Counting Our Blessings

"The Eagle Has Landed."

"Our Long, National Nightmare is Over."

"ANDY GOT A JOB!!"

And it's good one!  Great company, great package, great opportunity, seven and a half miles from our house...basically...GREAT!

My cousin, who went through something similar, said she felt like God had picked them up by the scruff of their necks, and was shaking them saying "Learn. Learn."

Since November 30th, that image has played through my mind hundreds of times and I'll ask "What am I learning?".  The answer is plenty.

I learned that we have friends and family who have our backs. 

In particular, I think of Andy's best friend, John.  Like all adults with kids, and spouses, and jobs, and responsibilities, for years, Andy and John haven't seen each other as much as they'd like.  Starting Andy's last day of work, John has faithfully called several times a week, they text often, and have met almost every week since for lunch. 

Of Andy's cousin, Mike, who has put Andy in touch with people that Andy should network with, generally kept the lines of communication open, and always checked in to see what was up.  We spent New Years Eve at their place on the Cape.

Andy's oldest brother, Greg who lives several states away but simply acted as a sounding board when Andy needed another ear or another voice.

There were others, friends at school, our neighbors, Facebook friends that I haven't 'seen' in years, and of course, my Blog Buddies.  So many people in our corner, sending leads, lending support, saying prayers.  And meaning it.

I learned that there are plenty worse things than going into Year 8 in our Five Year House.  I hope I learned what's really important because right now, I feel blessed.

Thank you all so much.  I'm so happy to be able to share this news with you.

They Might Be Geniuses

The curse of all parents; the dreaded kids' music playing in the car. I thought I had it licked when I found All You Need is Love: Beatles Songs for Kids. It wasn't exactly like listening to The Fab Four but at least when a song go stuck in your head, you didn't want to gouge your eyes (ears?) out.

A couple of years ago, my neighbor turned the boys and me on to They Might be Giants: Here Come the 123s. It's positively adorable. And catchy. This year, as Santa was making his list, he was very pleased to find TMBG's latest installment, Here Comes Science.

Big hits include I Am a Paleontologist and (my personal favorite) The Bloodmobile, which talks about "the delivery service inside us, carrying oxygen, nutrients, things that fight infection and the trash collection..."



Don't get me wrong, the reason my kids watched Baby Einstein videos was because they (the videos) were innocuous, bright, and allowed me to shower, vacuum, or make a meal without a child strapped to me. But with lyrics like "the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma" I'm pretty sure these guys might be geniuses. And I can't help but wonder if their music might be spreading just a little of that super-brainpower around.

At a minimum, my boys are comfortable hearing and sometimes using words that wouldn't enter their lexicon for quite a few years to come.  Best case scenario is that we're opening discussions about science and the physical world in ways that I simply wouldn't have come up with.

And I don't want to gouge my ears out.  That's what I call a win/win.



* The preceeding was not a paid post.  Simply me expressing an opinion. :-)

This Old House - The Reveal

The Painters are done! Click here for The Before.

And now I proudly present...

The After:

And one moment of abject panic when I prayed that these guys were as good as their word:

And (thank you, God), they were.

Next on the agenda? Onward and upward. Apparently, we need a new roof...

This Old House

We moved into our house in September of 2002. I was seven months pregnant. Our house was what most first time home buyers search for and sometimes get, if they're lucky. A house with good bones in a great neighborhood. What we also got was a total of two feet of counter space, an original 1930s bathroom, old hardwood covered by meh carpeting, and wallpaper you'd have to see to believe.

Since that time, we've enlarged and redone the kitchen and bathroom, refinished all the hardwood, built out a playroom in the basement, replaced all the windows, and stripped, painted, and painted (and painted) walls, woodwork, and ceilings.

Oh, and we also found time to have two babies, change jobs, become a SAHM, and all the other things my addled brain can't recall just now.

I think I made this list mostly to remind myself how far we've come. And to justify the pictures I'm about to show you. We've been busy! But now that the inside is done-ish and because the prospect of rotting wood has made our next step far from just cosmetic, we're getting around to painting the outside of the house! Without further ado, I present...

THE BEFORE:

Our current color is dandruff white. We're going for a taupe with bright white trim, and black accents (doors, wrought iron railings, mailbox, etc.). Now all I have to do is settle on which taupe...
Suggestions anyone??

Nutrisystem By the Numbers

Days on Nutrisystem: 21

Nutrisystem meals eaten: 61*

Number of spinach salads eaten: 42

Most surprisingly good Nutrisystem entree: tie: Chicken Salad and Cajun Chicken and Rice

Number of Nutrisystem entrees that smell like dogfood: 1 (Homestyle Beef and Gravy - eww)

Number of Nutrisystem "suggested" entrees most likely to be donated to a food pantry: 1 (Split Pea Soup - double eww)

Total ounces of water consumed: 1,344
% increase: 200%

Total trips to the ladies room: Incalculable

Total Glasses of Wine Consumed: 4*
% decrease: 73%

Total Starbucks Venti Chai's Consumed: 3
% decrease: 86%

Estimated number of vices remaining: 3

Number of yoga classes attended during first two weeks of program: 0

Number of yoga classes attended in third week of program: 4

Total Weight Lost: 7.5 lbs

Average cost per pound lost: $29.90

Average pounds lost per day: 0.36 lbs

Number of days until Disney World trip: 26

Do You Recognize This Face?

Dear Boys:

Do you know who this is?

It's Mommy. No, really. It is Mommy.

This weekend, while you were making gingerbread men and reading "Gingerbread Friends" with Gram, Daddy and I found our smiles.

We went to a special place in the sky called The Mount Washington Hotel. Just Mom and Dad. No, just Christine and Andy.

We didn't bring the 20-minute conference calls that morph into 2 1/2 hours, or the possibly-totaled Trailblazer, or even the kindergarten transition anxiety (Mommy's, not yours, HRH). We even left the wifi, the Vice Presidential debate, and the $700 billion bail out package at home. We knew it would all be here when we got home -- and it was.

Rather, we slept, and read, and ate, and drank, and talked, and lived.

Mom and Dad LOVE being your parents. There is nothing more important to us than doing that well. But we have been neglecting Andy and Christine lately. And it's shown. In the way we behave toward each other and the two of you. And certainly in the way we treat ourselves. This weekend, while we were here, we remembered to be kind to ourselves. And we remembered our smiles.

I hope we'll be seeing them a lot more.

Happy Mother's Day!!

No, it's not a typo. My Mother's Day present arrived today. I'll give you one guess as to what it is: Right now, even as we speak, I am blogging from my front porch!!

After much cluelessness on my part, random fishing expeditions into our desktop, technical discussions with any neighbor unlucky enough to be outside at the same time as me (waves to Chuck and John!), a chat session with a very nice Indian tech at Linksys, and eventually, a quick trip to Best Buy for a new wireless router, my stunningly beautiful new Dell Latitude and I are doin' it wirelessly!

Um, it's a little chilly out here. But Andy dragged the boat out front and is working on the final touches so that we can, at long last, hit the shallow river we can walk across, if necessary open waters in That Kintner Boy just in time for Father's Day. So I want to be with him. Outside. In the cold. Blogging.

For those of you who really want to know, for Father's Day, Andy is getting a new bilge pump! See? The romance around here? It just. never. ends.

Happy Father's Day to all you Daddies, first timers and old timers. May your children sleep in and may you wake to the smell of fresh coffee and frying bacon.

Ambush Makeover

Ta-freakin'-da!

So what do you guys think? The grey-on-grey was really starting to get to me and the alternatives on Blogger were either equally grim or already taken by my blog buddies. When Holly re-animated her life with stunningly, retro, mid-century results, I decided it was time to take the plunge. Especially when I saw my new best friend's awesome rates.

I've been working with Cyn, the Nap Warden over at NW Designs to create my awesome new look. Okay, done with the hyperlinks. She could not have been easier to work with.

• When I said I liked apple green but not mint green, she knew what I meant.


• When I said I wanted something "different" but didn't know what, she gave me options.


• When I said I wanted to be 110 lbs driving around in a Benz convertible...well, there's only so much magic she can work.

So the boys and I are off to a beach/playdate so this is yet another drive by blog but please, kick off your shoes, wander around, make yourselves at home. There's iced tea in the fridge. I'll be back shortly.

The Reason I Write a Blog

I may have just purchased THE cutest flats in the history of shoes - Tommy Hilfiger, madras plaid, size 7 1/2. I wanted to scream it from the rooftops. And then I remembered, "I have a blog".

So here I am. Screaming.

** Polls are still open. Vote today on a possible Blog Title Change. Results to be announced this week!