“…and now i can’t get it off.” woe.
Archive for March, 2010
yes, did you know you could make new ones? and they don’t even know the difference? i wish i would have thought of this sooner.
although i did have to sew it while she stood screaming at my feet because i had already taken the old one away. bad move.
the idaho state capitol remodel is finally done. they had a tour last night for all the people who worked on it. marc drew rocks for the masonry contractor who did the sandstone resurfacing for the new section and on the capitol where they had excavated. he would walk around and say, “see this rock, i drew this rock. …and this rock. i had to think to draw this rock.”
and they fed us. so it was fun. and it does look much better.
this is the senate chamber.
and the legislative lounge. i did get a fun picture of me taking over butch otter’s desk, but it turned out too fuzzy to post.
the rotunda. we did feel sorry for the poor man responsible for stabilizing all the scagliola plaster on the columns. he said he spent two years on scaffolding tapping around for hollow spots to inject them with some kind of webbing compound. since the ugly stuff was about ready to fall off. he agreed with my “shoot me now” sentiments.
this is the legislative auditorium in the new underground wing. marc walked up to the podium, leaned forward into the mike and said, “no. no. …no. …no. no. no. no.” he would make a great elected official. rejection is one of his special skills.
“no.”
i just enjoyed a nice visit from my sister. she called me up friday night and said, “you know how i said i wanted to come see you at easter? can i come tomorrow?” that’s how she rolls, i wasn’t surprised.
so she threw her two babies in the car and drove 7 hours to see me for the weekend. hooray, hooray! here we are getting ready to head out to sushi leaving marc to babysit the five little ones.
and the children are all enraptured with sister sarah. especially jael. marc and i weren’t allowed to pick her up if sarah was in the vicinity. she disowned us in favor of another mother. it’s true. and jehu…well, here is a prime jehu quote. he sidled up to her in church, batted his eyes and said, “i like your shirt.” after closer inspection he said, “and i really like that little black shirt underneath.” my son disturbs me. and he pretty much creeps out sarah, although she is too nice to admit it.
getting ready for bed and going on a picnic in the morning. my favorite is walking the canals in boise. you get to spy on all manner of lovely back yards and then loop around on your way home and spy out the front. so much better than actually venturing into nature.
we also went shopping and found sarah a disposable wedding ring. i believe she looses her real one every two weeks. i’m sure her collection of admirers were starting to get confused. anyways, i told her that now she can look forward to loosing her ring since she will just get to go pick out a new one. genius.
saying goodbyes. and sarah trying to poke out the baby’s eye. i’m not sure. and you can see jehu stomping around in the background in my pink boots.
that was that. i’ve still got to clean up this basement. you can see misterchievous on the left grinning from ear to ear. he did have lots of fun messing it up.
faced with guests and a $10 coupon for ace in hand, i did the only logical thing. i painted the coffee table (again). it was a last minute venture and i didn’t think about the color much. although i can tell you my mother and my sister didn’t like it. but at least it isn’t smeared with little child slime anymore.
also, i just finished washing the slipcovers on the couch. it makes a person feel good. (until the next tiny person escapes from their high chair and climbs all over it covered in chocolate.)
my other achievement was to hunt down a magazine rack for library books and paint it with leftover yellow. genius, i tell you. library books (if you ever hope to return them) have to lead a segregated existence. you can’t put them on the bookshelf with your own books or they will get too comfortable and decide not to leave. on the other hand if you leave them out they will just run riot around the living room. well, i put a stop to that.
in other house news, i am just working on finishing off the basement. someday, i will show you a picture. when i’m done caulking 120 feet of baseboard. but don’t hold your breath.
so here they are, pictures from jael’s birthday.
she didn’t have much anything to do with her friends, except for giabella. those two just lurked around the kitchen and poked their fingers in cupcakes. but when it’s your birthday you can do what you want to.
and here are jubilee and piper. …to the nine’s.
going out on parade. wondering, “um…was this a good idea?”
but we survived.
until jael saw someone with her “other” stroller and suffered keenly from the realization that she couldn’t have both. (even on your birthday. it’s true. you can barely push one pudding stick.)
unpacking the loot. girl was in raptures. “ooo, what is this? and this? where have you been all my life? what kind of cruel, dark world have i been living in?”
and saying goodbye. what a good little hostess.
happy birthday princess.
much love,
mother.
another weekend visit from my family. they are so wonderful. this time they brought us a truck, a chicken coop, a pair of lucky jeans that fit me perfectly, a beehive, a lifetime supply of brown rice and oatmeal and…
to top it off they did all the projects my husband won’t touch with a ten foot pole. like gluing together this marvelous chair. so i can paint it hot pink and upholster it in toile. unfortunately, there are two and reuben only finished one. so marc will have to tackle the other. i mentioned this to him and he said, “oh really.” and then chucked it back in the attic.
other projects included hand carving door molding to fit in a crooked corner and then notching around the hinges. upon completion my dad stood back and said, “wow, boy is going to love me.” he then proceeded to make the door opening on the coat closet a quarter of an inch smaller because i didn’t like the gap. it’s true, it couldn’t be endured. that’s why they travel with a table saw tied to the top of the roof because they anticipate all sorts of unreasonable demands.
then natalie and reuben went out and bought me a pink teapot for my birthday. partly because i tactfully reminded them they had forgot all about me and partly because i blackmailed them. after which natalie cleaned my dustpan to a shine. out of the goodness of her heart. i was unsure what to do with it myself since you just can’t put it in the dishwasher. at which point my mind goes blank.
they also bought me chickens. annie and clarabelle. the most beautiful birds you ever saw. marc says they are just tiny dinosaurs with feathers but i still find them quite attractive. and fluffy. just don’t look them in the eye. it’s unnerving. chickens are best viewed from afar.
reuben and i on our way to church (we match). and then scoping out an empty house.
my mother can hardly live with herself after i showed it to her. 3,000 square feet on 7 acres for $327,000. it is terribly charming. the pictures really don’t do it justice. you have to wander around.
and jael’s cousin mia letting her paint her toes. which was very accommodating to say the least. i don’t trust her for a second.
thank you for the lovely visit and for spoiling me. maybe someday i will come visit and organize your silverware drawer again. i know you love it. *m
i was wearing my nora batty socks the other day and thought it was about time you were introduced. she’s awesome. although i’m sure you must have bumped into the “last of the summer wine” at some point. sometimes you have to hang in there a bit to appreciate it, but it’s one of my husband’s favorite shows. i can easily picture him happily widowed and wandering aimlessly around the english countryside pestering upstanding women of impeccable moral rrectitude.
alvin: i’m alvin, vaulter of rivers!
nora: don’t look. it only encourages him.
ivy: i’ve never seen anyone with a firmer hold on stupidity.
nora: why do they settle here? why don’t they go and annoy australia?
ivy: they’d never find australia.
i really do want the shirt. i think it would become me.
nora: what are you doing wearing that thing?
alvin: [removes gas mask] i’m trying to breathe is what i’m doing. what are you doing with that brush? every morning you come out here, you move that dust to there and that dust to there. why don’t you just whistle? it must know where to go by now.
nora: all swept up. places need sweeping up.
alvin: right. well, tell me this then: what are you going to do with it when it’s swept?
nora: do with it? why? what should i do with it?
alvin: well, why are you sweeping it if you don’t know what you’re going to do with it?
nora: what can I do with it?
alvin: enjoy it. you swept it clean; have you ever thought of enjoying it?
nora: i enjoy it being clean.
alvin: have you ever thought of quality leisure time? a little table outside, a few chairs, a glass of vino.
nora: men! life’s not for vino; life’s for sweeping.
the boys call cupcakes put-takes and somehow the name transferred over to girl. hence, this is the song i sing her every day: “little put-take, tiny put-take, mommy’s sweet little girl. you’re so beautiful and so wonderful, mommy loves her princess girl.” i am that besotted (don’t tell). it’s embarrassing the things you say to your children, not to mention sing.
anyways, we whipped up some more cupcakes with her leftover birthday frosting. they’re a riot. i love the new neon food coloring. on the back of the box there are directions for mixing fun colors like apricot and green apple. it makes you want to do something crazy.
i still need to get around to posting some pictures of jael’s birthday. i’m kind of hoping to scare up some more pictures from friends. i didn’t take very many and you would be sadly disappointed. but we had a lovely time, i assure you. and girl made off with all kinds of girl loot. she appears to be sated and has been marching around the house in a pink tutu, glitter shoes and a runny nose ever since.
