A perfect day

If there were no such thing as "time" hindering me, here is how my perfect day would go:

Sleep in, at least an extra hour, which would mean 7:30 if there were time. Believe me this feels like a gift on the rare occasion that it happens.

Exercise: Yoga, walk the dog, new kick boxing DVD I got for Christmas that I've used ONCE, or weight training.

Go online and just browse Facebook and other sites to get caught up on the day before.

Get kids and breakfast ready. Read a magazine or the paper while I eat breakfast.

Play with cats for awhile, throw the ball for Tucker.

Play with the boys, sometimes together, sometimes separately. Art, music and dancing, building something, playing games. Tickle session on the floor, then piggy back rides.

Watch the birds outside. Sit at my desk that I've sat at maybe three times and write in my bird journal.

Make and eat lunch.

Get Joel down for a nap, read some books to Gabriel, then me take a nap.

Clean one room of my house really, really well.

Work on at least one project, like cleaning out a closet.

Do one or two loads of laundry.

Play outside with the boys. Run, play ball, jump on little trampoline, play hide and seek.

Do some gardening and watering out there also.

Play with or walk Tucker.

Sit and watch a cooking show. Catch up on emails/browsing.

Make a wonderful, healthy dinner.

After dinner, play a little more, then make lunches.

Play with cats again while Jav gives the boys a bath.

Put both boys to bed. Read and sing songs.

Talk to hubby about day, any problems, just whatever.

Back outside to water or put birdseed out for the next day.

Take a shower.

Check computer, fold laundry,watch TV with hubby.

Read book club book and whatever else I'm trying to read about dog or child raising.

Get 8 hours of sleep before the next day starts all over again.

This would mean that one day needs about 48 hours in it. So I get by doing about a third of this each day. And try like crazy to not get frustrated about it.

Oh yeah, and write at least one blog post each day.

Pintimidating

I've heard about Pinterest and how wonderful it is through several friends. I never paid much attention because I don't pay much attention to anything that isn't kid or dog related these days. But last night, a mom of one of Gabriel's classmates started a new blog with post after post of these really cool things she's tried from seeing them on Pinterest. She's baked, organized, and made clips for her hair, just within the past two weeks of starting her Pinterest journey. She wrote that her creative side has awakened and she feels well, happier, than she's felt in awhile. When I told her today how much I had like reading her blog she said that it's really brought her out of a routine rut. She's someone I've grown to like and respect (she works part time as a pediatric nurse at Parkland Hospital), so her blog peaked my interest. A little. I actually looked up the website on Wikipedia to read a little more about it. Right now it seems confusing, just like Facebook did at first.

I hesitate to find out any more about it. I might really like it, and I don't have time to like anything else right now. We have stuff on the DVR we've taped from before Christmas that we can't seem to get to. But on the other hand, it seems like new recipes, tips for organizing stuff, easy to make crafts etc... might actually SAVE someone time in the long run, right? So I just don't know. I might just keep following my friend's blog. She's already inspired me to try and make some no-bake cookies and construct a really cool art supply organizer out of a bucket and a tool belt. Does it still count as Pinteresting even if I'm shamelessly stealing ideas, or is that what the site is all about?

So many questions, and so, so little time.

Wanna do the Pony, anyone?

I love Facebook for so many reasons. One is that I get to be Facebook friends with a girl I have never officially met who used to live in Texas but now lives in Pittsburgh. Her posts always seem to make my day, and I will be very happy if I ever get to meet her in person one day. This one defies explanation, but had me smiling all day today. Thanks Teri!

Random Yammering

Every year after the holidays, I long to just go through my house room by room, clean things out, throw stuff away and CLEAN. But because one or more of us has been sick since then, NOTHING has been done. Until this weekend. I am finally attacking the clutter monster. I usually try not to just throw stuff away. We either recycle, or find a charity to give stuff to. But this weekend I've been taking each pile/stack and relentlessly throwing stuff away or putting it where it belongs. Only clothes are going into bags for the charities. I'll work my way around the visible piles, then start working on the closets, drawers and cabinets. It feels really good to get this started.

Somehow this weekend I also managed to do some things outside that I've been meaning to get to. I moved the iris bulbs that I rescued from the monkey grass a few years ago. I had originally put them in our back corner bed, but they have never gotten enough sun back there and I've only had one bloom. Today I moved them to the front yard, under our Chinese Pistachio tree. We used to call this our "baby tree" but it has really grown and the name doesn't make sense any more. I also got our two Crepe Myrtles trimmed back, and started what I am calling my "mid-life crisis gardening project." I am attempting to pull up a huge section of Asian jasmine/monkey grass to have a bigger flower bed along the back of our house. I want to plant drought resistant perennials to have next to my bed of Turk's Cap, which has spread nicely the last couple of years. I also want to attract butterflies and/or hummingbirds. But the job itself is much harder than I originally anticipated. And I'm hoping I don't run into a hibernating snake, because I've seen little snakes in this area before. Yikes! But once again, it felt so good to start doing some of these things that have been on the "to-do" list in my head for a LONG time. There's nothing more satisfying than an afternoon of really hard labor in the yard on a beautiful day.

Except for perhaps solo grocery shopping. I've started a new routine that will last until Gabriel starts having Saturday baseball games this Spring. Because the weekly grocery store trip with two kids in tow was getting longer and longer, and more stressful because of bickering, I decided to start getting up early on Saturday morning to do my shopping while Jav watches the boys. My neighbor Helen usually comes with me, and we reward ourselves for getting up so early with a trip to Starbucks before our shopping. Chai - aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. There are very few people shopping, usually plenty of checkers, and it is a mostly pleasant experience. It's also great because I can get the huge pile of groceries put away without being too rushed. The whole thing still takes most of Saturday morning, but so far I'm loving it.

Speaking of loving things, Jav and I went out for Valentine's Day last Sunday and went to see "The Descendants". What a wonderful movie. I've been a relatively big George Clooney fan, especially since his performance in Michael Clayton. But this movie puts him in the "Great Actors of Our Generation" category. His performance, the Hawaiian scenery and music, and the slight environmental message elevates this movie to greatness in my mind. The two actresses playing his daughters are wonderful also. After the movie we went for dinner at P.F. Chang's and while we were there it started snowing. Hard. How surreal is that? And the weirdest thing is the same thing happened to us last year on our Valentine's date. I guess if Fort Worth is wanting a little snow, we need to plan a date night! Which we plan to try to do more often. I have so much fun with my husband. I've missed spending time with just him.

Seeing one movie has made us crave movie-watching, which is something that has all but stopped since Joel first made his appearance. So Jav got "Moneyball" from one of those movie box rental thingies. We plan to get "Midnight in Paris" next weekend, which I've seen but Jav hasn't. That will mean that we will have seen three of the eight movies nominated for Best Picture before the Oscars next Monday night. Go Us!!!! Reviews to come.

And finally, I worried way too much about choosing the right book for my book club meeting in March. I had thought about baseball fiction, comedy (Tina Fey's "Bossypants" was at the top of the list), traditional English mystery, and a few other genres. But then I saw someone's "Top Novels of 2011" and downloaded the numero uno book into my Nook. It's called "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett. I think I finally hit the jackpot on picking a book that almost everyone will REALLY like. I couldn't put it down. And when I finished I had a good cry, which I have now figured out is the best way to determine how much I liked a book. I cry because the story is good and I don't want it to end. I cry because I've grown attached to the characters and I want to keep finding out what happens to them. And I cry because of the subject matter, if it is something very near and dear to my heart. This book met all three of my Tears Criteria.

The Darkness - We knew them back when...

OK. had to post an addendum about the Superbowl commercials. Jav and I have loved the song below since it came out way back in mid-2000's. The video was done in 2008. We saw them perform on one of the late-night shows and were intrigued by the lead singers voice and eccentricity. He reminded us of Freddie Mercury. Those Brits love their flamboyant, androgynous, high-singing dudes. But you have to admit, this is a rockin' song.

I recently found a CD at Half Price Books that was a compilation of rocking bands, and we were pleasantly surprised and reminded of this song. Gabriel has fallen in love with it.

Well, our little British band must be making a comeback, and was featured in a Samsung ad during the Superbowl. And now everyone is talking about them. I'm feeling really hip right about now!!!

Superbowl, Schmuperbowl

The commercials are the only reasons to watch the Superbowl, and even then they cut the good parts out. Here is the long version of the best one.

My sister-in-law had invited the family over to watch, but Jav suggested that I take the opportunity to take my mom and do some desperately needed clothes shopping. When Gabriel found out that I wasn't going to join them, this was our conversation at lunch:

G: "Mommy, I'm so sorry you're not going be with us to see the BIGGEST football game of the year!"

Me: "Oh, that's ok sweetie. I'm really ok with it."

G, after thinking about this for awhile: "Mommy, you really love baseball, don't you?"

Me, with huge smile on my face: "Yes I do, Gabriel. Yes I do."