This One Goes Out To Mr F

Again with the sideways upload! I suppose that's good since that is about the only challenge you'll have with this one. That and decoding Kid's crazy marker over crayon technique (which she is exceedingly proud of).
It's fascinating that as soon as I decided to start pointing out her creative spelling she made a huge leap. Dang it. Although again she's exceedingly proud of herself (I am too).




Transcribed:

Dad Plees
Send Me
a box
uv
choclit




*********************************************************
Today is the day that Kid's friend's kind mother is coming by to pick up BOTH girls (I said kind). Of course before 9 AM I've already gotten two showings for this afternoon. Which means instead of having a break, which I, quite frankly, desperately need... I'll be preparing my house for showings again. Waiting the hour between them, coming back and making sure the first group didn't track mud through the house, despite my sign asking politely that they remove their shoes (they never do... NEVER), and re-cleaning the floors and turning all the lights back on. Awesome. I can't wait for that kind of relaxation.

Someone better buy my house today.

5 showings in less than 48 hours... that's gotta be a good sign.

*******Gah!!! Just got a third showing...in... half and hour!!!!!*********************

Bitch Fest Friday and bonus boring updates!!!

I don't personally have any major bitches. We had two showings yesterday and another one coming up this afternoon. I'm pretty happy about that since doing the major cleaning on Wednesday is seeing me through 3 showings with only a moderate amount of *perfecting*.

The weather has been all over the place. I feel like we're already back in Michigan (that's a weather reference... all you non-Michiganders). Yesterday afternoon a crazy high speed wind blew through. It was insane and then poof it was over. Weird. But I liked it. That's some of the stuff I love about a Michigan spring... stormy, eerie, tornados... we don't get very much weather drama here. I'm looking forward to it. Maybe we'll get there before it's all over (please?!!).

Spring is strangely late here which I've always been surprised about. Plenty of people on the internets have posted shots of buds and flowers. We've only got tulip leaves coming up now and a few crocuses. I saw some buds on our neighbors willow tree.

I keep hoping someone will make an offer on the house before I have to plant our front bed. It needs it! But those damn slugs (remember?!!!) they eat everything and it's like flushing money down the toilet. For now I can still pull off the dormant garden look. If we get back from Easter break I'll have to do something. I think we might also have a rabbit in the mix...

That's all folks.

Everyone else have at it.

When I Said I'd Get Back To You Later

I guess I meant later later.

I can do all of this. All of it. It is just the showings that push me over the edge. It's a lot of work by myself, especially since every showing happens when I'm watching the baby (what is with that?!). Which means one extra human to try and care for and quickly clean up after all while trying to leave the house spotless and on time. It's rough. I need 8 hands and I only have 2.

Oh and another light bulb blew this morning. 15 minutes before our showing. So you know what I had to do:

At least this fixture hangs down a good bit from the ceiling. It was a lot less scary (still scary) (especially scary because it is so fucking ugly...)

P.S. Mr F, yeah I am not ever going to go to the garage and carry and 8 foot fiberglass ladder all around our muddy yard to the front door and then into the house. You are smokin' crack. I'd rather break my arms and legs than contemplate that 1/2 hour maneuver first thing in the morning. Especially when I only have 15 minutes to pull it off.


Sorry peeps, this week has sucked the life out of me. Maybe I'll be back to something remotely interesting next week?

Things Went Better Last Night

Thank God.

More later...


Later:

2 showings tomorrow! Good thing I had a little sleep (only woke me up 3 times!) and I had started a serious clean going on the house before I got the calls.

Scottish food for dinner.

Check back tomorrow afternoon once this all blows through.

Baby Is Trying To Kill Me

Last night was the third night in a row of near constant wakings.

I don't know what is going on but she's been having nightmares that involve strange physical manifestations like sitting up, walking out of bed, flailing, fighting, burying herself. It's nuts. She talks but isn't awake... or is awake but isn't coherent. She cries, screams, and laughs. And it goes on ALL NIGHT.
I have maybe had 2 hours of total sleep each night.

Then of course I have to get up at the crack of dawn to watch the baby.

As much as I want to sell this house I just desperately hope nobody calls for a showing today (or tomorrow). I think I might actually collapse if I had to get on my knees and scrub the kitchen floor right now.

I also need to go get some Unisom so I can fall to sleep more easily.

And I need Baby to just have at it with whatever virus she is brewing up in there.

Vomit, cough, runny nose... any of that is better than zombie time.

Set Your Tivos

I watched the sneak peak of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution last night.

Seriously peeps, set your Tivos, or old school VHS, for this Friday, 8 PM, on ABC.

I think this is something we all need to watch.

You can watch the sneak preview episode HERE.

I watched his British version some time back and was really moved by it. But I think this hits closer to home. And as we get ready to enroll Kid in public school this Fall school lunches have been on my mind. I can only hope he takes his Food Revolution to Michigan before we get there.

Weekend In Pictures

We had a lovely 4 day weekend. The weather (until today) has been hovering right around 70.

I took the kids for a drive and picnic up along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Mr F called and wanted to give me some tips from the magazine about things to do along the way. I said "2 small children, early spring, bears... yeah... we're not going to be doing anything along the way."
I took them for a hike at the Botanical Gardens instead. I haven't been there since last year and Baby has made a huge leap in endurance and I didn't have to carry her at all (yay!!).

Yesterday I packed up the kids' bikes and took them to some flat paved trails. Baby was a little too distracted to steer down the path... so... that was a maddeningly long bike ride with me constantly dragging her back on course, and eventually taking over and using her trike as a scooter (hello bent over back pain!).

But, hey, at least they can't say I didn't do anything with them.
I even helped them climb trees. Until Baby decided to just throw herself off of a branch without warning me, nearly breaking all my ribs as she knocked me to the ground.


In other fronts, I changed that lightbulb in the hallway yesterday (remember 10 foot ceilings, 5 foot Mrs F). I honestly wouldn't have changed it if our house wasn't on the market and that hallway wasn't so damn dark. Have I ever mentioned I'm afraid of heights (and hence ladders)? And that to change that bulb I had to stand on the top step (which clearly says not to stand on it)? And that this ladder is crazy rickety and 12 years old (I know because I bought it in NY)? And that to remove the light fixture I HAD TO BALANCE WITHOUT HOLDING ON TO ANYTHING WHILE THE LADDER SWAYED WHILE I USED ONE HAND TO UNSCREW THE FIXTURE AND THE OTHER TO HOLD THE LARGE GLASS SHADE (which is the size of my head not my hand)?!?! Even Mr F gets me to help him when he does this. I was shaking and so scared that my hands started to not work (you know?! Like in one of those bad dreams). Seriously. I had one screw undone and then my hand wouldn't move to unscrew the others. I thought I was going to die. I couldn't stop or I'd drop the glass shade. It was horrible. And then as if that wasn't enough, after changing the bulb I got the pleasure of doing it all over again to get the shade back on. Amazingly I did it. And, you know how everyone says you'll have some triumphant surge of adrenaline when you concur a fear? Nope. I never need to do that again.

On an ultra positive, and completely unrelated, note we got a special delivery this weekend:

Mr F took some food photos for this dinner delivery service a couple of months back. He traded his shots for food for me. Yay! Everything is frozen and ready to heat and eat. I had already done a major grocery shop so I've been using that up... but I'm excited to start adding in some low cook days into my week.
We even got a pineapple upside down cake which we began enjoying immediately.



That's all I've got. It's cold and rainy and I'm giving myself the day off and the Disney Channel the day on ;)