For Sale

Man, I seriously haven't had a thought in my head lately, so I'm thinking I'll just make this a state of our union address.

Camp started soccer and he loves it. He looks over at me every time he does something awesome to make sure I've been watching. Earlier this week, Camp received a nice card in the mail from the Primary President telling him thank you for being reverent at church and setting a good example and asking him if he would give the scripture and prayer today in primary. After I read it to him, he responded, "Well, we'll just have to write her a note back saying NO." Great. So I stewed a while about what to do. ( I told you what happened the last time Camp was asked to give the scripture and prayer: I did it while Camp stood in front of the primary kids kicking and punching me. ) I tried to think what Love and Logic would tell me to do. I called Sarah for her advice. Maybe I prayed about it. I'm not sure. But ultimately, I decided to ask Camp if having a little treat in his pocket would help him be brave enough to give the scripture and prayer. He asked what the treat would be, and he asked if I could still stand up in front of the primary with him. I told him I would stand up there with him and help him with the scripture and that the treat would be a plastic egg with a few candies in it. He agreed. So today he repeated the words of the scripture loudly and clearly and then said a simple prayer. No kicking. No punching. No fits. All because of a few M&M's.

Jane participated in one half day of soccer and then decided she wasn't quite ready for it yet. She'll have the opportunity again next year. In the meantime, she and Danin will continue to play and have a ball along the sidelines. Jane has the most adorable lisp. She cannot say her J's, Ch's, or Sh's--so they just come out in this super endearing nasally sound. I've actually wondered if she has trouble hearing and that maybe this little speech impediment is related to that. I'm not sure. I think we mothers always wonder at some point if each child is having trouble hearing. Anyway...Brian and I can't get enough of her speech. She and Danin love each other to death. They play "mom and kid" or "mom and dog" all day long. I'm usually not part of the role playing except that they call me grandma and I have to be careful not to answer when I hear Dan calling for her mom. Oh, man. Thank goodness for Dan. I don't think I could survive acting as Jane's dog for a whole day--panting and all. I would die. Do you all know that I don't like pets? I don't. Yesterday, Brian spent some one-on-one time with both Camp and Jane. It was Jane's first daddy-daughter date. She loved it, of course. Brian said that it took her more than an hour to finish up her burger and fries because she was so busy talking and dancing and squirreling around. And it was so funny because when she returned home last night, Danin was up to greet her and the two of them spent the next several minutes rolling all over the floor on top of one another like two reunited puppies.

Danin is in the perfect stage where she does little wrong. (What are they even talking about when they say terrible two's?) She's just one of the big kids these days. She cuts her own hot-dogs, wipes her own bum, doesn't wet her bed, washes her hands, puts on her own clothes and shoes--and she's super funny. Last night when I asked her if she wanted some more cereal (which is what we had for dinner) she said, "Yeah, baby!"

Brian's been training for his first triathlon. I'm super excited to watch him this Saturday. And he's continued to be busy with work, for which we continue to be grateful.

And me? Hmmmm....we'll I've read three books in the last month which is pretty good for me--all short, easy ones, but still. I read Star Girl, The Hunger Games, (both written for young adults)and The Christmas Sweater--all decent, but not fabulous. I've decided that I usually have issues with books that are directed at young adult audiences. I guess it's likely because I'm not a young adult anymore.
Becky came to visit last weekend as a birthday gift from Rachel and Stacy. It was more like a birthday gift for all of us. It was a fun visit, as usual, and we were so lucky to have one day of super good weather when we went up to the light house and to the beach below.

Other than that, I'm back to the business of putting the house up for sale. I had a lot of lookers last year but didn't manage to get a contract, so we'll see what happens this year. I'm getting antsy to get outta here because paying for an extra land payment (as well as taxes, extra health insurance, and the van) is starting to hurt. I stuck a sign out front, and had my first showing two days later, so hopefully that is a sign of good things to come. And in the spirit of making my home as marketable as possible, I painted over my red wall. Sad, I know. But on all the design shows, they always say that colors like that are too taste specific. And I don't want to scare away any old folks with a red wall. The problem is, the color I took a gamble on turned out to be a little bit less neutral and a lot bit more blue than I had expected, so I'm not sure I didn't make the situation worse. But old people tend to like blues better than reds, don't you think?


And did I already tell you that I added that grosgrain ribbon to my drapes? It's definitely a super modern touch, but I like it. I also added a bit more of my attempted artwork. Oooohh, and I got some scrapbook paper at a yard sale that will make for some fabulous holiday artwork come Christmastime....
Man, this post is boring. I'm starting to put myself to sleep. Better luck next time, I guess.

corn starch

I have this arrangement going with Rebecca. I give up going to the gym at my regular time on Mondays in order to watch her two youngest kids (while she volunteers in the classroom of her oldest), and in return, she watches my kids while I go to the gym later on, AND she is my go-to person when Brian and I go out of town over night. Great. So after Rebecca returned from volunteering on Monday, I took the opportunity to run to the gym and to the grocery store while she stayed behind with the kids. And while being at the grocery store without my kids normally accelerates my shopping time by at least 100%, this time the lines were long and for some reason, I was unable to find the corn starch. So I got in line and purchased the rest of my groceries and asked the checker where I could find it. She finished out the transaction and set aside my cart while directing me right back to the baking isle. Luckily, I found it this time, and headed back up to the register. OK. So here is the whole point of my telling you all this: as I approached the check stands with my corn starch, I saw Brian already in line with a couple things he had picked up for lunch. And he looked so good. And I felt that feeling. You know that feeling you got back in the day when you would see your crush somewhere unexpectedly? Yeah. I felt it! I hurried my steps and slapped his rear just as he looked over and noticed me. And he kissed me. Oh, man. I wished I looked good. I wanted everyone to see us kiss and know that we were together and I wanted him to be proud that I was his wife. As it was, I had just left the gym, and I was in my raggedy sweats. But he kissed me all the same and threw my corn starch onto the belt with his Cliff bars. He kinda rolled his eyes and smiled as I told him I felt like we were back in high school and he was treating me while on a date. He said the least he could do was buy his wife some corn starch. Man, I was so proud to be standing there next to him, feeling young again. I left the store still kinda swooning, thinking about how I get a little excited every time I see Brian's truck around town. I hope it always feels that way.

It's all over

One of the notable tragedies of my childhood was the discontinuance of Family Ties. I still remember the last episode and the way I felt as the cast all took the stage one last time. I'm not sure if I cried or not, but I definitely remember writing about it in my red journal. Its ending made me lonely. And is anyone else crazy enough to remember the song that played on the last episode? Could they have made it any more painful?

And then a couple years ago, I was introduced to Pam and Jim over at The Office, just in time to catch the last few episodes of the second season. No matter, though. Brian and I rushed right out as soon as we could and rented the first and second seasons. We sat night after night in front of the TV, laughing and bonding with our new friends. And I was vicariously living out practically the greatest romance of all time. I felt a little unfaithful--to be honest. I couldn't get enough. I was devastated the night we watched the last episode and I woke up sad and lonely--maybe even more so than when Alex left home (and left me) for a stupid job on Wall Street. I felt the same way I felt as a girl when Emily's family would leave after having been at our house for a while. I'd sulk around the house hoping to find a shirt or a sock left behind to comfort me. This time my friends were gone, and they had left no socks. I called out in my mind, Pam? Jim?.....Dwight? Anyone? I was alone.

That's kinda the way I feel every time the Olympics comes and goes. It's not that I feel like I'm making and then losing friends, though. It's that I feel like for a couple weeks I'm participating in something that is uniting my country, and the world, for that matter, and then it's all over and we're all back to living separate existences. Do you know what I mean? You know how I feel about cheering. So cheering with and for my country is big. And I'm sad when it ends.

So anyway...I'm lonely.