Ramblings, part 2

It's not that there's nothing to write about; it's more like there's too much to write about and a lot of stuff that I'm not willing to share with all of cyberspace.

Things here are great for the most part. The kitchen rocks my socks. I can't believe that our tile backsplash turned out as well as it did. It's really a work of art. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I am very proud of our work in there.

It's a long weekend, yay, and we have no plans. I am really excited about that because we've just had too much going on lately. We might get together with some friends tomorrow, but if we do, I think it's going to be at a playground or park and not at our house (or their house) because they're as wiped out and exhausted as we are right now.

We are planning to go to Kentucky in November and skip the Christmas trip. I've got mixed feelings about that, because our November trip isn't even Thanksgiving - it's earlier in the month for a reunion. I'm really excited about the reunion; we'll get to see a lot of friends and especially our friends Becky and Lee and their little girl Lorelai. When we all lived on the east coast we saw each other quite often, but we've moved to Texas and then Minnesota since then, and they are now just outside Detroit. No more four-hour-drive between our homes, which kind of sucks because we had so much fun running back and forth to Baltimore, DC, and NYC. Those were pre-kid days, when staying out half the night was not a big deal at all. Oh, how far we've come (or gone) since then!

Fall already?

We had a front pass through last night, and when I woke up this morning, Alex had all the downstairs windows open. It was 59 degrees at 8 AM, and now at 12:30 it is only 64. It must be a wonderful day to be at the State Fair. The only sad part about this change in the weather is that earlier today, I saw a tree that has already started to change colors. After four years in Texas (where there is no "fall" to speak of), seeing leaves change is a treat - but I forget how early it can happen in Minnesota.

Random

I'm having writers block. Nothing in my life right now seems interesting enough to jot down.

We got our backsplash installed two weekends ago, and we got the grout put up (in?) this past weekend. I am totally in love with it and with how it makes our kitchen look. One negative, I'm afraid - Alex was cooking dinner last night and got a grease splatter on the backsplash above the stove - and I don't know if it's going to come off. And if it does, how do I protect it for the future? I'm afraid a piece of plexiglass above the stove is in my future. We didn't have this problem in our last home, I guess because the tile was not natural stone - it had a nice glaze on it that was easy to clean. Whenever I got spaghetti sauce or whatever on it, it just wiped off.

My parents were here for a week. We had a nice visit, Reed loved having them here, but they left on Sunday and we're slowly returning to normal around our house. I am interviewing housecleaners today and tomorrow. Alex and I had a deal that when I got my promotion, I could get a housecleaner. I hope I find someone, because I really am tired of cleaning my house myself. Oh, who am I kidding? Alex does the cleaning. I'm tired of him spending Saturdays doing the cleaning when we could be out doing something else. Or just sleeping. Sleep sounds good too.

We're going on a mission, start the countdown...

For the last two-and-a-half-years (I'm guessing here), Reed has been all about the Little Einsteins. I think it's been that long; I know he was obsessed with them before we left Texas. He's still obsessed. For his birthday last year he got a Pat Pat Rocket that he still plays with very often. In fact, he gets PPR out every time he watches an episode of LE on TV, which is multiple times daily because he won't watch anything else (praise be to the power of a DVR).

Every time I talk to Sharon, his sitter in Texas, she asks if he is still into LE. Every couple of months I catch him singing the theme song on video and email it to her.

On the flip side, he knows his instruments. Back around Christmas he and I were in the car and Christmas carols were playing on the radio. There was a featured solo by a trumpet, and he knew immediately what it was, and said "Mommy - a trumpet!" He does the same with different string instruments.

He definitely has his favorite episodes. He's been asking for weeks for the three little pigs' house episode - and lo and behold, it came on this morning. We're recording it now so we'll have it the next time he asks for it.