Mom's day off

I meant to follow-up on my Saturday activities before this week started, but that (obviously) didn't happen and now I'm full-swing into VBS at church. I've been spending my mornings with 9 kindergarten/first-graders, and they have energy! I don't feel extremely tired when I'm chasing them around and joining in on activities/dance moves, but every day I come home and feel like collapsing. Thankfully, my boy has been extremely understanding and lets me take lots of rest time. I still have my own bundle of energy waiting for me, but he's been pretty understanding too... We've spent some afternoons in the kiddie pool out back (rather than our usual long walk to the park) but he doesn't seem to mind.

Anyway! Last Saturday was excellent, and I'm so thankful that I had the chance to get a "break." I spent a few hours de-cluttering and organizing, and then I got to have lunch with a friend and share some love. I rested a bit in the afternoon but couldn't get rid of that "when is Benjamin going to wake up??" feeling -- and by the time I went to pick him up I was really missing him.

I'm not finished with all of my projects and to-dos (ha! am I ever?) but there was definite progress:

Before --
(the piles of clothes are from a friend with 3 daughters... "just in case" Rutabaga is a little girl. We're certainly feeling blessed by our friends!)

After --
(OK, yeah, it looks pretty much the same. But dusting and organizing happened!)


Before --
(Ugh.)

After -- I forgot to take a picture! Dishes got done and put away... I'm still hoping to scrub down the counters again.

Before --


After --
(Yay!)

Before --
After --
(Again, not much obvious difference. I cleaned the mirror, dusted, tidied... and closed the closet door! That's about 3 different projects waiting to happen!)


Before --
(These are the pictures I'm embarrased to share...)

After -- None! I didn't get nearly enough done on the office... but Corey and I have spent some afternoons in there this week, and I'm happy to say that my school books/papers/etc are organized, my desk (and his!!!) are cleared, a bookshelf has been moved, and we've relocated his computer to the front room. I'll definitely have to post some pictures soon because it looks (finally!) like we're anticipating a baby in a few months.

Before --

After --
(I love bedrooms because making the bed changes everything... even though some dusting happened too!)

And, just to share, my friend's sweet little boy --


We're headed to the bay area this weekend, but hopefully I'll be back to regular updates next week! Also, in case you missed the memo, we're having video week with Benjamin.

nesting

(I've been updating over here, off and on.)

There's this strange urge that's been coming over me lately, especially with new-found time in my schedule and a house full of projects. It seems that all I really want to do is organize, and clean, and finish things. I'm not worried that the baby is coming early, because I still haven't had the must-clean-oven-at-all-costs feelings yet, but the rest of my house is looking like fair game. Unfortunately, every time I start a project (usually during nap time) I find myself unable to complete it (usually because of awake time). Do you know how frustrating that is to a nesting woman?? Plus, nap time is when I like to do "maintenance" -- such as dishes, tidying, washing myself, etc. That usually leaves me 15-30 minute snippets of time to accomplish huge tasks.

Because yes, as my husband is fond of pointing out, I am the queen of Huge Tasks. I've heard all sorts of advice on cleaning as I go, setting a timer and spending 10 minutes in each room every day, doing small things with many breaks, etc... but the reality is, I'm a binge cleaner. I start in a room, say organizing books, and when I finish I think to myself, "Wow, I'm in a groove..." so then I start sorting papers, going through piles, and rearranging furniture. These days, I get about halfway done sorting papers and end up with 20 piles all over the room... which makes it look worse.

All of that to say, tomorrow is my day to nest! A friend is taking Benjamin for the entire day, and all I have to do with myself is clean, clean, clean. Is it strange how excited I am about this?? Of course, the friend is mildly irked because she offered to take him hoping that I would get a day for rest and pampering -- but I know I'll feel much better if I can just get some of my projects completed. I plan on taking lots of pictures because nothing is better than admitting to how messy your house has become after you've cleaned it.

Now, everyone pray with me that my desire for nesting won't suddenly disappear tomorrow morning!

the 4th, revisited

We had a relaxing holiday, as anticipated, and almost decided to head downtown for fireworks after all... but when it came time to wake Benjamin up (at 9:15) we were both pretty tired. So next year!

As promised:

watching Daddy sweep the patio

...and move the furniture...

he's so ready to be out there!

cutie!

Since we were missing fireworks this year, I started thinking about the best fireworks show I've experienced (and I'm sure my boy would agree...) We were in Sorrento, Italy on our honeymoon, and one night we heard a great big BOOM -- so loud and close that the room shook. We were mildly freaked! Turns out, they were shooting fireworks off the dock below our hotel... no apparent reason, other than the fact that the town across the bay had done it the night before and it was decided that Sorrento could do better. We had a great view, being right above the water, and we were as close as I'd ever been. On top of that, it was a pretty impressive display -- would have put any 4th of July celebration I'd seen to shame. So I sorted through some pictures and thought I'd share a few:

the view in daylight, so you can see how close we were

and below... doesn't it make you want to dive in??

oooh

aaah
(with this one you can see how close to the water they were shooting -- since it was over water and all)

And while I was sifting I found this forgotten gem, taken with the back-up camera and thus never shared:

it's rare to get an eyes-open picture from my boy!

OK, now I'm ready to go back to Italy.

Happy 4th!

We don't have any exciting plans for the day -- just a lunch barbecue with a friend in the area -- because July pretty much caught us by surprise! Sadly, the sun doesn't finishing setting until around 10pm these days... so no fireworks for us either this year (almost makes me miss living downtown... the fireworks were in our back yard!) I know that Benjamin won't miss it, and there will be lots of other times for him to see fireworks, so we're just going to enjoy a day of no work. (Naturally, I say this as I'm sitting on my rear at the computer and my husband is trying to man-handle a new bookshelf into place...)

I don't have a patriotic picture of our little guy because he's passed out and in his pajamas (I'm not going to mess with that!!) so until I get one, behold the little cherub one year ago today:



(BTW, It's when I'm sifting through these pictures that I think, "Crap! We're about to start this all over again??!")

AND on an unrelated note, I had my first experience with tofu the other night. OK, so I've had tofu before, but never had to cook it for myself. We decided that it would be good for Benjamin to try eating it, since he seems to prefer the softness of fish to the chewiness of chicken, and thus I ended up at the store, staring blankly at tofu and wondering where to begin. (Firm? Extra Firm? Silky? What does it all mean??) Thankfully, the extra-firm had a subtitle (best for grilling and stir-fry) and I thought, "Aha! I'll make a stir-fry." When I got home, I stared blankly again at the strange substance before me and wondering how in the heck I was supposed to cook it. I felt pretty ridiculous, not even knowing how to cut it up or if I should rinse it, but thankfully there's this beautiful contraption called "The Internet," and within it a place called "you tube." I spent about 20 minutes watching OTHER people cook tofu and that was mildly helpful, except that all of them started with pre-prepped tofu. I then seriously considered calling my friend Molly, who surely knows how I should be handling all of this, but seeing as it was about 11pm in NY I decided against it. In the end I cubed it and seasoned the heck out of it, then handled it as though it were chicken in any other stir-fry. The result:


(I should also note that I ran out of soy sauce about half way through this cooking adventure... so next time I'll make sure to have enough!) Not too bad, and Benjamin absolutely loves the tofu -- so we'll call it a success! Now, if any of you have some tofu-tips for me, I'll gladly take them for 'next time.'