Saturday, March 11, 2006

Earlier this week, I learned that in contrast to the Catholic Church's reckoning of seven deadly sins, Buddhism counts 108 "defilements" (conveniently listed for you here).

As if I didn't have enough on my "To Do" list...
Gigi and I were enjoying some unseasonably warm weather this afternoon after I picked her up from school. She was having a sippy cup of milk al fresco and pondering the weird device I had attached to it (a strap that is supposed to keep the cup attached to a high chair or car seat, so when kiddo wants to play The Gravity Game, Mommy doesn't sprain a knee retrieving the cup).
Anyway, this thing is purple and shiny and new, so of course it requires a vocabulary lesson. "Shiny," I said to Gigi, turning the strap over in her hands. "See how shiny? Pretty!"
"Purr-po," she replied.
No way, I'm thinking. "Did you just say 'purple'?"
Without taking her gaze from it, she repeated, "purr-po."
My daughter identified her first color by name. And it was purple.
Now I know how Anne Sullivan felt at the water pump that day.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

I am caving in. After several weeks of falling behind on housework, and with the arrival of spring, I have come to the conclusion that I can either be both a full-time housekeeper *and* full-time employee, or I can be a full-time employee, outsource the housekeeping, and have some semblance of a life.

This is not to say that I do not have pangs of bourgeois guilt. It's just that I'd like to ensure - now that the baby is totally mobile and has discovered the joys of pulling stuff up from the garden - that at least once a week the carpets get vacuumed and the kitchen floor has more than one patch of non-adhesive surface. And I'd like to be there in the garden with the baby pulling up stuff.

Tomorrow I have a carpet-cleaning service coming in to get the smell of cat whizz out of the living room. The previous owners had a cat, and I only have so much time to play "CSI" with the blacklight looking for signs of our cat's power struggle with her predecessor. I also have a few housekeeping companies coming over to give us estimates. Naturally, this means I have to clean up the place before they get here, right?

Which means I should get off the blog. Right.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

The past two weeks as haiku:

Spring and winter play
leapfrog. Immune systems blown.
New ear infection.

Spouse has surgery,
limited mobility.
Mommy needs a drink.


Yep, the day my husband has knee surgery and I'm teaching a class - as the substitute, mind you - is the day that Gigi develops a fever. Hubby can't drive, and I can't leave on a moment's notice. The ladies at day care (or, as I prefer to think of it, "pre-pre-school") called to tell me that she had a temperature, and they were giving her the ibuprofen I supply for teething pain, and she was really quite listless and I should consider taking her home. I explained my circumstances and said I'd wrap things up as soon as I could, yadda yadda. They called again two hours later - in between my phone calls to my brother to see how my husband's surgery had gone - and said the fever hadn't broken, she was napping now but she seems to be really sick.

You know, they never actually come out and say, "You negligent slattern, how dare you inflict your diseased spawn upon us," but I'm learning that Day Care is a highly nuanced tonal language.

So I got the babe, took her to the pediatrician, got her a diagnosis and an antibiotic, and took her home to daddy, who was on the couch with ice packs.

Oh, and did I mention that I had a cold too?

Yeah, things are looking up now. However, I should point out that I am blogging on a friend's computer between the cocktail and dinner portion of our weekly Movie Nite. Blogging at work is not an option, and while my family was playing Sick Ward I kinda let the housework go to hell, so I've been playing catchup on the laundry and such in between baby's bathtime, teething fits, and playtime. Oh, and I have relatives coming this weekend (brother-in-law and his fiancee). Hooray, they are graduate students, so a little clutter and fledgling civilizations in the bathroom isn't going to bother them, as long as they get lots of Niece Time.

It is a good person who lets you blog from their home. It is a remarkable person who will do so and cook paella for you at the same time. I am very fortunate in my friends.