My Work

So, I have been reflecting lately on all the small things that make up my day to day work. Staying at home with kids offers few of the moments of accomplishment that I found working in an office. I rarely make a list and then just seamlessly get to move from one task to another, scratching them off with precision. Never do I stack up papers neatly on my desk, not to be disturbed by anyone until I am ready to tackle a new project, engulf myself in research and composition all day long, or have an uninterrupted conversation on the phone.

Life is far more chaotic, and as I told Jeffrey the other day: "Imagine that every time you got close to getting something finished at work, someone came along, undid the whole thing, and you had to start all over again." This is pretty much what I experience most of the time. Not that there are not positive moments and real rewards to mothering -- this post, though, is not about those.

Maggie has entered the full-fledged mess making, tantrum throwing phase of life. Call it the "terrible two's" if you want -- personally, I think that two is a most adorable age -- however, it brings with it a need to establish autonomy, a locomotive ability to get into and use things, and a desire to explore the world and test boundaries that has been previously unknown. So in honor of all that Maggie and I have been going through lately, I thought I would chronicle some of the work I have been doing.

Messes I have cleaned up in the last two weeks:
1- A bottle of foaming soap spread all over the half bath and family room ottoman.
2- A whole bottle of bubbles dumped right in the middle of the family room carpet (after I said they were not to be used indoors) -- these present quite a challenge due to the degree that they foam up when you try to scrub or add water.
3- A bottle of conditioner dumped, thankfully, all over the laundry room floor.
4- Shampoo spread all over the sheets on the bed in the guest room. A different bottle of shampoo dumped on the basement carpet.
5- Vanilla ice cream deliberately rubbed all over Maggie's arms and legs during at party at our friends' house last weekend.
6- A whole can a fish food shaken all over the family room.
7- Multiple glasses of orange juice poured on the kitchen floor.
8- Grape juice (which leaked despite being in a "non-spill" cup) all over the light yellow couch in the basement.
9- Chocolate chips (don't even know where they came from) all over the couch in the basement.
10- Crayon on the walls and baseboards in Mia's room.
11- Pen on the walls in Maggie's room.
12- Sidewalk chalk up the staircase to the second floor.
13- Blue permanent ink marker all over my red leather ottoman in the family room (for which I would like to personally give an award for ABSOLUTE GENIUS to the creators of the Magic Eraser, wherever and whomever they may be, I am still in awe that I got that one out!)
14- Dry erase marker all over the door and window sill in the half bath.
15- A whole package of goldfish crackers all over the kitchen floor -- smashed.
16- Several bowls of dog food dumped into the dog's water bowl and allowed to expand to amazing proportions.
17- And, just this morning since I began this post, pink and purple glitter lip gloss all over the bathroom counter (This one was a real accomplishment since I did not know that Maggie knew we owned the lip gloss, and Maggie had to dump out and turn over the garbage can to scale into the top of the bathroom linen closet to get it down!) and a small tube of lotion from my purse that had been squeezed all over the kitchen floor.

Needless to say, this list does NOT include any messes created by eating regular meals, rubbing various foods and hygiene products into her hair (which occurs quite regularly), toys and other play things left around the house, or potty training accidents -- which is a WHOLE other arena of messes I have been dealing with for the last couple of months.

Things I have done in the last two weeks that have warranted a full fledged lay down on the ground and kick and scream tantrum:

1- Told Maggie she could not wear her nightgown to the park.
2- Asked Maggie to let me brush her hair.
3- Brushed Maggie's hair.
4- Put a rubber band in Maggie's hair.
5- Tried to wash her favorite Ariel cup.
6- Tried to wash her favorite blanket.
7- Washed her favorite blanket.
8- Told Maggie we were not having Mac and Cheese for breakfast.
9- Run out of orange juice in the fridge.
10- Buckled Maggie's seat belt in the car.
11- Asked Maggie not to wear her church dress to do water color painting.
12- Proposed wearing a different pair of shoes (for example something besides striped socks and blue sandals with her pink dress on Sunday).
13- Told Maggie it was time to nap.
14- Told Maggie she had to go to bed.
15- Turned out the light.
16- Turned off the TV.
17- Tried to get Maggie dressed when she has decided to be a nudist for the day.
18- Turned down Maggie's music on her CD player.
19- Told Maggie she had to wear a diaper to bed.

And, the list could go on, and on, and on...All in all, I guess that the business world summation of the work I have been doing would be that I have EXCELLENT job security.

Roughing It at Home

My mom and sister, Ellie, came to visit from Utah this last week: a trip bookended by the natural wonders of Virginia. Right before they arrived, we lost our power Wednesday evening, which also meant we lost our water since we had no electricity to pump it out of the well.

If I may digress for a moment, this provided several valuable lessons in emergency preparedness.
1- It is great to have flashlights, but keeping them all in a central location and checking that you have the right size of batteries will make them much more useful during a power outage. (It is also nice to have some battery powered lanterns, since handheld flashlights do not really light up a room very well.)
2- Power outages provide an excellent opportunity for cleaning out all of the scary things you have been ignoring in the back of the fridge and freezer. Having coolers on hand is the simplest method for trying to preserve several hundred dollars of food when the fridge is not working. But, you need to have enough and hope stores are open so you can purchase ice / dry ice.
3- It is great to have stored water, especially in small, usable quantities, but a few more jugs with spigots for each bathroom / kitchen would be handy.



So, Thursday I ran around to stores purchasing more coolers, ice, water jugs, a couple more lanterns and the needed sizes of batteries, since the prognosis from the power company was that it would take 48 MORE hours to get our power restored. I let Mia and Maggie eat a whole pan of Jello, since I could not keep it cold, and I called my mom and sister to warn them that they may be coming into a bit of an inhospitable environment. Fortunately, by 5 pm Thursday evening our power returned -- only 26 hours total, and I was sure grateful not to be sleeping on the basement floor in sleeping bags, trying to keep cool that night, although Mia was a little disappointed!

My mom was here for the hottest days of the year in Virginia -- again, it makes running water and air conditioning all the more sweet! We determined it was just too warm for any other activity and took the girls to the pool and the water park on Saturday and Monday. Then, on Tuesday, as we were preparing food for our planned cookout in Prince William Forest, the rain storms began. We decided to make the best of it and eat at home, while Jeffrey bested the rain to grill up our hotdogs. But, just in case we were missing the real ambiance of a campout, halfway through the power went out again!

Mia was ecstatic. And, we were now prepared. We pulled out the jugs of water, flashlights and lanterns (all of which had batteries), toasted marshmellows for smores on the gas stove, and played charades as it got dark. That night all six of us had a flashlight to go to bed with, and thank heavens it cooled of a bit and a breeze picked up, because sleeping on the couches on the main floor and in the basement it was actually quite pleasant.

Despite our improved efforts and better supplies, I was so grateful that right as I was pulling on my clothes to run to the store for ice at seven the next morning the power came back on. (Those flying back to Utah that afternoon with my mom should also have been very glad, because we all got a good shower.) It was such fun and a HUGE help to have family in town, and -- lucky for them -- they didn't miss out on roughing it with us in Virginia.





PS- For Father's Day I bought Jeffrey a power inverter that will allow us to plug electric cords into our car. Then we can charge our cell phones, the portable DVD player (which ran out of battery power during the first storm and came in very handy), the massive flashlights Jeffrey has (which do no good in an emergency since they don't keep a charge), walkie talkies (which again are no help in an emergency if they can't be charged) and a host of other useful items in such situations, or on a camping trip, or just driving in the car on a road trip.

PPS- My wish list for future emergency preparedness purchases: a battery powered fan (we have a portable heater, but I had never thought before about portable cooling - duh!), a phone with a cord (that cute retro silver one I want for my kitchen is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity so that we can have phone service during a power outage -- right?), a generator (bigger ticket item, but would be oh, so nice).

Another Successful Trip to the Park

Warning: This post contains filth and nudity. Do not read if you are likely to be offended.

This morning I took my girls to the ward play group at Signal Hill Park. It had been rainy last night and the forecast for today included more rain and possible hail and tornados, so getting out of the house while it was clear this morning seemed like a good idea. Besides, with my constant fatigue and a new wave of extreme nausea over the past few days (if you have missed all the hints in the previous posts: I'm pregnant. For more on that topic you can read my thoughts here.), sitting at the park while mt children freely run and play is seems like a good way for them to get out their energy while I conserve mine.

As we arrive at the park, I scold my oldest daughter into NOT making her way up the hill to the playground by avoiding the bridge and going straight through the muddy stream bed ahead of her. This is her usual path at this park, and every time we leave her shoes are caked in mud. Of course, once we arrive Maggie does not want to swing without me. Mia is asking every two minutes if any friends her age are going to be there. Even when one arrives, Mia spends most of her time hanging around me asking for more snacks, digging through my purse for treats I may have hidden there, and asking why I did not bring another water bottle.

Maggie had found some mud and gotten it on her shoes and feet. Maggie hates to be dirty, and now decides to sit by me, rather than play, and continue to try to have me clean off her feet, which is never to her liking and which she still will not put back into her shoes because they are "wet." Meanwhile, she wipes orange mud all over the side of my pants.

Finally, after an hour of hanging on me, dissatisfied with the many conditions of their visit to the park, my daughters venture to the other side of the playground where they are finally happily entertaining themselves. I can see them stomping around a bit and figure, they are probably in more mud. "Oh, well," I tell myself, "They are washable and at least they are having fun."

But, I have forgotten one thing: Maggie will not tolerate any water or spills on her clothes. My next glance reveals Maggie without her pants on. (Mia had at least the common sense to roll up hers.) This isn't so bad, except that then an offending drop of mud is able to get on her diaper, which she promptly removes. At this point, I make my way across the playground to inform Maggie and Mia that we are going home. Getting muddy is one thing; getting muddy and naked is something else.

I walk to the car to track down a plastic bag for Maggie's soiled pants, and by the time I am back to the playground, Maggie is completely nude in the mud puddle and EVERYTHING that was on the sidelines has now been doused in mud. I round up the kids, (Maggie now has to ride home naked in her car seat, and I hope we don't get in an accident or pulled over), and the soild items, and as we walk to the car congratulate myself on another successful trip to the park.

Kitchen Transformation

From the moment we first looked at our house, I knew we had to do something about the kitchen. But, seeing as it is a pricey endeavor, we waited until now for the biggest improvement: new countertops. I have always believed paint to be the most remarkable product for quickly transforming a space, but I must admit that the granite counter-tops may have beat out paint. Just see for yourself...

Before pictures -- I wish I had true before pictures that had the orange, shiny oak cabinets with brass knobs and the ceafoam green walls, but you will just have to use your imagination to pre-date my paint job. Also, I had to include a picture of "the bubble" which pushed us over the edge and assured we got our countertops this year. Warning: this is what can happen when you leave a crockpot on old formica for over 24hours.





After pictures -- In addition to the countertops we got a new sink (deep enough to actually hold dishes), faucet (that does not constantly drip), and gas cooktop (with a power burner and simmer burner). It was tempting to just spring for the whole line of stainless appliances we want (including the awesome double convection oven that doubles as a microwave and would allow us to put a stainless hood over the cooktop), but reason and financial realities prevailed. In any case with the new floors, it is a whole new kitchen.





Plus, can I just say it is great to feed my kids at a bar that actually hangs over the cabinets, now when Maggie eats every spill does not run down the face of the cabinets and end up on the floor! I previously had to mop the floor and wash the cabinets on my hands and knees after EVERY meal. All in all, I'm loving it!

Farewell to Summer

Don't worry, I am not completely confused about the seasons. Although, I do love fall so much I would be happy with about two weeks of real summer weather -- but that is another blog for another day.

Today, I am writing about our latest wildlife adventure. Mia Joy, our five year old, tells us regularly that she is a veterinarian (to which we try to remind her that she is five and wants to be a vet when she grows up). She runs a small animal clinic in the basement for the more than 120+ stuffed animals that she owns (one of which she took to church with her on Sunday and when they asked if anyone had brought a visitor Mia raised her hand. She almost had the whole primary singing "The Welcome Song" to her dog, until someone noticed up front that her visitor was a stuffed animal!), and, as evidenced by the preceding antecdote, she takes them along EVERYWHERE we go.

I must admit, Mia has always had a way with animals. She is the only three year old that I have ever known for whom all the cats we would meet on walks in our old neighborhood would let her pick them up and carry them around! Being such an animal lover, she is constantly looking for opportunities to rescue and befriend the real wildlife in our neighborhood.

So, it would just figure that on Thursday a mourning dove would choose my front steps on which to collapse. Mia opened the door in the morning and came running in to tell me she had found an injured bird. (I did not immediately respond, figuring she had seen it at a distance and did not really know what she was talking about -- which is always a mistake with Mia, who always seems to know what she is talking about, much to her mother's chagrin.) In any case, when I did go to inspect, I found a large bird lying awkwardly on my front steps. Mia and Maggie had pulled up chairs from which to observe and keep watch over the bird.

At first, I thought it may be dead. It was missing a good chunk of feathers by its neck and had clearly been attacked. Then, we saw it try to lift its head, shudder a bit and gasp for air. Now, Mia was adamant, "We must save this bird! It came to us for help! It knew that I am an animal rescuer!" I got online and tracked down a real wildlife rescuer in the area and read up on how to pick up an injured bird, place it in a lined box with a safe place to fly away if it should get better, and how to very quickly get skilled help because birds expire quickly when hurt. As I prepared to make a call to find out what to do next, Mia, Maggie and I literally watched the bird, which now Mia had named "Summer," since it was the color of dirt that grows things and arrived at the beginning of summer, take its final breath. It was dead.

Mia and Maggie would not believe that their new "pet" was dead. I placed it in the box and put it on the back deck. I told Mia if she saw it move again I would call the wildlife representative and tried to reassure her that this was probably best for the bird.

Mia went through all the stages of grief. She was in denial. She cried and mourned. She became angry and looked for people to blame -- she thought for awhile perhaps a human had tried to hunt the bird and that we should call 911 and have them come post signs that hunting was not allowed in our neighborhood. She also yelled in the general direction of the neighbor's cat, just in case he had inflicted this harm upon her bird friend. She then accepted the truth and developed a plan about burying the bird and having a funeral service that evening when Jeffrey returned home. And, finally, she moved on, coming up with elaborate plans to lure more birds towards our property and befriend them.

On Friday evening, Jeffrey dug a hole under a tree in the front yard, where he told Mia he had heard the bird cooing, and we buried the bird. Mia told us the things she liked about the bird, how it just sung beautiful music and made everyone happy, and Jeffrey read a scripture with a bird reference in it. This appeased Mia's need for closure, and she has only put flowers on Summer's grave once since. She has decided that perhaps we should open an animal cemetery in our yard to provide proper burial for any wildlife that may be injured nearby.

And so, I say farewell to Summer.

I just await the next creature to come into our lives.