“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.”
– Zora Neale Hurston, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”
Seriously, that was in my folder this morning. Thank you, Marietta!
Yesterday my daughter and I went… (more…)
It’s Portland. It’s April 19th. Why wouldn’t it be snowing?
Happy (early) birthday, Wacky Nekkid Mini-Neighbor! Thanks for the bowling, pizza and cake!
Love,
Wacky Family
I would like if my son would get well, the poor thing. He’s been sick for three weeks now!
Fever: once in awhile, but not super-high, and not high enough to keep him down for long (with the exception of yesterday, when he put himself to bed in the middle of the day.)
Throwing up: one time. Two weeks ago?
Coughing: Constantly, but until this morning, sounded like a “getting better” cough, not an “wheezing, unable to catch breath” cough. Until today.
Runny nose: He’s five. He always has a runny nose.
My nerves: Frayed. (more…)
That’s it! What else would you like to hear? Do you think it’s odd that the Nekkid Neighbors returned home from their trip at the exact same minute we returned from ours?
Kooky is what that is!
wm
Thursday 13ers and dear, dear Usual Suspects,
Our house is going on the market soon SOON as in… maybe this month? (In my dreams.) Or possibly we’ll wait a few months.
Chores take time. And so does yardwork.
Thirteen EXCELLENT Things About Selling Our Home:
13) One word: Newcarpet. The whole house looks sunny and light now.
12) Our storage space is filling up as the house gets emptied out. Goodwill, friends, trash, storage, or Artfully Arranged: A place for everything and everything in its place. (My desk is the exception to this rule.)
11) No more picking up 800 Dr. Seuss, Little Bear and Magic Treehouse books — they’re packed.
10) Ditto 1/2 of our clothes.
9) The front yard is edged. Well. Half-edged. Our lawn is rarely edged.
8) It’s still covered with weeds, which I’m justifying for this reason: If the new owners want a nice lawn, they can pay for it themselves. If they’re going to cover it with flagstones, ground cover and zero-scaping EXCUSE ME xeriscaping, why should I bother? (Good one, eh? I love my logic when it saves me from weeding.)
7) The beds are weeded, though, and we’ve done about 1/2 the pruning.
6) I have never been so in love with my husband in my life. And honestly, I have been madly, head-over-heels with the guy since he was my neighbor down the street. He has done every single one of the projects we (and by we I mean “he”) needed to tackle. Exposed wires covered, new sprinkler system box installed, touch-up paint done, new back door.. to quote Dooce — After all that, I don’t even need a gin and tonic to get in the mood.
5) Did I mention the weather has been gorgeous in Portland, Ore.? (Trying not to jinx myself.) When it’s sunny, I am much more inclined to work in the yard, keep up with the house, go for walks with the kids… and then I get excited about moving all over again. Why? Because we’ll have a new neighborhood to walk in! Yay.
4) I think we’re going to buy Ikea bedroom furniture. Should I really splurge and spend a couple hundred bucks? Yes. I was quite enamored of my mother-in-law’s new room when we visited her in Denver last summer. Her set-up looks kinda like this. I love my futon and all but I am a grown woman now! Sick of sleeping on floor.
3) The kids are enjoying their rooms more now that they’re decluttered. They have room to play. On the floor. Did you know that bedroom floors could be used for this, and not just toy/debris/clothes storage? It’s a revelation.
2) I can find things in my kitchen now — lids to Tupperware, the corkscrew, cooky cutters — now that we’ve cleared some of it out. And the counters? It’s easier to cook, once the counters are cleared off. Again — a revelation.
1) I won’t miss the Nasty Neighbor one bit. She yelled at our carpet guys! Why? They were cutting carpet. In the street. In front of my house, which is next door to her house. She was rude to them and they were so nice about it. I apologized to them, and to their boss, too. “Yeah, people get a little strange sometimes,” one said.
Yeah, no kidding. I’ll miss most of our neighbors — especially the Nekkid Ones — but her? I try to be a decent person and rise above it. For instance, I didn’t throw a corndog at her when she yelled at the carpet guy. I haven’t called the city on her lately. I haven’t flashed her or anything. But she still insists on throwing the toxic vibe around all the time. I will step aside and let it zing right past me, as much as I can.
You know, I won’t miss her even one little bit.
Happy Thursday, everyone.
WM
Here, dear readers — My day in real time.
Sort of.
5, 6, 7 & 8 a.m.: Sleeping. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Large Wacky Cat 2, the stripedy one, pins me in on one side; muscular husband pins me in on the other. Why does the Cat want to sleep with us? It’s so flippin’ hot. Unable to move. Sex? No. Have to sleep. Can’t open eyes. Consider a new lifestyle that involves not staying up so late at night. Hmmm. What time did we go to bed? Vaguely remember 11 o’clock news. Keep eyes closed. Sleep. (more…)
The Wacky Nekkid Mini-Neighbor was over this afternoon. The treats (chocolate rice krispy bars, Annie’s cheddar crackers, Annie’s graham bunnies, raspberry juice) were good, so she stayed.
Then she and Wacky Boy got married.
The bride was splendiferous in an Iowa City City High High School red, black and white cheerleader’s dress. The groom was quite dashing in a pair of froggy swim trunks. He wore flip-flops; the bride was barefoot. The ceremony was held in the backyard of the bridegroom’s parents. No ice sculpture, but there was a water feature (the wading pool).
Wacky Boy’s sister officiated. She wore an orange cotton summer dress with a certain flair.
“OK, here are your rings.” She handed them both a mood ring.
“Now, you walk down here,” she directed. “Now you stand here. Now you are pronounced husband and wife.”
The newlyweds began to giggle.
“Now… hold hands!” They held hands. They smiled for the non-existent cameras. I clapped.
Then, this being 2007, and being a practical girl, the Mini-Neighbor made a request.
“I want to be married to someone else.”
“OK,” Wacky Girl says. “You have to not like each other first, then you get divorced.”
I’m definitely in the mood for Thursday Thirteen this week. Oh. Man. Has it been a looooooong school year or is it just me? I thought we had one of the shortest school years in the nation? Oh, all those Wednesdays and Thursdays off, I guess they mean. They add up.
Yesterday wasn’t the last day of school for my kids (who are now proud to be kindergarten and third grade students-in-waiting), but it sure felt like it. It was field day! Water balloons, dumping buckets of water on each other, the long dash, the frisbee toss… fun.
13. Goodbye, Bruno. I hope over the summer you learn to stop stabbing yourself with scissors. I also kinda hope you try out a different school. One where they have more counselors? (more…)
The setting: Last Sunday afternoon. I’m lying in bed, hoping my family will leave so I can watch the Las Vegas season finale I have on tape. (I finally watched the whole thing. My review: Creepy, too weird, not enough hott love scenes.)
My husband: “I’ll fix dinner. You always get home cooking on the weekend.”
Me: “I cook during the week!” (…and I’m thinking, not last week I didn’t — we had Thai, pizza, and Indian take-out, then went out on Friday.)
Wacky Girl, who’s sprawled on the bed: “Bullshit.”