Thursday

This morning... coffee and a visit with Jen. This afternoon... put away piles of clean clothes. Where? No idea. No room left in dresser. This evening... make pasta sauce. Tonight... make friends with calculator and add up the business dining receipts I've been avoiding. The pile is huge, and looking at all the Akira slips make me long for shrimp tempura rolls and avocado salad.

Pre-spring reflection

I keep finding myself on the verge of semi-happy tears today. I have "Anyone Else But You" (movie version of the Moldy Peaches song) playing on repeat, and I'm singing it to the baby. Last winter when I was pregnant with Liv, Frank would download new movies for us to watch at night and one of them was "Juno". I keep thinking about being in our old place, with the big master bedroom, and Nico sleeping in his room next door, and Frank and me spooning on the bed. He would hug me a little bit tighter every time we felt the baby kick. Those were some of the best nights of my life. I think of all that, and then I think about how much I miss him, and there go the waterworks.

It's time for me to stay home again. Lauren comes back to work soon, and I'm ready for the change. Nico will still go to school two days a week, and it'll be nice for the baby and me to have some time alone. I think about those days when we first brought the kids home, and those first months, and I look at them now and they're both growing so fast. It makes me a little jealous when I see more friends starting families, because being a new parent is an amazing experience. Before any tears start rolling over that one, I remember that I never want to be pregnant again, and then I go back to crying over "Juno".

Watching my own life move forward is sometimes a little difficult. I love progress, and I love watching myself grow. When I see a change in myself, though, I look back and get emotional. Perhaps it's got something to do with seeing myself in the same way I see the kids. I acknowledge the past while looking forward to what's next. I look after them, and myself, and I think of my husband and the things that make up his life. This puts me on the verge of a whole other conversation about reincarnation and magnetism, and I'm sure none of you have three days to sit and read all I have to say about those topics. Liv's early nap will give me a chance to meditate on these feelings, get everything settled in my own mind, and then I can carry on with my day.

Receipts, day two

I'm working some real magic with this pile of receipts here. Starting to think I missed my calling as an accountant.

Post number 423

I was just putting my computer to sleep so I can get in a quick shower before sorting the last of the receipts. I'm looking forward to a little reading and relaxing, and early bed. Mom had just gotten up off the sofa, and she was walking past me in a most amusing fashion. Very old lady-like. I looked at her, stood up, and walked through the kitchen behind her, giggling to myself. She looked back at me as we walked through the front living room, and this was the conversation as we continued down the hallway.

Karen: (laughter)
Mom: You had no idea your mother was so crotchety, did you?
Karen: (more laughter) Don't say anything that starts with the word 'crotch'.
Mom: Still horny, are ya? Did you keep your promise to God that night?
Both: (loudest laughter possible without waking two sleeping children)
Karen: (still laughing) Yes. Thanks, Mom.

Possibly legal, definitely creative

Tax time. I'm sorting all the receipts Frank dutifully folds and stuffs into his jeans pockets all year long. Business lunches here, prescriptions and doctor copays there, and a pile of tiny MTA Manhattan-to-Brooklyn receipts off to the side. Every year I find a few things that take a little effort to push into the believable deductions column, but once I start making the connections, there's no stopping me. At the risk of being completely busted should an ugly audit situation arise, I will tell you (in a whisper) of my favorite of this year's deduction thus far... Fay's wedding.

There's no way I can convince myself to itemize the gifts or the bridal shower, but pretty much everything else is up for consideration now that I'm writing things off as business expenses. Why, you ask? Because technically, Fay was my client. I laid out her entire wedding package -- invitations and programs to illustrations and vectoring. And so, Chinese fabric and custom dress tailoring? Check. Bridge fare and gas to and from Philly? Check. Lunch meetings with the bride? Check. Let this be an inspiration to you all. Itemizing rules.

Ohhh... Livia!

So you've pulled out the big guns, eh? Poopie diaper? At 2:30am? Classic. Just wanna let you know, crying it out is still on. In fact, it's more on than it was at 2:29 since you've made me leave my room and get my hands dirty. I even gave you "ten times up", which would turn your brother green with envy since he only ever got "three times up".

I understand you're probably hating me right about now, and that's okay. I know you'll still want me to hold you later. So poopie up your diaper, stand there crying until 4:00, get snot all over yourself, and then fall asleep standing up (another classic!). I'm not getting out of bed again. And guess what -- neither are you!

P.S. I love you, Livi.