Pink Prickly Pear

Stop this thing!

 We have a free day and for that I am extremely thankful.  Last week's activities forged into the weekend and beyond - Girl Scouts (25 min. away), Lupines (45 min. away), our local park day (3 blocks), a sleepover at our house, karate training in the mountains (2 hours away - almost 3 if you count the bad directions detour), Amanda's Renegade Fairy Festival (25 min drive), Legoland with friends (only 15 mins away, but a very, very full day).  Yesterday we had planned to celebrate May Grey with some friends downtown, but stayed home in favor of uninterrupted naps (for the boy), weed pulling (for me) and crafting (for the girl).  Still it wasn't a true day at home because Mini-Pear and I took off for the dojo shortly after Mr. Pear got home, and then headed to a little party immediately afterwards.

I have therefore declared today A Day At Home.  I have big plans.  My eggplant is roasting for baba ghanoush.  I'm going to perfect my Black Widow eradication techniques.  I am going to untangle that skein of linen I'm trying to knit with.  I'm going to wash the windows that irritate me the most.  And I am going to clean a bathroom.  At some point, d'anjou is *fingers crossed* going to take a nap,  At which point I will make a gigantic salad for dinner.  And then I will sit.  Sitting is good and I don't think I get to do enough of it.

Hmmmm.  Just discovered I am out of vinegar for window cleaning.  And just remembered I should make a couple of phone calls and appointments - pre-road trip check-up/vaccinations for the dog, an oil change, reason with the bitches at our health insurance plan.  And I seriously need to put the legos back into storage.  They are fun and all, but not worth D'anjou choking to death on them.  He's going to be pissed.

"Grey day. Everything is grey. I watch, but nothing moves today."

We had absolutely nothing planned, and it rained on and off all day long. In short, a welcome break from our increasingly busy schedule.  

At some point, a big gust of wind blew a gutter off the roof.  Sometimes (okay, most of the time) I yearn to own my own house, and I wouldn't have a lick of wall to wall carpet and I could build in shelves and plan out my garden in earnest and paint the walls mustard and olive and orange, but sometimes, it's nice to have a landlord to call,  "Hey, can you do something about this gutter the Queen Palm is propping up?"

We listened to new music (lately I stream Eclectic 24 all day long!), and relieved the fridge of its leftovers, and the boy (and sometimes his sister, and sometimes his mother) played with trains, and I got dirty (and the kitchen got mighty clean), and Mini-Pear finished her latest book, and I discovered some new TV worth streaming (Book Club?), and the boy napped and I got to read more of my library book (Rose Tremain's Restoration, hot on the heels of Rose Tremain's The Road Home) and then...

Somewhere in between 4 and 5, the rain held off long enough for me to walk the dog.  There was this torn stretch of bright blue sky overhead, but behind me, low slate blue clouds promised more rain, and looking out at the water, rain was falling steadily, blurring the horizon line.  I think I most appreciate the ocean when the sun isn't shining.  When it is, it can be blinding and I'm so damn photo sensitive, I have to turn away.  But the light this afternoon, it was gorgeous.  Just enough sun peeping out, everything to the east of me was green-gold...

Today...

Grocery shopping
Laundry
Pick up library books
Meet Mr. Pear for picnic lunch
Laundry
Gym class
Karate
Quick and easy dinner

Mediocre.

For the most part, yesterday was a bit...meh.

I didn't get any sleep the previous night*.  We trudged inland for a underwhelming field trip.  I spent too much time preparing a gummy, tasteless meal in the slow cooker.

I did, however, get to spend 45 minutes on the beach by myself, reading my book.  And I went and got my hair did.  My stylist is very young.  She told me about her new hamster and about her third row tickets to see Britney Spears next week.  I don't think there was any irony in her excitement.   

^{* How irritating is it that my lack of sleep had nothing to do with the boy?!?  The one night he sleeps like a log for hours on end and I'm awake with...insomnia.}

She's an awfully good big sister, although all the carrying around is slightly nerve-wracking.

It's been six weeks.  My cooking mojo is back.  My lady parts hardly remember when they felt like baboon parts.  This afternoon I took myself and the boy for a brisk walk in the sun, while mini-pear went to her gym class.  Exercise!  Food cooked by moi that I actually wanted to eat!  A president elect who really doesn't suck!

Most mornings, mini-pear sees her dad off on his ride to work. I wave them off like not-a-care-in-the-world-mommy and then crane my neck anxiously until I hear her scooting back around the corner. 

Letting go and giving her more freedom is so hard!

She is growing up though...

Last night we went to a local taco place for dinner.  She had brought along her sketchbook and a couple of little tiny horses.  After dinner, we were just chatting and she started drawing a little landscape for the horses - stables, pathways through little gardens, a skatepark(?).  We each got a horse and trotted them from the stables to the skatepark.  At some point, she lost interest a bit and Mr. Pear (with his dirty mind) mounted my horse with his horse. 

Of course, now she noticed, "Hey, what are you doing?  We're supposed to be skating!"
I attempted a recovery, "I think ours wanted to wrestle..." and realised we were talking at the same time...
"No mating!  They're all mares!" she scolded her dad.
I still thought I could keep it G-rated, "Nah, I think dad's horse just wanted to wrestle..."
She gave me this woman-do-you-really-think-I'm-that-stupid look and Mr. Pear shrugged, "I didn't know they were all mares..."

I think I attempted a kick under the table at that point.  He looked defeated, "She caught me red-handed..."
"I think it's the end of that game..."

***

I had to post that photo to make everyone outside coastal SoCal jealous.  Mild mornings, my friends!  The skies are grey due to the marine layer, my girl is wearing jeans and a little merino cardigan.  In an hour the sun will burn off the cloud cover and we'll have bathing suit weather;)  I remember waking up in DC drenched in sweat.  I'd take a cool shower and within minutes of getting dressed, I'd be all sweaty again.  Don't miss August on the east coast.  Not a bit.

As of September 1, we will have two less people to make jealous.  Mr. Pear's brother and his wife are moving here!  We both left DC at around the same time - us to vacationland, them to chillier (but decidedly less vehemently anti-intellectual) Boston.  Half-way through their first winter they realized that when people had told them just how cold it could get up there, they weren't kidding!  So they both scored jobs down here and will be joining us just in time for flip-flop and fleece weather;)   Free babysitters!  I'm so glad mini-pear will get to spend more quality time with her aunt and uncle.

Our freezer has a decidedly "bachelor pad" feel to it, doesn't it?  Now that the refridgerator is actually functioning again, I suppose I can't get out of hitting the grocery store this morning. 

Not sure how I feel about that one...

These days I wake up energetic and ready to attack my to-do list , but by the time I've puttered around the house a bit, I feel like I've run a marathon and am ready for a power nap.

Answering ones email, making smoothies and doing a load of laundry should not put one over the edge.

This morning I made a point of actually telling baby pear that he had my permission to come on out now, just in case he was waiting for an invitation.

Grey hairs don't mean a thing to a lady with a predisposition towards pink hair.

This morning I had a doctor's appointment completely unrelated to pregnancy - a physical exam to complete one of the many steps required to renew our expiring orphan visa.

I think I threw her for a loop, walking in her office, preceded by my Shetland pony-esque belly, asking for her to sign off that I'm healthy enough to adopt an infant.  "Yes, I've got baby fever that bad..."

But that's not why I'm here.  I'm here to mark an occasion.  I'm pretty sure my doctor is younger than me (she only graduated last year!) and that's a first.  Kind of made me feel a bit...well...old.

Newsflash-y...

I woke up before seven.

I found my pen! (When I lose inanimate objects of which I'm particularly fond, I have a tendency to waste time laying awake at night wondering where they got to.  Unless I lose something else around the house today, I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep this evening.)

I went on a nice brisk walk.  I used to do this pretty much every morning with the dog, but then I really didn't feel like it for a while and then when I did feel like it, I really did not feel like bringing the dog.  These days my body really does not appreciate the abdominal crunching required to restrain her from pulling me over.  The pulling also makes my feet slap on the ground, making me feel like walking was veering into "high impact aerobic territory".  No high impact aerobics for me.  I decided to get over the guilt factor of walking sans dog and so I did and it was very nice indeed and probably accounts for much of my good mood and desire to continue in un-slothful activities for the remainder of the day.

It is grey, but I'm not going to let that stop me from going for a swim.

I am actually looking forward to cooking this afternoon!  My cooking mojo vanished several months ago, but this morning I not only had a craving for loubie bzeit, but realized I probably had most of the ingredients on hand to make it.  I looked up a recipe and I do!  (Well, with the exception of dried sweet basil, but I can nip into the shop on the way home from swimming for that.)  There will be green beans and tomatoes and garlic for days!

I also spent a good 45 minutes at my sewing machine.  I didn't neglect to put the cover on it for this most recent spate of creative inactivity so I didn't have to waste ten minutes cleaning it first.

My life is too exciting, I know.

Friday's full of Yays! and Boos!

Another reason to road trip though lovely Oregon?  Free coffee courtesy of the Methodists!  I don't know if the coffee came with strings attached as I'd already had a small clandestine coffee much earlier that morning.  I'll also have to admit that after witnessing the horror of the rest room stalls at this stop, I studiously avoided any subsequent "Free Coffee" stops.  Just in case, you know, the free coffee was in lieu of a generous scrubbing of the facilities.  It certainly seemed so at this particular stop.

Onto Yays! (and Boos!)

Yay! Swimming this morning!  Floating in the sun feels so very good!

Boo!  We stayed at the pool long enough to hear a swim instructor bring not just one, but three successive students to tears with her constant haranguing and "Be Brave!"  and "You HAVE to do this!"  So, it's bad enough that she basically sucks, for lack of a better word, but I can't imagine what possessed three successive parental units to sit poolside and allow this woman to bring their children to tears. 

Boo!  Hey Fax Machine!  Why you try and call me at 6:38 this morning?  Hmmmm?  And why you try and call me again ten minutes later?  I was sleeping!

Yay!  Quiet time with a cup of tea and my book before anyone else woke up (although, to be perfectly honest, I'd have appreciated the sleep a little more).

Yay!  I think our dog learned some manners at her fancy pants doggie dude ranch!  Yesterday I chatted on the driveway with my friend, not realizing that the front door was open.  When I headed back inside the dog was attentively laying down on the door mat and did not get up until I told her she could!  And she was much calmer on our walk today (longtime readers know she's a beast on her leash).  And when we returned from the pool she greeted us in the hall by calmly laying down and wagging her tail (as opposed to punching us in the groin and frolicking excitedly underfoot). 

Yay!  Sleepover for Mini-Pear with one of her best friends.  Most uneventful!  They get on with their play and work out their issues on their own!  Little Friend is polite and not in the habit of wandering off opening drawers and nosing in closets (like Mini-Pear's other little friend, Mary Lennox*).

Boo!  Who will fill the void left by the impending move of Little Friend?  Please, not Mary Lennox!!!!!

Yay!  I read on the couch for an hour this afternoon and ate lots and lots and lots of cherries.  Here on the left coast, cherries are well within my grocery budget for months on end!

Yay!  We got to karate this afternoon for the first time in too long!  Mini-Pear had a great class and I got my knit on.

Boo! It's seven o'clock.  Where's Mr. Pear?  It's time to get this weekend party started!

^{* Uh, Mary Lennox is not her real name.  I wouldn't be all stealthy and avoid using our own real names on the internets and then out some poor kid due to her inherent disagreeable-ness.  Ever read The Secret Garden?  She's just like that Mary Lennox, only without garden tools and her ensuing sense of purpose.}

Brought to you by illicit cups of coffee.

For a while there, it seemed all I had to offer mini-pear was a willingness to read to her in bed. 

I am now, happily, back in action.  We've also caught up on our laundry, which means I could remove the pictured technicolor duvet cover from my bed and replace it with something a little more conducive to restfulness.  But then, my regular duvet covers don't match Clarice Bean. 

I feel the need to clarify that this particularly lurid number  was never my own, but rather mini-pear's duvet cover, dating back to her fuschia (yes, fuschia) bedroom. 

Speaking of beds, I need a new one.  I prefer a futon, but there are futons and then there are futons.  We had an excellent one that we left back in DC due to its age.  When we moved here, we thought we were buying its equivalent, but the minute the delivery man sauntered up the front walk with the current one handily rolled up under his arm, I knew there was no way this was the same solid behemoth of firm bedding.  In less than a year, we have worn two human sized ditches into it, despite turning and flipping religiously every Sunday evening. 

So, back to what I need - I thought it might be nice to upgrade to a king size - considering how many bodies we'll be squeezing into it over the next few years.  Organic would be nice too, considering all the hours sleepy little babies and toddlers spend huffing the nasty fumes encased in regular mattresses.  It would also be nice if it were made in these here United States by union workers making a living wage - extra points for something that doesn't have to travel too far...

Have you looked at the prices of organic, king-sized, domestic mattresses lately?  I know what we're all getting for our birthdays, x-messes and anniversaries for the next...oh...three years.