that kind of day

Today has been that kind of day.

In fact, the weekend was pretty much the same.

One step forward, two steps back.

Last night I was going to blog, and check a few of my favorite places only to find that our internet connection was kaput. Earlier in the day it had been working fine, of course. I had just settled into the sofa all cozy and ready to stay put. No internet. I know a thing or two about re-establishing the connection. Trial and error has made me proficient at it. I'm not an expert or anything, but I can ususally do it by myself.

And because my husband likes to do things the hard way, the router is in the basement ceiling. (Right where you would expect to find it, I know.) So I go to reset the connection, and the modem has no power going to it. Dead as a doornail. Who knows why it chose to die at that moment. So until I dragged my sorry butt to Radio Shack, there weren't gonna be any internets. Phooey.

I woke up this morning intending to spend the day with Kelley, and instead felt like crud becasue I didn't sleep well at all last night. I had terrible cramps for starters, and the tickle in my throat has returned. I couldn't stop clearing my throat or coughing. This in turn gave me horrific heartburn, which made sleeping near to impossible. To make up for my lack of sleep, I slept until noon.

Yeah, I said noon.

I'm unemployed, remember?

To cap off my day of fun I bought Emma two pair of pants that don't fit and need to be returned (naturally), bought a new adapter plug, cleaned up the shattered remains of my new Ikea clock,

(who knew glass could fly that far?), reset the router, dug out some bins of hand-me-down jeans, cleaned cat poo off the floor, and made dinner.

I know you wish you were me. Admit it.

And just because nothing is better than shopping to cure what ails you, I bought a bathing suit today. You can stop laughing now. My hot tub suit is practically transparent. It was needed.

So here's to tomorrow and do-overs, and plastic clocks & the magic that is the internet.

this box

came in the mail today and manohman am I going to have one happy ten year old when I pick her up from Girl Scouts. 

This box contains two Christmas gifts, for which she has been (mostly) patiently waiting.

It was ordered the first week of December, and is just now getting here.

So much for internet shopping being faster.

These were two of her highest requested items and I know she will enjoy them.

I'll even let her open the box for herself!

fetching!

Look what I made!

This fingerless glove is called 'fetching' and it represents a  lot of firsts for me!

-it's my first glove

-it's the first time I tried magic loop, and I have mastered the technique!

-it's the first time i made cables, which I love but am scared of. They are ridiculously do-able.

And the best part is that you can make a pair in less than a weekend. Seriously!

I am going to make many pairs in many colors and yarns.

So now I am going to try another first-a sweater for myself!

My house smells delicious right now, because I am making this for dinner. It's Sharyn's fault. She made it first and talked it up so much I just had to try it. And her kids ate many helpings of it, so I figured it was worth a try.

It really smells fantabulous.

Dinner is a long time from now.

FLARG!

Guess where we went this weekend? Does this give you a hint?

Yes, we went to the mecca of home decor, IKEA.

I love IKEA. I could spend all

 day there.

Wait, we pretty much did.

It had been awhile since we browsed the showroom (and Bart had a secret plan in mind), so Saturday we trekked to Canton. I could tell it was going to be packed by the parking lot. Wowza there are a lot of cars in Southeast Michigan.

And guess what? We saw Carmen Harlan, of WDIV channel 4 fame. Shopping. Cool.

The plan was to get Emma the loft bed we promised her for her birthday (in September). To make a long story short, she doesn't take care of anything in her room, much to our great annoyance. We rearranged her closet to make it more user friendly. There are still clothes on the floor. So, she was told she gets the bed when she proves to us that she actually cares about her belongings. Still not great, but she has made an improvement.

We came across the home office stuff before the bedroom stuff, and Evan asked if he could have a desk. Sounds reasonable. He is better at taking care of his room, and he will need a place (without TV) to do homework. Or whatever. So we said yeah, let's pick one out.

At this point Emma turned green with Envy and declined to speak the rest of the shopping trip.We came to the part where the bedrooms were, and she wouldn't offer an opinion on any of them. We gave her like 10 chances to pull herself together but she chose to be miserable. We stopped for meatballs & beverages and she sat there miserably not eating or speaking. I cornered her and tried to talk her out of her funk, but she wasn't budging. She said "Dad won't let me have a loft bed so there is no point in even looking. I never get what I want". Even told point blank we came to buy one, she still was being a stubborn ox.

About an hour later (still in IKEA) she whispered to me that she knew she was wrong but couldn't admit it to her dad.

Dang, 10 year old girls are a pain in the butt.

I had my share of moments just like this as a young girl, but I was forced to go with my dad on the weekends, and there was a lot of animosity between my parents. I needed to rebel. What does she have to rebel against?

We also helped my Mom de-Christmas her house, so that was pretty much our entire weekend. I have packed up all of our things until next year. Just the tree is left, and I'm not about to take apart that sucker by myself. No way.

Tomorrow!

Brrski!

So I just dropped the kids off at school and the thermometer in the car reads 2*.

Wow, that's cold.

And isn't that a fab picture, by the way? (I had a hard time focusing on the mirror clearly.)

I de-Christmased for most of the day yesterday. The upside to doing it alone is that I can go at my own pace, and quit when I want to. The downside is that it takes 10 times longer. I filled and rearranged 10 bins and I've hardly made a dent.

I bought myself some Miracle Balls yesterday at Costco, and plan on entering a state of relaxation later on this afternoon. Peace out!

All is calm, all is bright

The kids are back in school. Bart is back to work.

The neighborhood is shiny and white from the recent snowfall.

I am blissfully alone.

Not that this winter break was a tough one. It wasn't. Em & Ev managed to be nice to each other more than on average. I didn't have to cook much. Bart & I only had one argument. All in all, it was good. If we hadn't spent so much time sick, it would have been near perfect. There is just something wonderful about the day the routine returns.

There is, of course, lots to do this first week of January. Many hours of de-Christmasing are in my immediate future. Lots of things to organize and clean. One thing at a time.

After I finish my cup of tea :)

On a sad note, it hardly seems fair that the sun should be shining so brightly on the day when a neighbor and friend of ours is leaving for Iraq. I only learned of his deployment yesterday. My emotions are all over the place for my friends, and their children. 400 days is a lifetime over there. If you have any extra room in your thoughts and prayers, send them to the Coe family. I know they will greatly appreciate each and every one.

Happy New Year

Last night, as I was watching the snow fall, I was thinking of fresh beginnings and all that they entail. I had about 25 meaningful things to say, none of which I can recall right this moment.

Isn't that just the way life is?

The power went out at 5:15, for less than a minute. It was long enough to wake me and get my mind going. It was beautiful outside. My dad & stepmom were flying to Florida this morning-would they be able to make it out? Were the plows ready? Please don't tell me school is going to be cancelled on Wednesday. It was nearly 8 before I fell back to sleep. Lots of things rolling around in there. It was the most awake I have felt in 3 weeks.

I need the awakeness and alertness to follow me into 2008. I want to accomplish more on a daily basis than I have been. I want to start walking again. I loved the long walks I used to take. Not just for the exercise aspect of it, but the aloneness was wonderful too. I miss that. I want to become better organized and less wasteful. I want to try new things.

Here's a few of the pix I took today-some of our yard and some of the kids sledding.