Cars, Crafts, and Kids

Thursday is turning into my "Errand Day." I've been lucky enough to have a (more or less) set schedule at work for almost a month now and I've been given Thursdays off. This makes me happy for two reasons: 1) I get a weekday to plan appointments and other regular "business hour" type visits--something that's been a bit of a conundrum in the past because of our long hours and odd days--and 2) because this means I'm free for Thursday Night Knitting again! YAY!

So today was good, because we got the Subaru registered during the morning and then I got to hang out at Chrissy's for the afternoon while Patrick was at work. And while I was there, I discovered a truly awesome version of hide-and-seek.

Chrissy and I were trying to have a conversation, but kept getting perpetually interrupted by the kids. It didn't really work when they were asked or told to go downstairs and play for a while--they'd come back up thirty seconds later with some additional concern that must be addressed right now. My favorite one was this:

Lila: Um, Caite, we just really want to play hide-and-seek with you.
Me: Well, honey my belly is getting too big...it's hard for me to hide if my belly is always sticking out where you can see.
Evie: You could count!
Lila: Yeah, you could count and we could hide!
Me: (slight pause) Okay. Go hide... One. Two. Three. Four. Five...

(Foot steps tromping downstairs as all three go to hide. Slight pause as Chrissy and I listen to them scramble to find hiding places. Then a smile as we continue our conversation. About two minutes pass and we hear foot steps heading upstairs again.)

Me: (Loudly) Thirty-three. Thirty-four. Thirty-five. Thirty-six...
Evie: Eeek! She's still counting! Quick, Lila hide!

(Foot step run back down stairs. Chrissy and I snicker a little, and another two minutes pass while we talk. Footsteps head back upstairs.)

Me: Seventy-two, seventy-three, seventy-four...
Jake: (calling out from the stairwell) Just so you know, the bathroom and laundry room are off-limits! So don't look for us there!
Me: Okay. I won't look for you there....seventy-five, seventy-six...

(Foot steps going back down. Another bout of hushed laughter from us, and three more minutes of uninterrupted talk before we heard the clomping on the steps again.)

Me: One hundred and ten, a hundred and eleven, a hundred and twelve...
Lila: She's still counting, Evie!
Evie: Quick, run!

(Not-so-hushed laughter as the girls run back downstairs. I hide behind the bed as we hear them head upstairs a few minutes later.)

Evie: Caite? Um, mom, have you seen Aunt Caite?
Chrissy: She went downstairs a little while ago. She's looking for you guys.
Evie: (confused beat) Well, shoot!

(She and Lila then run back to their hiding spots as I giggle behind the bed. About a minute goes by until we hear slightly more sedate steps heralding Jake's approach.)

Jake: You set us up!
Chrissy: What are you talking about?
Evie: (yelling from downstairs) Jake, I think I hear her coming! You have to hide!

(Jake leaves to go back downstairs. I don't know if he hid again or not...Evie comes back upstairs--crying this time.)

Chrissy: What's the matter? Why are you crying?
Evie: Well, I was running and...
Chrissy: Do you see what's wrong with that sentence already? You were running. What did you run into?
Evie: (whimpering) The corner of your sewing table.

(I give a sudden cough, as I can't hold it anymore. Stunned silence falls in the room as Evie abruptly stops crying. I see her feet trying to tip-toe around the bed so I jump out and scare her.)

Evie: Caite! You were supposed to come find us!
Me: You didn't say that. You just said I had to count. So I did. And since you were all hiding...I thought I would too!
Evie: Caaaite!

(She rolls her eyes and heads down stairs. Jake and Lila quickly come up to take her place.)

Jake: (hands on hips) I knew you set us up!
Me: Well, you weren't very specific when you guys gave me instructions. You just said "count," nobody said anything about coming to find you when I was done.
Jake: (Exasperated sigh.)
Me: I assumed you guys would come find me when you were done hiding.
Lila: (Who has been quietly watching our discussion.) Well, I just found you, Caite. So I win!

Well...you can't argue with logic like that! I love those kids!

This is how I feel...

A Slow Start and a Strong Finish

I had another day off today and Patrick didn't have to go in to work until one. Needless to say we took the opportunity to have a very lazy morning together...and for my part a lazy afternoon; because after Patch left I think I took another three hour "nap" and didn't really become coherent again until sometime around four...

After waking up and chatting on the phone with my sister for a while, I looked around and thought about all the stuff I could/should have been doing at that moment. Normally that kind of thinking takes the wind out of my sails and sends me into a depressive tailspin; but I've really been focusing on "chunking" my time and tasks lately and I think it's starting to form into a habit. So, instead of deflating like I usually would, I just set the timer on my phone for 15 minutes and did what I could in that amount of time.

For the next three hours I worked in 15 minutes shifts followed by 15 minute breaks. And the next thing I realized, Patrick was home, the house was clean, laundry was folded, and dinner was almost ready to be put on the table. Plus, I had totally finished I book I started reading a few days ago! (Beat that Wonder Woman!)

And it was a surprisingly inventive dinner if I do say so myself. I found myself staring into the fridge on one of my breaks and realized I had some chicken breasts and bacon that needed to be used before they expired and voila!: cream cheese and herb stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon. Can we say "tasty?" (Seriously, I feel like I should have a cape fluttering around my shoulders and be wearing my underwear on the outside...but in the cool superhero kind of way, not the "someone should check on her Thorazine drip" kind of way...)

So now, my fellow citizens, I'm going to take my super-self off to bed--where I will have sweet dreams about all the stuff I don't have to do tomorrow!

"Knock, knock...guess who!"

Tonight Patrick and I came up with a fun new game to play. I've decided to call it "Knock, Knock."

About a week or so I started to feel the baby move...not very often or very strong, of course, but that's starting to change. I'm getting a little better at recognizing what's her and what's me--and she's getting stronger--which helps me tell the difference!

Well, tonight after dinner we were lying down watching TV when the cat jumped onto my lap and started kneading my belly. And it took me by surprise when I started to feel my belly kneading back! I pushed the cat away and gave some experimental pokes of my own and was thrilled when I would feel a little "tap, tap" in whatever area I had poked. Patrick caught on, and though it's still to early for him to feel her from outside, he very enthusiastically started to play my belly like a bongo drum while I laughed and told him when she responded. It was definitely the longest period of time when I've been able to feel her be active!

All in all, I would say our first "family game night" was a roaring success. We can't wait to play again!

Just another day

I had to work today. It wasn't too bad, but the system I use was down and it made things difficult. Patrick had to go to church by himself--and he did. (I got a picture text of him in the lobby area as "proof that he made it." Crazy guy--makes me laugh!)

I walked out to my car after work to find it buried under at least three inches of wet snow. I didn't have a car scraper--mine broke when Patrick was attempting to free my car out of it's icy cocoon a couple days ago. Luckily, I found some gloves in the backseat and was able to brush my windows off by hand. It was also lucky that I didn't have too far to drive, because the roads were very slushy and slick!

We've had a very mellow evening. Just hanging out reading (me) and watching TV (him). Nothing too spectacular...

Maybe we'll be more interesting tomorrow...

Today is brought to you by the Letter "P"

P is for "Productive"

I had a goal today to clean my house. I had the energy, the time, and a plan...it's like the the planets aligned or something...Now, I admit I didn't get to everything I had planned; but I did pretty good and am feeling awesome anyway! I'm copying down my To-Do List from today so that I can look back and bask in my self-satisfaction. (And also to brag a little bit. It is pretty awesome to see how much I got done in about three hours this morning.)

Bedroom
make bed
clear/dust surfaces
pick up floor
vacuum

Bathroom
tidy shelving over toilet
take out trash
wipe down surfaces/mirror
scrub toilet
scrub bath/shower
sweep floor

Kitchen
clear/wipe down counters
put out "Hot Spot"
empty dishwasher
do dishes
clean out fridge/pantry
take out trash
scrub stove top
shine the sink
sweep the floor

Main Room
pick up floors and surfaces
put out "Hot Spots"
dust
vacuum
take down Christmas decorations

Laundry
do some

P is for "Philanthropy"

Yesterday I got a text message from my sister-in-law Cari asking if I'd be home tomorrow because they were going to be in the area. I replied yes and was surprised and excited--her family lives a couple hours away and we don't get to see them as often as other family members. Patrick was upset that he was going to miss them (poor guy had to work today), but tried to accept fate gracefully. And I am sorry he missed their visit too, because they totally surprised us...I thought they were just stopping by to say hi as they were running errands or something, but instead they arrived bearing gifts: groceries to be precise.

It was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me. The boys trooped in carrying sacks of bread and snacks, frozen pizzas and burritos. They were followed by Cari and Aaron with yet more sacks, a jug of milk, and some homemade hamburger stew that Cari had made for lunch. And they were followed by Scott and Ana who brought us more bananas and strawberries (yay!) and fruit juice. I was so surprised that I couldn't even cry--which I thought I was bound to do, given how teary I am lately--I just stood in shock as my kind and loving in-laws filled my fridge and pantry so that Patrick and I wouldn't have to worry about whether to choose gas or groceries with this next paycheck.

It was a huge blessing and a wonderful reminder of the real-life guardian angels surrounding me and my growing family. I am so thankful. And I look forward to they day when I can pay-it-forward. (I think my emotion has caught up with me...everything is looking blurry as I'm trying to type while I cry...good thing that spell-check exists.)

P is for "Promising"

Which is how the future is looking! I feel prepared for tomorrow, pleased with today, and at peace with the past. (How's that for an alliteration?)

What's happening to me?!

(Disclaimer: This post is probably rated in the "Too Much Information" category. Read on at your own discretion.)

I worked a twelve hour shift today. I was in intense pain for at least six of them. And, do you want to know why?

Because Taro Gomi is a liar. That's why!

Some people are hindered by the fact that another person is currently sitting on their lower intestine and blocking the works, so to speak... 

Some people are kept moving around all day without breaks because everyone else seems to have pneumonia or bronchitis from the inversion, or fractures from the icy rain...

And some people become very cranky, and bad-tempered, and literally cannot think of anything else to blog about because their day seems to be defined by nothing except the endurance of this horrible, awful pain...

Sorry folks, but that's the truth, and I've got nothing else for you...pregnancy sucks.