List that could be a lot longer

Five things that always make me think of my sister:

5. The Little Mermaid. She took me to see it in the theater.
4. Fozzie Bear. Just because.
3. Tape recorders, and cassettes full of goofy songs and fake interviews.
2. Our family recipe for hot Chinese chicken with cashews.
1. We are from the planet of the toes. We're here for your daughters.

Geek hearts!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I went black and I wanna go back

Hello there, my morning readers... and my night time readers... and all the readers in between. This may sound silly, but yesterday I completely forgot to write. I thought about my topic for the day, as usual, but I got side tracked trying to do online grocery shopping, then at night when I would normally have been blogging, Frank distracted me with an argument and I got so fed up that I went out for a drive.

It all started when I was dabbing on some Lansinoh, trying to soothe my skin after feeding the baby. Her nickname is The Shark, and lately she's really tearing up my skin. I sense there'll be visible teeth in the near future! So instead of sitting down for the lovely dinner Frank was making, I was puttering around the dining room, putting on my pouty face and trying to give myself a little air. Frank announced that HE was sitting down, I guess implying that I should do the same, and one grumble led to another and before I knew it I was aggrevated and out the door, keys in hand. So not like me. I never leave the house like that. I'd just had it, was irritated that I was now being ignored, and decided that since both kids were asleep it would be good to just be in my own space and be alone for an hour.

I got back and thought about finishing up the online grocery shopping, but it was taking so long I decided to scrap the idea and head to bed. Glad I did, because both kids were up at 6am and both of them were really excited about that. I made a pot of coffee and cursed the fact that the only dairy product we have that's even remotely suitable for coffee is... ugh... yogurt? No. So I had my coffee black and *blech* it was gross. In the words of my hubby, "I take my coffee black. Black. Like my soul."

Playgroup highlights

Today we had the first meeting with our official playgroup. There are supposed to be four moms and their kids involved, but today it was just me and April from the group with our kids. Another mom from the club, Lauren, also came over with her little girl and we had coffee and cake while the kids had crackers and pretzels and juice. We sat outside and chatted while the kids played in April's amusement-filled yard. All in all, a fantastic morning. Here are some of the highlights:

* Nico played in the sand box. The evidence came home with us in the form of sand-filled shoes, a sand-filled onesie, and a sand-filled diaper.

* The kids kept raiding April's garden. Many a cherry tomato was sacrificed for the sake of adventure and repeated taste-testing.

* Nico fell backwards off the kiddie size picnic table. Momentary surprise was replaced almost instantaneously by the desire to climb back up on top of the table and do it again.

I have to admit it was tough to let Nico run free at someone else's house. I made a real effort not to hover, and to let him have space enough to fall down if he was going to fall down, and run where he wanted to run, and taste sand if wanted to put the toy shovel into his mouth. The reward for restraining myself was seeing Nico having a genuinely great time. He even showed off his dance moves during the impromptu boogie-down session the kids got into at the end of the play date. Once back at home, we had lunch and Nico went straight down for a nap. Tonight when Mom gets here, we're having Panera for dinner and then I'm heading out to take the CPR/First Aid class I've been wanted to attend for the past two years. For now, I'm going to make myself a glass of iced tea and remember my favorite little moments from this morning. Today feels so damn sweet I may not even need to put sugar in my drink.

Buzz hungry

Today, the only thing I want to have is coffee. I had my usual morning cup, and I guess it was just too good because that's all I feel like drinking. I wish I had some coffee ice cream... that would be perfect! I keep wanting to say that I just wanna eat coffee all day. But that's like saying your favorite flavor popsicle is red.

Today I left the stroller outside after our morning walk. We missed our usual walking club at the park because Nico had some tummy trouble, so instead of rushing him around I decided to slow things down for him until he was up for a stroll around here. For the first time he fell asleep in the stroller. Very cute. The kids are both napping right now and I know I should eat actual food, but instead I'm brewing another pot and getting my sugar spoon all set to plunk and stir. I watched the two minutes of Weeds I missed last night, and wound up finishing the episode and found myself connecting way too much with Celia... should I really drink more coffee right now? Ah what the hell, might as well. After I get the stroller back into the car, there are two bags of trash on the deck that have to go to the dumpster. Once that's done, I really need to start boxing up some books or some other non-essential items.

I'm looking at my bag o' magnets, all my fridge decorations that I took down this morning in an effort to start early on the little things. I started to get upset about leaving this house. I think I really do need that cup of coffee so I can drown my sorrows and focus on moving forward. Onward and upward we go.

A lovely home, my Lady!

It's official. I'm on my way to becoming a landlady. The title seems at once so official and so cheesy. Landlord packs a better punch, I think, but there's not much I can do about that. When I picture a landlord, I see someone in Renaissance-type dress, brown soft leather knee-high lace-up boots, small sword at the hip, ready to collect his pouch of gold coins on the first of each month. When I think of a landlady, all I see is Helen Roper.

As of today, our condo is officially on the market for rental. Once we find a suitable tenant, we'll be off to the great white north. North Jersey, where we'll rent a place until we find a new home. We'll be back in this area one day since we'd both like to have the kids go to school here, but for now the landlord has had his fill of commuting to Manhattan and he really needs a break. He also wants to spend that four hours a day with his family rather than on a bus, and we couldn't be happier about that.

So you can call me My Lady. Or Helen. We all know she was the brains of that whole operation anyway.

F*ck your Miata with a strap-on, b*tch. We gettin' a Escalade.

We play fill in the blanks all the time around here. The game of the week is, We need a bigger _____ . Bigger house, bigger car, bigger laptop bag for work. Bigger jeans (size 25? I won't try to kid myself. I'll take the 28s, thanks). We also need more _____ . More hard drive space, more bedrooms, more bananas and more milk. More coffee, too.

Maybe all this bigger and more isn't such a bad thing. The hubby and I lived a fairly compact life for years, and I think maybe now is the perfect time to stretch out a bit and let ourselves take up more space. I'm not looking to drive an Escalade, or buy a five bedroom home for the hell of it, just so I can announce to people that I could have two sets of guests overnight without even barely noticing. Excess doesn't interest me, and my overnight guests are used to sleeping on our sofa. I prefer to think of it as getting un-cramped. Upping my comfort level, if you will. One can only go so long trying to squeeze a size 28 ass into a size 25 life.

*Title spoken by Clinique, to Sanjay, from this week's episode.