The minute you buy a new car, and thus want to sell your old car, the “Check Engine” light comes on.
It’s just a valve that needs replacement, but it totally renders any potential sales I would like to broker as “shady”.
You wouldn’t be in the market for a slightly used, kinda shady car, would you?
I’m rethinking the whole blog thing- while the house theme has been great- there’s not a whole lot of hammering or renovating going on recently due to our new occupant…which leaves this space pretty quiet. TOO quiet. Smothering, binding, makes you want to scream quiet.
So quiet here when there is SO MUCH going on that doesn’t fit with the theme of this blog!
So while I’m still going to talk about our various widely-spaced home projects- I’ll also probably talk a lot more about the crazy random stuff that seems to make up my (our) life inside of the Cotterpin house…
Like the toddler that used my baby as a climbing wall…
Or my coworkers blatantly using company supplies to fund their side business…
Or my search for a coat that allows me to wear it to work AND stay warm in Wisconsin’s winter deep freeze without looking like the Michelin man…
Sound good?
She wouldn’t stop fussing. The second you would stop the pacingswingingmovement, the whine would start back up again.
Teething?
Growth spurt?
Hungry?
Gas?
Diaper on too tight?
Too loose?
Too hot?
Too cold?
Stuffed up nose from her never-ending cold?
Nope. Raging like a mini-teenager, nothing soothed her.
Stripped screws, bent nails, split boards- all easier to fix than a crying baby that can’t show you what’s wrong.
She rubs her eyes- once. Then again.
Overtired- but fighting sleep with every fiber of her being. Battling against her drooping eyelids.
Finally (FINALLY), she falls asleep in my lap in the rocking chair, and I don’t dare move a muscle, or even breathe too deeply in case I would wake her. I offer up a little prayer that the squeaky chair isn’t too loud and that a 30 minute nap will bring back my happy baby instead of her miserable twin.
But within minutes? Just like that?
The last hour is forgotten as I study the line of her cheeks, the fluttering of her lashes and the crease in her elbows. And suddenly I don’t mind so much having to deal with the miserable baby because I also get the opportunity to watch the happy baby sleep.
6am-6:30 Drag self out of a warm bed and flail arms in an attempt to exercise (Succeeding only 4 of the 7 days)
6:30-7:00 Wake up and feed an entirely too chipper Li
7:00-7:15 Shower
7:15-7:30 Dry hair…I’ve got a lot of hair.
7:30-7:45 Frantically search for an outfit for work, attempt make-up and a hairstyle, wake up Li who managed to sneak in a nap
7:45-8:00 Dress Li in cuter clothes than I have, and somehow get out the door
8:15 Drop Li off at daycare
8:30 Arrive at work
Work, work, work
11:00 Lunch
Work, work, work
4:30 Rush out the door for daycare while trying to avoid last minute requests and the view of my boss
4:45 Pick up happy Li
5:00 Arrive home and feed a now screaming Li
5:45 Think about making dinner
6:15 Greet husband with a fresh martini and eat freshly made dinner…or go out to dinner…whatever
7:00 Play with a happy Li
8:00 Feed a now screaming Li a snack
9:00 Bathe a suddenly dirty Li and try to put her down for bed
9:45 Attempt to clean up the house
10:30 Consider blogging, or reading, or some other hobby, pass out instead.
It’s been a long week.
A long, long, long week.
Posts to come, once I catch up on my sleep a bit.
I’ve been so busy the last couple of weeks, I haven’t had any inclination, urge or even energy to blog…not that we’re doing that much on the house- it’s been mostly dirty diapers, laundry, and spit-up because of Li. We were able to squeeze in some family bonding time over her baptism this past weekend- though I think many of those same family members were probably bleary-eyed because of the early:30 start time.
The carpet? Still undecided on that.
Everything else? Yes…well…let’s just say that time seems fly by when you’re catering to the whims of a three-month old. I imagine it’s a little like being the fool for Henry VIII- less beheadings and all that, but about the same amount of chubbiness, random crankiness, wailing, and making of funny faces.
Not that I should complain- the child likes to sleep more than I do- an impressive feat. She’s asleep by 9:30 or so, and then up at 7am (or when I wake her). And, pretty much, one day seems to run into another- which is satisfying and monotonous.
Hence the writer’s block.
After all, what do you write about when one day is like the next? You could only stand so many rhapsodies on the plumpness of her cheeks, or the way her smile lights up the room…but that’s what my world is consisting of right now. I’m sure as winter starts to creep in that might change- and I’ll get the urge to do more than snuggle with Li…but let’s take that one day at a time, shall we?
I kind of suspected, but never guessed, until this beauty showed up at my door.
Maybe I need some new hobbies, huh?
Now, what to do about the upstairs?
…as I have spent way way WAY too much time preoccupied with floor coverings today. As in most of the day spent contemplating the thickness, patterns and traffic strength of carpet. As in randomly exclaiming to no one in particular “The back entry! The power nap carpet would be perfect!”.
Luckily, my husband is also a dork because he would look up from whatever he was doing, eyes big, and exclaim,
” That WOULD be perfect!!”
So, if you haven’t figured out, we are talking about what we’re going to use to finish the new bedroom floor. Currently we have rough wood boards, aged to an old wood color and random paint splotches, with just enough splinters added in to keep things interesting.
We definitely want to do something before winter- and probably are going the carpet route as everything else in the house is wood, and it would help warm up the room a bit. Unfortunately, we’re discovering that carpet isn’t really something you can do yourself- unless you put in a Flor…which we are considering. Has anyone had any experience with carpet tiles? Specifically the “Well Suited”? I kind of obsessed (like a huge dork) about the concept, the company, and the patterns (as shown by the locations I’m considering placing the tiles)- but am afraid it’ll look a little industrial…We’re going to be testing it out with a throw rug first, but are also open to other ideas- so…
Thoughts?
The birthday was great- less traumatic than I had anticipated. My parents came up from Nashville to visit, and I would have to say that it was a very nice, relaxing weekend…
They are also the genes behind my carpenter tendencies- so naturally, when I mentioned still not having some projects in a kitchen complete (hmm…I wonder why that stuff was put on hold?!?!?)- they were all over it.
Witness Before:
And after:
The birthday gift that keeps on giving?
Yup, the now ample counterspace my microwave had been taking up…
I’m turning 30 on Saturday.
I’m turning 30 on Saturday, and I have a baby.
I’m turning 30 on Saturday, I have a baby, and I have a mortgage.
I’m turning 30 on Saturday, got a baby, mortgage, and a full-time adult job where they expect me to show up on time, actually do some work, and make million dollar decisions. (ok, multi-thousand dollar decisions)
It kind of snuck up on me.
Yes, all of it.
One day, I’m jumping off the swings on the playground at school- the next, I’m turning 30.
I’m not necessarily sad about it, more surprised at how fast it went.
Next thing I’ll know, I’ll be making pancakes for my grandchildren on Christmas morning.
It goes by in the blink of an eye, doesn’t it?
