Despite the adventure of yesterday, Katie is full of spit and vinegar this morning. Right now she is trying to close her sister in the shirt hamper. Julie is not cooperating. Smart Girl!
We have an appointment with our pediatrician's associate on Tuesday to get the stitches out.
Despite Katie's refusal to wear a bandaid the cut looks clean and dry.

And now we go downstairs and get some lunch.

GHR

So we decided that the holly hedge in front of the house was scraggly and uncooperative. And the little juniper accent bushes were just giving up the ghost. We had them all pulled out and some nice soft trainable yew bushes and a couple of boxwoods put in. They look very nice , but as the are newly planted they are still a bit small. I decided to put in some flowers. The girls and I went to Home Depot to pick out some annuals. Katie was being Queen Crankypants and spent much of the browsing time lying in the cart wailing. I tried to get her attention by asking her what she thought of various kinds of flowers and she gradually calmed down. I found some lovely lilies (theoretically perennials, but we'll see) but couldn't decide between the yellow, orange and red. I asked Katie which ones she liked best and she pointed to the impatiens on the next shelf.
I ended up with a flat of marigolds (The rust ones with an orange center.)
Two lily plants (one red, one orange,) and a 9 cell flat of red impatiens for Katie.
I managed to get the lilies planted while Julie was napping.
The impatiens was looking a little peaked and I wanted to get them into soil ASAP. After the girls were in bed and I had cleaned up the supper dishes I turned on the porch light and planted the impatiens.
When they were in the ground I just sat there a while and listened to the quiet. It was by no means silent. We live close to the airport, and there is always traffic noise, and the wind in the trees. But it was quiet. Calm. No crying children, nobody playing basketball, no radio or TV Jeez, I've forgotten how good it can sound.
So now I'm up way too late, and morning will come way too soon, But I needed that.

GHR

We had a lovely time. Saw old friends. Met new ones. Heard awesome music. tigerbright and her team did a wonderful job occupying the girls so I could participate in the convention activities. Our concert went well, but it would have been nice to have practiced more. My workshop went well. We had lots of good discussion on picking material to suit your own style and fitting the mood of the room. I will post more on that later as some very interesting questions were raised.
The only downside of the weekend was the allergy attack that had me congested and sneezy Sunday. It's getting better, Zyrtek is my friend.
I want to thank madfilkentist and his whole committee for giving us a lovely weekend.

I also want to thank hms42 for producing such a lovely keepsake CD for the con. We listened to it on the way home and it was waycool.

I hear Julie waking up and Katie wants lunch. Must go now. Reality calls.

GHR

Roper and Erica have stayed for the deaddog, but it was time for the girls to be home.
Julie is having a nap and Katie is having a bit of quiet time in mommy's bed with Tigger and Pooh.
We had a blast. The girls had a wonderful time in Child Care. Duck has an EXCELLENT Child care program. Katie and Julie got to play with lots of kids and I got to see some of the con. I even got to sing a couple of songs Saturday night.
I played "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" with cadhla, filkertom,musicmutt and a fellow named Trevor whom I hadn't met before, but who makes a fine Hobbit Jackalope.
Sales were good due to the large number of out-of-district filkers in attendance.
Didn't get to spend much time with some folks I wanted to see, but there are only so many hours in the day.

And A Good Time was had by all.


GHR

Eeyore's secret identity is Optimus Prime.

GHR

I remember being told when I was a child that we shouldn't turn on flourscent lights for short periods because it wastes energy since the bulbs have to "warm up' whenever they come on. So flourescent lighting made sense for offices and stores where they are on all day and off all night, but not for bathrooms or laundry rooms where you go, do your thing, and leave in short order. Rooms in houses fall somewhere in between.
Is this no longer the case? Are flouresent lights enough better now that it makes sense to convert all your lamps?


GHR

So why am I up at 1:30 in the morning watching Ghost Adventures on the travel channel?

GHR

Danny the plumber arrived at 9:15 and was done by 10:30. He had to take the toilet off to get at the obstruction. We can't use the thing for 24 hours so the sealant can cure.
And the culprit was half of a hot pink plastic easter egg.
ANd the moral of the story is:
Always look before you flush.

GHR

The plunging has been ineffectual. Plumber has been called. As we have two other working toilets, they are coming tomorrow. No point in paying after-hours rates.

GHR

Julie is finally down for a nap and Katie is parked in front of The Tigger Movie.
Now I get to go and plunge the downstairs toilet.

Sigh.
GHR

So, we've been trying to toilet train Katie. She's in pull-ups during the day so that when the opportunity strikes we can act on it quickly. But sometimes there are unintended consequences.

We were sitting around the table lingering over dinner. Katie had left the table and was dismantling the couch. She seemed to be pushing then suddenly ran out of sight. I asked if she were poopy and was answered by silence. I announced that I was going to get a clean pull-up and Katie should meet me in the bathroom.

Before I was out of my chair, Katie walked in the room holding her pull-up carefully in two hands. She handed it to me and announced "That's one BIG poopy!"

And it was, too.


GHR

The trees are in! We have a magnolia in the front yard and a redbud in the back.
They are both lovely, although it will take a few years before either can be called "stately'.

GHR

I was watching one of the home improvement shows on HGTV this evening and I once again wondered who decides what is fashionable. I see them doing such impractical, expensive things because "buyers demand" updated, fashionable kitchens and bathrooms. Ceiling fans are out despite their environmental benefits. Medicine cabinets are out despite their practicality. You MUST have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.
Who decides this stuff?


GHR

So we were at Sweet Baby Ray's for dinner. Katie suddenly announced she was wet, picked up the diaper bag and headed off towards the ladies' room. (I followed.) Now if only she would only tell us before she was wet...

GHR

Katie spent the day swinging wildly between clingy and bratty. She wanted a bottle tonight, not milk, but formula. She wanted to make the bottle and was very unhappy when daddy took it from her to screw the cap on and shake it. She stomped up the stairs grumping all the way and tried to wheedle me into going to find her blanket (the badi) I was in the midst of changine a very poopy Julie diaper and flatly refused. I told her where the badi was and went back to my task, ignoring her. She found the badi, went into her room and closed the door. It wasn't, quite, a slam.
I went in to change her and she said quite clearly, "get out of my room." She agreed to the change, but would not out on pajamas.
She didn't request a kiss when I left.

We are sooo doomed.

GHR

Julie is napping. This is a good thing as she is cutting two bicuspids at the same time. She was verrrrrry fussy yesterday. Today is better.

Katie has gone with Daddy to Lurvey's Garden Center to shop for a tree for the back yard. We have a pin oak, a sunset maple and a river birch. Daddy wants something that will spread a bit and produce shade.
Roper has just called to report he has ordered a redbud for the back yard and wants to get an oak or maple for the front yard to go between our bedroom window and the streetlight. I advised him to give the neighbors a call as it would be very close to the lot line. Otherwise, this strikes me as a fine idea.

I have a bit of quiet time. I just potted a piece of Christmas cactus that julie pulled off the main plant. I popped it in water on the off chance that it wasn't too damaged to root. It rooted fine, and is now settled on the dining room windowsill.

My knee is feeling much better due to applications of my kneebrace, aspirin, and judicious babying. (It's a good thing Julie is walking now. yesterday I couldn't have carried her far.)

Well, back to the potting soil. Since I have the time I want to re-pot a few more things.


GHR

1) What's grey and sings jazz?


2)If New York is the city that never sleeps, What east coast city sleeps a lot?

( Answers Within )

GHR

Today the girls and I went down to dek9 's place for a play date with her and her kids. We had a lovely time. The adults had a nice conversation while the kids played, then we all adjourned to McDonald's (with the Play Place) for lunch.

I really would rather not eat the food, but having a place for the kids to run around while we chatted was really nice.

Thursday, I get to have lunch at the same mcD's with cary_lee. My mommy-needs-adult-conversation cup runneth over.

GHR

My child is still alive.
The cat is still alive.
Only time will tell if either survives 'till morning.

GHR

Lunch, shopping, rearranging the tupperware cabinet, a trip to Lowes, 5 loads of laundry, many diapers, putting new glides on a kitchen chair, more taxes, a pot a chile, and many episodes of Shaun the Sheep.

The house is still a mess.
The girls are asleep and my husband is playing his guitar. I must go.

GHR