Minus Forty

Today was quite possibly the longest day of the century. I think it lasted about six weeks. We exhausted the playdough and "Goo" before lunch, and after that I just kind of let the kids disassemble the house as long as they left me alone. I think tomorrow will be Movie Day, and maybe I can even get some sewing done while they rot their brains. The kids don't have school, and even if they did, Husband is taking the Jeep to work since his wee Mazda can't make it out of the driveway. We are Housebound.

I've invited friends over, but I doubt they'll want to leave their cozy house in the coldest weather of the millenium. I have a feeling we'll be on our own again tomorrow. Today I printed out an airplane toy to cut out and assemble, thinking it would be a simple, fun activity to involve G in. Boy, I picked the wrong airplane toy. It took forever to cut and glue a dozen pieces together, and then we had to wait for it to dry while the kids harassed me ("Is it done yet? How about now? How about now? How about now? How about now? Hey Mom, is the airplane ready yet? How about now?"). In the end it didn't even fly that well, though that was probably just because I rolled my eyes at the suggestion of checking the angle of the wing tilt, and I didn't pay particular attention to the angle of the horizontal stabilizer either. No matter, the kids were delighted with it. Delighted enough to nearly throttle one another in the mad rush to have another turn with it. Tomorrow we will find something quick and painless to make if the Movie Day fails to occupy them.

Today was a rough one for me. I don't get it--I've been feeling so mellow and happy lately, and today I suddenly crashed and burned. I was barely keeping it together when I tipped over the rice cooker and spilled water and wet rice all over the kitchen (at least it wasn't hot yet). That was the breaking point, and I had to have a little cry. After that I felt a tiny bit better, but still definitely poopy. I'm a little curious/scared of what tomorrow will bring. But hey, at least it's "warming up" to -26C! Thrills!

Icy; Happy; Maybe Kitty

Big Kids: swimming with Daddy. Baby: sleeping beside me. Aaaahhh, peace and quiet.

This weekend we went to see the local Ice Festival, with sculptures and ice slides and an ice castle to play in and an ice maze to get lost in and movies playing on an outdoor ice screen (which we skipped). The kids had soooo much fun. We went first on Friday afternoon, and since they enjoyed it so much, we went again on Saturday. Friday was wonderful, there was hardly anyone there. Saturday was INSANE. Too bad--but it made me extra glad we'd gone once already and gotten to really enjoy it.

Took the kids out for dinner the other night at a divey pizza joint with some friends. Three strangers approached our table at different times to tell us how well behaved our kids (six in total) were. We thanked them, and after they left, laughed about all the stuff they must not have noticed. My kids were blowing bubbles in their chocolate milk, which piled up and out of their cups and onto their white shirts...there were several tearful incidents between the babies involving not-so-gentle pats...and at one point I asked G to repeat something I hadn't heard, and he bellowed "I HAVE TO GO POOP REAL BAD"--classy. I think the attitudes of the moms at our table made a big difference in how we were perceived by others. There are days where my kids could behave exactly the same way they did that night, and my reactions would be totally different--I'd snap at the big guys to stop blowing bubbles or I would take their drinks away; I'd get embarrassed about the loud update on the state of G's bowels; I'd get exasperated at the babies for not being as lovey and sweet as they usually are together. I would be projecting harried, pinch-mouthed misery, rather than the relaxed enjoyment our table of friends shared that night. In the face of such obvious irritability, I doubt anyone would approach us to compliment our children--although that's probably the moment I'd be most needing to hear it.

With all this happy happy joy joy spilling out of me, I've been thinking about another pet to share all my syrupy feelings with. I'm really on the fence here--after Lunch died, I was surprised at how easy it is to care for one cat. Cats are generally pretty easy, but two cohabitating cats who dislike each other make things a little trickier. Fran is fat and content and requires very little daily maintenance. If her food dish is empty, she lets me know. I scoop some poop, and vacuum piles of cat hair from around the house. That's about it. In return, she loves us all, snuggling with the grown ups and consenting to the clumsy attentions of the kids, and sleeps away most of every day. My aunt has some kittens to give away, and I've considered taking one in. But kittens are a lot more work than our sedate fatty Fran. The kids would be over the moon...but they're not the ones scooping the poop and making sure the furniture remains unscathed and cleaning the tipped plants, etc. Despite all the common sense arguments against it, I keep thinking, "Maybe we should..." Maybe I'm just missing J's babyness and looking to replace it with a baby of another species. For now I will continue to debate it with myself, but I think it's just a question of when I'll give in. I'm such a sucker.

Miscellany

Blogger is irritating me to no end. 9 out of 10 times I try to sign in, it tells me my account doesn`t exist. And my keyboard somehow got switched to some kind of frenchy mode, where my question mark key now produces this: É. My apostrophe is different, and there`s a couple of other things that have changed too. It did this once before, and I couldn`t change it back until I restarted the computer...but as my battery is about to putter out, I`m not going to bother just now.

I just discovered a site chock full of free downloads for 3D paper crafts, which are so cool I could weep with delight. Every new item I click makes me oooooh and aaaaaah (in my head, as the baby is sleeping beside me). I have a new, portable project to take with me for the craft and coffee night I do with some friends every so often. Yay!

Today I diagnosed Baby J with thrush. AAAAAAAAAUGH! I will be picking up some Gentian Violet and acidopholus tomorrow. Now I know why it`s been feeling like his latch has been off somehow--I thought it was due to teething, although he only has one eyetooth left to cut. And suddenly I understand why he`s been fussing at the breast lately...I thought he was fighting bedtime, when really he just had a sore mouth. Poor kid.

We went to a birthday party at an indoor playground today. Those places are crazy and loud and overwhelming, perhaps more for me than for the kids. The boys were all exhausted by the time we left, as was I. I was pretty beat even before we got there, as I went out last night with Husband and Brother and sang some karaoke. We went to a divey bar we used to go to about 9 years ago--and the karaoke host was the same dude! Funny, or sadÉ I didn`t know either.

G starts speech therapy tomorrow. I`m pretty excited--I hope he loves it. He`s made so much progress without therapy, I`m really pumped to see what he can do with a little help.

Okay, computer battery is almost done, as am I. 5 hours of sleep is just not enough.

He Works Hard For The Money

Just learned that my sweet baboo won the high-stakes office poker tournament. Woohoo!

The kids had their Christmas concert today. It was so sweet--G and N looked spiff, and enjoyed themselves thoroughly, although G didn't even pretend to sing. He claimed he didn't know the songs, but he belted them out on the drive home. Ah well, he still looked cute.

Baby J got his first haircut today. His baby mullet was becoming a bit much for me. Still, I was wistful about snipping it--such a big step toward being a big kid. His brothers had their shags clipped off a few weeks ago while I was out of town (sneaky dad), and they look shockingly different. G in particular looks much more grown up. It's unsettling sometimes, to see them becoming actual people, rather than teeny little drooling blobs. I am so proud of these boys.

I did a little photo editing tonight, and created a passable holiday photo. I had to cut and paste two heads into another photo in order to get all three kids smiling in the same shot. Now two of them look slightly bobbleheaded, since the sizes don't quite match up. Close, but not quite. But I think it will go unnoticed, so I'm letting it ride.

I have been on a rollercoaster of med-lessness and new meds, and now I am about to discontinue the new meds. Everything I've read about them freaks me out more and more. They are terribly addictive, and their short half-life means if I am late with a dose or miss one, I will be plunged into withdrawal hell within a few hours of the usual dosage time. I missed a dose this week and spent a day spiraling rapidly from irritability to insane bitchiness to scary crying jag to suicidal thoughts. It was a freakishly rapid descent, and to a much greater depth of misery than I had been experiencing while I was med-free. I took my pale pink capsule that night at the regular time, and the next day was business as usual, except that I was a bit worn out.

Because J and G are still nursing, I am also concerned about the effects of this drug on them. I've been reassured that I am on a low dosage, the transfer is negligible, blah blah blah....but it's not something I am willing to risk. So now I am switching to half doses, and we'll see if I can keep my shit together.

I am so lucky to have a supportive partner. Especially one that occasionally brings home a poker pot. Momma needs a new pair o' shoes!

At Long Last

I am back online. More later.

Brief Update

Since I am clearly so good at posting, averaging a post a month, I think I might sign up for that crazy NaBloPoMo again this year. Last year's posts are at ye olde blogge, which I will link to later when I'm not so effing tired. There's a link to it somewhere here, I think in the first post I put up here at the new digs.

NaBloPoMo gives me a good kick in the butt (and not the butt-stuff, either) about posting when I'm busy spazzing out about all the other things I put off until it's almost too late. For example, the flower girl dresses I'm sewing right now, which need to be in North Carolina in three weeks. I am getting close to panic mode, and just thinking about them makes my heart rate jump. I am no industrious ant, I am all lackadaisical grasshopper. Winter's almost here (for real, sniff), and I frittered away my summer, instead of slaving over satin in the sweatshop.

I'm not making much sense, am I? Did I mention I'm tired? Fighting a cold--thanks, kids. Little germ factories, them.

Right, off to bed with me, and hopefully tomorrow I will finish those blasted dresses.

So Sue Me

Yeah, I am a slack bitch. Whatever.

Anyway, I was just reading this awesome post, and the awesome comments, and it inspired me to share my own childrens' awesomeness.

N and G like to be nude whenever possible. Being boys, they are obsessed with their penises. They are also within that magical age range where they are learning about bodies and the anatomical differences between men and women. So they are talking about their penises, and how poor mommy doesn't have one. Mommy has a 'gina. G tucks his little penis into his clamped thighs and says, "Is this a 'gina?" N snorts and replies, "No way." Then he adds with a small measure of disgust, "'Ginas are hairy."

This is a slight improvement from recent days when they referred to my genital region as a butt. As in, "Why do you pee from your butt?" One day, fresh out of the shower and getting dressed for the day, G wandered through the room of naked bodies telling us, "Ha ha, I see your penis. Ha ha, I see your butt." When he got to me, he glanced at my crotch and said, "Ha ha, I see your...butt-stuff."

Continuing in this vein, I remember the day I took N with me to a midwife appointment, as I always did. I was pregnant with G then, and N was 2. The appointment started with me collecting a urine sample to test for proteins and sugars. Usually N played in the waiting room while I used the nearby washroom, but this time he opted to come in with me. He watched intently as I filled my little plastic cup, and his eyes got big. I was formulating how I could explain that people only pee in cups under very special circumstances, when he interrupted my frantically whirring brain with an excited, "Mom! Juice! Butt!" He was clearly in awe of me. Why had I never told him I could make juice with my butt? Milk from one end and juice from the other--I was amazing. All this and I can sew too! Is there no end to my superpowers?

In other news, I took both my big boys to school today. It was a long day, as I lurked around the halls all day with the baby tied to me, spying on my kids as they met teachers and kids and toured the school. I think the day went relatively well, and I look forward to the day I can dump them without qualms (from them or me) and run gleefully away for a few hours with just one kid to wrangle. Yay school! Viva l'education!