cleaned them up for their blog debut and made them look like a magazine. I could have lined up our shoes adorably across the bottom. I could have put my llbean tote in there just so. I could have a picture that is centered and includes the cool picture hanging above them and flowers on top. But that isn't real life. This is what those cubbies really look like everyday. Hm... perhaps I will paint and distress those too...

Yesterday I contemplated the leftover cubbies (from cutting them in half). I ended up popping the side off of one of them and attaching it to the back of the other to make it stable. Then, I found some leftover paint from my laundry room and got to work (yes, my laundry room is that happy color). What fun! Some sandpaper completed the look and then the kids helped me move kitchen stuff onto it. I love it!

Again, I could have gone with magazine quality... but that's what our island actually looks like this morning.

For years now I've had a picture on our fridge of a kitchen I tore out of a magazine. It is an island with a beautiful shelf built in underneath. Finally! Finally!

Chris has been lovingly teasing me about our house lately. Something about the spring makes me nest. I can't stop daydreaming and working and changing and rearranging. Hm... speaking of which... I have a shelf to go hang in the bathroom...

maundy thursday in our house

rainy day
one kid sick
three cups of coffee consumed
more under consideration
countless projects to work on
hubby working late
not complaining
peace and potential

Life is a Cabaret!

I put down my knitting, my book, and my broom (broom, ha!)...

 

Left our troubles outside. We have no troubles here! Here life is beautiful...The girls are beautiful... Even the orchestra is beautiful!

It was fabulous, of course. One of the best... as usual.

Dinner and a night at the Cabaret. Need I say more?

Don't Call it a Comeback, I've Been Here for Years

I read two books last week. TWO. Like... as in... finished two books. In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Voyage of the USS Jeannette was fascinating and insanely good. Then over Saturday and Sunday I picked up The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and read it cover to cover. Sucked in. I definitely recommend both books. So, now what to read?? So many books to read and reread. And so many more books on the shelves of Goodwill!

Spring Break was great - the kids and I spent the week with my parents, my sis, and her kids all at the beach. The kids ran amok. I consumed far too many calories. Nils summed up the week-long trip by screaming, "Nooo!!! Go back Moom's house! Beach!! Nooo!!" when we turned off of the highway and into Katy. Yep.

Luckily for Nils (and the rest of us) Moom showed up at our house yesterday. Chris gifted me with two tickets for me to go see Cabaret with mi madre so we're heading into the bayou city for that tomorrow night. Party! Party!

I'm tired. I've gained weight. My caffeine consumption is through the roof. You know when would be a good time to get control? Yesterday. Instead I ate donuts and McDonalds (I don't even like donuts!). Today: restart. Again.

The Run Down

Reading: Coffee Tea or Me (rereading actually. I read it in college) and In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Voyage of the USS Jeannette. I usually just read one book at a time and really prefer to just read one at a time. I'm not sure how it happened that I'm in the middle of two insanely different books right now, but I am so now I need to finish them. My stack of books to read is growing and growing. My routine on Mon/Wed includes stopping at Goodwill after I drop the kids at school. So yeah, the stack of "to read" has grown considerably.

Consuming: beer... chips... coffee... oh Lord the coffee intake is out of control. Diet Coke. What's happening?!??! At least I can also include edamame and Yoplait Whips yogurt to the list. Those are my healthy over-indulgences. Most days I eat an entire bag of edamame for lunch. On one hand... really? On the other hand... that's a pretty great lunch.

Last night: perfect weather. Beer and chips and guac on our deck. A hot bath. Asleep before 8pm. Heaven.

Excited for: the beach!!! The kids and I are heading to the beach for SIX days. I am giddy. The girls and the kids are all heading to the beach for some fun and chaos and hopefully limited meltdowns (for both kids and moms). So, don't worry about checking my blog for a week. I'll be living it up on Bolivar.

The Snake Came Back the Very Next Day... He Just Wouldn't Stay Away...

A friend sent me this (hilarity credit to Joann Doyle) and it just about sums up yesterday:

Yep. Pretty much.

I creeped out of my bed and watched the floor carefully as I got ready for bootcamp. Thankful to have not encountered Monsieur Snakey, I came home with two huge frappuccinos (one for me, one as a surprise for Chris). Thanks, DOK for the giftcard! As Nils says, "Party! Party!"

After caffinating up we got busy around here. Chris ran errands and worked on our sprinklers while Carolena, Nils, and I set to work cleaning and reorganizing Carolena's room. C sat down for the task of collecting all of the shoes from the floor of her closet and putting them in a basket. You know... her closet... the space that backs up to the wall that the snake crawled into.

I should have seen it coming.

Suddenly she was screaming and crying and flew out of her closet. "SNAAKKKKEE!!!"
I started yelling, "Go get Daddy! Go get Daddy!" over and over and C ran out of the room to get Chris.

Nils sat beside me looking at me quizzically. I kept my eyes on that snake.

Chris came back with a bucket and captured el snakeytan. Then the real crying began when he showed the kids.

I spent the next portion of the day scraping children off of my legs as they clung to me crying and pleading to keep the snake. Really?!

C and N followed me around crying, sobbing, begging, pleading. N kept saying, "Snaakkee!! Love him! Cute!" 

Seriously? 

Two kids who love snakes. This is what I get for being a Slytherin. 

I'm okay with snakes in the zoo. Fascinated by them in fact. I'm okay with petting a snake. I was once okay with holding them. I like the idea of them "out there" in the world doing their thing. I don't want to come across one in my house. Ever. Ever ever. Ever. 

{Shuddddder}

No, of course we didn't kill him.

Chris was instructed to get in the car and drive that little critter away from our house. He wanted to put him in the backyard but it knows the entry route to our house and thus had to be relocated.

The kids and I went back to working in Carolena's room where she told the story of finding the snake. She said she was picking up shoes and touched the snake and it shocked her to find it in her closet. Uhhh. Yeah. That could come out in therapy as an adult. For sure. Except she loves snakes (always has) so it will probably be a story about how awesome it was and how her mother wouldn't let her keep it.

Carolena's 2nd birthday looking at snakes at the pet store.

After cleaning her room... wait for it... we took out one of her beds! What?!
C has had two twin beds in her room because we have a three bedroom house and wanted room for people to spend the night. We decided though that day to day life trumps that and took out the extra bed (wish we would have thought about that a few months ago when we bought a mattress and boxspring for Nils. Argh).

She now has a better space all to herself. We moved in my childhood desk and her doll house. It is fabulous. She is insanely excited and got her desk adorably organized with arts and crafts and spent the rest of the day in there working.

At some point in the afternoon both kids packed their bags for the beach and put them by the front door. Nils was devastated to learn that we weren't leaving at that very second and spent time angry about that. He spent a sad amount of time holding his suitcase and trying to open the front door, all the while crying and whimpering "Moom's house." You're welcome for that mental image, Mom.

After all of the snake brew ha ha and bedroom transforming and kids crying I was in party mode last night. It was cool enough outside to don my Mexican poncho hoodie. Chris tells me I look like a 90s stoner in it which I take as a compliment so I spent the rest of the night with Pearl Jam songs in my head. My waistline was thankful to receive the calories of three beers and fifty million toasted marshmallows. It's only March 12... what's happening to my resolve?! Chris cooked burgers while Nils and I snuggled on the deck and listened to Jimmy Buffet and enjoyed the perfect springtime weather.

My children cried because we didn't keep the snake we found in our house. This is why I drink so much damn coffee people. I'm not sure exactly what the correlation there is. But, there it is.

Rain, Rain, Go Away So the Snakes Won't Come to Play

Dear Snakes of Fort Bend County,
I know it has been raining a hell of a lot. I know that construction all around our neighborhood with a new boardwalk, a new park, a new water park... all that jazz... has really put you out. I know you have few places left to go and, recently, little to no places that are dry. However, our house is not an option. Do not come into it again. Ever.
Sincerely, Casey


Last night I lived into an insane female stereotype. I went into the kids' bathroom and when I went to open the door and walk out THERE WAS A SNAKE IN OUR HOUSE!!!!!

I literally jumped onto the stool that the kids keep at the sink and started shrieking, "CHRIS!! Snake in the house!!" over and over. I don't know how the kids slept through my freaking out.

Let it now be known that the snake was approximately the size of a pencil. Maybe smaller. Yeah, smaller I think.

Chris came to rescue me by first seeing the size of the snake and then (probably inwardly rolling his eyes at the proportionality of my huge freak out to the small snake) grabbed an empty toy bin to catch it in... and that's when... it slithered into the smallest crack ever IN OUR WALL!!!!!

Ahhhhhh!!! Why God, why?!?!?!

Needless to say I was hyperventilating. Olive (who will henceforth be known as "the best cat ever") came prowling around with obvious hopes of catching the snake. Thanks, Olive.

Then... I saw another snake! Which turned out to be a rubberband.
And then another! Which was my cell phone cord sitting where it always sits.
The third snake turned out to be a pair of sunglasses. Then a pair of shoes. My toothbrush. My own feet. Everything looked serpentine.

After texting my sister for moral support, checking my sheets nine hundred times, and trying to think about anything else in the entire world, I finally fell asleep.

How's that for a Slytherin gal?

Let's Go to the Movies. Let's Go See the Show

For the last month or two we've thought that Nils was ready to tackle sitting still for a movie in the theater. He watches entire movies at home. Why wouldn't he sit still in the theater happily munching popcorn, sipping lemonade, and enjoying Zootopia big screen?

Yeah. Right.

I'm pretty sure it was only two minutes into the movie that he stood up and declared, "No more tv" and attempted to walk away. He ate about two kernals of popcorn (which was to be both dinner and a bribe to stay seated). Luckily the theater was empty with the exception of some other small-child-type families. Nils and Daddy spent the middle portion of the movie wandering AMC.

I felt a smidgen of guilt that I was the one to stay with C, who is a born-movie goer, but then I remembered that I had just taken both children to the bathroom in the middle of the movie and the last movie I saw was Rio 2. We saw Rio 2 on the summer dollar day TWO years ago. C sat happily snacking and watching the movie. Nils slept in his carseat as he was months old. I kept waking up with a start to find I had once again dozed off during the worst movie ever. So yeah, I didn't feel that guilty about Chris being the one to chase the monkey Monsieur Nils around the theater.

Things we learned at the movie theater last night:
Nils is in fact not ready for the movies.
Casey does not get out enough if a "put your cell phone away" pre-movie commercial makes her laugh out loud for several minutes. 

Bandits

Sunday was glorious. We got to spend time with an old friend (Carolena's Godmother "Denny") who came to church with us and spent the afternoon eating lunch with us at home. I accidentally ate three plates of food. But I mean... in my defense... it was good.

Denny brought Nils a little safari vest from her recent trip to Africa and that kid loves it. He put it right on yelling, "zip! zip!" (the whole front of it has a zipper). Once he had it on C said to him, "Nils! You can wear that to the zoo!" I'll try to get a pic of him in it later. I'm excited to see what treasures we'll find in those pockets as he wears it around.

I led a Quiet Day for our church last weekend. When I teach for my own church I don't charge but they surprised me with a Starbucks giftcard yesterday! What?! Unexpected surprises are so fabulous. I figured it would have enough for me to get a latte and was giddy... and then I registered it on the website and saw that it has enough money on it for me to get reeeeallllyyyy caffeinated! Party! Party! Evidently those women know me well. The way to my heart is definitely through coffee.

And now, I leave you with the story I told C this morning:
When we lived in Austin, shortly after C was born a friend send us a Greenling box (a big box that arrives full of awesome local food). It was such a great gift. A few months later we went out of town and arrived home to another Greenling gift on our doorstep... which the racoons had discovered before we did. The box was ripped open and food was strewn all over the doorstep. Everything had little tastes gone or was ripped apart. Everything was there. Everything except the caramel corn. We later found the empty bag.

So, the moral of the story is: no matter what you eat today, unless you taste and reject a bunch of healthy food and then only eat caramel corn, at least you are one step ahead of the racoons.

Back!

On Monday I really needed to go grocery shopping and decided to put it off until Tuesday.

On Tuesday I really really needed to go to the grocery store and thought, "Nah. Let's just take it easy today." The kids and I stayed home and played and cleaned up the house and read. I made a big batch of black beans and rice. We had plans to go to the rodeo on Wednesday night so there was really no point in going to the grocery store until Wednesday or Thursday... right?

On Wednesday the stomach flu came to visit our home.

On Thursday we were still homebound. On Thursday night the stomach bug took up residence in my digestive system. Carolena threw up once and was over it. That kid must have an immune system of steel. Everyone else will be puking their brains out and she's like, "I think I'll take a nap."

On Friday I slept the entire day and through the night. I think I slept nearly twenty-four hours. Chris was impressed. On Friday I had one coke. One. Coke. I was excited that my caffeine cycle was broken in the wheel of fortune of stomach bugs.

On Saturday we finally all arose alive and well. I drank two cups of coffee (why? why did I do that?!). C and I went to Kroger and our fridge is now full! Hooray! We hit up the arts festival nearby and went to the park. We discovered Nils' hidden talent of dancing and squawking like a chicken.

It's Sunday and we are back into our routine. Three or four or ten cups of coffee? Who's counting? Oh... my neurologist... crap.

Yes! We're back.

Day Three of My Captivity

I'm looking at DAY THREE stuck in our house.

So yeah, I don't have much of interest to blog about right now.

I've been barfed on six times in the last twenty-four hours. Surprisingly, that doesn't bother me. It exhausts me... but doesn't gross me out like I would have thought. Maybe because comforting my sweet Nils is more important than worrying about the vomit. Or maybe because I've spent my entire life as a barfer (oh man, I throw up easily) so vomit is commonplace rather than totally gross. Who knows.

Chris came home with a huge container of bath salts and a new candle and sent me straight into a hot bathtub. And while I was soaking away the smell of vomit, he dealt with the insurance mumbo jumbo that's been annoying me.

Last night included one vomiting child incident so I slept a portion of the night on his floor. At some point I awoke and wanted to move to my bed only to discover both of my legs were asleep. It was quite painful and comical. I ended up literally crawling to the couch where I once again attempted to stand twice, and collapsed twice, before turning into She-Ra and just using my upperbody to toss myself onto the couch. I slept there until I heard Nils throwing up again. I awoke Chris and upon going to Nils' bed, found that I must have dreamed the throwing up as Nils was fast asleep.

This morning began with coffee, more vomit, and more coffee. I miraculously got Nils to fall back asleep and wound up taking a nap as well. More coffee. More laundry. More of a day inside. I'm getting cabin fever and it might be getting weird around here. I desperately needed to get to the grocery store days ago. And needed a haircut last week that I put off until this week. So... that's a bummer.

If you would like to talk to me conversational choices are limited to Sir Ernest Shackleton, Eric Weihenmayer, Mt. Everest's Death Zone, our upcoming vacation, and Lorna's backstory on Orange is the New Black. Anything else and I can assure you I am only pretending to listen.

Barf-O-Rama

Nothing kills rodeo day faster than a toddler in a pearl snap shirt barfing in the living room.

*sigh*

The day began with such excitement. I jumped out of bed before my alarm rang and bounded out to pump. I lifted a ton of weight (some personal bests) and came home to a sleeping family (well, two out of three ain't bad). We put on some country music (a rarity around here) and had a cowboy breakfast (flapjacks). Carolena giddily donned her rodeo dress and boots while I got Nils into his pearl snap shirt. Rodeo day at school! Chris had plans to come home early so that we could rodeo it up this evening. Carnival rides! Baby animals being born! Rodeo food! Suffice to say, we were pumped.

And then the puking incident occurred.

They say dress for the job you want, not the job you have. I'm a stay home mom. The job I want is the job I have. So I dress for the job I have... which means I changed out of my cute skinny jeans and funky jewelry and into an "I might get barfed on at any minute" outfit.

Sweet Nils is now snuggled on a "couch bed" which always gives me major childhood flashbacks to my own mom putting bed sheets on the couch and tucking me in next to a tray of saltines.

Rodeo, I guess we'll see you next week!

Run and Grab It

Once when I was working out and a cute British gal was instructing she talked about the British tradition of having the first words out of your mouth on the first of each month be "rabbit rabbit rabbit" and this ensures good luck in the month to come.

I thought she was saying "Run and grab it!" until I remembered the British thing of saying "rabbit." For those few moments of lying on my back bench pressing my bar and thinking "run and grab it!" I was totally in. I love that. Forget about "rabbit rabbit." Let's run and grab it.

January and February were disastrous when it comes to eating well. They were highly successful months in terms of drinking beer and eating queso and having a great time. Thankfully I kept working out so not all is lost.

March is going to be different though.

I'm committed to March as a back on track month, which for me means Simply Filling. Anyone who wants to have a great March can join me. No more 10,000 cookies before bed.

My plan is simple... to go back to the basics. I'm going to eat healthy food for every meal I am in charge of (which is most meals). I'm going to only have beer during Spring Break (beach!). Other than Spring Break - no alcohol this month. Rodeo night (tomorrow) I'll eat crapola. Other than that, I'll be on track. I've got to run and grab it.

That's the plan and I'm sticking to it. If you need the moral support of knowing someone else is committing to this month on track - I'm in whether you're coming with me or not.

It's March. Run and grab it.