Things that make me smile

Opening the door and being greeted by Bug holding a bouquet of flowers for me on the day of my biopsy. Apparently he told everyone at the shop that the flowers were "for my mommy because she got a shot."

And earlier that day before/during the biopsy what really made me smile: Valium.

Getting a call from the radiologist that starts off with "I've got great news for you..."

Watching (and re-watching) It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

Ending the work week by getting a new phone. I finally ditched my EIGHT-year-old phone and got an iPhone. Seriously my old phone wouldn't die, I never replaced the battery and it kept working fine. Okay, so it was only slightly less cumbersome than Maxwell Smart's shoe phone.

In any event, my decision was easily made to part with the antique when it took FIVE days to get a message from a doctor and I received a $100 Verizon gift card in the mail. I feel like this it's Christmas morning with my new toy, I mean phone.

Starting the work week with hot chocolate because the temp was in the 40s.

Our little girl is getting better. She has been very sick and lost so much weight but now she's putting the pounds back on and is her sweet self.

It's Friday

I confess...

the other night when I gave Bug a kiss on his forehead I wondered if I accidentally bathed him using our dog's medicated shampoo instead of people shampoo. Even worse if I didn't, I need to quickly change shampoo choices for the little guy. Seriously, boy and dog should never smell the same--particularly when the boy is clean.

A shopping trip takes a bit longer these days--even before I leave the house--because Bug wants to help with the list. When he's writing the items as I spell the words, I keep the list short. At this point he can't make connect that he's written down four things and our big red cart has 782 items in it. I don't know if I've ever gone through the express check out at Target and mostly wonder why they have one...who gets out of Target with fewer than 10 items?. I quickly decided to carry Bug's mini list and my supersizeBugcanneverseelist as well.

I had a cupcake for breakfast today. How could I not? It was a gift--it's rude to not accept a gift, right?

My kindle and I are becoming very close.
 
Go to Mamarazzi for more confessions.

WW/The French Connection

I've got nothing to add...I just like this photo of our sweet little Frenchie.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Now that the holidays are over and resolutions are hovering about, it's probably a good time to give up the daily hot chocolate but it's so good and perfect on these cold mornings. Making it with skim or fat-free milk totally justifies the whipped cream, right? Or maybe I'll ask if our dress code at the office can include sweats.

Apparently, another of my resolutions is to drink more wine. I'm guessing I'll be more successful on that than giving up hot chocolate.

Here's our little girl, Miss VeraCora, snuggling up on Bug's Elmo chair. It's cute but the thing you should really notice in the photo is the pirate ship to the right of the chair. Friends gave it to Bug and when he received it, he was told it had 35 million pieces. I put it together and believe that number was fairly accurate. I'm quite pleased with myself (and I don't think it matters at all that I had a few extra pieces when the ship was completed).

Read any good books lately? I'm in a lull and could really use a suggestion to jump start my reading.

More randomness at The Un Mom.

F-Bomb Friday--the dog edition

So it's 97 degrees on September 24...where is that lovely crisp fall weather?? Anyway, our air conditioner finally stopped working altogether so we were in the process of getting bids for a new one when this heat kicked in. (Read: the house is REALLY hot.)

We open windows when we're home but I refuse to keep ground floor windows open if we're away for the day because there's a new round of neighborhood break-ins and most are through open windows. (Read: the house is REALLY hot.)


Bug and I got home from school today and entered our hot house and immediately knew something was wrong. VeraClaraCora (the little girl)

pooped in the kitchen. (Read: the house is REALLY hot and REALLY stinky.)

Visit MiMi at Family of Shorts for more.

sleepover

Last night was one of those not-so-typical nights at our house. I had a meeting and Donnie and Bug were going to hang out at home. Before the meeting started Donnie called to say our power was out (again) and they were heading out. (Lucky me, they stopped at the bookstore and picked up a book I wanted--yay!!) By time I arrived home at 9:30, the power was scheduled to be back at 11. Of course, 11pm became 5am, 5am became 7am, 7am became 9am and then we just stopped checking. When we left the house the power still wasn't on.

Bottom line: the three humans in our house slept together on the futon in our basement and our little girl was curled up on the floor in her bed. I'm not sure when Bug has slept better. Not a peep from him during the night. Donnie and I, of course, were tossing all night and dodging flying arms and feet that come from the ninja moves toddlers make in their sleep. Apparently, Bug should have been called for a low blow after one particularly hard kick to Donnie.

The biggest surprise: our sweet little girl, MissClaraVeraCora (call her any of these names and she'll respond in some manner), is the noisiest thing in our house. She farts, she snores, she licks, she paces, she yawns (loudly--like an old man) ALL. NIGHT. LONG.
But she's cute.

Whodunit

In the category of what I didn't need or want today...trying to figure out the best way to get poop out of an off-white upholstered dining room chair would be at the top of the list. For the record, I wanted a different fabric on the chairs seven years ago when we bought them but the only option was to have them redone, which seemed silly because they were new. Of course, at the time I was worried about red wine or some fabulous sauce staining the fabric not, y'know, #2.

While our sitter said it can't be poop and then explained the bathroom activities of the boys for the past couple of days, I was scratching my head trying to figure this out. (She watches Bug and our neighbors' son so there are two stinky suspects here.)

Then, in a true Nancy Drew moment, I think I solved The Mystery of the Poopy Chair. I had forgotten that when we arrived home from work yesterday we saw that the little girl had pooped in the house, which is pretty rare. So, all I can come up with is that one of the 3-year-olds may have touched the poop out of curiosity (I know, eeeewwwww, but they're THREE and BOYS) and then wiped their paws clean on the dining room chair.


So, long story short, when you come to my house for dinner: don't be surprised if we have five matching dining room chairs and one funky folding chair.

don't stop and smell the flowers

The convention is over and life is almost back to normal. What I didn't count on was that all three of us would be under the weather while the convention was going on. It looks like we're a family of allergies. Stock in Benadryl, anyone?! Spring is lovely in DC but outdoor allergies have been nasty this year. I just wish The Little Girl made a better nurse (have I ever mentioned that's what Bug calls our pooch?). Of course she has allergies, too, we're a pathetic bunch...

Bug went to the doctor yesterday because his cough was keeping him and us awake and we thought we should have it checked. For a little guy he had a tough bark. In Bug's words, he was "broken." Sure enough we were sent home with an inhaler. A big BIG thank you to the lovely nurse who showed him/taught us how to use it. She was terrific and explained it in such a fun way that Bug couldn't wait to get his own and try it at home. He was so excited to give the pharmacist the prescription he asked me to dance with him while in CVS.

For now our house looks like a mega-medicine cabinet but soon (VERY soon, right?) these allergies will pass and life really will be back to normal.

Good news of the day...the pizzeria IN MY BUILDING opened this week so I grabbed a slice for lunch! Also, the front desk was giving out candy bars to everyone in the building for participating in the fire drill today. Too bad Thank goodness I haven't lost my appetite (heh).