Langer Loksh

SHOUT OUT TO MY SISTAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

ALISSA! She is an engaged lady! And when Eric popped the question she was so flustered that she stuck both hands out at once for the ring because she forgot her right from left. And what a ring--a spectacular family heirloom from Eric's great-great-aunt. Congratulations. You deserve for all of your dreams to come true, and this is only the beginning.

Loosey Goosey Liver

Shaina's comment about Charlie's Spider-man-free shirt reminds me that I am absolutely terrible about following through with things. Let me tie up a few loose ends here.

1. As with all of my parenting challenges, the Spider-man shirt problem simply disappeared just when I thought I would not be able to stand it for one more second. Now I just wake Charlie up and pop some track pants and any old long-sleeved shirt on him. This week he refuses to wear a jacket; it's getting kind of cold. We'll see what happens.

2. Our cats now both live upstairs with the family. Keeping them sequestered in the basement for a month or so did the trick. Also, I bought two more litter boxes and Jeff has been working hard at keeping them scooped. Email me if you have any questions. Or just don't move if you have cats. Ha ha.

3. Our thirteen chickens were laying as many as seven eggs a day. In the past two weeks production has plummeted to one, maybe two eggs per day. This weekend Jeff put in a lamp on a timer. It gives them a few hours of light before the sun rises and again after it sets. Today there were three eggs. A step in the right direction.

4. I most likely did get a flu shot with mercury. I called the OB's office on Monday morning and they said that most flu shots have mercury. The OB stocks mercury free ones, but not because they believe it is medically necessary. They have them because everyone was asking for them. "Don't worry about it," the nurse said. (Any guesses on how long before they realize that nine gazillion pregnant ladies can't be wrong, and it is in fact not a good idea to inject neurotoxins directly into the bloodstream?)

That's OK--I'm already too busy worrying about the TICK I PULLED OUT OF MY BELLY THIS MORNING. "Where do you live?" the nurse marveled. "In the woods," I answered. Took the megadose of amoxycillin... again. Damn Lyme disease.

5. This isn't a loose end, I don't think, because I don't think I ever mentioned Summer's first grade teacher and how Summer and her friends call her "The Harsh One." Today we had our parent-teacher conference and The Harsh One could not have been less harsh. Like last year, Summer is earning praise in school for her kindness to others. Which makes me want to be more kind to her at home. Because in fact I'm pretty harsh myself.

Nesting update--only if you're interested:

Ordered swatches for woven wood shades at preposterously expensive but super styley Smith & Noble. Swatches were free but thanks to my "order" I got 10% off at a partner site, Garnet Hill--which is where I was going to buy Summer's braided rug anyway, so I saved like $25 on that. Meanwhile, ordered some totally reasonably priced shades from J.C. Penney.

Ace the Painter has painted the above-the-chair-rail portion of the dining room in Clay Beige. I was afraid it would look like clay, but it looks like nothing. Perhaps too much like nothing. But tomorrow he will paint the bottom portion Davenport Tan, which is the exact color of chopped liver. And that will be something.

Ace's L'il Helper

The gingham wallpaper was searing Jeff's eyes, so he tore it off the walls and Ace (and Charlie) carried the Standish White in from the family room.

Watching paint dry! Brought to you by the Noodle.

The Pond in Fall

Jeff pulled in the pedal boat and the dock yesterday afternoon.

The leaves are past peak, but here's a bit of color on the pond. The last picture is the path back to our house.

The Aforementioned Cuteness

Nothing Like a Few Contractions to Kick Me in the Pants

I've ordered the blinds for the bathrooms. I've ordered a blackout shade for the baby's tiny little closet of a room. I've washed the cradle bedding in Dreft; the car seat pad is going in the next load. I'm sending Jeff to the Toyota dealership this afternoon to test drive the minivan. I've written out a little schedule for Jeff--when does the school bus come, when do I pick up Charlie from preschool. This is it people: start your polls. Due date is 12/13; Summer was three weeks early and Charlie was five weeks early. GO! GO! GO!

And seriously, please remind me what I'm supposed to put in that bag that I take the hospital? All I really care about is that someone hand me a large fountain Coke and a copy of Us Weekly as soon as Mr. Kickers passes his Apgars. But I think I'm forgetting something. Chapstick? My vintage Woodsy Owl pillowcase?

Care for Some Neurotoxins with Your Immunity, Mr. Kickers?

Mr. K. is still safely ensconced in my womb. However, I realized that I accidentally injected him with mercury. So, not-so-safely ensconced? Way to go Mom, you IDIOT! The OB keeps offering me a flu shot, and I keep saying no, I want to do it with my kids at the regular doctor's office, to set the example, because they're a little wimpy about getting shots. So we did it yesterday, and I signed three pieces of paper, two of which were "child vaccine, no mercury," and one that didn't say that. And in the middle of the night it occurred to me that, duh, that means I just dosed my fetus with a known neurotoxin. I don't know if the ones they have at the OB are mercury-free or not and I won't find out until tomorrow. Another perfectly lovely Sunday spent in the crush of mental anguish.

Didn't you like it better when I kept my mouth shut for the first five months of this pregnancy?

After the flu shots we went to the toy store and I purchased a tiny, extremely soft buffalo for Mr. Kickers. As if that will make up for damaging his precious brain in utero.

Nothing Doing

Having a couple of contractions, and I'm SURE they're those "practice" contractions, the Braxton-Hicks, which I don't think I ever had before... but maybe I had them and didn't realize what it was... anyway, what am I supposed to pack in that bag again? So far, there is underpants and a hair elastic. What else? A tennis ball?

Also I have not ordered the blinds, and the bedrooms are very very very messy and I know that if the baby comes now the house will never be unmessy until the baby is in kindergarten...

And I know that's no supposed to matter but I have this thing about feeling totally out of control of everything if the house is messy...

I know there are people who walk around having contractions for weeks (Maya) without anything happening, but I'm not that person, I'm the person whose water breaks too early, but that hasn't happened yet...

Nobody worry. Everything's fine. Nothing is happening. I swear. I SWEAR.

A Good Day

I don't have toxoplasmosis!

And the dining room light fixture came and it's awesome!

It Was All Yellow

Nesting update. The family room, formerly paneled in yucky dark brown yuckiness, has now been painted Benjamin Moore Standish White with White Dove trim. At first it looked alarmingly yellow but now it's looking a little... less so. Anyway at least it's not a cave anymore. Thank you, Ace the Painter.