Living in Munchkinland

We are in New York City right now celebrating my sweet husband's birthday. We heard a hurricane might be heading that way as drve to the airport on Wednesday. On Friday we knew it was on it's way and as soon as the airline allowed, we changed our flight from Sun to Sat to try and get away ahead of the storm. We were really disappointed because we would miss our one broadway show we had planned, but it seemed wise to get out. Then Friday night we heard ALL flights on Saturday were cancelled. We frantically spent over an hour trying to get through to the airline to rebook for Monday. We were lucky enough to keep our hotel room, but could not move to a lower floor as the hotel is sold out. my in-laws reassured that they would keep the kids and that all was well on the home front. This morning was dark and rainy but we went out and got foodfrom Zabors, hit lots of drugstores till we finally found flashlights and stocked up on wine. The transit system in the city shut down ...

We have continued moving furniture around and changing up the house. We decided to change our dining room into a "lounge". We'll watch TV in there and then we can make the focal point of our living room our fireplace instead of the television. Earlier this week, my parents gave us their couch and two chaise lounges that I have been coveting for a long time. Michael and I were so grateful and thrilled. When we got the furniture in our house and arranged, we realized we needed to paint the new "lounge". Michael was not thrilled about it, but we bit the bullet and painted it this weekend. The kids "helped" and that was harrowing for a while, but we got through it and they even gave themselves a bath and put on their jammies all on their own after they painted. That was a miracle in itself. We think the room looks fabulous! I am thrilled with the deep "purple twilight" color and think it looks great with the berry colored chais...

Davis performed in his first musical on Friday. This performance was the culmination of his two week study at the Texas State Theatre Camp. Davis played one of the seven dwarves in a rock-style version of Snow White. His name was "Big Mike". Michael got off work early in time to see the show and some of our friends came too. Davis was very proud. He looked so cute and small up there. His singing was great and he remembered all his lines. He consistently started his choreography off on the wrong foot (so like his mama) and was a bit too quiet for the large theatre, but we still thought he was brilliant and wonderful. We were proud too. We brought him a Cars 2 balloon and took him out to dinner at his favorite restaurant, Japanerios after the show. We'll receive the DVD soon and tuck it into his memory box. It was really special for me to see him travel down his mama's footsteps if only for an hour and 15 minutes.

I'm keeping my parents' goddaughter this week from 8-5 while her mom works. I have known this beautiful girl since she was eight months old and have kept her lots of times. There was an extended period of time I kept her when she was 18 months. She is eleven now and is sweet as sweet can be. It is a joy to spend time with her (though she never stops talking!), and she is helpful besides. Today we did kid yoga, cooked together, she read starwars to Sam, held his hand across streets, played pretend, cleaned everything up, ate everything I put in front of her and hugged me when it was time to go and begged to stay. Tomorrow we're going to the library where she's promised to let me introduce her to Little House on the Prairie. Sweet, sweet girl.

This morning I saw an ad on craigslist for some Ikea Bunkbeds. Michael and I emailed them right away and around 1:30 this afternoon we picked them up! Our boys insist on sharing a room and we figured this would give us much more room. It would also give us an extra trundle bed that we could move to our extra-playroom-that-used-to-be-Davis'-room and make ourselves a guest room! We've always wished we had a guest room and now we do. We spent all afternoon disassembling, assembling and moving large pieces of furniture. We still love each other. Check it out.

I just spent some time online researching rough and tumble play. It runs out that the boys are pretty normal. Sam is experiencing a typical four year old surge of testosterone. Their joy over their games indicates that it is not real aggression and the constant touching each other is fulfilling their needs to be touched. (if they really need that much touching, why won't they allow me to smother them in kisses?). All it seems that I need to do is remind the boys what kind of touching is appropriate (no punching or biting) and make sure both kids are enjoying it. I am relieved by this research, but still totally befuddled by boys. Anyone have any raising boys how to book suggestions? Right now I'm at the jumpy place letting Sam burn off some rough and tumble energy on soft bouncy things. And then I will attempt further smothering of kisses.

The last week I have been off work and so I have been home with the boys. Davis has been in theatre camp all week and I spend most of the day with Sam. It has been a quiet week. After the drama and emotional rollercoaster of Monday, I sort of nestled into solitude. I'm feeling insecure and reticent. And it's not just that. It's hot. So hot. And dry. The ground is cracking and brown and I can't even force the kids outside at 7:30 in the morning for longer than half an hour because they come in drenched in sweat and complaining. And my mom and dad are gone for vacation and I miss them! And my friends are busy or on vacation. And money is a bit tight. So for all these reasons, my days this week have revolved around staying home with Sam and dropping off and picking up Davis from camp. Michael's job so far is good. He likes it and we are finding our new rhythm. But I miss him so much. We have started doing our runs at six in the morning in the d...

Michael got a phone call this morning at 8AM from his official boss. This is the person who approves his expense reports but hasn't spoken to Michael in months. Michael actually works for his active boss who isn't really his boss on paper. This is a bit confusing I know, but work with me on this. The official boss was calling to let Michael know that his position has been terminated. 13.5 years with his company and he had no idea it was coming. He got severance and we keep our benefits for a few weeks. He should come into the office and pack up his stuff and turn in his computer. We were all in shock. We're still in shock. Michael's active boss was in shock. Michael is totally indispensable to him. He cannot do his job without him. He had no idea it was coming. We think the official boss had no idea what Michael was really doing and when he had to make budget cuts he saw Michael as easy cut. He did say it was not performance related. Michael's old bo...

We had a great time last night at the Palmer Event Center watching the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls. We double dated with our friends Marchelle and Marc. We watched Las Putas Del Fuego battle the Holy Rollers. We got there early and waited in line at the door. When they opened the doors we pushed our way through and got some great seats. I was so glad we got there early, not only because we had an hour to chat and catch up with our friends, but also because we got seats. People who came in closer to the start time had to stand for the whole derby. We bought raffle tickets for the chance to seat with the judges by right by the alley, and Michael and Marc ended up having their numbers called! They had a great time sitting front and center. They had mixed drinks and vegan wraps so I was happy and we just had a great time watching the show. Those girls are so tough! They are sexy and athletic and it looks so fun, but the elbows to the face and the major tumbles and the fighting make...

Last weekend we hopped on a plane to BWI and our 2011 Walter Reunion. We arrived in the late afternoon and had missed lunch, so after getting our rental car (a cute Mazda 5), we headed to a great Thai food restaurant I had read about called Little Spice. It was amazing and the white wine was appreciated too. After dinner we drove to the Cherry Creek Campground where we were staying with all the family in the "Abigail Adams" cabin. This was a large three story house with a big deck. We enjoyed being with family and then retreated to our very cold (but very private), basement room. Friday we rose early (when you are in the basement, you can hear footsteps in the morning), and got ready to head into D.C. We took the metro in with Martha and Clark and nearly melted in the 100 degree plus five million percent humidity as we walked to the air and space museum. I had voted for the American History museum, but the boys outvoted me three to one. They loved the museum and I fo...