Two loads to go

That's how much I have until I'm officially CAUGHT UP. My house. My kids. My school. My writing. Everything has fallen behind.

But I'm almost there. And just in time to be gone for two consecutive weekends. Just enough time to fall behind again.

There isn't much happening. There's this nice lady I always run into, and her kid is in Carolyn's preschool class. But now, our runnings-into-each-other have become more frequent and I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm stalking her. No of course I'm not. But I'd be a little afraid of friendly hellos too if I thought a dead rabbit might end up in my kitchen.

The grocery store by my house is so awesome, I go about every other day. OK. I went twice yesterday. It's just that great.

And the girls are perfect of course. Carolyn's adjusting slowly to preschool and Penelope is not at all interested in potty training. That doesn't stop us from letting her run around naked all afternoon. And she's not pooping on the floor, so that's something.

Enough rambling. Like I said...Nothing interesting is happening.

The girls rock my world

We're back in Normal, trying to return to some semblance of such, and the one great gift we have are the girls.

Case in point: I caught Carolyn today reading the comic page. I admit, Mary Worth is really good this week.



Pretty impressive, unless you consider this...



Penelope is reading the front page. She'll be able to debate grandpa on the merits of the Democratic candidates in no time.

My Dad's Life

Thursday afternoon, with my mom and I by his bedside, my dad died.

It's been an incredibly sad time for my entire family, but I will say that I'm thankful to have been his daughter. My dad taught me that you don't need a lot to be happy. He loved me and was proud of me. Simple.



"Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God."

Happy Days

Well, not really. My dad's health situation continues on its path of grimness, so I wanted to share some very happy moments.

Carolyn started preschool today. Since she attended the summer program, it was pretty anticlimactic but still cool because she's in this program for a full year, they're using the big classroom and Carolyn was an old pro. Penelope and I went to the park (translate: I was once again blowing off work) to enjoy the super nice fallish weather we were having today. This first picture looks like a 3-year-old clone of my sister-in-law Monica.



Also, I received a perfect score on my first anatomy and physiology quiz, which is quite a feat. I was the only person at my lab table to get a 100 percent. I'm queen of the table, I was quick to tell them.

Carolyn and Penelope love each other very much and are best friends.



Schnuck's grocery store just today opened it's new store, which is about a mile from our house and right off the bike trail. I'll be able to take my bike to grocery shopping!!! Hurray. I've been waiting for this for a long time. I can totally shop as I go rather than stock up for a full week or more. My mostly car-free lifestyle is complete.

The girls and I WILL be going this afternoon...

Deal of the century

Carolyn's been ready for a big bed for some time now. Steve and I have been saying we'll get her one, and she keeps asking.

So it was really a stroke of luck that today, when I was checking the classifieds, I found a garage sale ad that included a twin bed. When we went to look at it, we found a the most beautiful girl bed and Sealy mattress set for $125. It's perfect. I even got two identical ballerina quilt sets for another $25.

And the couple, who were so nice, delivered it for us. I tell you this: patience pays off. It's the green parenting trifecta — gorgeous, affordable and recycled.

Here are the girls, and Fife, enjoying the fancy new nighty-night.

I was only gone THREE days

Steve, recently deemed St. Husband by my mom and aunt, is really a great guy. While I was in Michigan the last three days to see my dad, Steve sent me this video for my birthday.


See!!! That's seriously the sweetest, most touching thing anybody has ever done for me. The big lug.

Also, he tended to the girls, endured a killer stomach bug (which I have also, which we believe to be gifted from Penny earlier in the week) and always helped me make tough decisions. He really is great.

But in three days, he made lots of little stupid husband mistakes. Since his sainthood means I won't actually nitpick him apart right here, for fear of massive retribution from my family, I will say that when I left on Saturday, Carolyn was just a sweet, forthright 3-year-old.

I came home to find her a seasoned liar.

Fibbing is probably more accurate, and she's not even all that good at it.
One day, she was kind of grumpy when Steve asked her what sound cows make.

"I don't know," she said.
Steve asked her if they say, "Moo."
"No, they don't say Moo," she said. "The say Do."
Really, Steve said. Do?
"Yes," she told him. "They used to say Moo. Now they say Do."

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

And yes, I blame Steve. St. Husband Steven James Gardner made our perfectly sweet daughter into a liar. And secretly, I think he's kind of proud...