Wednesday, March 30

Too pretty to not see

Wow. I am tired.
I'm sitting up in bed, with the computer on my lap, and Robert Downey, Jr. on my television, and I can not keep my eyes open. I've caught myself nodding off a couple times already, and it's getting to be too much to deny.
Tired. Tired, Tired.
We got a lot done today, which is nice, and I plan on getting a lot done tomorrow, too.
Also, Brian and I had beers with our lunch today, and we enjoyed that a lot.
In addition, it's that time of year again, when Kimmie starts whining about not having seen the cheery blossoms in Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, March 29

Also, I've started my English Countryside farm

Mike Catherwood, we hardly knew you. Apparently, this photographer hardly knew you, too, else he would have gotten closer. I have no emotional investment in this particular "star," so I'm perfectly okay with him being voted off Dancing with the Stars first. Besides, Lacey's hair color was so out of control, it had to get off my television screen.
Shopping list: Laptop charging plug for my bedroom. Since this loft will be my home for a few months, and since I am sitting so close to an outlet, it seems ridiculous to power through my computering at night when I can just, oh you know, plug the damn thing in.
Tomorrow, Brian, Sydney and I are heading back to the "old house" to do some cleaning, and to leave the keys. I'm ready to be done with it, to tell you the truth. I'm sick of driving out there, and I'm certainly done explaining to Sydney why we don't live there anymore. I feel bad, because she doesn't understand at all. And how do you really explain moving to a four-year-old? She's awesome, because she's rolling with it pretty well. But still, I hate disrupting her life so much, only to do it again in a few months.
As for this place, we are officially all moved in. There are no boxes anywhere anymore (except the wall, which is, of course, made entirely of boxes), and even the closets and pantry are organized. I'm a freak. I know it. My kid and my husband embrace it.

Monday, March 28

My favorite of the flower pictures

Okay, I've been pretty busy getting us all settled into the new place. So tonight is the first time I've had to sit and chill for any length of time. But I also want to go to bed early (for me) tonight. My desire to get a blog posted, and to get my vote on brings me to blindly voting for who I think would have done better tonight.
The best part of this entire evening right now is that I have both television and internet with no issues since we moved in. And as that is my bread and butter for daily life, it makes me happy.

My Dancing with the Stars voting ~ BLIND EDITION
~ (11 votes allowed):

Kirstie Alley ~ 3 votes.
Hines Ward ~ 2 votes.
Chelsea Kane ~ 1 vote.
Chris Jericho ~ 1 vote.
Romeo ~ 1 vote.
Ralph Macchio ~ 1 vote.
Sugar Ray Leonard ~ 1 vote.
Wendy Williams ~ 1 vote.
Petra Nemcova, Mike Catherwood, Kendra Wilkinson ~ 0 votes.

Friday, March 25

Second to last night in the house

Tonight, I blog. Tomorrow night, probably not. Right now, I've got a good idea of how to get through my day tomorrow, packing up the last of the stuff in my house. Sydney's room is all done. The office is almost done. There's only one more box to do in the guest bathroom. Only a box or two in my bedroom and the living room. The big mess, of course, is the kitchen. I'm totally done by this time tomorrow night. And I'll be going to bed relatively early.
But, that's tomorrow.
Today, I'm done, and want to go to bed so I can get up early and get started on my last-minute stuff first thing in the morning.

Thursday, March 24

It's Thursday? Sunday's comin' soon! ACK!

It comes up on me like a weird wave: the subtle unease that begins in the stomach, and slowly builds into a more obvious flutter that rolls into my whole body. Weirdly, I am feeling the stress of the move coming up on me like a freight train. It's loud, and it's oppressive. And it's a box monster.
I'm not scared, though. I've done this whole thing way too many times to be scared. I'm just getting back into the swing of my Move Mood. It's all efficient, direct and get-out-of-my-way. It's no nonsense. And unfortunately, it's also a bit high-strung and bitchy. But that's okay. I'm planning. And I have a method to my madness.
On the bright, sunny and high side, I got the shipping confirmation for my shuttle launch tickets. I should be getting them soon, and that will make me a crazy, happy person. I can not believe that this event is actually going to happen. I mean, there couldn't really be a worse time to take five days and go to Florida, but you know, a dream is a dream, and when the opportunity presents itself, there is no way to ignore it.
So, that's my gift to myself for not completely FREAKING OUT during the move. I get to see the shuttle launch. And it will be cool.

Wednesday, March 23

So. Many. Words.

I've just spent the last three hours playing both FarmVille and Words with Friends (yay Kim and Kerry!!). And since I've been dicking around online, with the computer just motoring away, I am almost out of electric juice well before my post is done.
So, I'll just go ahead and post a picture of a pretty flower, and let you know that I packed two boxes today.

Tuesday, March 22

It's like Scrabble for Apple

Usually, I can give or take a game of Words with Friends. I can obsess for a while, and then completely forget about it. I had taken a Words sabbatical for a few months, but was brought back into the fold by my husband, who cleverly started and game and played a word, and then said to me three days later, "Woman! Play a WORD!" I agreed, and we've been playing for a couple days now. Also, I started a new game with Katy. And weirdly, as if by karma or fate, my friend, Kim, also started playing Words with Friends today. And through er request for playing partners, I started a game with her, as well as Kerry. I currently have four games going. And I'm having fun again.
But I feel like I should start each game with a point of clarification: "Sometimes, it may take me a day or two to play a word. Sometimes, it will seem like I'm sitting on the phone. I'm erratic with the game. It makes it more exciting for you. Really, it does. Trust me."

Monday, March 21

Cheers to her!

Hey, remember when I was all, "I'm not gonna watch Dancing with the Stars this season"? I got sucked into the hype, for certain, and thoroughly loved the first episode tonight. My new hero: Kirstie Alley. Fantastical.

My Dancing with the Stars voting
(11 votes allowed):
Kirstie Alley ~ 2 votes. I am loving, with a capital L, Kirstie Alley and Maks as a team. I don't remember ever seeing Maks smile as much as I did tonight, and I love her enthusiasm. And she clearly has the audience in her corner. I see a Donny Osmond-style win in the future.
Hines Ward ~ 2 votes. He was pretty awesome.
Chelsea Kane ~ 1 vote. I had no idea who this girl was. come to find out that she's from Scottsdale, her dad cried when talking about how proud he is of her, and in fact, she's kinda cute and funny.
Romeo ~ 1 vote. He's the "guy who has to grapple with his masculinity in the ballroom," but also kinda funny.
Kendra Wilkinson ~ 1 vote. I don't watch the reality shows like the one she's in, so I really had no idea about her. But I did find her entertaining. But, I don't really Louis, her partner.
Ralph Macchio ~ 1 vote. There is no way that the Karate Kid is 49 years old. That's just wrong.
Sugar Ray Leonard ~ 1 vote. The boxer almost cried on camera because dancing was too hard. That was pretty amazing, and made him cooler.
Petra Nemcova, Wendy Williams ~ 1 vote.
Chris Jericho, Mike Catherwood ~ 0 votes.

One of my life's goals, about to be met!

It's no secret on these pages that, yes, I am obsessed with being an astronaut. In fact, it was totally on my "To Do" list until I realized the amount of difficult mathematics included in such a career. So instead, I am an armchair astronaut. I watch all the launches online, keep track of the missions as they progress, and read all the little articles about everything.
It's a random little obsession, and I have no idea why I share everything about it with you, but that's the fun of it. I have an incredible aspiration that will, most likely, never be realized, and I'm not ashamed to talk about it. Because really, it's not a failure, it's just something I like to fantasize about doing, so it's still, in my head, a possibility. Right? That makes tons of sense, I'm sure.
As an e-mail subscriber to Kennedy Space Center, I am made aware of all launches, news and happenings at the place. And for every launch, the Center sends out an e-mail asking anyone who wants to see a launch to register their e-mail address, and they'll be put in a lottery for the opportunity to buy tickets to it. I, of course, register every time. I enter both my e-mails, and all three of Mom's. (See? Obsession.) When the invitation came along to register for this April's launch, I knew that this was the worst time to see a launch, but also knowing that it's one of the final two or three, I registered. Just my primary e-mail, because really, if it's fate, it's fate.
Last Monday, I received the e-mail telling me that I was selected by their lottery, and I had the chance to buy tickets, at 9 a.m. Florida time on Thursday, March 17. I thought, FANTASTIC!! But we'll see how it goes. Of course, Thursday being St. Patrick's Day, I knew my odds were much better than everyone else's. So, I was up at 5:45 a.m. Arizona time to be online at 6 a.m.
And guess what!! I GOT TICKETS TO SEE THE LAUNCH!!
Brian isn't able to go since it's on a Tuesday night, but Mom, Sydney and I are off to Orlando next month to check it out! The launch is on April 19, at 7:48 p.m. It's a nighttime launch, which will be beautiful. All the travel sites say to allow some time after the scheduled launch just in case of a delay, so we'll be flying out on Monday and coming back on Friday. I hope, hope, hope that no delay runs into Friday or beyond, because then I'll be all sad, but I'm not letting that bug me.
I'M GOING TO SEE A SHUTTLE LAUNCH!! FROM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER!!
AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME!

Sunday, March 20

Mercury: first rock from the sun

Sunday nights at 11:00 p.m. always seem like such a ripe time frame for me. I know I should go to sleep, but I am so high on the promise of everything that I could possibly get done in the next week, that I'm too eager to make all my plans. And you all know me, I'm a plan maker. Tomorrow though, my current early-morning plan consists of little more than getting Sydney to school, and then "buying" myself a mocha with one of Brian's free-drink tickets. My house is in super good order, so far as packing goes, and I'm feeling scarily overconfident about my move next weekend. I think that it will go incredibly smoothly. Of course, this feeling is subject to change. Indeed, I feel like there are too many boxes around me right now. Honestly, they're everywhere. No corner unstacked, no free wall space un-leaned against.
Brian and I did something pretty cool yesterday though. We took Sydney for a walk around our college campus. It was neat to spend some time wandering the walkways, sidewalks and such, discussing what classes we had in which buildings (in a show of our age though, the conversation was more about knowing we had a class in that building, but no remembering which class it was. "I know I had a class there. Was it economics? No, some kind of English class, maybe"), and how different the campus looked than 15 years ago. We've agreed to take the walk again soon, but with Sydney and I in better shoes, and I'm looking forward to that. I'll be sure to bring my camera, too.
I'm actually in a pretty good frame of mind right now, one reason for which I haven't told you yet, but will tomorrow, when I'm more awake, and ready to type a bunch again.

Thursday, March 17

Top o' the evening to ye

Well, St. Patrick's Day treated me pretty nice this year:
I'm wearing my "I (heart) Ireland" t-shirt. Sydney consented to wearing green as well, though blue is her FAVORITE COLOR. I had a delicious lunch with Katy and my kid at Oregano's. I did no packing. I took a very subtle and short nap so as not to concern myself with falling asleep with an unsupervised toddler in the house. I had time and motivation to paint my nails a very sassy pink.
Oh yeah, and the entire day was devoted to celebrating people as cool as my Gramps.
On the whole, a super-cool day.

Wednesday, March 16

Her great-grandpa would have LOVED it!

Sydney's class wrote a story for St. Patrick's Day, titled The Leprechaun Named Mark.
~ Each child in class contributed a sentence to the story. ~

The Leprechaun Named Mark
Once upon a time, there was a leprechaun named Mark. He was going to Canada to find gold. He found gold and hid it because leprechauns are sneaky. He hid it from all the other leprechauns. The leprechaun ran into the woods away from the other leprechauns and saw a bear! He said, "Boo!" and made the bear disappear. Then the leprechaun went to the store to buy some Lucky Charms. He went home to get the gold and then went to sleep. The next day, he woke up and went back to the woods and found a T-Rex. Then the leprechaun disappeared! Then he went to the chocolate factory to get toys to give to the kids on St. Patrick's Day!
The End.

It's pretty fantastic, isn't it? I got to reading it in the car this afternoon after Brian and I picked Sydney up at school. I swear, I was cracking up from the very first sentence. I mean, really! Mark? Leprechauns are sneaky? He saw a bear and said, "Boo!"?
There isn't a bit of this that I don't love tremendously. It shall be my favorite St. Patrick's Day story of all time.

Tuesday, March 15

More boxes, more paper

And yet, there were more boxes. I had to make a trip to U-Haul to get another box of packing paper this morning. Tomorrow, I will drag Brian back there so I can get some more boxes. Oh, I don't know, about five large, seven or eight medium, and five small. Most everything that is to go in storage is done. ...
... ... ...
Damn. I spent too much time on FarmVille. My laptop battery is screaming red at me. Time to shut down and go to bed!!

Monday, March 14

Look around ... nothin' but boxes

Well, my packing is certainly progressing. Most of my stuff that won't be necessary in the apartment is in boxes. And boxes are dominating my home, view, mind and agenda these days.
I'd say that I'm over them, but that would be more than a little bit premature, since I'll be living with boxes for the next four months or so. I'm going to wait until we get to Houston before I declare myself really, really, over them.
Until then, I will continue to embrace my boxing, and look forward to my simpler living in the apartment. Really, I'm getting super excited about the smaller place.
It's officially less than two weeks until we're moving, and the time, even though I need all of it, can't go fast enough.

Saturday, March 12

Changing time zones, literally

Don't forget that tonight is the night to move your clocks forward. SPRING AHEAD. Here in Arizona, we don't change our clocks. So, for half the year, only half the year, my time is the same as the glorious Pacific Time Zone.
Now, next time it's time to change the clocks, I will, indeed, be changing my clock. For at that time, I will be living in the Central Time Zone. And in Texas, the state changes its clocks for Daylight Savings Time. Central Time Zone is two hours ahead of California. Remember this.
I'm actually not sure right now what time it is in Houston. The Internets tell me that it's 12:07 a.m. But once I learn more about the time change, information which I already knew but forgot, I realize that the time change occurs at 2 a.m. So, yes, right now, Houston is one hour ahead, but in two hours, it'll be two hours ahead.
I appreciate you working that out with me.

Friday, March 11

Earth people, beware

I feel like our planet is rebelling against us in earnest, now. Of course, there's all the earthquakes in general. There are the major fish deaths, birds falling from the sky, and glaciers melting. But let me tell you, this tsunami and earthquake and the resulting destruction in Japan and along the edges of the Pacific Ocean is just devastating. And I think it's our planet giving us a very good idea of how minuscule we are in regards to its history, but especially how inconsequential we are in the face of its power. And I fear that we have made such a mess of the place that there's no way to make it better. I mean, are we beyond the point of no return? Have we damaged the earth more than the following generations can repair it? Even with their flying cars and telepathic cell phones, will they be counting the days, months and maybe years until the planet will, in fact, make life unlivable for them? It's too scary to think about, but really, I feel like we, as a species, need to get our shit together and become better parasites on the Earth's surface. But how do we make that happen?

Thursday, March 10

It's not a cliche, my grass IS greener

The grass in our backyard is getting greener. You know, out here in the desert, it is permissible to completely ignore your lawn for the entire season of winter, and then, in the spring, start watering it again and expect it to get green. You'd probably laugh at the conceit of that, but it really works. My problem with winter watering is a simple one, I find it too cold to spend any time outside with water. So, I don't do it. In that, the grass doesn't get watered. It turns a lovely shade of beige.
But once the weather warms up a bit, and I can spend the time outside getting warm instead of freezing my butt off, I begin the practice of watering my lawn again. We've been watering for about two weeks, and I am excited to say that my grass already is greener. It's kind of blowing my mind how quickly and how well it's recovered from its winter.
I won't be posting any pictures of my lawn itself though, as it's still not green enough to really brag about, but it's getting there.

Wednesday, March 9

Bruschetta and books: a perfect Wednesday

I'm honestly kinda surprised that it's as late as it is right now. I don't know what I expected, but somehow, it's not 10:52 p.m. It's okay though, because Mom is coming out for a visit tomorrow. And for that, I will have to go through my list of tasks, "To Do Before Mom Comes Into My House." The list, of course, includes cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming the place, straightening up my boxes, and getting the car washed. But you know all this. We've discussed it before.
Anyway, all is well in my home. Boxes are being packed. Kid went to school today. Bear did not leave the bedroom.
Also, I took advantage of my free morning to check out the local Borders and its store-closing sale. I've got to tell you, there is nothing better for me than spending the morning wandering through the bookstore. And that the books were on crazy sale is just gravy. Sydney got hooked up, as you can imagine. I picked her up about five Dr. Seuss books, three dinosaur books, and a Toy Story book. (Wow. That's a lot of books for a kid who can't read them.) I took care of myself, too, of course, and came home with a nice stack of six books (three cheesy romances! Nice!!). I took my time going through the store, and loved every minute of it.
Also, we had some lunch at Sauce. They have a new caprese bruschetta that was DELICIOUS. I honestly can not wait to get that bruschetta again. I also had their pasta, sauce and a meatball. All for only $8. It was awesome. Also awesome, it was a meal with just Brian and I. I'm beginning to really love these Wednesdays with Brian not working. Our mornings together while Sydney's in school have really helped us remember how cool it was before the kiddo came along, and how we are still super cool friends.
Also, the Discovery space shuttle made its final landing today, after its last trip into space. From Florida, it now goes to the Smithsonian museum. Which is entirely cool.

Monday, March 7

Bear. We have Bear.

So, I just had one of the worst evening, night and mornings ever. It was awful.
Sydney lost Bear. In theory, and for those people without a child incredibly attached to a stuffed animal, this is not a big thing. But in our house, a lost Bear is the worst kind of thing that could ever happen.
Some history of Bear:
I bought him at Disneyland's California Adventure when I was pregnant, in May 2006.
Ever since Sydney's first night at home, Bear has slept in her bed with her. I know that we're not supposed to allow stuffed animals in the cribs with babies, but Bear just fit perfectly in the crib corner.
Before we knew it, Sydney had attached herself to Bear, and he went everywhere in the house with her.
As she got old enough, he was named by her, and became just that important at bedtime.
At four years and five months, she sleeps with him, loves him, and calls him her "best friend."
I can count on one hand how many times Sydney's ever fallen asleep without Bear: including last night, it is four.

So it's always my policy to leave Bear at home. I don't like taking him out of the house, and I don't like depending on Sydney to keep track of him. But yesterday, she got that look in her eye, and so I allowed her to take Bear to lunch with us. He sat on the bench between us. I know she had him when we left. Then, we went to Home Depot. I remember him in her hand when we walked into the store. And then, I don't remember seeing him at all.
At bedtime last night came the question that I hate to hear, "Where's Bear?" I'm like, "I don't know. Where did you leave him?" She didn't know. I couldn't remember seeing him anywhere. We recruited Brian for the household search. We all came up empty. Where the hell was Bear?
Tears ensued. It's at this point when I get really, really nervous. I called the restaurant. They didn't have him. No, he has to be there. We drive to the restaurant to check. Our waitress remembers Bear, and tells me that she knows that Sydney had Bear when we left. I searched the restaurant's garage. I called Home Depot, where we had gone after lunch, which closed 30 minutes prior.
We went through the house one more time, but then the sad reality of a night without Bear was in our future. I had to lay in bed with her and cuddle her, while it took her 45 minutes to cry herself to sleep.
Brian and I slept for shit last night. I was tossing and turning until 1 a.m., and was awake again at 6 a.m. The Home Depot opens at 6 a.m., so I made my way over there at 7 a.m. while Sydney continued to sleep. I had a very helpful woman at Home Depot who searched the store with me. Still no Bear.
I stopped at the grocery store, which we had visited later in the afternoon yesterday. No Bear. I got back home, and Sydney wanted to know if I had found him. It broke my heart to tell her that I hadn't. Then, I took her to school.
I won't lie to you, I was a psycho mom this morning. I drove all over town, from one place we'd been to the next, asking and pleading for help. I've left my name and number everywhere.
Then, I went to the gym. I had to get my mind off it, but while there, it was all I could talk to Trainer Dan about. And then Trainer Dan said, "Calm down. Quit being emotional. The Bear is in the house. It is. Go into each room, and look around. Look where she normally hides things. I bet you've looked at where Bear is five times since last night, but you're being so crazy that you just aren't thinking straight. Calm down, and look again."
I understood what he was saying, and knew for a fact that, yes, I have been insane all morning. I was being too emotional. So when I got home, I started in the garage. Nothing. I went into my room. Starting at one corner, and then moving to the next corner.
Brian's nightstand. It has a small drawer. Sydney sometimes shoves things into the drawer.
I opened the drawer, and no shit, the fucking Bear jumped out of the drawer and into my hands. Honestly, I'd been crying all morning about the loss of Bear, but with him finally in my hands, and safe and sound to boot, it was an all-new kind of crying. My god, I went psycho in a completely different way, and you all should thank my mom for answering her phone otherwise I may have gone so crazy that you'd have heard me wherever you are.
So, we have Bear. And, per New Rule #1, he's never leaving the house again. As Brian said, when you know Bear is in the house, then it just becomes a search. The possibility of him being somewhere else that we may have left him, ups the nervous reaction quotient to an incredible level. (Witness my behavior since last night a 8 p.m.) Of course, I agree with this New Rule. Another rule: Bear doesn't go into drawers.

Saturday, March 5

Late for bed, as usual

I'm glad I didn't promise myself any bedtimes earlier than 11:30 p.m. Otherwise, I'd be really disappointed by the clock right now. As it is, I have 12 minutes to finish my post, get in my jammies, check my house to assure it's closed up, and make sure the kiddo is sleeping well. ... And then I just watched Oliver sleeping for two minutes. Nine minutes to get ready for bed. It's a countdown.
I sold the crib this afternoon. And I've got a couple coming by tomorrow morning to buy the patio table and chairs. Yay CraigsList! Also, I re-posted the barbecue and the weed whacker. Let's see if we can get them sold, too! I swear, this has become my favorite pastime. It's a challenge to get this stuff sold. I like it.
I just got distracted by Oliver's snoring really loudly. It's pretty awesome when he just starts sawing logs. A couple of the snores are like the fake snores that people play at. I have to stop and watch him breathe when he starts making that noise. He's actually dreaming right now, too. His little eyes are moving around, and his mouth is twitching. He just woke himself up with his snore, but decided, in a typical Oliver way, to ignore the fact that he'd been snoring like a freight train, and not even bother to pick up his head, and just go back to sleep. He rocks, man. He's the best. Oh, a stretch!! I love the stretches!! And still cozy on the bed, sleeping next to me.
And now, I only have two minutes. The Beast distracted me. As he always does. He's good at that.

Friday, March 4

Someone! Buy my stuff!

It's official: CraigsList is pretty awesome. I've sold our Ab Circle Pro, the push mower and the electric mower. I'm juggling three people for Sydney's crib, and also got an e-mail from someone trying to low-ball me for the patio furniture. So, my CraigsList garage sale is progressing nicely. All I've got left is the weed whacker and the barbecue. I think I'll re-post both of those and get them on a fresh page tomorrow.
I think this weekend though, I will choose to not post a list of my goals for the next couple days. Maybe if I just list them, all casually, then it won't be like a real list of goals, but more of a combination of sentences describing some tasks, that may or may not be tackled and accomplished over a random Saturday and Sunday. (I won't even use proper punctuation, thereby diminishing their importance even more.) ... finish boxes in the office/guest room. ... water plants. ... watch a couple movies. ... toss out the rest of that damn cake. ... pack five other boxes: contents and room to be determined by my mood. ... do laundry. ... get to bed by 11:30 p.m. every night, including tonight.
I was added to a Facebook group for my high school graduating class tonight. I'm not feeling totally old about it either, I'm feeling kinda unpopular ... again. I recognize a few of the names in the group, but most of them are the popular kids, with whom I wasn't really good friends. I feel like for them to recognize me I'll need to have Lisa with me in my profile picture. But there I am, all added and part of the reunion stuff. Adding this reunion to my summer plans is making those few months even more crazy. I might as well just stay in California from late June through late August. Insane travel plans. Making it even crazier is the fact that the trips will be made from Houston, which is a bit pricier than say, traveling to Cali from Phoenix. Grr. Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, right?

Thursday, March 3

So, is the cake bigger in Texas, too?

I've got a great pile of disgust going on within myself at the moment. Here's the situation: I looked at the clock, realized that it is, in fact, earlier than 10 p.m., and decided that, as it is still "early," I should go ahead and have a piece of chocolate cake for dessert. This, of course, comes after my healthy dinner of RICE. I think I got some protein this afternoon with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but beyond that, I don't think I ate a single redeeming thing today. Oh well, that's today, and today is almost over. Moving on.
It's getting close to March 5, and that's the big day in Houston, where we find out where the practice will be built, and on what date it will open, thereby giving us our very definitive timetable. I think that a mid-June move is in my future, but I'm refusing to plan anything (or buy any plane tickets) until I know for a fact what dates we'll need to be in Texas. (Driving to Vegas from Phoenix is much cheaper than flying there from Houston.) Wait. I just re-read that paragraph, and can I just say for a moment: OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I'M GOING TO BE LIVING IN TEXAS.
Well, now that all that is out of the way.

Wednesday, March 2

Mmmmm ... chocolate cake

I'm feeling super tired tonight. I'm not sure exactly why. I mean, I did enough throughout the day to be tired tonight, but not enough to be this exhausted at this moment. I've got that distinct "Going to nod off in Cozy Chair" feeling right now. And I'm okay with it. After I eat my piece of chocolate cake.
Yes, I made a cake today. It's been wasted on Sydney though, who has a very real fever this afternoon/evening. I think it's broken though, either that, or the medication she finally consented to take is working. I don't like it when the kid has energy to do nothing but lay on my bed and watch cartoons. My limited experience as a pediatrician bugs me on days like today, but the mommy instincts were on full alert, and sometimes that's good enough.
I made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I haven't had a piece yet, but I'm about to get up and taste it. I'm pretty sure it'll be yummy.

Tuesday, March 1

A little clover on the lapel makes it better

And lo, on this day, it became March.
And in March, begins the insanity of THE FAMILY G. MOVING EXTRAVAGANZA!!
So, I have officially started thinking in terms of what can go in which type of box. I see things in terms of how much space they'll take up wrapped in paper. I measure items by what they can be packed with. I look at corners and visualize boxes in them. I assign each thing in my house a "Must Have," "Can Be Stored," and "Ditch It" status. It's like when you play too much solitaire, and close your eyes to see cards stacking atop each other in a pattern or something. (Wait. Haven't I had that issue before, too?)
I've been sitting here with that paragraph for 30 minutes. It's been real, but I think it's time to just go ahead and post this thing and call it a day for the day.
By the way, I'm following Charlie Sheen on Twitter. That's just wrong. I recognize that.