Suburban Mommyhood

The husband is pickup Little Missy and Big T today, so I had an afternoon of previously undiscovered joy... housewifing.  Cleaning the bathroom without Little Missy "helping", and going to Big Box for my toilet paper and milk with NO KIDS in the cart asking for cheesy poofs... wow.  It was an intense experience.  I even got my duvet dropped off at the laundry!  Now, whether or not I'll ever have a chance to pick it up again is a different story.  If you visit the house in a few months and my bed looks naked, remind me to go to Big Louie's Laundry and pay the late fee.  I never thought I'd enjoy domesticity so much!

Preparing for a alternate reality

Ever wonder what cake batter looks like? If you want to know the exact color, head on over to Lowe's, and look in the "Sally's Neutrals" department of the Valspar line. 

I'm on the 3rd counter-offer for a new house in a new city (both suburbs of my beloved New Orleans, of course).  The best thing I can say about the house is that there is a second den.  That's HUGE! We gain a playroom for the kids, plus we can put the pool table in there, so we also get a net gain of a bedroom.  Right now, our pool table is in the formal living room, and our office is in the fourth bedroom.  Once we have the pool table in the playroom, we can use the formal living for an office, and we can have company spend the night in a real bedroom without having to displace Little Missy and Big T.

There are two really unfortunate things about the new house, though.  One is that the yard is small.  We're spoiled now... we have a huge open lot with enough room for Big T to practice baseball and not worry about the balls going over the fence.  I'll miss that yard.  The man of the house, in his best optimistic style, said he'll have less yard to mow, and that is true.

The other really unfortunate thing is the paint.  On the good news front, paint is cheap and I have a vision.  Think.... cake batter, deep ocean waters, blue spruce, and tranquility.  Lots of color, but GOOD color, as opposed to mud brown and pepto bismol pink.  I'll do some before and after shots and put them up... if we get the offer signed! Wish me luck.

Monday, Monday!

So I was supposed to get motivated today.  I woke up on time this morning (actually a little early), which is usually a good sign for my day.  And everything went just fine until Little Missy got out of bed.  She was in rare form today.  She's this incredible blend of mischief and affection, and manages to make me as mad as I possibly could get, and then disarm the temper with just a smile and a hug. 

It wasn't really that bad when she got out the sharpie and pulled some stuff from my scrapbook box and started writing on it.  And her getting into my makeup while I had my back turned, that isn't unusual.  Getting on my computer and deleting my 17 page scan that needed to be emailed off this morning didn't surprise me.  But it all happened before 7, and before I'd had a full cup of coffee.  The last straw was on the way to school.  She took her cup of ovaltine, and sprinkled it up and down her bare legs and feet, and then smeared it into swirly designs.... BODY ART! I started fussing, of course, and she just looked at me with her chin set firmly and that obstinate narrowing of the eyes.  You know that look.  Every two-year-old has perfected it. 

We get to school, and I clean her up.  (Thank goodness I had a full pack of baby wipes in the car. I'm not usually that prepared!)  And I bring her in, and ask for a kiss.  She said no, and turned her back on me. 

Big T is next to her being his usual "pleaser" self... "Mommy, you're not mad at me, right? I didn't do anything wrong, right? I'm making you happy, right Mommy?"  I reassure him, and push him towards the door.  And then I look at Little Missy.  She's got the quivering chin, and her eyes are filling up.  So all I can do is offer her a hug, and tell her I love her, and to PLEASE listen to the teachers at school, for ONCE! Just one day without stealing the babies' nu-nu's! Just one day, please Little Missy...

We'll see when I pick her up whether the remorse lasted past the time it took me to walk out the front door.

Motivation

I've run across an interesting problem now that I am a consultant, and not "full-time" working for someone. Either I feel like I should be offering more than I've committed to (and am getting paid for), or I want to surf the Internet all day. I am in danger of becoming that person who posts on Facebook, "I am sneezing a lot today", or "My shoes have dirt on the soles". Both of those posts would be accurate, and true. But no one really cares!

I'll get motivated on Monday. Friday is not a good day for resolutions.