Wet 'N Wild

Lucy just scared the ever-loving crap out of me. I was on my hands and knees down in the basement, sopping up water that leaked out of the dehumidifier when I emptied it (every. freaking. time. with the leaking water - whussup, dehumidifier??).  It was half an hour or more since I had tucked the munchkins into their beds, and I was (am) alone - M. on an oh-so-convenient "business trip" or whatnot. FACT: He strolled around Burlington, VT and ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream tonight. Does this sound like a "business trip" to you?

Where was I?

Oh, right - I'm muttering to myself as I scrub the carpet and suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere, hear a voice right near my ear saying "I'm scared, Mommy." Oh, ho, ho! Who's scared now, little girl?!! Lucy had appeared, silently (why can't she be this quiet when *I* want her to be quiet?), right in front of me in her little wispy nightgown, like a creepy Victorian ghost.

I tucked her back into bed, and now I'm having a gin and tonic.

I'm doing my typical "M. is away, must be super mom/housekeeper/awesome person" that I sometimes do while he is gone.  I've cooked healthy meals. I've taken out the trash. I've bathed the children.  I've done laundry, and PUT IT AWAY (this never happens).  I've played catch with Finn, and taken them both to the special playground I never take them to because it's, in my mom eyes, too dangerous.  Also, our cleaning lady is coming tomorrow, so I spent a high percentage of Sunday and another hour or so tonight CLEANING ALL THE THINGS.  I should note that I would probably do this every time the cleaning lady comes, but this impulse is usually kept in check by M., who would prefer to NOT clean all the things in anticipation of her visit.

And by "clean," I really mean "throw things away."  This is something M. NEVER lets me do - the man is a hoarder, I swear. But since he's gone right now... Bwa ha ha ha!!  (evil laugh. Did that come off as an evil laugh?) I am 1000% certain that he will NEVER miss anything I've thrown away, and yet I know he would have stopped me from doing it.

Bottom line, the house looks nice.  It will cease to look nice by about 5:32 tomorrow evening, which is about 2 minutes after the kids and I will step through the front door.  But for now, it looks nice, and it pleases my soul.  My sister would make fun of me for this, right, Kristin?

One thing I am not doing as part of my crazy-lady-overachiever efforts is exercising.  That's because I'm limited to treadmill-running while M. is away, and my treadmill currently looks like this:

All folded up and moved to the middle of the family room.  Why?  Home owner suckery, is why.  Water in the basement!!!! Gah, what a nightmare! This is the same basement carpet that we had replaced less than two years ago when we had a freak water leak from our newly installed HVAC system (I don't think I blogged about this, as I can't find an old post to link to).  This time, the water was coming through the wall/ground of the house. The ground outside that wall is actually our neighbor's backyard (oh, the joys of townhouse living...) - we've had a lot of rain the last couple of weeks, and clearly it's not draining well.  THEY are not getting water in their basement, but WE are.

Last Tuesday-ish, on a day when there was much rain of the pouring kind, M. and I were turning lights out for the night around 11 pm when we discovered wet carpet beneath our feet over by the treadmill.  The same treadmill I had been running on earlier that night, obliviously.  It was too late to do anything about it that night (other than grump or stew), but the next day launched our "Oh f*ck, how do we deal with this?!" scrambling effort.  Which involves:

Step 1: Argue with husband, who thinks this is no big deal.
Step 2: Go to work. Google lots of things.
Step 3: Find convincing link that describes some stuff to do. Send to husband, who agrees that yes, actually, maybe something should be done. Even though the "something" involves scary-ish DIY stuff that we've never done before.
Step 4: Leave work early. Buy dehumidifier from Walmart. Go home, soak up some water with towels, assemble dehumidifier and turn on; also, aim fan at wet carpet. Pray.
Step 5: Let husband poke around in neighbors yard, where he discovers they have an in-ground drain/catch basin. Clearly someone's had water issues in the past.
Step 6: With much trepidation, pull up wall-to-wall carpeting in one corner of the room. Spy wet carpet padding, wet carpet, and gross, black-ish carpet tack strips.

Step 7: Cut away wet carpet pad, and pull up gross carpet tack strips that crumble at the slightest touch. Notice husband's sexy black socks and shorts.

Step 8: Scrub concrete with soapy water.

Step 9: Flatten out carpet. Run dehumidifier and fan continuously.

Step 10: When rain threatens, fold carpet back from wall again.  Notice that yes, water is still coming into the basement when it rains hard.  Poke around again in neighbors' yard.  Realize their drain is not draining.

Step 11: Make plans to install new drain for neighbors, who are clueless and can't be trusted to do it (Note, drain is not installed yet, what with the aforementioned business trip and all).

Step 12: While kids are rotting their brains with TV, spray a water/vinegar mixture on carpet, let sit for a few minutes, and scrub with dry cloths.  Sprinkle baking soda EVERYWHERE.  Let sit, then vacuum.  Gross musty smell? Gone.

The carpet looks and smells better:

But it's not fixed yet - still need to put down new carpet pad, and figure out how to install new tack strips and stretch the carpet over them. We may need to replace some of the molding, too. BUT, none of that is happening until we make sure we have this leaking water problem fixed.

Oh, to be a renter right now!

Any commiseration stories to make me feel better?

Three Really LONG Takes

Where do I even begin?

I've had all the best intentions of writing here over the last couple of weeks  -  so many great (in my mind!) blog post ideas, but zero follow-through. Instead, this will be a total jumble of updates and whatnot. Consider yourself warned.

1) First, you may be wondering how "Austerity" is going for us. How is life with no cable, limited Target access, little to no eating out? Well, here's the thing - we have cheated a little. We haven't managed to limit ourselves to one meal out a week. But in our defense, we HAVE decreased the frequency a smidgen, and we've increased the GUILT we feel when we do eat out. So kind of a wash, right? As far as Target goes, we have done pretty well - we've mainly stuck to our once-a-month goal. It's a bit misleading, though, because we do end up buying stuff here and there from other stores, like Walmart (gasp! though I hate shopping there, so I'm usually in and out without much fanfare) or the grocery store. But still, I chalk it up as a win. And finally - cable. We are still cable-free, and so far it hasn't been too rough (and the price savings had been GREAT). Though you may want to ask M. to weigh in on that - he was a bit despondent during the NCAA basketball tournament and the Masters. He seems OK now, but it may just be that he's completely given up hope on ever witnessing the thrill of a good game again. I have a feeling the despondency will be back when football season starts up, too.

Also, I will say that the lack of live TV, network or cable, has probably contributed to my infrequent blogging, weirdly enough. Our time in front of the TV is now very purposeful - we select a show to watch, and we watch it. And since these are all shows we are "invested" in, we feel obligated to pay attention. Gone are the days of throwing on HGTV to play in the background while I tool around on the internet. And clearly, gone are the days where M. will put on a baseball game that I can ignore while I blog beside him. There are no baseball games. THERE IS NO HGTV. Not unless I want to pay $1.99 an episode (I do not).

All in all, we are doing well with our goals, but not great. We ARE still making some "unnecessary" purchases, like some new clothes for me and - well, that's really all. I'm the only spoiled one. And we have some house expenses coming up - a mixture of planned and unplanned - that weren't part of the original plan (I'll get to those in a minute, or eventually, depending on how things go here). But we upped our contributions to our savings account by quite a bit, and we're still getting by, so that is a major step in the right direction. Single family home, you will be MINE one day!!

2) Chapter 2 of this novel is Finn. Can you believe school is over in two flipping days?!? I cannot. Finn, of course, can. According to him, the school year has been SO LONG. Said with heaving sigh full of emotion. But goodness, where has the time gone? How do I suddenly have a rising first grader?

I must say that all in all, he has had a really good year, and we couldn't be happier with his elementary school.* Yes, yes, he has had some behavior hiccups. But he HAS shown a lot of improvement in that area, and more than that, he has really gained a lot of confidence academically. Even as late as March or April, he was avowing that he could NOT read - no, uh uh, wouldn't even try. But NOW it's like he's a whole different kid. All it took was reading one or two simple books on his own, and he was off like a rocket. In March, he knew 40 of the 44 "Kindergarten words," and only 6 of the "First Grade words." As of May, he knew all 44 of the Kindergarten words, and 73 of the first grade words. This kid is on fire, and it's so wonderful to witness.

He is also fairly hysterical. I'm finally that mom that has ridiculously cute and funny things that her child has written for school assignments. They all got sent home with Finn today, so hopefully I'll bore you all by photographing them, posting them here, and translating (he may be able to read, but he is not a great speller yet).

By the way, did you know that our elementary school puts together a yearbook for purchase each year? We can buy a copy to treasure forever for the low, low price of $23. Flrpphtp. Really? It takes me back to the dim room off the cafeteria where a group of us poured over photos and layouts and design elements to product my senior yearbook. You know, when I was 18. Why on earth would a 6-year-old, or even an 11-year-old, need a yearbook to memorialize one year of elementary school? What poor person had to put this together? Is this something that happens in your area, too?

Anyway, Finn is so sweet and funny and charming and ah, six is such a great age! Really, I highly recommend it.

There have been a few articles floating around, bringing some attention back to the families affected by the Newtown, CT shooting 6 months ago - really moving, heart-wrenching articles. I can't help but read them, so shocked that someone could wipe out the lives of similarly wonderful, amazing, loving 6- and 7-year-olds. I have been showering Finn with hugs and kisses lately - I just can't help it. I can't imagine the pain those families feel, and yet I can, and my heart breaks thinking of all the "what ifs."

OK, don't want to be too much of a downer, so let's visit "the other hand." As in, Finn is SO great right now, but Lucy, on the other hand..."

3) Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. I had to go back and re-read some of the blog posts I wrote about 2 and a half years ago, to reassure myself that she isn't an especially psychotic child. Luckily (I think?), I was reminded by my past rantings about Finn that all four year olds are... (hmm, searching for non-four-letterish word here) challenging. Yes, particularly CHALLENGING. This too shall pass, amiright?

Some of the stuff she says to us.... and HOW she says it. Oh God, I am in for it. Yes, God with a capital G. This is my payback, and my mother will 100% back me up on this. Her mannerisms, her attempts to cut us to the quick - it's all me. She is me, 32 (or 22) years ago.

She already tells us we are the worst parents IN THE WORLD. Worst. That is a direct quote.

But oh goodness, I still love her so much, despite it all. And she gets just as many hugs and kisses as Finn, no worries there. Who could help it, really?

In more charming news, Lucy had her first "real" dance recital last weekend. She did have a small one back in December, but it was a simple deal and there were no costumes involved. This was the real thing - two costumes, stage make-up, a dress rehearsal, an audience full of dressed-up family members holding flowers, etc. Despite the fact that her class has been working on their two numbers since January, Lucy only knew about two steps of the tap number. This may not be her calling. And don't get me started on the lack of technique I saw in the older girls (does no one point a toe or straighten a knee these days?!?!? My former dance teachers would have cringed), so even if it is her calling (one day), this may not be the dance school we go with for the long haul. However, she did passably well during the ballet number, and looked damn cute in both costumes. Lucky for you, I captured the momentous occasion on film. With very poor videography skills, I might add.

Ballet was first. You should note that I accidentally focused on the wrong girls at first, because I was too busy looking through the camera screen to make sure I was in focus. Lucy is the third one from the right end of the line:



And here is the tap number. She spent a lot of time seemingly fiddling with her costume under her arms. Not sure what was going on there. If you ask her, she nailed it - got all the steps down. I'm pretty sure her feet didn't move. But again, cute. And maybe she was just REALLY nailing the ducky arms? Not sure. She's the fourth one from the right this time, though in a lot of the video it looks like she's third from right (I cut off the last girl in line):



And a few still photos from the event:

At home, post make-up but pre-costume

Primping in the dressing room before the ballet dance

Rubber duckie!!

I have more to blog about (home renovations! Exercise! Recipes! Some other stuff I can't remember right now!), but I've run out of steam. It's late, and I'm tired. More soon, I hope.

*except for all the Chick Fil A fundraisers that were constantly shoved down our throats. I could have done with WAY less of that.

More Ammo for My Future "Back In MY Day" Rants

I switched radio stations while driving yesterday, and came across the song "Two Princes" by the Spin Doctors. Rather than continuing my search for better music, I listened, flooded with fuzzy memories of high school and my old bedroom, the pink cave where I listened to song after song after song.  And I was struck by an odd thought. Here's the excrutiating, rambling train that led to it:

I've always been a "lyrics matter" person, so to speak - I like to KNOW what the singers are singing, and the lyrics can make or break a song, no matter how catchy it is.  Back in high school, we were limited to learning lyrics from the inserts that accompanied the CDs we bought. In fact, I clearly remember poring over the C&C Music Factory booklet with my friend Natalie, determined to learn every last word to "Things that make you go Hmm."

I think I'm making my taste in music sound pretty lame here. 

Telling you that I was (and honestly, still am) a hardcore Tori Amos and Ani DiFranco fan probably doesn't help, does it?

Anyway, back to the lyrics, and the Spin Doctors. I sang along in my car yesterday, and realized I was singing the same lyrics I sang twenty years ago, the ones I had to make up because I couldn't understand the singers, and because I never bought the CD so I didn't have access to the REAL lyrics (see, don't you feel better now? I didn't LOVE the Spin Doctors, I just liked the one song. To buy a CD, waaaaaaaaaaaay back then, you had to be all in. None of this "I'll just buy the one song" that iTunes has afforded us now).

Did you know that "But all I want a prince a never heart to be" is NOT part of the song's chorus? Nope. But "But I know what a prince and lover ought to be" is. Google told me this, when I checked today. Twenty years later, and the mystery is solved.

Back when the song was new and popular (and ancient civilizations now gone flourished), we didn't have Google. The internet was JUST getting started. Some of us did have creaky, stupidly slow Prodigy accounts (one account for the whole family!). I don't even remember what we did with them. There were only a couple hundred of websites, compared to the couple hundred MILLION there are now. It was nothing like the "instaneous search for EVERYTHING" that it is available now. There really was no internet. So incorrect song lyrics? Yeah, that happened, a lot.

So here's my odd/random thought - our kids will never have to wonder about and puzzle out song lyrics. They will never have to just... live with the mystery. They will always be able to look it up. Right that second.

I hope this access to immediate information doesn't take away the joy of finding out you or someone you're with has been singing a song wrong. To never laugh with a friend because he sang about swimming "in a deep sea of bacon" instead of a "deep sea of blankets" (sorry for the John Mayer reference) would be sad, sad thing.

The Wrap-Up Catch-Up: Lucy's 4th Birthday

Before I run through some overdue photos of Lucy's birthday, I need to mark a momentous occasion. Not momentous in the good way, mind you. Momentous in the "Oh, crap!" way.

I will first say that it has been a good run. M. and I have successfully enjoyed hassle-free, TV-loaded, adults-only time for roughly 98% of the last 6 and a half years (with the exception of the odd newborn-intensive early months for each kid and the occasional sick night). That kid-free peace is probably the only thing that has kept us sane through the hustle and bustle of a life with two kids and two full-time, working-out-of-the-house-with-lengthy-commutes, jobs. For all those many years, we put the kids to bed, turned out their lights, and they stayed there.

Sure, sometimes (OK, lots of times) they called for us, to come fix a blanket, or schlep them more water, or change their pajamas because they're too hot. Two or three times one of them has actually come down the stairs from the bedrooms to the kitchen, where M. and I are usually finishing up the dinner dishes and packing lunches for the next day. Annoying, but no big deal, because mostly Finn and Lucy STAYED UPSTAIRS.

Tonight, M. and I finished up with kitchen duty on the early side, and we headed down to the basement to fold a bajillion loads of laundry with large vats of wine and some TV to distract ourselves from the task. We could hear Lucy over the monitor singing to herself, but since she wasn't calling for us, we left her alone.

Five minutes into an episode of Modern Family, Lucy appeared DOWN IN THE BASEMENT. Quiet and ghostlike. Scared the shit out of us. Thank god we were actually doing laundry and not something more, ahem, adult-like. But how the frack did our daughter, who refuses to walk down to the basement in broad daylight, find the guts to come downstairs all by herself, without a peep? She claimed to want one of us to put her "big red blankie" on her, but hadn't wanted to call for us (probably because we keep telling her not to). So she came ALL the way downstairs instead.  M. paused the TV, and agreed to walk her upstairs to help with the blankie sitch.

And that's when she noticed the TV was on.

And then settled herself in my lap and refused to leave the basement so she could "watch for a little bit."

We managed to get her up to bed, and she hasn't come back down - I think she's asleep. BUT NOW SHE KNOWS. And she'll probably tell her brother. It's all over - THEY KNOW WE WATCH TV AT NIGHT. We're fucked - they'll never leave us alone now!

6 years, 6 months, and 26 days - it was a good, good run.

Alright, on to Lucy's birthday, numero quatro. I'd be remiss if I didn't link back to the post I wrote on her birth, since I love it and go back to read it at LEAST once a year. I love remembering that day, and I love celebrating my little girl.

Lucy's birthday was on a Thursday (April 25th). I made some cupcakes for us to have that morning as a family - none for her daycare class, because I invited them all to her birthday party and thought that a school celebration too would be overkill. More cupcakes for us! I have no pictures of her actual birthday, because I'm lame. But mostly, we ate a lot of cupcakes.

But I have LOTS of pictures from her party, which was the following day. We had 11 kids and their parents at the house - I was more than a little worried that it would feel super cramped. But thankfully the weather was awesome, so our bounce house was out, and we were able to spread people throughout the living room, dining room, playroom, family room, and the backyard. Lucy had a great time, and aside from the fact that M. and I were preparing furiously right up until the first guest arrived, it wasn't too stressful.

 

First, a few photos of the setting. We did a pseudo "tea party/pink and green" theme. I didn't take the tea party thing all the way, though - I found some paper party cups with tea pots and tea kettles on them, make some iced tea, and offered "tea time" type foods. No hot tea or real tea cups were harmed in the making of this party, though I did try - I hit the local Goodwill to see if I could find some cheap but cute tea cups I could let the kids use, but no dice. Here is the table with LOTS of balloons, including a huge mylar, hear-shaped one for Lucy with pink feathered trim. It was ridiculously gaudy, and is still floating somewhere above our living room.

 

Flowers, and the hit of the party - candy melt-coated marshmallow lollipops.

 

The kids went ape-shit over these things.

 

I'm going to do a separate little post on how to make these - it was SUPER easy.

 

The birthday girl, drinking from her "tea" cup.

 

The food spread - finger sandwiches (tuna salad, egg salad, ham and cheese, and PB&J), scones, cookies, and berries.

 

Found this cute little tea pot at Marshalls for next to nothing - I love it!

 

I worked so ridiculously hard on Lucy's banner last year, you know it had to make an appearance again this year :-).

 

Bounce house in action!

 

We did a piñata for the first time ever - M. bought it that morning at one of the local party stores.

 

After many, many hits from the kids, and dropping it off of the deck above, to no avail, it was determined that this must have been one of those "new" piñatas that you pull open from the bottom.  Why don't these things come with instructions, exactly??

 

After the candy grab, we had CAKE!

 

FOUR. Goodness.