The Dog Days

Traditionally associated with madness and lethargy?
The dog days are here.

Anyone want to listen to the Whatever After series over and over and over for hours on end? Come to our house. That's what we've been up to. Hour after hour. Hours. Hours upon hours.

Carolena knows how to turn on the computer and pull up Hoopla and get the story started. Some days she wakes up before any of us and comes into the kitchen and starts listening.

The kids only want to be home. Listening to Whatever After. They've heard every single book in the series numerous times. They sabotage me when we leave the house by standing too close to me in the grocery store and whining until we come back home and press "play."

The ennui. The ennui!
And now the madness has set in.
The dogs days are here.

Headlines Don't Sell Papes. Newsies Sell Papes.

Reading: Theft by Finding by David Sedaris. Good Lord, I love David Sedaris. He seems like he would be friends with my sister and thus be forced to run into me at baptisms and bar mitzvahs. He would probably try to linger in the dining room doorway waiting for me to choose a dinner chair and then take the seat furthest from mine. He would avoid my eye and try to look very engaged in conversation with the person next to him. I would move though. You know I would. I would get up for more wine and then pull up a spare chair right next to David, squeezing out the bewildered guest who was innocently describing to him her latest oral surgery in detail. Later as they were driving home Hugh would laugh about David's inability to escape Kelly's weird younger sister.

Drinking: COFFEE. My caffeine intake is delightfully out of control. My migraines are in control (aaaaahhhhlelluia!) and thus the coffee floweth like... well... like coffee bean flavored hot water. We bought a new coffee pot that is programmed to automatically brew every morning. It is heavenly, like having a little robot in our kitchen that makes me coffee. In fact... it is LITERALLY a little robot in our kitchen that makes me coffee. I love it. I've gotten into that strange place in which I stay up too late and then sleep poorly and wake up and drink too much coffee. So then by the afternoon I drink more caffeine and thus the cycle continues. Not complaining though. Just how it is at the moment.

Eating: welllllll. This past spring was rather stressful to say the least and I may or may not have gained like 20 lbs. I finally pulled it together these past few weeks and am back on healthy foods. Unfortunately, I'm discovering that losing weight this time around isn't as simple as back when I was breast-feeding. Bummer. But, nonetheless, I'll just keep plugging along.

Carolena and Nils are really into audio books as of late. I mean really into them. Like, hour upon hour upon hour of listening to stories. We didn't leave the house for all of Monday and all of Tuesday because they were so engrossed. There aren't pictures or animation - just someone reading the books. I spent Monday crafting and cleaning and yesterday doing pretty much the same. By today I was about to lose my mind and forced them out to run errands with me. All they wanted to do was come home and eat lunch and listen to more of the book they were on. It's awesome. And weird. And awesome... but also weird.

Olive, Queen of the Cats

I remember now why I quit blogging... because writing a post is near impossible if it is not five in the morning. I do miss those early mornings. All was so still and quiet and right with the world when I had a hot cup of coffee and a few moments to just write.

Oh, I'm sorry! Perhaps you don't know that the New Jan Brady was eaten. Yeah, she quit working out, and traded vegetables for ice cream and beer. Needless to say, she sleeps in now. 

Now it is almost 8 pm. Kids are tucked into bed and the kitchen is clean. Chris is watering the lawn. I want to write but I'm tired.

Our cat, Max, died recently which has left Olive as the sole pet. Max was the dominant cat and since his death, we have seen much more of Olive. She was never allowed (by Max) to spend the night in the master bed so she has been giddy about her new status. I've spent the last few nights being awakened every hour to a little clawed paw tapping me on the shoulder. I awake, open my eyes, and spot Olive's wide eyes shining back at me. I think she is just excited to still be in the bed and making sure I know it. I'll pet her (or make a grumpy noise and pull the sheets over my head which is always a mistake as she is persistent) and then she settles back down, resetting her internal alarm clock for one hour later. And I spend the night tossing and turning and greet the next day exhausted.

This morning Nils discovered a roll of banner paper. And then I discovered Nils with a handful of Sharpies in various colors and banner paper spread across the kitchen. He looked up innocently from his work and declared, "I'm making a water slide for my stuffed animals." Oh, that guy. So I let him continue on crafting. I hope his stuffed animals have a great time.

The summer is moving right along. Yesterday included a trip to the library and lunch with some of our favorite people. We went to the dollar movie this morning and have plans for seeing great friends tomorrow. For now, I'm tired. And Olive is already in our bed.

The Rodeo Ballet

Yesterday afternoon I received a complimentary ticket to an exclusive performance. I gladly accepted and showed up in our living room at the appointed time.

Ah, the rodeo ballet. A performance for the ages.

Nils had previously worked as a stagehand constructing scenery by placing blankets and assorted toys around the room. Carolena put on a Nutcracker Pandora station, lending the performance a certain yueltide je ne sais quoi. The costuming was second to none.

I turned in my ticket and took a seat.

There was jumping. There was Rody riding. There was twirling.

In fact, there was excessive twirling until a certain ballerina complained of a headache and nausea and had to retire to the audience. The announcer assured me she would remain available for autographs despite her inability to finish the performance.

Dear readers, if you ever get the chance to attend such a daring and graceful performance, take it! 

It is worth every penny.

Glorious, Fabulous Summer

I don't particularly want to start blogging again.
Strike that. Try again:
I really want to start blogging again.
Starting is hard.

Fall and winter were gluttonous.
Spring was stressful.
And now, it's summer. Glorious, fabulous summer.

We've been at the beach more than home. We've been crabbing and fishing and kayaking and boating. Chris and I took Carolena for her first trip to "the" waterslide. We've had days and days on the beach playing in the surf and building castles in the sand.

Nils has been out of diapers and done with naps for sometime - so parenthood around here has gotten considerably easier. Time at home has been spent listening to audio books and playing in the backyard. We've been to the splashpad and the library and spent an enormous amount of time piled into my bed eating popcorn and reading through piles of books.

I spent this morning in Carolena and Nils' pop-up salon where they gave me a new hairstyle involving as many bows as fit on my head and then did my makeup. After approximately twenty-seven layers of various shades of lipstick were applied, I was given a bracelet. At the end I was told the total cost came to "$3" - I wonder if I could write a positive Yelp review for them and get a free treatment next time.