Friday Daybook

Outside: Have barely noticed. I'm running around like a headless chicken preparing to go to Indy tonight -- by the way, Indy friends, Will and I will be staying in town for the whole week! Call my cell if you want to get together!
Thinking: Of all things, about this new (furniture) love of my life:


I love it in red but I think I'll get it in black (always elegant, and as I like to say, "black is the denim of the furniture world"). I'm planning a whole dining room around this one piece, because I'm so in love with it! I've always wanted a big china cabinet, a big trestle table a la French countryside, and several Parsons chairs with a collection of slipcovers that I can change out with my moods. I've never liked matchy-matchy dining rooms and when I saw this cabinet in Pottery Barn, I knew it would be my dining room "anchor." However, it costs an arm, a leg, and my first child. Seeing as I can't spare these, I'm going to stalk it on the Internet for a drop in price and simultaneously save our slush-money pennies. Have I mentioned that I LOVE this cabinet???
Thankful: That today is my last day at work. I'm so relieved to be done. And so ready to focus on my husband, babies, and home.
From the kitchen: Nothing from my kitchen! I'm running the last dishes in the dishwasher and taking out the trash in preparation to be away. Coming from my Mama's kitchen, though, is another story...I'm about to go get culinar-ily (is that a word?) spoiled.
Creating: I'm taking Puppy's baby book and all my chicken-scratch notes and emails to myself about his milestones and funny anecdotes. I'm going to get his baby book caught up before I have to start a new one in August!
Reading: The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard:


I've absolutely loved this book and will be reading more by this author.
Hoping: For an easy, safe trip to Indy. Once we're there, my mom is going to take Will at night when he wakes up, at least for a couple nights so we can catch up on sleep. Not to dive into a whine-fest, but let's just say that I was in tears at 3:00 this morning, after having been dealing for a couple hours with the child who will not sleep. Marty and I really are at our wits' end. We have tried EVERYthing suggested to us and nothing is working. If anyone can offer any advice, we would love to try something else. (Please note: we can't do the cry-it-out method. Our kid can vomit at will and will do so if he's left in his crib to cry it out [which we hate anyway]. So, that's not gonna work.)
Hearing: My dryer buzzing. Second-to-last load is ready to fold. Gotta go!
A favorite thing: A perpetual welcome at my parents' house, to stay as long as I like. Love that. Half-Price Books, which I'm going to visit while home. The most enormous (TJMaxx) Home Goods store I've ever seen, on the north side of Indy, which I'm also going to "visit" while I'm home (by "visit," of course, I mean "shop every corner searching for brilliant little fun things for my home!"). A chance to see friends who I miss like crazy!

My best friend is a Shark

Actually, I have two new best friends, and they are both Sharks. Meet Shark #1:

This is the Shark stick vacuum. I believe we got it for $69.99 at Target just a couple weeks ago. I have all hardwood floors in my apartment with just a few area rugs to break up spaces, so I needed a light vacuum made for hard surfaces, and man-oh-man, I LOVE THIS THING. The only downside is it uses a rechargeable battery, so sometimes if you're on a cleaning spree, your battery will run down and you will have to wait to recharge it to get going again. But this isn't a big deal, as I usually get all my work done before I lose the charge. Everything else about this little wonder is great: super light-weight, gets everything on the floor, isn't even that loud. You do have to dump the canister full of cruddies when you're done, but I keep grocery-store plastic bags about for just this purpose. Sooo much better than a broom and dustpan! I use it every couple days, especially in the kitchen and around Puppy's highchair.

Meet my second new best friend, Shark #2:

This is the Shark steam mop, which was $99.99 at Target. Again, I wanted an alternative to the yucky old mop and bucket. I had a Libman mop for awhile but I hated having to dump dirty water and squeeze out the mop into a sink, because then I'd have to turn around and clean that sink! With the steam mop, you use the removable cloth pads and just throw them in the washer when they're dirty on both sides. The water you put in the small tank evaporates into the steam that's used to clean the floors, which only stay damp for a few seconds (just long enough to see where your next stroke should be). The hot steam REALLY cleans up, too, and makes hardwood nice and shiny. This mop is easy to use, and like it's stick-vac sister, is very lightweight and small. Together I store them right next to the washer and dryer in the laundry closet. I use the mop about twice a week, though I would probably use it less if I didn't have a son who had hands and knees on the floor all the time, as he's crawling everywhere these days.

Just a note: I'm getting no money for endorsing these products (though I wish I was!). This is just friendly little pass-along from one domestic diva to another. I love a good product recommendation and I love giving them, too. Does anyone have a cleaning product/accessory they'd like to recommend? Please share in the comments! Thanks, dolls!

Will's thoughts (or Mommy's attempt at guessing them)

Busted! But is there anything better than pulling things out of drawers?

Aww, look at that. Mommy pulled out the camera again. I'll humor her and give her a nice little pose.

Coming in for a closer look...Mommy, I don't think you're doing that right.

I wonder what kind of mischief I can get into now...

Oh for heaven's sake, Mommy, STILL with the camera? (See, Nana and Pa-Pa, the "schnooty face" is alive and well.)

Mommy, do you mind? I'm trying to climb a lamp here.

And by the way, how could you ever enforce a bedtime on me?

Fine. I'll give you one more smile, and I'll even throw in a bonus of a shot of my teeth. Silly Mommy with her camera!

Rest in peace, Miss Rue

I'm positive I'm going to get mocked for this, but I was deeply saddened to hear today that Rue McClanahan (of "Golden Girls" fame) died this morning.

Yes, it's probably weird that a Gen-X'er such as myself has seen every episode of the Golden Girls, which originally aired back in the 80's and was a favorite of my grandparents. For some reason, I've always found comfort in watching the old re-runs...Rose would always be getting into some scrape or another through her naive, guileless, trusting behavior; Dorothy would always be snarking about it; Sophia would contribute her usual humorous, Italian-inspired two cents; and Blanche -- Blanche would be floating through a room wearing one of her organza robes and patting her coiffure while offering up some obscure Southernism in her fabulous Georgia accent.

I'm sure you can guess who was my favorite! These girls were the original Sex and the City, weren't they? They showed that dating -- at any age, 30-something or 50-something, and in any city, Manhattan or Miami -- is full of emotional landmines and potential heartbreak, but that at the end of the day, your girlfriends will always be there for you and will share your burdens over cheesecake or cosmopolitans, even if Mr. Big or Mr. Right never does show up. I loved them all, but Rue's performance as Blanche always stole the show, in my opinion. She made growing old(er) look fabulous and even fun! Now that's talent.

Rest in peace, Miss Rue. You will be missed.

Tuesday Daybook

Outside: An overcast day with rain in the forecast. I hope the skies really open up and we have a huge thunderstorm like we did last week. I love watching thunderstorms (from behind closed, secure windows!).
Thinking: About spiritual things. About faith and religion and the difference between the two. Also thinking about my blog-friend Sarah, who will be delivering her twin girls this week. Reminiscing about those first few precious hours and days with my baby Will, and how quickly they go by!
Thankful: For my friend Kristen. Her birthday is Sunday and I am missing her so much! Happy Birthday, dear friend!
From the kitchen: So I bought couscous. I'm going to experiment this week. Wish me luck! Also, I made an amazing pot roast yesterday; Marty declared it to be in the top 10 meals he's ever had, WOW! My cooking skills have certainly come a long way. I can't wait to practice even more.
Creating: Lucy's side of the nursery. Her furniture is being delivered tomorrow and I'm geeked-excited about it!
Going: to the doctor's tomorrow. I'm already to the point of biweekly visits. I could hardly believe it when they didn't schedule me for a month ahead, but rather 2 weeks ahead, at my last visit. I looked at the nurse with absolute incredulity and she just blinked and said, "Well honey, you'll be 30 weeks, won't you?" Holy cow. It seems like it will never end and then suddenly, the end is in sight!
Reading: The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian. I asked for book recommendations -- more specifically, I asked for a book that would knock my socks off -- and Kate recommended this one. And it has definitely delivered -- I even had dreams about it last night!
Hoping: to finish my enormous to-do list in the next 68 days. One of the major items on the list is Will's first birthday party, only a month away! I've got to get my tail in gear on that one.
Hearing: Jessie playing stacking cups and blocks with Will while they watch Clifford. Puppy is in such a good mood today, giggling at everything. He's so cute, he's edible.
A favorite thing: A pristine, sparkling kitchen. Pottery Barn items to save for and dream about having one day. A work agenda that suddenly features no projects after June 11th! Yahoo!