Saturday, January 3, 2009

Welcome to the 21st Century, Me!

It is Saturday night at 9:49pm. I am sitting on my loveseat in our living room, all comfy-cozy, with the dull sounds of a football game a few feet away as Dan "watches" the game, lying on the couch with his eyes closed. It is absolutely a wonder of nature because I am typing on our new laptop with WiFi- so exciting! So 21st century! So now! Usually when I am blogging I am squirrelled away in our downstairs office, which while functional, is about 20 degrees colder than the rest of the house in the winter. So try to withold your smirks and dismissive chortles as I relish being modern and fresh... and warm.
We got back into our regular life today after a long holiday break. Michaela had a fun Brownie outing to a local bowling alley and was a little disappointed that she didn't score as high as she does in bowling on her Wii. Then we brought her over to a friend's house, which she declared was "a tradition" because last year she went to the same friend's house during Christmas break. Dan and I hit the mall with Jenna to do some returns and after Christmas sale shopping. This evening we worked on assimilating our gifts into the house, after which I declared myself Officially Christmassed Out.

I am forming in my head all kinds of to-do lists of things I've wanted to do for the last few months but have been too distracted by the holidays to actually accomplish. Most are stupid things, like bringing the cat to the vet because I'm suspicious that she has some pretty serious cat dementia which causes her to howl at night and constantly stare at us like she doesn't know who the hell we are, but other items on the list are more significant, like printing out some of the roughly 5000 pictures I've taken over the last three years. I have so many pictures that you could put them in a pile (assuming they were printed, of course) and flip through them and you'd see my life animated before your eyes. I also have closets to organize, checks to write out, copious amount of fudge-based fat to lose, and multiple projects to complete. I don't really do New Year's Resolutions- I'm stressed out enough by seeing the Quit Smoking ads that flood the media airwaves (remember my rant about how glad I am that I don't smoke... and don't have genital herpes???) and I generally think that a to-do list is better than an "I wish I could..." list.

Though speaking of "I wish I could..." lists, I do wish I could slow down time: I feel like the girls are growing up before my eyes these last few weeks. Dan and I keep looking at them and suddenly they are big and not baby-faced anymore. Jenna's personality is forming and changing right in front of us and her sense of humor is growing and developing every day. Michaela looks like a different person than she did just a few months ago... more sharp-featured as her baby fat in her cheeks melts away and her face elongates and looks narrower. They are more independent, more helpful around the house, and generally seem to have moved into a new stage in life: from Let's kill Mommy through sleep deprivation and endless nursing to Let's demonstrate a glimmer of a behavior that will keep her up at night languishing about whether she's raising us right AND negotiate her to death. Fun times! Seriously, though, it is great to see them make this shift and I love every minute of it.

Jenna is now older than Michaela was when Jenna was born and that totally blows my mind.
And I will bet you a million, trillion dollars that my father just read the last sentence and is saying out loud, Well, come on, then!! Time for another!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

re: the last comment: You're correct!
and there are great boy toys at Toys R Us for grandparents to buy.

and you are a great blog creative artist.

Wa

Anonymous said...

I, too, make lists for January which seems to promise endless time and opportunities but is over before I know it and I have not accomplished many of my list tasks. Oh well-there is always Feb and March! The blessings of Christmas have filled my heart and I am ready to face the winter ahead with renewed optimism for spring and its promise. Can't wait to see your laptop in action!
Love, Mommie, MIL, Gammie

Anonymous said...

I am with you on the resolutions. I've decided to make smaller to-do lists instead of one big list of resolutions....we'll see how that goes! Michaela looks so cute with her teeth missing! Love reading your blog!

Jessica M