so everything's moving on at a jolly good pace, which is totally freaking me out!
i just went online & downloaded the school calendar for 2011-12 & realized that christopher's first day of school is august 15th & the kids start on august 22nd. our buyer wants to close on august 24th. that means that we need to move the weekend of august 13th at the latest! ideally, i'd like to move the weekend of august 6th so that we have 2 full weeks of sleeping in the new house before school starts so that the kids can start to get acclimated before we totally change their world again. and somewhere in there we'll have both kindergarten orientation and pre-k orientation.
but thankfully i have amazing kids. the other day, the kids and i painted their rooms. at the time i thought i was crazy for having them help with the painting, but it actually turned out really nicely. chris had found little rollers & paint trays for them, so they actually got to paint their own rooms. we had gone to home depot the day before and picked paint colors, which totally thrilled them, and they did an awesome job painting. so their rooms are done. barbara & chuck are supposed to come in this weekend to finish clearing out the house & then we'll be able to paint our room, the dining room & living room; rip out the carpet & have it replaced; buy a new refrigerator; and replace the bathroom sink. all in 3 weeks. the painting and carpeting NEED to be done before we move in. the existing carpet has been there since they bought the house in the 50's. seriously. it needs to go. every time barbara vacuums, she's vacuuming up the remnants of the padding through the carpet. i was really trying to convince christopher to go with the hardwood, but i had to be a gracious loser in that battle. oh well. i won the battle of the paint color for our bedroom, so :)
and i haven't even started packing what's left in the house. pretty much everything that we don't need is already in the new house or stored in the duplex. what's left is really just the bare necessities. i really think it's harder to move across town than across the country. it doesn't feel like you need to actually pack to move down the street. and we've been doing it so piecemeal that it's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that we need to get everything else ready to go. but i can't pack the toaster, cuz we still eat toast for breakfast. i guess i could pack my cardigans, sweatshirts & sweaters. i probably won't need those for a bit :) but the kids clothes are done. i actually need to get out what i packed away from the spring to see what we need for school. crap! another thing to add to my to do list :( and i wonder why i'm not sleeping & eating way too much chocolate :)
Friday, July 15, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
another day, another bath in paint thinner
so it has begun. we got an offer on our house, so we are officially moving. well, assuming that nothing goes wrong & we all know what happens when we assume...
but we are stepping out on faith, as my mother would say, that all will be well and the deal will go through. so we are busy getting the other house ready. it hadn't been painted in literally 50-60 years, although the bathroom was repainted by my husband about 3 years ago, and one bedroom had been re-painted in the 80's. so christopher & i spent the last 2.5 days scrubbing walls, chipping paint & primering with oil-based primer/sealer. the fun thing about oil-based paints vs latex paints is that oil-based CANNOT be removed with simple soap and water. hence my daily bath in paint thinner. oh joy! i can only imagine what my daily paint thinner facials have been doing to my skin :)
but i'm totally excited that we're finally moving forward! there's SO much work to be done before we can even think about moving stuff into the house. and most of the stuff that we don't need right now is already in storage at the duplex or the new house. thankfully, chris & i agree on most of the immediately necessary changes to the house. we've compromised on the carpeting, but now we need to agree on paint colors. that should be fun :)
as we were scrubbing the walls of what will be alexander's room with bleach, i was kicking myself for not taking pics so that i could do a before and after, but c'est la vie... by the time we're done working each day, i'm so tired all i really want to do is take a shower and sit on the couch with my hand down my pants a la ted bundy :) at least all of this work is just physically exhausting. by the time we move, i should have fabulous, ripped arms. whoo hoo! :)
but we are stepping out on faith, as my mother would say, that all will be well and the deal will go through. so we are busy getting the other house ready. it hadn't been painted in literally 50-60 years, although the bathroom was repainted by my husband about 3 years ago, and one bedroom had been re-painted in the 80's. so christopher & i spent the last 2.5 days scrubbing walls, chipping paint & primering with oil-based primer/sealer. the fun thing about oil-based paints vs latex paints is that oil-based CANNOT be removed with simple soap and water. hence my daily bath in paint thinner. oh joy! i can only imagine what my daily paint thinner facials have been doing to my skin :)
but i'm totally excited that we're finally moving forward! there's SO much work to be done before we can even think about moving stuff into the house. and most of the stuff that we don't need right now is already in storage at the duplex or the new house. thankfully, chris & i agree on most of the immediately necessary changes to the house. we've compromised on the carpeting, but now we need to agree on paint colors. that should be fun :)
as we were scrubbing the walls of what will be alexander's room with bleach, i was kicking myself for not taking pics so that i could do a before and after, but c'est la vie... by the time we're done working each day, i'm so tired all i really want to do is take a shower and sit on the couch with my hand down my pants a la ted bundy :) at least all of this work is just physically exhausting. by the time we move, i should have fabulous, ripped arms. whoo hoo! :)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
how to tell if you're too drunk to paint
well, in my defense, i only had one twisted tea. but it was "light" and it had artificial sweetener in it, so i didn't really like it, so i drank it pretty fast. it made the daily show & the colbert report really pretty funny :)
but when i went downstairs, i saw that the floor that i'd just primered was 99.4% dry, so i decided to go ahead & apply the final coat of grey paint. i didn't feel inebriated. just nice and happy. and i had music that i knew all the words to, so how could it be bad? :) plus, if i hadn't finished the floor, i wouldn't have opened the door to the garage & realized that the garage door was open. that would have sucked.
clue #1: my early edging wasn't the best. but i corrected that on the 2nd wall. unfortunately, now there's grey paint on the white walls in a couple of spots. but it's just at the bottom.
clue #2: my jazz scatting was really good & flowed really naturally.
clue #3: i couldn't remember where i'd put the lid to the paint. i found it eventually, but...
clue #4: i almost painted myself into a small circle on the floor. it was close, but thankfully i realized my mistake before i completed the 4th side of the circle.
clue #5: circles don't have sides :)
clue #6: i stepped on the lid. luckily that was at the end & any footprints will dry the same color as the floor. thankfully i realized it before i stepped on anything that SHOULDN'T be grey, like our beige carpet. :)
i was really amazed at how much easier painting was after a nice adult beverage. and i'm proud of myself for finishing the project. i just started celebrating a little early :) hopefully christopher will notice the finish & not the mistakes :)
but when i went downstairs, i saw that the floor that i'd just primered was 99.4% dry, so i decided to go ahead & apply the final coat of grey paint. i didn't feel inebriated. just nice and happy. and i had music that i knew all the words to, so how could it be bad? :) plus, if i hadn't finished the floor, i wouldn't have opened the door to the garage & realized that the garage door was open. that would have sucked.
clue #1: my early edging wasn't the best. but i corrected that on the 2nd wall. unfortunately, now there's grey paint on the white walls in a couple of spots. but it's just at the bottom.
clue #2: my jazz scatting was really good & flowed really naturally.
clue #3: i couldn't remember where i'd put the lid to the paint. i found it eventually, but...
clue #4: i almost painted myself into a small circle on the floor. it was close, but thankfully i realized my mistake before i completed the 4th side of the circle.
clue #5: circles don't have sides :)
clue #6: i stepped on the lid. luckily that was at the end & any footprints will dry the same color as the floor. thankfully i realized it before i stepped on anything that SHOULDN'T be grey, like our beige carpet. :)
i was really amazed at how much easier painting was after a nice adult beverage. and i'm proud of myself for finishing the project. i just started celebrating a little early :) hopefully christopher will notice the finish & not the mistakes :)
Friday, June 3, 2011
mouth feel
i'm starving. really really starving. and it's totally self inflicted. i'm hungry but i don't want to eat becuz none of the things i'm *allowed* to eat right now make my brain happy. i need something with a good mouth feel. something that my teeth can sink into.
right now i'm doing a "carb detox" as part of a dietary change. it's supposed to kick-start everything by letting my body know that we're going to be doing something different. it's really not that bad, cuz you can eat a lot of food. it's just that the only fruit you can eat are either oranges or grapefruit, and you can only have 2 slices of bread: one for your mid-morning snack with either margarine (i've been using butter, but shhh!), hummus or peanut butter; and one with dinner, plain. there's also this really yummy chocolate protein powder for lunch and breakfast that really helps. but the snacks are all either almonds (for which i substitute soy nuts) or veggies. i need something that feels good in my mouth.
i did break down yesterday afternoon and have 2 pieces of Hershey's cookies & creme. i just relished the chocolate melting in my mouth. but yesterday was day 2. i really wanted today, day 3, to be as close to perfect as i could. but cauliflower just kinda crumbles in your mouth. and soy nuts leave little chunks in your teeth. and neither of them have the delicious aftertaste of fudge. or cake. or even just plain bread. with butter.
but i have a good friend who needs my help. she wants to run the Chicago marathon & needs to drop some serious weight. and she needed her friends to do it with her so we can be a support group of sorts. and if it means that i can get rid of my muffintop, then all the better :) and you can do ANYTHING for 3 days. this too shall pass :)
right now i'm doing a "carb detox" as part of a dietary change. it's supposed to kick-start everything by letting my body know that we're going to be doing something different. it's really not that bad, cuz you can eat a lot of food. it's just that the only fruit you can eat are either oranges or grapefruit, and you can only have 2 slices of bread: one for your mid-morning snack with either margarine (i've been using butter, but shhh!), hummus or peanut butter; and one with dinner, plain. there's also this really yummy chocolate protein powder for lunch and breakfast that really helps. but the snacks are all either almonds (for which i substitute soy nuts) or veggies. i need something that feels good in my mouth.
i did break down yesterday afternoon and have 2 pieces of Hershey's cookies & creme. i just relished the chocolate melting in my mouth. but yesterday was day 2. i really wanted today, day 3, to be as close to perfect as i could. but cauliflower just kinda crumbles in your mouth. and soy nuts leave little chunks in your teeth. and neither of them have the delicious aftertaste of fudge. or cake. or even just plain bread. with butter.
but i have a good friend who needs my help. she wants to run the Chicago marathon & needs to drop some serious weight. and she needed her friends to do it with her so we can be a support group of sorts. and if it means that i can get rid of my muffintop, then all the better :) and you can do ANYTHING for 3 days. this too shall pass :)
Monday, May 2, 2011
the many ways in which i am a terrible mother...
i sing opera. i have multiple degrees in vocal performance. but right now my *full-time job* is MOM. hunh.
right now i'm doing a show, and i just kinda let my home life go to hell in a handbasket :). for example:
a large portion of my exhaustion is, of course, my fault. every night i'd come home from rehearsal & make more jewelry for the girls in the dressing room. at this rate, i will totally be able to finance my trip to boston with the kids this summer (which has yet to be *approved*). but, seriously, what's a girl to do when we've got to sit in a dressing room for 2.5 hours waiting to go onstage? shopping is definitely the way to go, and i'm glad that i gave the girls an opportunity to spend some of the money we made sitting around for hours :)
so today is all about makeup work. i had 3 loads of laundry that needed to be folded, and i did 2 additional loads last night, 3 loads already today with one more to go. the bread is in its first resting/rising period. and i've got all the beads i need to make more beautiful jewelry for the girls at opera tomorrow night. :)
of course, the opera is totally worth it. i'm doing Dialogues of the Carmelites with Pittsburgh Opera, and even though we literally have 10 minutes of music to sing, and most of that doesn't even have words, it's a totally fabulous show. all of the leads are amazing, and pretty much the whole audience leaves crying every night. nice! :)
right now i'm doing a show, and i just kinda let my home life go to hell in a handbasket :). for example:
- alexander completely ran out of underwear
- we haven't had any bread for almost a week (cuz i haven't had time to make any)
- the laundry was literally overflowing
- there are absolutely no left-overs in the fridge
- becuz there's no left-overs & no bread, i had to give isabelle pb&j on rosemary olive oil triscuits
- i took a 4 hour nap after church yesterday, completely neglecting the bread and laundry that were totally calling to me
a large portion of my exhaustion is, of course, my fault. every night i'd come home from rehearsal & make more jewelry for the girls in the dressing room. at this rate, i will totally be able to finance my trip to boston with the kids this summer (which has yet to be *approved*). but, seriously, what's a girl to do when we've got to sit in a dressing room for 2.5 hours waiting to go onstage? shopping is definitely the way to go, and i'm glad that i gave the girls an opportunity to spend some of the money we made sitting around for hours :)
so today is all about makeup work. i had 3 loads of laundry that needed to be folded, and i did 2 additional loads last night, 3 loads already today with one more to go. the bread is in its first resting/rising period. and i've got all the beads i need to make more beautiful jewelry for the girls at opera tomorrow night. :)
of course, the opera is totally worth it. i'm doing Dialogues of the Carmelites with Pittsburgh Opera, and even though we literally have 10 minutes of music to sing, and most of that doesn't even have words, it's a totally fabulous show. all of the leads are amazing, and pretty much the whole audience leaves crying every night. nice! :)
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Parenting 101?
i was truly blessed to be able to be a stay at home mom. true, at times, it's driven me a little crazy, or at least made my craziness more apparent, but i'm grateful that i've been able to avoid serious daycare with my 2 little ones. but when my husband & i decided to have kids, we were both old & definitely wanted them. there were no *accidents*. although, by the time you're in your mid-30's there really shouldn't be any *oopsies* anyway :).
but it really gets my goat when i read another news story about seriously irresponsible parenting. i just read an article today that makes my heart sick. a mom (34 years old, so she should totally have known better!) left her toddler to drown in the tub while she played on facebook. really? drowning isn't a quiet way to go, so didn't she hear him thrashing? or was she that far away?
and the one that really gets my goat is the one about the parents who walled their naked kids into a room so they could get blitzed on whatever. seriously? they should just be taken out back and shot!
now, don't get me wrong, i'm not a perfect mom. i'm not expecting any medals. i've done my share of letting the tv watch the kids so i can pee/bathe/eat/cook/check my email/blog etc... but i still forget to shut the door when i'm in the bathroom cuz it's just gonna open again. i'm finally able to shower without a little head poking through the shower curtain. parenting isn't easy, but it's not supposed to be. if it is, you're doing something wrong!
but it really gets my goat when i read another news story about seriously irresponsible parenting. i just read an article today that makes my heart sick. a mom (34 years old, so she should totally have known better!) left her toddler to drown in the tub while she played on facebook. really? drowning isn't a quiet way to go, so didn't she hear him thrashing? or was she that far away?
and the one that really gets my goat is the one about the parents who walled their naked kids into a room so they could get blitzed on whatever. seriously? they should just be taken out back and shot!
now, don't get me wrong, i'm not a perfect mom. i'm not expecting any medals. i've done my share of letting the tv watch the kids so i can pee/bathe/eat/cook/check my email/blog etc... but i still forget to shut the door when i'm in the bathroom cuz it's just gonna open again. i'm finally able to shower without a little head poking through the shower curtain. parenting isn't easy, but it's not supposed to be. if it is, you're doing something wrong!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
buying secondhand
i noticed recently that all of the knees in alexander's jeans have holes in them. in fact, i sent him to school one day in jeans that were perfectly fine, and when he came home there was a huge hole in 1 knee and a small one in the other. craptastic! now, i shop pretty much exclusively at children's place. not becuz i love their clothes, which i do, but becuz i have a credit card for them & the bill goes to my mom (thanks, nana!). but i'd already gone shopping there this month cuz isabelle's on a dress & skirt kick. all of a sudden, she's a totally girly-girl. headbands & skirts with tights every day. and even though my mom would be cool, i didn't want to do that again. especially since spring is coming (someday!) and i need to go through the totes of stuff i packed up from last year to see what still fits & what needs to be replaced.
so we decided to go to goodwill. i could have gone to kmart, but their quality isn't the best. and i couldn't find the once upon a child in the north hills. i really wanted to go to old navy, but their prices are outrageous unless you catch them on sale. and at goodwill i found a great selection of jeans in his size that are heavier than what i would have found at either old navy or children's place for a fraction of the price. and honestly, in this economy you've got to watch your pennies. i spent as much for 5 pairs of jeans at goodwill as i would have for 2 at old navy or children's place. plus, they had an organ (unplugged, thankfully) that the kids sat and played on while i shopped. i definitely wouldn't have found that elsewhere :)
for some reason, shopping at once upon a child doesn't seem like secondhand. i think it's becuz they're so picky about what they'll accept, while at goodwill you still hafta check. but if i'm looking for special occasion clothes, once upon a child is my first thought. 2 years ago i found this beautiful deep plum velvet dress for isabelle that still had the tags on. originally it was $50 and i got it for $10! of course, they wouldn't take it back once isabelle'd outgrown it when i included it in the piles of stuff i was trying to sell back. oh well. we got awesome Christmas photos that year :)
for myself, my favorite place to shop is my church's rummage sale. i always help with the sorting so i get to shop early. and there's a couple of older ladies with impeccable taste that are tall, so their trousers fit me well :) a couple of years ago i got a black pin striped pants suit for $3! talk about a bargain! :) but i can't always count on the rummage sale for the kids.
when i was a kid, i hated shopping at goodwill. hopefully, my kids won't be as snobby as i was & will just take it in stride. :)
so we decided to go to goodwill. i could have gone to kmart, but their quality isn't the best. and i couldn't find the once upon a child in the north hills. i really wanted to go to old navy, but their prices are outrageous unless you catch them on sale. and at goodwill i found a great selection of jeans in his size that are heavier than what i would have found at either old navy or children's place for a fraction of the price. and honestly, in this economy you've got to watch your pennies. i spent as much for 5 pairs of jeans at goodwill as i would have for 2 at old navy or children's place. plus, they had an organ (unplugged, thankfully) that the kids sat and played on while i shopped. i definitely wouldn't have found that elsewhere :)
for some reason, shopping at once upon a child doesn't seem like secondhand. i think it's becuz they're so picky about what they'll accept, while at goodwill you still hafta check. but if i'm looking for special occasion clothes, once upon a child is my first thought. 2 years ago i found this beautiful deep plum velvet dress for isabelle that still had the tags on. originally it was $50 and i got it for $10! of course, they wouldn't take it back once isabelle'd outgrown it when i included it in the piles of stuff i was trying to sell back. oh well. we got awesome Christmas photos that year :)
for myself, my favorite place to shop is my church's rummage sale. i always help with the sorting so i get to shop early. and there's a couple of older ladies with impeccable taste that are tall, so their trousers fit me well :) a couple of years ago i got a black pin striped pants suit for $3! talk about a bargain! :) but i can't always count on the rummage sale for the kids.
when i was a kid, i hated shopping at goodwill. hopefully, my kids won't be as snobby as i was & will just take it in stride. :)
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