now that's bad art.

Inspired by Soule Mama, we hosted a Bad Art Night a couple of weeks ago. Let me start by saying this: I do not believe that there is such a thing as bad art. I don't believe that there are people who are not good artists. I believe that there are people who were told as children that they were bad artists and believed it. I believe there are people who think that unless they are technically proficient in some artistic medium that they cannot be artists. I don't buy it. I believe that if any single person on earth will just let themselves go...will just let themselves draw or paint or doodle or whatever freely...they are achieving art and it will be good in the sense that it was made creatively. I may sound a little hokey pokey, but it's what I think. My husband is a prime example. He sits down to draw with S regularly. When he first started drawing with her, he would tell me things like, "I'm not good at this." Not true. He has a really keen eye for color, and his drawings are always interesting. He's no impressionist master or anything, but from a design standpoint, his work is good. I think people just need someone who will point out the positives instead of the negatives. People need to understand that there is no way that art can be "wrong." I think people worry to much about not doing things right, and it leads them down the "I am not an artist" path. It's crap, I tell you. Crap.

Now off my soapbox.

We called our party Bad Art Night to set everyone at ease. I worried that if I called it something like Family Art Night people might wig out and not show. Does that make sense? It made sense to me. We had a really great time. Lots of appetizers. Lots of kids. Lots of mamas and daddies. Lots of paint and markers and slick stix. It was, without question, my favorite party that the Ouisers have ever thrown, and we've hosted a lot of little parties. Here are some shots...

pete and repeat.

Did you notice? It was the first thing Mr. Ouiser noticed. Know what I'm talking about? The fact that it had been so long since I blogged before yesterday that I didn't even remember or bother to check that I'd already posted that picture of S building her snow girl. Oh, well. You'll live. I'm making up for it by blogging again today.

I'm feeling rather accomplished because I've already run the dishwasher, there are loads of laundry in the washer and the dryer, I've been to the post office to send a gift to my newly engaged dearest friend, and I've been to the grocery. Mind you, the "stuff" is still not all put away and my bed isn't made, but I am taking it easy. Life will go on. I think. At least dinner will get made at some point and we'll all have clean underwear tomorrow.

In my great blogging hiatus of 2010 I've been flooded with all kinds of profound thoughts. Thoughts about politics. About art. About being a mama. About food. About my garden. About those new 2010 habits that are totally not going well (my fingernail nubbins are proof of that). I don't want to get into it today, though, so I'm just going to list some things that I am loving today.

• Hot coffee.
• S enjoying Elizabeth Mitchell on the ride to school.
• Reading John Philip Duck this morning.
• Getting ready to take Mellie to lunch.
• Gloves.
• Knowing that my kitchen is restocked with good stuff.
  
• The forecast, which predicts that it will, in fact, warm up again soon.

I'm off, peeps. I've got to make a couple of phone calls before my lunch date.

Oh, and since I cheated you out of a new photograph yesterday, here you go. S had colored herself to be "like Mulan." Also check out that awesome ring she's sporting. I love that kid.

off the grid

It's been awhile, huh? Sorry about that. I was just being a blog bum, but then we were out of the house for five days while the floors were refinished. It was a surprise. You might recall that our floors were just refinished last Spring. We are not overzealous floor re-finishers or anything, but the finish didn't adhere properly, and our floors were really messed up. They were peeling and cracking, and it was a disaster. So, the guy was coming to deal with it, and I thought he was just going to try out fixing the floors on one little spot. I thought S and I would just have to be out of the house for the day. Wrong. Totally wrong.

So, at 730 last Wednesday morning, I started tearing my house apart, shoving furniture into bedrooms, moving things upstairs. Then I was informed that we'd need to be out of the house for three days...then we could come in on sock feet on day four, then in shoes on day five, then we could move the furniture back on day six. We are very fortunate to have my family close by that was willing to take us in. We are very fortunate to have a groomer who will board our dog with literally five minutes notice.

Anyway, that's where we've been for the last week. We came home Sunday night. We spent the day at Mellie's yesterday since the furniture was still in the bedrooms. But today, o glorious day of miserable weather, we are in our home. Almost normal. S has painted. She has glued. She has colored. She has fed me pretend apples. As soon as I get all the "stuff" back where it belongs, we'll be all set.

Moving on. Since you've last heard from the Ouisers, in addition to being out-of-pocket, we have played in the snow when the temperature was below freezing. We have played outside without jackets, building fairy houses when the temperature was in the 60s. We have hosted a bad art party (more about that later). We have celebrated Valentine's Day. We have visited the Frist (which is currently housing what I swear is the most amazingly beautiful piece of modern sculpture I've ever seen.) It's been fun.

apparently...

Apparently I can't be bothered to do things like post on the blog lately. There hasn't been much going on, and I've been spending most of my extra time baking bread and reading books, and, frankly, that's more appealing than sitting in the cold office/guest room on the computer. Sorry. I'm still not really going to post anything, but I thought you might enjoy a couple of pictures to tide you over until I feel like posting again.

Gearing up for the game, which I missed because I was on an airplane. I didn't miss much.
Clearly disappointed in the Colts.
Building a snow girl.
The snowman...on the opposite side of the walk. Not to be confused with the snow girl.

Hijacked

While Ouiser is away visting Scarlet Lily, I felt it was my duty as Mr. Ouiser to hijack this blog and advertise the entire P family's support for the Indianapolis Colts. We will be on pins and needles until the final seconds tick away and the Colts have won their next Super Bowl.

GO COLTS!!!!!

all partied out.

Three years old.

Three parties in three days.

Three tired members of the Ouiser family.

I'll post all about the festivities later, but for now, this will have to do.

thwack.

Last night was a tough one. M worked late, so S and I had dinner at Mellie's, which I should've known wouldn't work. Taking S to Mellie's for dinner almost never goes well. She gets way too excited and then she gets tired and when it's time to leave it's time for the mega-meltdown. You'd think I'd learn, but I never seem to. Definition of insanity.

So, last night, she was having her typical meltdown about leaving, and it was getting really close to bedtime, and I'd just about had it anyway. When we pulled into the driveway, she was screaming for all she's worth and flailing about and there's just no good way to handle that when you're dealing with a just-shy-of-fifty-pound kid. I did my best. I managed to get her into the house, and I even managed to get her up the stairs. But then, oh then.

The meltdown got worse. I couldn't even have imagined such a thing. Then I started yelling at her. She was in the floor, and I turned to switch on the lights, and thwack. A sickening smack of my child's face into the edge of an open door. She had somehow flung herself into the door. My back was turned and it was dark and I didn't see what happened. I scooped her up immediately. Pupils were normal. Teeth were all intact. Not much blood, but a little. She split the skin above her lip just a bit. But her nose. I don't even understand it. It immediately had a huge red spot. As in the entire bridge of her nose was all spotted and red. I don't really know how to describe it other than it looked like it hurt. So, we had some bloody snot for a few minutes and lots of cuddling and lots of crying. M got home sometime in the middle of the cuddle/cry fest, and he put her in bed while I put on pajamas and had my own little cry fest. Then I went to snuggle with my girl in bed while she fell asleep. She was fine by that point except for quietly telling me that her nose hurt.

And that was that. I am a little afraid of what she'll look like when I go upstairs this morning. Will her eyes be black? What about her nose? Will she remember? It's just no good at all.

There you have it. Of course, I think/hope the traumatic face injury of 2010 will quickly be overshadowed by the weekend of THIRD BIRTHDAY celebrations. Wish us luck as we fill our mangled kid with sugar over the next three days!!

I'm out, peeps. Happy weekending.

seeing spots.

S's first Broadway musical is under her belt. I'm not going to say she was great because she wasn't, but she was entertaining. Luckily, our seats were in the very top row, so there weren't many people for her to disturb and she was able to dance as much as she wanted, which was the entire time. We did make her stop stomping her feet (tap dancing, if you will) between songs. She had a blast. She fell asleep on the way home. Not so bad really. That's not counting the total meltdown she had when leaving TPAC when she literally dropped to the floor and bawled. There were lots of sympathetic looks and comments as it was kids' night and I think every adult that passed felt simultaneously bad for us and grateful that it wasn't their children, who were probably hanging on by threads at that point, too.

Dinner at Calypso.
The dancers.
The dude.
Happy to be there. Sweaty from dancing her heart out.

So, that's done.

Moving on. I've decided on another habit, and it's a mental health one. It's something that I always strive for, but sometimes I just get lazy. I'm thinking that making it public will help. When I see something that needs to be done in my home, I am going to do it. Laundry needs to be put away? I'll do it then because, frankly, when I leave it folded in its basket, waiting to be delivered to its various drawers, I become resentful of that laundry. I hate it for sitting there, saying, "you bum. Put me away properly." However, if I do it as soon as it's folded, it really doesn't bother me. Dirty dishes on the counter? Immediately into the dishwasher. I have found that doing things this way leaves me more time to do the things I want to do...like making Valentines with S or making hideous placemats...because I don't have to spend large blocks of time playing catchup. I can spend three minutes instead of thirty. It works for me, and it makes me saner. A major part of this, though, is to not leave stuff lying about. Putting things away instead of leaving them where they were used goes a long way to making this system work. So, there's another habit. Plus, I have enrolled in a belly dancing class, so that's TWO habits!!

I am so on a roll.

brown is not cheerful.

I woke up this morning and realized that it was one of those days. Not one of those days when you know before your feet hit the floor that you want to be back in the bed. No. One of those days when you realize that you must make something or you'll just explode. So as soon as S woke up, I made some adorable little felt tea bags for Kristie's daughter. I did not photograph them. I don't know why I'm incapable of remembering to do that before I seal up the package to mail. Alas, it was not enough. So, while Feathernester and L and S and I were upstairs, I decided to mercilessly hack into some fabric and do a little sewing.

Backing things up. I am waiting to make that paintbox quilt because I'm going to have to purchase quite a bit of solid fabric to make it, and right now, I am swimming in fabrics. I cannot justify purchasing fabrics while there are so many pieces of material folded upstairs. Most of the fabrics are from my grandmother's stash and they look a little grandmother-y. That's cool, though. Anyway, for the time being all the things that I create from fabric will come from fabric that I already own. It seems wasteful otherwise.

Now to the present. For some reason I decided to mercilessly hack into brown fabric. Ugghh. Now I have six placemat tops pieced together, and I've used some equally heinous tannish-yellow from some old sheets I picked up at Goodwill for the backs of the placemats. Dang. These suckers are not pretty. Not even close. They might pass as endearing in a very home-ec from 1976 way, but these suckers are not from 1976, they are brand spankin' newly made. Anyway, they've used up all the brown fabric in the stash, so that's a start. I'd photograph them for you right now but they're upstairs where the kiddo is very busy not napping.

The other little bit of Ouiser family news is this: we are taking S to see 101 Dalmations tonight. I cannot wait to see her little face. I think she'll love it. And I love free tickets to Broadway musicals!!

Until next time, peeps...

so much to say.

Today, I feel like there are dozens of things floating around in my head, waiting to be word-vomited into the blogosphere, but I'm having trouble forming legitimately coherent thoughts. I'm hoping that the ideas that are floating will stick around because every time one pops up I think, "Oh, I should blog about that," but then I forget and can't remember exactly what I wanted to say.

I wanted to mention something about the delicious dinner that M and I had at Bound'ry last night. Stuffed Shrimp and Grits, Ostrich, Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake. Yum. And the wine I had was wonderful. And get this. On their dessert menu, they listed dessert beers. For real. I cannot make this up. It's a concept I've never come across, and I am totally intrigued. I did not, however, drink any dessert beer because I had already had two glasses of wine, and we still had to make it to the Schermerhorn.

Then there was the symphony. As we waited for the music to begin, we watched and listened to the musicians warming up, and I was awed by how devoted people can be to the arts. It's just lovely, and I hope that S will either be devoted to the arts or at least appreciate them. I can't imagine she'll grow up in this house and not love art, but just the same...

So, I decided not to blog about any of those things. (Wait. I just did.)

Scarlet Lily has posted about Mighty Girl's Life List. We don't have those, but I did ask M what he would wish for if he had three wishes. Of course he asked me the same, and I think it says something about us that we each only wished for realistic things. His wishes: a hitting partner, a job closer to home, and a study with a big, comfy chair in the corner. I wished for M to have a job closer to home, unlimited art supplies and books, and to travel (specifically to the places on our dream travel list). And that is that. The Ouisers are a pretty simple bunch. Just the way I like us.

there goes another one.

Another week gone. Of course, this week S got to cross another state off her list. Nothing like a trip to Missouri to make your week fly by, eh?

I've come up with another bonus habit. It's going to seem a little ridiklious (which is how S says ridiculous), but here it is. With all the bread baking going on in my little kitchen, I am going to stop using the mixer to knead dough. I am going to actually use my hands. I did it last night, and having my hands in the dough was pretty cathartic. Also, it killed the ol' triceps. I have seen something somewhere about how making bread by hand is one of those lost arts whose loss has contributed significantly to underarm jiggle. Well, not this mama. Not anymore. By golly, I am going to have rock hard triceps to match the biceps that come from picking up a fifty pound kid. Watch out.

M and I are off to the symphony tonight. (Thanks for the tickets, Daddy and C.) Then a birthday party tomorrow morning before the Colts take the field at 715. It's going to be a great weekend. I think I may even get to do a little quilting. Woo hoo.

Have a great weekend, peeps.

FIVE SENSES FRIDAY
Sight: S shaking her booty to the pep band at the basketball game last night
Sound: the pep band last night. i seriously LOVE pep bands.
Smell: onions and garlic
Touch: soft, sticky bread dough
Taste: last week's pistachio frozen yogurt. i am still thinking about it. also, the homemade ice cream we had at Ja Ja's cafe in Alamo, TN

wow.

Any of you out there big fans of Kevin Henkes? You know how in Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse when they introduce the character Mr. Slinger they say, "Wow," that's just about all she could say, "wow." (or something like that.) Anyway.

Wow. That's just about all I can say. Wow.

I quilt. By that, I mean I have made some quilts. I think that means I can say I quilt. I am usually terrified of quilts with lots of pieces because I am just NOT a person who can handle tedious work. My hands cramp up. I lose patience. It's just not my thing. (Unlike my sister, who somehow adores doing things that are tiny and require loads of detail. I don't get it.) However...oh, however. I just saw this on Ohdeedoh. And I may just have to participate. Because...oh, because. That quilt is just flat out gorgeous.

Moving on. I realize that it is two weeks into the new year, and I haven't come up with all the habits I'm supposed to be breaking and adopting and whatnot. I've really tried to think of stuff, but it's hard. So, I'm cutting myself some slack and I'm going to make it an ongoing process until I reach the magic number. Just so you know I'm not flaking out already...even though we all know I'm prone to flaking out. Often.

To close this post out...a picture of S's quilt. I still have to make her dust ruffle, and I want to find her a big Euro pillow, but at least there's a picture of the quilt...the picture that I promised ages ago. Like I said, I flake out.
The Eiffel Tower fabric is my favorite. You know, for my little francophile. Also, the book in the foreground is fantastic. It's sort of a Valentine's Day book, in the sense that Mr. Hatch receives a Valentine, but the story is pretty wonderful, so I think I'll keep it out year-round. Check it out sometime.

Happy Thursday, peeps.

too much credit

I think my husband must give my housekeeping abilities too much credit. A quick exchange from yesterday...

Mr. Ouiser: Honey, where are you keeping the napkins these days? I've been looking all over for them and can't find any.
Ouiser: Um, they're all dirty.

Needless to say, today is laundry day, and Mr. Ouiser will be happy to come home to find the napkins in the same place as always.

Aside from obviously not doing laundry, there isn't much to report about the Ouiser family weekend. We bought a new printer Saturday and Saturday night M and I went to a little surprise shendig for a friend's birthday. On the way home we hit up Sweet Cece's, which is a new froyo place in downtown Franklin. Pistachio Froyo with brownie bites is heaven-sent. Oh. Yum. I slept in Sunday before heading to the farm for lunch. Then I gave myself a wicked headache playing outside in the sunshine with no hat and no sunglasses. I went back to bed when we got home and pretty much stayed there. I'm well-rested to put it mildly. And, I have a great husband. Thanks, babe.

Here are some shots from the farm. Happy Monday, peeps.Oh, and Tuscan Peasant Bread is on the menu for today.

it's the cheesiest

Two posts in one day. I know. Here's the thing. The dinner we just ate, which came out of The Bread Bible, was so good that I felt the immediate need to tell you about it. If you're on FB, you might've noticed the list of cheeses that I had gotten ready for the evening's meal. Mozzarella, Parmesan, Goat Cheese, Fontina, and Smoked Provolone for those of you not on FB. Anyway, all of those lovely cheeses were mixed into Pizza Pie with Cheese.

Holy delicious, Batman. I did a little googling to find the recipe for you all. Here it is.

As for me, I am going to relapse into my cheese coma. Ummmm, cheese coma. Happy Friday, my people.

better late than never.

I know I promised a snow picture yesterday, but I just didn't get around to it. I didn't want to step outside in the near whiteout conditions for fear of getting lost in the snow and not finding my way back into my house. Yeah, right. This is it.
To rip off someone else's quote, I was barely able to see through the 3-5 inches of mostly cloudy this morning.

So, it's back to being just cold. And I am trying to understand how the temperature in my living room, which is about thirteen feet from the thermostat is five degrees colder than the heat is set to. It's maddening. I need to go put on another layer.

FIVE SENSES FRIDAY
Sight: six kids painting in my dining room, several of whom were painting themselves instead of paper. it was wonderfully colorful.
Sound: lots of laughter from a houseful of kids and mamas
Smell: applesauce simmering on the stove
Touch: snuggling with s
Taste: pain de campagne and nutella

it makes me all tingly inside.

A couple of months ago I did something to my shoulder. I likely slept on it funny or tweaked a muscle playing with S. It resulted in tingly fingers for a couple of weeks in my right hand. (You know the tingly feeling like you're about to have a major battle with pins-and-needles after some part of you goes to sleep?) Well, doggoneit, I've done it again. I keep walking around flailing my hand about, trying to wake it up, but no. It's just going to be like this I guess. So, I'm hitting the anti-inflammatories. Totally annoying.

Anywho.

I've made another decision about my habits. As one of my bonuses, I am going to start wearing handcream with sunscreen. (Thank you, die Frau, and by the way, it was really, really lovely to chat yesterday.) All the ladies in my family end up with horrific sunspots on their hands, and I am hereby vowing to take better care of my hands than they have. I have also started a food journal to help me track what I'm eating. I'm not trying to lose weight really because I'm just fine as I am, but a food journal makes me think twice about having another cookie (and losing a few pounds might be a happy byproduct). I'm still completely happy eating one cookie, but the thought that someone might run across my food journal and see that, "Holy overeater, Batman, Ouiser ate half a dozen cookies. That cow!" Well, that'll keep the cookies in the cookie jar and out of my belly. So, there's two bonus habits. I'm rocking this new year.

Enjoy the snow, peeps. For those of you up north, I promise to post a picture of the great Tennessee blizzard of 2010 this afternoon.

a good day.

Today has been a pretty great day. It's 31 degrees outside, so it feels like a heatwave. That might have something to do with my excellent mood. Or it might be that S was at Mother's Day Out this morning. It's probably a combination of the two. Either way, it's been a good one. Here's the rundown.

• Got S out of bed and dressed and brushed her teeth with minimal fuss.
• Showered. Put on new boots. (With clothes.)
• Ate some homemade bread* with a little peanut butter. Drank coffee.
• Took S to school.
• Talked to friend.
• Dropped off five bags of clothes at Goodwill.
  
• Dropped off a couple of packages at the Post Office and bought stamps.
• Dropped off a return to LL Bean at the UPS Store.
• Braved the Kroger on Blue Hair Day, otherwise known as Senior Discount Day, which is something I never, ever do, but the dog was almost out of food, and if I hadn't gone, we really would get eighty-six inches of snow, and Otis would starve. Besides, I'm Southern and it's supposed to snow. I had to buy milk for crying out loud.
  
• Picked up dry cleaning. Yuck. I hate dry cleaning, and I never buy clothes that need it because I am certain those chemicals are going to give us all cancer...but I do still have some clothes that require it, and the blanket that stays on our couch, the one that S puked on awhile back, well, it's dry clean only, too. It smells funny now. I am hoping it airs out.
• Went to House Blend. Talked to Feathernester and Jeremy. Bought a delicious Vienna Latte and a new travel mug to attempt to get my husband off my back about losing travel mugs.
• Went to Reading Rock and bought a used Bill Bryson book and two beautifully illustrated books for S's upcoming THIRD BIRTHDAY.
  
• Went on a mission to find an antique bread box. In the process of which I found an old enamel pot to replace the broken compost pail, a super awesome old cross-stitch piece from 1935, an old metal milk crate for the books in S's room, and a bread box. All for like fifty bucks. I love Dickson.
• Went to Mel's for leftover pizza.
• Came home and found that our 2009 photobook had arrived from Shutterfly. Went back to Mel's so we could oooh and aaaah over pictures of my kid.
• Picked up kid from MDO.
  
• Came home and read books to said kid and put her down for rest time.
• Picked up a bit around the house. Made coffee.
• Lost internet access for a couple of hours as the cable guy came to fix some issues we'd been having...which resulted in the poor man having to put all new cables up outside in the cold. Luckily, his coat looked thick. S even commented that she liked his nice coat. What a kid.
  
• Had a tea party.

Now I'm about to make some banana bread. And M comes home tonight from Louisville. So, barring any major disaster, today is going to go down as one of the best days ever. I love it. Hope your day is moving along nicely as well. Later, peeps.*The three-day bread is delicious. It's Pain de Campagne. I don't normally like anything sourdough, but this is really, really good.

when will it end?

I am at that point. The point in winter where I begin to feel genuinely sad for my friends in northern climes. I don't know how you do it. You are all stronger than I. It is cold here. Legitimately cold. It's been well below 30 degrees for many days, and I am totally over it. The forecast predicts that it won't be above freezing until next Monday. Now, I know that those of you in New York and Massachusetts are faring much worse, but I've got thin Southern blood. Anyway, inspired by Hygge House, I'm going to try to concentrate on the good things about winter.

M just got new slippers. I swear he's a happier person now. I am actually expecting my new slippers this week. M bought me LL Bean's wicked good clogs a couple of Christmases ago, but I snagged the toe on something, and now there is a gaping hole that lets all my warmth right out. So, warm slippers. That's something nice about winter. Warm robes also make the list. Mr. Feathernester constantly makes fun of the fact that I stay wrapped in a big fleece robe most of the time. At least I'm warm.

Winter makes me appreciate the warmth of coffee and tea. Really, truly appreciate it.

I am also loving our new stovetop steamer. It seems so much nicer than plugging in a humidifier.

I am appreciating warm, comforting foods the way that you just can't in the warmer months. That's about it. It's easy to see why so many people bulk up in winter. It's hard to munch on cool fruits and veggies when you really want something warm and satiating. Something like chocolate bread pudding. Not that I want any. Really. Who am I kidding? I'd love a big bowl of chocolate bread pudding right now.

Oh, I almost forgot. I thought of another bad habit to break, but this one's a doozy. I'm going to try to stop biting my nails. I know I can do it because I stop all the time...for special occasions. Isn't that funny? If I have a wedding or event to attend, I'll quit biting my nails, but as soon as I get in the car on the way home, my fingers go straight to my mouth. I know it's disgusting, but I've been biting my nails for as long as I can remember. So, anyway, I'm giving that one a try. You have my permission to smack my hands out of my mouth if you catch me. Or you could just nicely ask me to stop my revolting habit instead of hitting me. Your call.

now there's an idea

I just read that Kim Kardashian sleeps in workout clothes as motivation to go to the gym. I actually think that sounds pretty brilliant...especially in the miserable winter cold when the thought of getting out of my warm pajamas to put on gym clothes is enough to keep me in pajamas half the day. I wonder, though, would I have to sleep in a sports bra? Nothing says sexy like a lady with a sports bra-induced uniboob.

Anyway.

I normally shy away from USA Weekend in the Sunday paper. Mostly, I'm boycotting the loss of Parade magazine because I liked it more. However, this week, Dr. Oz was gracing the cover, and I kind of like that guy. He seems to sincerely care about people. So, I gave it a look-see. The Dr. Oz article had some tips on how to feel better in the new year, and they were great and all, but there was also an article about Mayo Clinic's new (and first) diet book. It suggests that instead of dieting in the count-calories-and-binge-workout sense, you adopt lifestyle changes. Now, anyone with a decent head on their shoulders knows that's the way to do it. I can eat salads for a month and go to the gym everyday and lose weight, but I'm not going to maintain that because eventually I'll fall off the salad wagon. But instead of suggesting that you just flat out declare that you're going to change your lifestyle by working out regularly and making healthier food choices, which is frankly no different than the aforementioned scenario, it suggests that you add new healthy habits and abandon five unhealthy habits and adopt five new bonus habits. It seems like a dang good idea, really. Because these habits can be little things. Ditching sodas (ahem, Ouiser, we're talking to you. OMG...my blog just spoke to me).

Since I don't really do the whole new years resolution thing, I thought I might give this a whirl. Besides, my life is pretty awesome. The only things that I would change would be that I would make sure M and I take better care of ourselves and that I would move his office closer to home (is anyone at Stantec listening??).

And here it is. I am going to start taking the vitamins that M wants me to take (because I've been sick off-and-on for over a month and he hasn't so he swears it's because he takes vitamins and I don't). I'm also going to start flossing every single day. I'm usually kind of lax about it, only flossing every few days. I'm going to make sure that I eat breakfast everyday. I know that this will help with my recent issue of blood sugar that totally bottoms out. That's only three new good habits, but Mr. Mayo Clinic suggests that all these habits are adopted and broken over a two week period. I'll keep you posted. As for breaking bad habits...I will continue to lay off sodas, but I do love an occasional cherry coke from Sonic, and I will not feel guilty about it. I will, however, drink smalls. That's all I've got for now.

We'll see.

this breadmaker's dilemma

I've now made four recipes from The Bread Bible, one of which I made twice. The two-timer was French Bread. I had decided not to try to get recipes exactly right, but then I looked at the new magnet on my fridge: What Would Julia Do?

D'Arvit.

Julia would most certainly attempt to get French Bread right. In fact, having read one of her biographies, I can say that she went to amazing lengths to get it right. So, I made that one twice, and I got significantly better results on take two. I won't make that one many more times, though. There is no fat in French Bread, and so it doesn't keep well. I was left with a baguette-shaped brick after less than 24 hours. Oh, well. On to bigger and better things.

The four breads have been the White Mountain Bread previously discussed, French Bread, Water Rolls, and Mile-High Popovers. For the record, the popovers rose no higher than my old recipe's popovers. They tasted significantly different, though, as they contained half a dozen eggs. Good. Lots of cholesterol. I've also made the starter for one of the other breads, but it's a three day process. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Back to my dilemma. All this breadmaking is creating a lot of dirty dishes. The mixer bowl, the paddle attachment, the dough hook, the measuring cups and spoons, the container that the dough rises in, the pan the bread bakes in...it's kind of exhausting to keep up with all of it...not to mention that, seemingly, every step of breadmaking leaves me, my counters, and my kitchen floors covered in a fine dusting of flour. It's a ton of work. Luckily, I'm dedicated. For now.

As for an update on my Christmas books...The Gentle Art of Domesticity is a little disappointing, which is, well, disappointing. I'd been making googly eyes at that one for months. Unfortunately, the author's main creative outlet is knitting, which I don't do, so it doesn't hold my interest terribly well. It's at least pretty to look at. The Lost Continent, on the other hand, is fabulous. It's funnier than A Walk in the Woods, and that's saying something. It's also saying something that I find it hysterical even as they rip on my beloved South. It's just that good, and I do love me some Bill Bryson.

Okay, I'm off to finish my sister's birthday cake. Later, peeps.

thanks for the memories

So long, two-thousand-aughts. You've been good to us. M and I realized that the past decade has been pretty amazing. We met in 2000. I graduated from college in 2001. He got his masters in 2002 and tried out life in Oklahoma. We moved to Lexington in 2003. We got married in 2004. We bought a house and got Otis in 2005. 2006 was pretty lowkey except for the whole getting pregnant thing. S was born in 2007, and M's dad joined us in Lexington. We moved back to Tennessee in 2008. And by 2009, we were finally settling in to our lives exactly as we wanted. Things are calm. We are very blessed, and we appreciate those blessings every single day.

Enough of that, though. I know you just want to know about Christmas. S had a blast, and she is loving all of her presents. To those of you who sent her things, thank you. You'll be getting notes as soon as I can find the cards! Until then, know that your gifts are loved.

So, Christmas Day. The first thing S did was check to see if Santa had eaten his cookies...and if he'd fed his reindeer with the food she left for them. Then she hit the gifts. She opened the Disney Princess Doll Collection first, and those suckers are a big hit around here. She opened all of her presents in between stripping the princess dolls. After gifts, we got dressed and went to Mellie's for breakfast where S got her Super S cape, which is super friggin' cute. Then we went to visit Mr. P and give him the gifts Santa left for him. Then home for showers. Then off to Columbia where we spent the entire day playing games and eating and enjoying being with family.

As for gifts, I've already mentioned most of S's. M got a GPS because he doesn't get enough of maps in his day-to-day existence. I also got him a wicked awesome SmartWool sweater, but it's too small. The man has seriously long arms. And he got some new SmartWool socks. As for me, I got books. Lots of books. My new titles: The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America; The Gentle Art of Domesticity; Slow Food Nation; Mere Christianity; A Short History of Nearly Everything;Guns, Germs, and Steel; Organic Gardening Down South; Her Fearful Symmetry; The Bread Bible; and The Art of the Commonplace. Of course, those are just the books that Santa brought. My sisters gave me a chocolate chip cookbook, and I must say that the layered mocha mousse that I made yesterday proves that it's a very promising book indeed.

It was a great Christmas. S helped us de-Christmafy the house, and she said goodnight to all of the nutcrackers as they were wrapped up for their long naps until next year. Then she got upset because I put away her Christmas books. Then she remembered that she got oodles of new books, and life is good once more.

Now the Ouisers are back to our normal Ouiser selves. Cooking. Reading. Playing. Organizing. Laughing. Loving our lives.

going julie.

I'll post all about Christmas later. And my seventeen hour snoozefest. But right now, right now, I must blog about my new book The Bread Bible. I am in love. I made recipe number one first thing this morning. It's White Mountain Bread, and I don't know what the word Mountain is doing in the title. It's just white bread. Simple. Plain. Scrumptious.

Recipe number two is french bread. Oy.

Here's the thing. I've decided that I'm going to pull a Julie Powell and cook every single recipe in this book. All of them, and there are at least 300. I say "at least" because the cover says "300 favorite recipes," and I don't know if that includes the variations or not. And I don't know if I want to make the variations. I must do a bit more investigating.

And here's my right-off-the-bat dilemma. I'm not going to make bread every day. It would go bad before we could eat everything if there were multiple loaves around all the time, and I am not about to waste perfectly good food. Especially when it's homemade bread. So, I'm just going to make bread as we run out. Of course, today's recipe made two loaves and we've eaten one already. We'll get through loaf two tomorrow in all likelihood. So, Tuesday will see the baking of the next recipe...unless. Unless I decide to perfect each recipe before moving along. I should've let today's bread rise longer during it's first rise, but I didn't. It was still delicious, but I feel like an extra half an hour would've made it divine. So, do I make White Mountain Bread again or do I proceed to French Bread?

Opinions? Talk amongst yourselves while I finish looking through The Gentle Art of Domesticity, which is crazy awesome in that the photographs are so colorful it makes me want to sit down with a lot of paper and markers immediately.

no more nyquil

So, I've got this cold. It's annoying. It really only bothers me when I'm tired. Then my throat starts burning and my eyes get watery and my head starts filling with gnarly gunk. Sleeping is a problem. NyQuil solved that problem for a couple of nights, but the night before last it didn't help at all and I could hardly sleep and when I did sleep I had crizzazy dreams about being on an Olympic swim team and also having to be on the diving team despite the fact that I don't know how to dive...and I did a canonball. Anyway...

Last night I skipped the NyQuil. It took hours to fall asleep. During those hours one of the things I thought about was food. Specifically food that I don't like. I realized that there is a difference in foods that I don't like and foods that I just won't eat. Foods that cause my gag reflex to go into overdrive just from the thought. To break it down for you...I do not like grapefruit but I could eat it if I had to. Same with cream cheese or capers. I can scrape that mess off and still eat whatever it was on. But the following foods creep me right the heck out. Cottage cheese. Thousand Island dressing. Eggs cooked anyway other than scrambled and scrambled until they are very well done. The thought of the runny yolk of a fried egg makes my stomach turn every single time. Sauerkraut and all forms of cabbage. Aspics. Giblet gravy. Chicken Divan. Raw oysters. Lobster rolls. Anything pickled.

That's all I can remember right now, but I know there are lots more. Of course, everyone knows about the well-documented Ouiser family aversion to mayonnaise, sour cream, ranch dressing and the like. Yuck.

Okay, my coffee is ready, and after two nights of subpar sleep, I need it. How did I live through having a newborn without coffee?

Have a great day, peeps.

FIVE SENSES FRIDAY
Sight: the ornament that S made at school. her fingerprints are supposed to look like snowmen, but they really look like petrified terds wearing scarves. i love it.

Sound: S singing Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

Smell: the Christmas tree, candy canes, oranges

Touch: my very raw nose. boo.

Taste: oranges and chocolate truffles

life with two kids.

This weekend was a bit of a whirlwind. Friday was The Inkwell's Harry Potter party, which was great. Especially the pumpkin juice and Bertie Bott's. Saturday, I dragged my butt all over Cool Springs (super mall land for those of you not in the know) looking for the Snow White Snow Globe that S has become mildly obsessive about. She has given up completely on acting like she'll ask Santa for a babydoll. Instead, it's always "Snow White globe." I had checked at our Lowe's and our Walmart and both were sold out. My stepmom checked at her Walmart, and I checked her Lowe's. Sold out. So, Saturday, after leaving Columbia, I headed to Cool Springs. Mall area traffic two weekends before Christmas is kind of my nightmare. Anyway, both places there were sold out as well. So, I braved the mall and the Disney store within. Chaos is putting it nicely, people. Anyway, I've got a snow globe now. And it features Snow White. It's not the one she's seen, but I'm hoping it's sufficient. It's actually much nicer than the one she's seen, but she's not really at an age to appreciate it. Oh well. Hopefully, it's good enough. But, uggghhh, the mall. Vomit.

Moving along...

Saturday night, we kept L so Feathernester and her hubby could go out for her birthday. Here are the pictures...
I will say that the girls were great. So great that yesterday morning, M tried using his authoritative dad voice on me declaring, "I want another one. Let's have another baby." Then he remembered that we had to change L's diaper.

I've now come down with some sort of cold, so the Ouiser ladies are laying low today. I suppose I'll nurse myself back to health with the leftover chicken and dumplings from last night. And in case you're wondering, I will never again make chicken broth anyway other than Alice Waters's. Oy. Vey.

inventory.

I know I've mentioned before how sparsely stocked our refrigerator normally is. Lately, though, it's been packed. Mostly because I've made things that have leftovers (chili, beer cheese, chocolate gravy, baked apples). This morning I'd had enough. I hate feeling like I don't know what we have because I can't see through the clutter. Luckily, it's trash night, so cleaning out the fridge today is great. Here's what's left...

• Coffee creamer (4 bottles of it),
• Salsa,
• Homemade pesto,
• Juice (apple, orange, and grapefruit),
• Beer (Fat Tire, Guinness, and Sam Adams Winter Lager),
• 1/2 granny smith apple,
• Milk (2),
• Eggs (huge bowl filled with fresh eggs from granddaddy's chickens),
• Yogurt,
• Applesauce,
• Bacon grease (I am southern.),
• Butter (salted and unsalted),
• Shortening,
• Carrots,
• Celery,
• Cranberries,
• Minced garlic,
• Cheese (brie, cheddar, feta, string, babybel, parmesan),
• Sprite (for tummy aches),
• White wine (for Feather nester), and
  
• Condiments (including a variety of mustards, soy sauce, wasabi paste, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, balsamic vinegar, ketchup, maple syrup, Bonne Maman, sweet pickles, and barbecue sauce).

Seems like a lot, but the fridge is looking bare. Life is back to normal. Whewwww.

a lot of ribbon later.

Yesterday, I finally finished wrapping the gifts that are in my house. Most of the presents were already covered in old newspaper, but they were lacking bows. I had saved most of the ribbon from last year's gifts, so I reused that first. Then I had two new spools of lime green grosgrain. Those are now gone. Then, when I realized that I was going to have to trudge out into the windy cold for more ribbon*, I decided that was ridiculous. I searched the house and found some red mylar ribbon from something like five years ago. And, voila, the gifts are beribboned. We made gift tags out of S's old art, and then S helped me put the gifts under the tree. She also helped by taking a marker to several of the packages, but that's cool with me.

She then requested a present of her own. When I told her that I didn't have a gift for her, she said, "Hey, what about my Kessel and Freddles (Hansel and Gretel) book that we bought yesterday?" (Note to the Reading Rock, I am not cheating on you.) All she wanted was to unwrap something. I taped a piece of newspaper to her book, and she was so happy. It was pretty cute. I fear that there will be lots of needless wrapping of old books and toys in the days to come, but she was very sweet about it. She got all excited and gushed, "Oh, thank you, mommy. I love it." So, maybe I'll consider it as practice for showing gratitude when receiving gifts.

And, that's that from here. It's a pretty simple existence. Just the way I like it.

*I am still working on being green with the gift wrapping. There has been zero paper purchased. The new ribbon was purchased long ago and has been sitting in my ribbon basket for months. I use a lot of tape, but I am not about to make paste to wrap gifts. I've got to draw the line somewhere. I didn't use any gift boxes this year. I just wrapped gifts as they are. I even shipped gifts in re-used containers. I'm feeling pretty good about it, thankyouverymuch. Of course, I was drooling over some really beautiful chocolate brown wrapping paper that I saw in a magazine the other day. And in the future, I'd like to start doing this...even though I adore grosgrain ribbon. How are you greening your holidays? Or am I a freakazoid?

am i being the opposite of a scrooge?

I started to write a post the other day about "how many gifts does your kid get?" Then I decided not to write it, but now I have to. HAVE. TO. Really, my post was not only how many gifts, but what comes from Santa, what comes from mom and dad, and on, and on...

Here's the skinny. I just read this post and the comments (oh, the comments) over on Ohdeedoh. Because S can't read, I feel safe disclosing her Christmas gifts here. She's getting a digital camera (for toddlers), a Melissa and Doug Ice Cream set, some new toy food for her kitchen, magnetic letters, a puzzle, seven books, and some art supplies and jewelry and princess mess for her stocking. That seems like a ton when you list it all out, but it's a remarkably small pile. Of course, she's planning to tell Santa Claus that she wants either a baby doll or a Snow White snow globe, so depending on which of those she actually says when we take her to see Santa, we'll get one of those things, too. I don't feel like I'm buying so much stuff that I'm spoiling her. I really don't.

But then...then I read those comments on Ohdeedoh. The comments that indicated that most of those people limit their kids to four gifts based on some little rhyme about "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read." Four gifts? Really? Was I that spoiled as a child? Am I that spoiled now? Or are these people totally on their high horse trying to make me feel bad about myself and my (apparently) shameless embracing of commercialism? Please. I've bought more than four gifts for my husband.

So, here's the million dollar question: what's the routine at your house?

And let me say this. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. I think it's perfectly acceptable to handle Christmas however it works within your family. It's just that I'm curious...and I'm feeling like a greedy jerk right about now.

five senses friday.

Sight: s lighting up at seeing the nutcrackers this morning when she woke up.

Sound: sleigh bells outside the window just now. it's christmas in downtown dickson.

Smell: s's morning breath. i know it's gross, but i love it. this is not to be confused with my husband's morning breath, which i emphatically do not love.

Touch: a very fragile antique ornament crunching in my hand earlier. oops.

Taste: homemade beer cheese.

CKMH

So, today the Cute Kids of McCreary Heights gathered at our home and had a wicked awesome paint-filled play date. I cannot wait to share pictures of the finished projects, but you can see the process here. I will say that these suckers look awesome and the Ouisers will be doing this a lot more. It's so cool. I am beginning to think of The Artful Parent as a lost gospel.

I also finished S's quilt last night. Of course, it's in her room, where she is snoozing, so no pictures yet. Just the same, that's done, and I am very, very happy with it.

Next up: tomorrow night is Christmas in Downtown Dickson, and I decided to invite a whole lot of people over for a little pre-party of chili and cocoa and cookies and whatnot. Because, I wasn't stressed already. I had a little moment a couple of hours ago where I realized that I have people coming over tomorrow and I have zero Christmas decorations up in my house, and then I reminded myself that people don't visit their friends to stare at their nutcracker collection or to run themselves ragged trying to keep their small children from demolishing their friends' Christmas tree. They come for fun and food and conversation. So, I don't care. My house doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be my home, and for me to be happy, my friends and family just need to feel welcome and happy when they are here. I think I can accomplish that task without handmade pine garland. That is me letting go, peeps. Remember this...it's a first. Though I still feel obligated to clean the bathroom. Baby steps.

Now, I'm off to do a little light reading, and by "light reading" I mean that I'll be reading the CAD bylaws. Good night and good luck, right?

letting go.

Seriously, folks. Christmas is coming. The goose is getting fat and all that jazz. So, holiday stress is here and there is no reason for it. At least not at Casa de Ouiser. We've bought all but two gifts. They're even wrapped. The cards have gone out (if you didn't get one, I don't have your address). But somehow, I'm still a ball of anxiety. The decorations haven't even begun to come out. M is out of town, and I am actually smart enough not to try to haul them out myself...which would inevitably lead to a re-injured back. So, peeps, it's December 2nd, and our Advent Calendar is still in a box in the shed. Stressed. We're having a playdate tomorrow, and I don't know what to feed people. Stressed. My floors haven't been mopped in over a week, and the dust bunnies are taking over. Unless you can tell me a way to turn those suckers into Christmas decor...Stressed. I've gained something like eight pounds. Stressed. Holiday baking is coming. Stressed.

Now, let's back this up. Decorations don't really matter. They will be put out at some point, and M and S will love them when they're there. I know this is ridiculous. Feeding the playdate? As long as there's coffee, mamas are happy. A box of doughnuts would do it for the runts. No necessary stress. Seriously...who mops floors before a playdate? Hello. Eight pounds. Well, that sucks. I'm not going to lie. Holiday baking? Maybe I'll just make M's favorite and his dad's favorite this year. That might help keep those eight pounds from making friends anyway.

So, the kicker is that I know all this stress is unwarranted. It's just there anyway. I mean, I've got it good. I know how insanely fortunate I am, and I know how unfathomably unfortunate others are, and yet I have the audacity to be worried about all this trivial crap. It makes me sick. But it doesn't change anything.

Despite all that stress, here's the good stuff. S is feeling better. (Though I am a little stressed because it's 833 and she's still asleep and she's supposed to be at MDO in 27 minutes and I need to chill out because I'm starting to create wicked run on sentences.) S's quilt should be completed by the weekend. The binding is attached, but I have to finish it up by hand. I am actually really, really excited about this. We got our annual Christmas ornament from my family, and it is so perfect that I can't stand it. The cup of coffee in my hand is quite delicious. I am healthy. I am happy.

The bottom line is, I have to let go of the little things. Put it in a bubble, and let it go. Right? Right? Right. I'll work on that as soon as S wakes up and I get her out the door.

on the mend

The Ouisers are finally on the mend. In fact, yesterday was the first day that S didn't wake up crying. She's still got a pretty short fuse, but it's tolerable. Plus, her eyes finally look like she's feeling like herself. An entire week of a sick kid is a little much, I'm not going to lie. Especially when it forces you to cancel long awaited plans for visiting much missed friends. We would've been rotten company, though, so it worked out for the best.

The big news around here is that Christmas has arrived, and S has taken after her daddy. The kid is loving her some Christmas. We went over to my dad's Friday and she helped decorate their Christmas tree and the small tree they bought for her. She's also developed an obsession with snow globes. And we've been rocking out to Christmas music, especially this. It's going to be great.

But now... now we must get dressed and head over to Mellie Mellie's house. There is a large Christmas tree waiting to be adorned.

has anyone seen my sanity?

Where to even begin?? The past seven days have been utterly crazy. Actually, I think last Monday was really pleasantly calm. But then Tuesday showed up. Here's the rundown:

• Tuesday we headed northwest to Cadiz, KY to help Feathernester move some things to the new lake cottage. I don't actually think we provided any help because with my "help" comes the "help" of my daughter, which is decidedly unhelpful. Either way, let's just say that the day at the lake ended for us with a backed up septic system flooding a bathroom and leaking through the ceiling after yours truly turned on the dishwasher. I hightailed it out of there with both of the toddlers, leaving Feathernester with peace and quiet, a lovely view of the lake, and the stench of a backed-up septic system. No one can accuse me of being a bad friend. So, that day was a little nuts.
• Wednesday was my first PT appointment for my back, and it was mind-blowing. As it turns out, I've been doing things all wrong. There is, I now know, a huge difference between a straight or flat back and a neutral spine, and neutral spine is what I've needed to achieve. So, my brain is still processing that one. Wednesday night also saw the Ouisers heading out to the Springsteen concert. Traffic was a bit of a mess, but we found a seemingly great parking spot, we paid the meter, and we headed off in search of dinner. There was a lot of walking and a lot of my refusing to wait for tables at restaurants I didn't really want to eat at. So, we hit SATCo, which was great, and we ran into the Opry gift shop after we ate where we picked up a Christmas gift for ToddlerTamer's J. We were heading back to the car to stash the gift before the show, and our heart rates jumped as we looked down 4th Avenue toward the Honda. There were a lot of flashing lights and a couple of tow trucks, one of which was in the process of hauling off a car that looked a lot like a 2001 silver Honda Accord. So, yeah, our car got towed. We spoke to the police officers and they had the tow truck guy give us a lift to the impound lot. All we could do was laugh. I mean, hey...at least we caught on to our car being towed then and not after the concert. So, as they were unloading our car, we were paying to get it back. Ninety-five dollars later, we were on our way back to Sommet Center. In addition to being stoked that we got the car back before the show, we found it terribly exciting that we saved the Metro storage fee ($20) that we would've been charged after the show...and the cab fare to get us there. All in all, if you're going to get your car towed for failing to read signs, you should do it Ouiser-style. We finally got to the show, and Bruce started an hour late, so we didn't miss anything. He played my favorite*, Thunder Road, and M's favorite, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, so it was great.
  
• Thursday was CKMH play date day, and we had a blast. It was a great day all around.
• Friday was another great day for us, though L was sick, so there was no zoo-going. Instead, we made yoga-pies** on the stump in the front yard and played circus and then went to the farm for lunch.
  
• Saturday morning, we painted pottery with my fam, and S thought it was great. She wasn't actually interested in being thorough, so I am very interested in what her creations will look like. Very interested. Then we went to lunch with our peeps, and I could tell that S was feeling less-than-stellar. She didn't want to eat, and she didn't want to sit with grandma or either or her aunts. She was clinging to me like white on rice. She began running a fever that evening, and I ended up sleeping with her all night. It was, needless to say, a long night.
• Yesterday was an entire day filled with princess movies watched on the couch or in the bed. Lots of water. Lots of Tylenol. S's fever has stayed in the 101-102.5 range. She puked up her pack of gummies (the ONLY thing she ate all day). She slept pretty well last night. I only had to go up at 330 when she was crying for a drink of water.
• Today she's back on the couch and we're heading to the doctor in a couple of hours because she puked again and that fever is still kicking her tail. Now M has a sore throat and my head is seriously stopped up. The Ouisers are not in great shape, but doggone it, I am determined to get us all well in time to leave on our trip on Wednesday. Determined.

Okay, that is all. The kid on the couch needs her mama.

*I have consistently claimed two favorite songs since I was fifteen-years-old. Thunder Road by Springsteen and This Time of Year by Better than Ezra. These are unwaveringly my favorite songs, and if I died tomorrow, I would like them played at my funeral. Along with a little Elvis.
**Yummy, yummy yoga pie.

she's a winner

S has a new favorite phrase. M has said it to her occasionally, and now she says it a LOT. Without further ado, the phrase is, "Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner." It's hysterical.

That is all I have to say about that.

Beyond that, it has been lovely to have Mr. Ouiser home again. He's been gone so often lately, that yesterday I kept waiting for him to start packing. Then I remembered that he's home this week. We've been able to do things as a family for a couple of days, and that is insanely wonderful. I'm amazingly thankful for that simple act of being together.

Here are a couple of pictures of our weekend. Have a great Monday, peeps.

And, um, how 'bout those Colts. Woot.

Before walking to Mellie's Friday morning.
On our way to Fancy Nancy story time on Saturday.

what a day.

Today has been great. Really. Exhausting, but great.

We went to play with Feathernester and L this morning, then we all went to Reading Rock for story time and a CKMH (Cute Kids of McCreary Heights...McCreary Heights is our 'hood) play date. It was a blast, and S and L and their friends SR, AS, and BW had crazy fun. At the end of the stories, S, L, and AS were literally running in circles around another child as if said child was a maypole. Hysterical to us, maybe not to the mama of that kid, so we made them stop. The kiddos then ran wild around the store for a bit, then we all came back here for lunch and playing. Mamas sat and ate, kids played. Totally fun.

Now S is napping while I make a cannellini bean and pork stew for dinner. Then I have to take Abbe shopping for Mellie Mellie's birthday, which is tomorrow. Then there will be more playing with L. I have a hunch S and I will both crash hard this evening. Well, I know I will.

And tomorrow? Tomorrow M finally comes home from Boston. Finally. Thank goodness. Until next time, peeps...

what gives?

So, I'm here. Me and my crappy back. I've essentially been in the bed for five days, and I am totally stir crazy. I watched three movies yesterday. I've read two very long novels and most of another book. I've napped...and I've stared at the ceiling, thinking of all the things I would prefer to be doing. I am very fortunate to have family and friends who've willingly cared for my child since M has been out of town all but one day of my convalescence. So, here are all of the random things I've been going over in my head.

• Val Kilmer's career peaked when he starred in The Doors. That was one of the movies that I watched yesterday. Also, Jim Morrison was way more captivating than Val Kilmer.
  
• Away We Go is an awesome, awesome movie. For grown-ups. Little sisters, stay away.
• Phillipa Gregory should do me a favor and stop writing books. Please. (She reads my blog, right?)
• Robert Pattinson is pretty. Check out Vanity Fair. Oy.
• Today, when I could no longer stand being in the house (and I did actually have to leave the house due to an utter lack of coffee beans), I ventured out. S has needed some new panties, so I hit the Wal-Mart. (Gasp.) I am terribly saddened by the fact that I cannot buy my daughter's undies in the toddler section. I had to go to the GIRLS section and buy her undies next to the training bras. She must stop growing. Must. I am not prepared for this. If there are thong options the next time I have to buy her panties, I will cry. Right in the store. Real tears.
  
• I am hoping that Yum and my hubby had a yummy dinner last night. I am hungry.
  
• I am anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving. Anxiously.

I'll leave you with a couple of pics of our Friday afternoon. The weather was lovely.

S, playing under the table...there were dolls and quilts and stickers and crayons and all manner of fun for a two-year-old.
Then there was mama's fun. Coffee and Bill Bryson...too bad you can't see the heating pad.

princess on high.

While S was at school today, I picked up the rails for her princess bed. Around here, that means her big girl bed. She's been sleeping on the mattress for about a week, but I had to wait on the rails for the bed. Then I had to make a separate trip out for bolts, but whatever. So...S is currently resting in her new princess bed, and she is way, way up there. Her bed is so tall that I have to exert effort to climb onto it. It's a solid six inches higher than my bed. Wowsers. Now if I could just get around to making her quilt...which is all cut and ready to be sewn. Someday...

That's been the excitement around here today. The assembly of a princess bed. It's a pretty low key life around here. Tomorrow we're heading to Chattanooga for the day to visit Hil. Now, that...that will be exciting. Watch out, world.

walkin' the plank

Halloween has come and gone. So sad for S. Luckily, we've had birthdays to celebrate everyday since, so she's been occupied. I mean, there's been cake, people. She'll be okay. She is, however, terribly vexed because someone has stolen our pumpkins. They left the jack-o-lanterns and the mini pumpkin that my mini pumpkin drew all over, but all the rest are MIA. They weren't smashed anywhere that we can find, so someone just stole them. Some other friends had their pumpkins ganked, too, so I think I may have isolated the culprits. I'll keep you all posted.

In the meantime, if my daughter asks you where our pumpkins have gone, the story is that they went home after Halloween.

Trick-or-treating was a success. Our little pirate was awesome and way hopped up on sugar. Here are some pictures of the big day. Have a great Tuesday, peeps.