The most hated chore

is emptying the dishwasher of its clean dishes. When I wake up and come in the kitchen, first it's make the coffee, and then empty the dishes. Ugh. I just hate to do it, but if I don't do it straight away, it seems like the rest of the day, the kitchen is trashed and I'm behind schedule. It's not like it's anything exhausting or taxing, and I'm not sure exactly why it bugs me so much. I think I'll blame it on my friend Val, who told me once that it was her most hated chore, too. If I think back on it, it never really bothered me until she said that....... ha!

In the middle

Yesterday Granny and I took the kids to see the new Pixar movie "Wall-E." I wasn't sure John Sam would sit through it, and I had doubts any movie could hold his or Caroline's interest as much as "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles." Sometimes, I'm glad to be wrong! A lot of fidgeting in the beginning soon gave way to their being engrossed in the story. (Okay, the root beer, Skittles and Nerds helped - A LOT.) Not all movies are so adorable and ring so true as "Wall-E" did - if you have kids and haven't seen it yet, it's definitely on the list of things you simply must do with your kids. Don't miss it!

As a mother, I love observing the kids when they don't know I'm watching. Making mental videos of them as they learn, or fall in love with cartoon characters, or engage each other as only siblings can, is a talent I'm sure all moms have. During the movie, I turned my head to sneak a look at them . . . and I caught my own mom watching ME. I realized the same gush of fierce mommy love that I have for my children is the same love she has for me and my sister. Not only does she have the pleasure of doting on her big brood of grandchildren, after all these years, she's still observing and loving me with the same amount of pride, love & devotion I feel for my own babies. With the hustle and bustle of living our lives, we forget that we were once the center of our parents' worlds. How fortunate I am to get such a lovely reminder by taking a simple trip to the movies.

Thanks, Wall-E.

Harvest . . .

White scallop squash from Sam's garden, and pineapple from the patch in the front (4 more to be picked shortly):

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

As far as increasing the numbers of my blog posts, I'm slacking hard. But - I've been very busy in the good way! I can happily say I've got a J-O-B!

-- * -- gasp!! -- * --

I report to work for my first day on July 21. The law firm is a small one, 5 attorneys with supporting paralegals/staff. The office is an old two-story house which has been converted. The administrator tells me they are reaching maximum capacity and looking for a larger space. I've got parking, a lunch hour, and sweet benefits, not to mention that the firm is literally down the street (about 4 blocks) from my last job. I send a semi-fond farewell to my 60 mile per day commute--may it rest in peace. ;=D I'm excited to have an opportunity to prove that becoming a mother makes me a better employee. When I was younger and single, if the truth be known, I took good jobs for granted. I won't make that mistake again.

Yesterday I registered the kids at their new elementary school. I was happily impressed with the lady who assisted me with all the paperwork and questions. Everything is in order so far (pending a few items), and while we're still not exactly sure if the kids will go there or another nearby school, we'll finalize everything next week. For the four weeks before school starts, the kids will go to Caroline's old school. John Sam needs practice playing with other kids his age, and Caroline will be able to see some of her old friends that she's missed while we've enjoyed summer vacation.

If you know me well, you know I really don't like changes. I've never been one to "wing it." I like to make a plan, ponder my plan, and then do everything pretty much in accordance with the plan. A lot of changes are going to be coming my way, but this time around, I'm gonna let the benefits of hindsight guide me. Instead of letting my anxiety magnify the stresses that changes will bring, I'm going to look for a better way to do things. If it didn't work in the past, it's history.

I feel like I've been given a fresh start, a clean slate, a brand new sketch pad with nothing but crisp, white pages. I'm the most thankful for that.

Fences

"There should be fences even between friends. But they should have great holes in them." -Sahabib

We love Tokyo no matter what, but it's become painfully obvious that she doesn't take a lot of pride in her listening skills. Or her self-control. Her recent little jaunt into Sam's garden was the last.

Who knew sod palettes could make such a good fence? ;-D

We have a tomato!

And soon, we'll have some squash, too! Veggies, veggies, veggies everywhere! Let us know if you'd like some on layaway . . .

Fast as lightning

The kids are fast as lightning, or should I say fireworks? Last night, John Sam & Caroline used up their stash of pop-its and Sparklers before the night was all the way dark. They are so fast that I couldn't get a picture of them together, so I had to settle for cute ones of them separately in their festive t-shirts. For the 3rd year in a row, our neighbors a few streets over treated us to a great (free!) fireworks display. I did want to try to get some tripod pictures, but the mosquitoes were so bad, we had to go in early.

Happy 4th of July 2008 . . .

Seen near our home in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.

~God Bless America~

The banner that won't post

Let's see if I can insert a picture of the digi kit I can't use yet! It was created by the very talented Rhonna Farrer, from her "Urban Junque Journalers" collection (buy it here http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/64707/ )
Isn't it beautiful? Wouldn't it look so very lovely at the top of my blog? Alas, operator error comes into play. Visualizing just isn't working for this task, I'm learning. More digital scrapping tutorials are in my future, I can definitely see that ;)

July 2

At the end of June, I was so tickled to see that each month I've increased my number of blog posts. Trying to be more consistent, ha. I wanted to update the blog's top banner for July, and I got a cute little digital kit to put on, and thought I was Miss Thang. Problem is, Miss Thang can't work the digi kit. I've spent a couple of days trying to figure it out - and can't so far! It'll be right, or I won't put it up. So tomorrow I'll try again and even if it doesn't work, I'm going to blog anyway!