Saturday, October 25, 2008

this week i...

...looked at about 12 houses in person and 8 gagillion online
...ratified a contract on our house
...put an offer on a new house
...signed my name about 8 gagillion times and initialed at least as many times
...forgot my husband's birthday
...arrived 55 minutes late for a dentist appointment, thinking i was 5 minutes early
...shopped in the new sur la table
...spent 4 hours in a small conference room with a realtor, a husband and two toddlers
...actually took a nap and was not awakened by small screaming people
...mentally rearranged furniture in what i hope becomes my new house about 8 gagillion times
...had three bowls of soup and rediscovered my love of autumn
...took 4 over the counter medications and 2 prescriptions trying to get rid of this f*cking cough
...talked to verizon on the phone countless times trying to resolve our phone issue
...didn't have time for a real post.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

i'm sort of amazed

the in-laws just left after a brief visit to celebrate j.'s birthday. i dont think i rolled my eyes once during the visit. its sad, but i think one heart attack (fil) and a continued battle with stage 4 ovarian cancer (mil), have made them take stock of the important things in life.

they got into town, at my invitation, late yesterday afternoon to enjoy a surprise night out just for the grown-ups. my mom was gracious enough to watch the boys, so j. and i could have a civilized dinner with the in-laws. and they didnt even drone on and on about politics which, given the close proximity to an historic election, is a small miracle in and of itself. we had a fantastic dinner after which we returned his parents to their hotel (which is probably due some credit for the success of the visit).

this morning the in-laws returned to our house to visit with the boys. and for the first time ever, they actually got on the floor and played with the boys. and the most wonderful part is that they genuinely seemed to be enjoying themselves! who knew? whatever alternate universe is responsible for this gift on j.'s birthday, please accept my undying gratitude. its about time!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

pregnancy and infant loss remembrance day

october 15th is pregnancy and infant loss remembrance day. at 7pm tonight there will be a wave of light to commemorate the day.

when m. and k. were in the nicu i developed sort of a routine. i would get up in the morning, after a night of fitful sleep and pumping every 3 hours all night long, exhausted. exhausted! i would ready f. for the school day and we would get in the car with my mom (before i was released to drive). my mom would drop me at the hospital before taking f. to school for me. i would go into the restroom alone and bawl my eyes out for a good 15 minutes. each. and. every. time. i needed that release and needed to steel myself for whatever faced me beyond those locked doors of the nicu. so many things go on behind those doors. babies fight for their lives each and every moment. crossover the threshold and it is not long before you hear an alarm going off indicating that fight and in some cases the end of a long and tortured battle. i remind myself often how lucky we were to go home with two live babies. so many mothers are not that lucky. tonight at 7pm i will be honoring them and their lost angels.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

in case you are checking

i havent been to tar.get since sunday! and the last time i had buffalo and bleu cheese dip was saturday! progress, i know.

Monday, October 13, 2008

oh, if you become VP

this is a goodie too...

Sunday, October 12, 2008

the first step is admitting the problem, right?

it started out innocently enough. i was on the school bus headed to a field trip, f.'s field trip last week. we were headed down riva road, when i overheard a chaperone an enabler say, does that sign say "now open"?! i looked over my shoulder and it was as if the clouds parted. sure enough, the sign on the brand new tar.get in annapolis read "now open". soon enough the bus was in a tizzy, "it wasnt supposed to open until sunday!" someone yelled. "i know, i marked my calender" another chimed in. ok, so maybe those were just the voices in my own head.

wednesday after the bus returned the children and chaperones back to school i got in my own car and went directly to tar.get. i just had to see if the sign was right. honestly, i didnt even buy anything. on that trip. thursday night i went back, and bought supplies for our weekend visitors. donuts and juice boxes for the kids, buffalo and bleu cheese dip for the grownups. and while we are on the subject of addiction - be aware - buffalo and bleu cheese dip is undoubtedly categorized as some type of gateway drug! friday morning we went back to procure supplies for the visiting children to wear for pictures later that day and star.bucks for the grownups (so they too could survive pictures that day). in fairness, the star.bucks is located conveniently right inside of the new tar.get. friday night we went back because after all, it had been opened for at least 3 days and j. had not yet seen the inside. more supplies were procured. saturday i tried hard to go cold turkey. instead i sent j. - more buffalo and blue cheese dip was required. no one can remember what happened to the first container. i think we all blacked out! today was going to be a quiet day. we were just going to change the wardrobe seasons for the boys. wait, we need some storage boxes to stash away all the summer clothes. back i went to tar.get - supplies were procured.

hi, my name is n., and i am a targaholic. the first step is admitting the problem, right?