I've always begrudged, reluctantly, Dave his daily restaurant lunch, and I have a standing offer to make him lunch instead. But now that I'm up to 4 lunches to make, I'm sort of relieved. These all get assembled the night before and (somehow) crammed into the fridge, then in the morning, staged in the hall so they're not forgotten.
The orange one on the left is mine; I had it monogrammed with "Gabriel" but it was too big for him for kindergarten. I love having "Gabriel" on my lunch box!
Katrina got a Speed Racer cheapie that was briefly Gabriel's, but was too small for his lunches. While I'm on the subject, I'm not crazy about the pink and blue lunch sacks the boys have now; they don't stay upright while I'm packing them, and if you pull the liner out to wash it, it's a major major pain getting it back in since the interior insulation isn't attached to the sides and falls in.
Julian was very proud and happy to have his sister at his school.
She was puzzled at first, but didn't waste a moment emitting her characteristic ear-piercing shriek of protest at the dastardly suggestion of removing her jacket. The wonderful 2's room teacher, whom I like a great deal, at first misunderstood this reaction as an extreme one, for being upset over being about to be left behind (could a real writer help me with that please?). I rolled my eyes and explained to the teacher, "Nope, that's just her." I did the teachers a favor and skedaddled fast.
She's in really, really good hands (here with the "Prince" (Director) of the school).
I have nothing to worry about, other than the fact that she's still my baby. ("SCREEEE--EEEEECH!!!!") I still could have used a hug from her.
She did so well that there was little to say. I forgot to ask about lunch, and indeed, left her lunch behind. I'm not in the habit of carrying lunches out since Julian does it himself. The 2's teacher told me she wiggled a little before her nap, but the teacher lay down with her and put her arm around Katrina's belly, and she went right to sleep. HEY!! She's never done that for me!!
The day did take its toll though. Katrina was a disaster when we got home, fussing and crying and tantruming at the slightest provocation. Like, say, oh, having to close the front door. Sorry, tantrum-experts, she can choose mismatched socks, but leaving the front door open isn't one of those things I can give in on.
Fortunately, Julian was on the job, and he very very patiently and persistently worked her out of it. When she'd quieted down, I peeked in the family room and saw him reading Peter Rabbit to her. How sweet. We're not supposed to have favorites (though I secretly do among other people's kids!), but Julian was the clear winner today. Gabriel....arrrgh. When he turns on Pest Mode, it's ugly, and very very persistent.
I had planned to work a long day today, given my new time windfall. But since I ran into two friends at the Y this morning, I guess my trying to sneak in a workout before work wasn't sneaky enough. Busted!
In the afternoon, I got a call at work from Anna, my kitchen designer. The cable/data outlet we'd planned for the entertainment area wasn't in the right place and the new hutch's crown molding will cover a light fixture, how do you want to...? I'm on my way. The crew was there (that's Dave on the right), and I got to ask the installer personally to make sure the eensy "Shaw's" emblem on the sink goes on the far side so you can see it. Details, details.
We solved the problems, and I got to see the entertainment area in the works.
That whole thing above the fireplace, and the cabinets on either side, will be one continuous tabletop. It's intended to set a TV on, and all stereo/VCR/DVD components will go on the open shelves next to the fireplace.
But I'm re-thinking the TV thing. I never wanted a !!T!!V!!! to be the focal point of our room, and I still don't. I really, really like having it behind closed doors, out of everyone's faces. I love the big wide open tabletop that we can do whatever we want with -- it doesn't have to be dedicated to a giant screen that constantly attracts eyes. A kick-*ss audio system, on the other hand, now we're talking.
(To set the record straight, I like to watch TV and I do it a lot (I'm on a Netflix Desperate Housewives kick at the moment). Most of this debauchery is done from the comfort of bed -- there's no time for TV with the kids around.)
I really underestimated the emotional effect of seeing the house come together. My anticipation about going home is accelerating day by day. New irritations about our rental house arise daily. Every day, something new is put in place in the house, and each thing is something I'm heavily invested in and want very very much to LOVE immediately. But few things work that way. Today's heart attack is over the kitchen cabinets: why didn't I get the straight shaker style? That oval ogee around the inside of the frame doesn't work with painted cabinets!!! Aggggh!!!! In time, I'll get used to these details and won't be in constant new-surroundings-overload. Until then, the house is very much like raising children: new highs and lows, unexpectedly, every day.
12/2/08
[ Other blogger users: Have you noticed that photos now upload in reverse order if you upload more than one? And why are they limited to 5 at a time anyway? And why do you have to browse for each one?! And why are you stuck with one size for all photos in one batch? And why does it put the photos in the same place -- at the top -- of your work-in-progress? And why is the window that pops up too small to fit the "Upload" button, forcing you to scroll down EVERY time? Why doesnt't the photo-upload popup close on its own when it's done? Why are you committed to a "left" or "right" orientation at upload time and have to hack the HTML to change it later? I could go on! The photo-upload interface sucks!!! ]
1 comment:
As another Blogger user, I'll say the answer to all those questions is "Because Google doesn't make any money off the majority of us." No real drive to make it better...
S.
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