Blog

May 23
This evening I was looking at my disgustingly dirty kitchen floor, wondering why I hadn't managed to vacuum it today, and I stopped to think about what I did all day long. I realized that with the way my days go, it's a wonder I get anything done at all. Here's my day:

I ran at 6:15 and was home by 7:30. I stretched and read the paper for 15 minutes. Ella woke up at 8:00 so I got her breakfast and went to take a shower. Brandon had gotten Lily up while I was in the shower, but he hadn't changed her diaper, so I had to do that. Then I got Lily and Ella dressed, got Lily breakfast and made Ella's lunch for school. We managed to get out the door at 9:00, but I'm not sure how.

After I dropped Ella off at school, Lily and I went to Central Market. I forgot half the things I wanted to get while I was there - like syrup, red potatoes, onions, and soda. I kept Lily pacified with a box of chocolate milk. I got home at 10:00 and was unloading the groceries while making Danskin-related phone calls when Brandon called. He had spilled coffee all over his shirt and needed me to bring him another one. So back in the car with Lily, who was not pleased.

We got home at 10:30, and I let Lily watch cartoons while I finished putting up groceries, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned up the breakfast dishes, made the bed and took out the trash, all while making more Danskin phone calls and talking to the race director about other calls I needed to make.

At 12:15 I made lunch for me and Lily and actually sat down to eat it. Then at 12:40 we hopped in the car to go get Ella from school. We got home a little after 1:00, and I packed Lily off for a nap and put Ella in the guest room for quiet time. I got hit by a migraine while I was driving to get Ella, so I took my migraine pill and laid down for an hour to let it take effect. I let Ella out at 2:15, and I took care of work and Danskin e-mails while she puttered around.

At 3:30 friends came over and the kids all played in the backyard for a while. At 5:15 we trooped inside and I started making dinner while Lily and Ella played underfoot. We ate at 6:00, headed to bath at 6:15 and had stories at 6:45. Miraculously, I had both girls in bed at 7:15. Phew.

After they were in bed, I cleaned up the dinner dishes and started working on Holt stuff. It's now 9:00 and I'm done working for the day, almost. I have to post one sponsor logo on the Web site for Danskin and return a few e-mails.

Tomorrow I won't have time to work or vacuum in the morning because I'm helping parent in Ella's class. So maybe tomorrow afternoon I'll get to clean the kitchen floor - maybe.

No wonder I'm always tired.

May 21 I didn't realize it had been quite so long since I've posted an entry. I had just gotten on my friend Jen for not updating her blog in a while, and it turns out I'm almost as guilty. Of course, she has more of a reason. She's an attorney with the Legislative Council and is working insane hours because of the session.

My only excuse is that the server that hosts my site was down for a few days, and I had to ask for the password to be reset. Fortunately, once I realized I needed the new password, Brandon's uncle, who hosts the site for me, had everything up and running within minutes. I was just lazy about writing.

I have a migraine and feel rather loopy, so I'm not going to write much. But I will say that I have updated my reading log.

May 10
We have a small pond in our backyard, just off the deck. It's more like a man-made puddle, really. But it has pretty plants in it as well as a small fountain that gurgles pleasantly. I love having it, and if we ever move, I'll insist on putting a pond in the back yard. My dream pond is the one at Park Place Nursery. It has several levels, with waterfalls and fountains and statues. I could spend hours just sitting by it.

We've tried putting goldfish in the pond, but we've never had much success. I buy the 10-for-a-buck goldfish at the fish store, acclimate them to the water properly, and then set them loose. Within 24 hours, half are doing the backstroke. The rest disappear gradually, either victims of cats or birds or goodness knows what. We had one brave fish who lived for several months, but something eventually got him. I never found a corpse, so I'm assuming he got eaten.

Right now, though, we're providing a nice habitat for frogs. During our first week in the house, three years ago, we discovered that mid-May is frog mating season. They are ungodly loud, especially at 10:00 at night. Brandon, one night, got so fed up that he captured about 10 of them, put them in a paper bag and walked them down to the creek at the end of the block and set them loose. I referred to it as the "Amphibian Liberation Project" and joked about seeing a parade of frogs headed back to the house. The next night he brought a frog into the bedroom to show it to me as retaliation. Frogs don't bother me in nature, but they do in my bedroom at 10:00 at night. I'm not ashamed to say that I shrieked like a girl.

The frogs are back in full swing right now, and I'm losing sleep. There are nights when I move up to the guest room to escape the racket. Brandon can sleep through the noise without a problem, but I can't.

Each time I get frustrated with them, I remind myself that frogs are disappearing, the victims of a declining environment. I should be proud that we're providing a nice environment for them to live and breed. I just wish they weren't so dang noisy.

May 8
Happy Mother's Day!
I had a very nice Mother's Day. Ella was excited about the whole thing. Last year she didn't really understand the concept, and I went out of town for the weekend, so it wasn't a big deal. But this year was different.

Ella and Lily both made me gifts at school, but I told them I had to save them until today. It drove Ella nuts to have presents in the house that were unopened. She kept trying to get me to guess what she had made, but I refused. Brandon bought me a present at the Violet Crown Festival and told Ella she absolutely wasn't allowed to tell me what it was, and that if I tried to guess she was to tell me to stop. She took her job very seriously. I asked her if it was a frog, and she said, "Mama, stop guessing! Don't do that."

I woke up this morning to the smell of coffee and bacon, so I wandered out to the kitchen only to be told to go back to bed. Ella came in a few minutes later proudly carrying a plate of French toast and bacon. Someone had asked if her if she was going to take me breakfast in bed for Mother's Day, and her whole face lit up. She didn't know you could do such a thing. She had gone to Brandon immediately and asked if he would help her make French toast for me. I thought it was very sweet. Lily loved that I was eating in bed. She perched next to me and had me feed her bites of French toast and strawberries.

Ella gave me a picture frame she made at school with a silly picture of her in it. She snuggling a stuffed animal and making a funny little face. She covered the front with enough sequins that I'm afraid the magnets on the back aren't strong enough to hold it on the refrigerator. Lily also gave me a picture frame with a picture of her in it. The teacher also put Lily's handprint on the inside of the box the frame is in. I know I'll look back next year in amazement at how much she's grown.

Brandon bought me a painting from the Festival that I had wanted. I pointed out the artist's booth and handed him the checkbook, reminding him that he hadn't even given me a card for Valentine's Day or our anniversary. He sighed and trudged off to buy something.

In addition to all this, Brandon and I went on a real date last night. His mom had the girls, so we went out to a nice dinner. I was craving steak, so we went to Houston's. Yum. I ate a sinful amount of food, but it was worth it. It was also nice to have a meal with Brandon without having to interrupt our conversation to put ketchup on something or cut something or tell someone to get her "bottomer" back in her seat. It's been too long since we've had a meal to ourselves. We know several married couples who have built babysitting into their monthly budget and have a sitter show up every other week so they can have a date night. I think we need to do the same. Maybe we'll work into in and just go once a month for starters. I wouldn't want to do anything radical.

May 3
I've updated my reading journal. I feel like I'm behind from where I was last year, but I don't think I am, really. I've still got several books in the works, and I've been keeping current on my New Yorkers and National Geographics, which is quite a feat in itself.

The girls and Brandon survived my weekend away, and I had a wonderful time. I'm playing catch-up now, though. I'm buried in work for Holt and for Danskin. Somehow I'll get it all done, I'm sure.

The weekend away was exactly what I needed. It was so nice to just sit and be quiet up at the lake, which is a very peaceful place. There weren't any jet skis or motorboats zooming around - just herons and other birds, and a rabbit or two. We spent Friday afternoon just sitting on the back porch enjoying the silence.

Saturday we went to a huge flea market in Canton, Texas, which is north east of Dallas. I have never seen anything like it in my life. We were there from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm, and we probably only saw 25% of what was there. Heidi and Lisa were shopping pros, but I got too overwhelmed to make decisions at times. But given my hatred of crowds, I'd have to say I did ok. I did wear out at the end. At one point I went and sat next to Heidi's little shopping basket, which was parked in a quiet corner.

The best part of the flea market, though, was the food. At lunch we had a Texas Twister, which was a potato that had been spiral sliced and fried. They salted it while it was still hot. Yum. For dessert we shared a fried coconut creme pie. I didn't even know such a wonderful thing existed. It was still warm when we ate it. Later in the day we had fresh-squeezed lemonade, which after a day of walking around, hit the spot.

Sunday we all slept in, but I did manage to get a short run in. I had fun looking at the wide range of houses around the lake - everything from old log cabins to small shacks to huge brand-new houses. After that we spent the rest of the day sitting on the dock, enjoying the sun. I got sunburned - don't tell my mom. I didn't mean to.

We got home at about 8:30 pm - the girls were already in bed, the house was spotless, and the laundry was washed, folded and put away.

I need to get away like that more than once a year.