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Doing Nothing

We’re on the brink of some pretty big changes around here. Next week I’ll start teaching Kindergarten half time and Maggie will spend her mornings with another caregiver. We’ve got an amazing nanny that we’ll be sharing with another family and I feel really good about the situation, but I still have a lump in my throat knowing that this change is coming. I have been lucky enough to be home with her for these past two years and I’ve been savoring our mornings together lately and know that soon I’ll be rushing out the door leaving her with Barry to start her day.

I’ve also been feeling like I haven’t really SEEN Barry in a while. We talk, text, e-mail all the time, but sometimes our days seem to start off with a BANG and don’t slow down until we’re crawling into bed….so we scheduled this weekend on the calendar about a month ago  to just Be and Do Nothing. Oh, boy. My parents were gracious enough (you know, it’s like pulling teeth to get them to take Maggie…I kid, I kid) to take both Maggie and Syd for two nights. Barry and I had countless conversations about whether we should pack up and go somewhere, but what we just came back to was that we just wanted to spend time together without interruption. So, we’ve been home and it has been a perfect Do Nothing Weekend.

We did go to Ballard for a bit, downtown Edmonds, out to eat a few times, a movie, a bookstore, and this morning we read the newspaper in bed until our fingers turned black. So, we haven’t exactly done nothing. But we have successfully ignored some projects that need to get done around the house and both of us are fine with that. Yesterday we were both up and out of bed by 7 o’clock, but we had french toast this morning at 11 o’clock and I think on this final morning of our Do Nothing Weekend we’re finally unwinding. It feels good.

But having a quiet house is a bit odd and uncomfortable. There isn’t a Pug snuggled in between our legs on the couch and a child running around entertaining us. We’ve been able to talk, touch, and converse freely for two whole days and it has left us both wondering what in the world we did before we had Maggie. What did we do with our time?

Most of all, I feel recharged and ready to approach this next phase in our lives. Busy mornings, missed moments, and trust in others to care for my beloved child….I’m ready and I know that Barry is too. Because, lord knows, we’ve had enough time to talk about it.

Until the next change…..which just so happens to be a little baby….in January.

Eeeeeek!

****WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE FIRST PHOTO, ALL IMAGES TAKEN BY MY MOM. THANKS, MOM, FOR KEEPING US UPDATED!!!!****

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Bits

BONES

A couple days ago I made the bed and discovered that Sydney had amassed 5 of her bones over the course of the night and early morning hours. FIVE! What could a little Pug need 5 bones for? For whatever reason seeing the bones made me feel extremely happy and a bit weepy about Sydney. I honestly feel like she’s my first child and she has been SUCH A GOOD DOG since the first day we got her. She’s a bit quirky,very smart and we adore her. Some day she won’t be leaving bones in our bed….I don’t like to think about that.

SWAG

So, I read the Justin Bieber Rolling Stone article and may or may not have blasted “Boyfriend” through our house a few months ago. Barry was under strict orders (don’t worry, I don’t really give him orders) not to share the information with anyone. But here I am sharing it with my 3 loyal readers (Hi, Mom!). Anyhow, after reading the RS article, I found myself compelled to use the word ‘swag’ as often as appropriate. Turns out there aren’t too many appropriate times I need to use that word in my life. Total bummer.

Except Barry got some swag at a nerd conference a few months ago. He came home toting a new lunch box with a thermos to boot. He started using the lunch box and the thermos got tossed into the abyss of our water bottle cupboard and forgotten. (You know that cupboard where broken, but still semi-loved, water bottles go?) Jump to a couple weeks ago when Summer finally arrived and we actually started packing lunches for our outings. I tried out the swaggy thermos and fell in love. Seriously, I want to marry this thermos.

It comes complete with a really weird image of two dudes sitting on an old car, but it keeps things VERY chilly and I can use the cute cup if I’m feeling really fancy.  Swag, swag, swag!!!  I’ve all but abandoned my fancy-pants water bottles for this freebie and so far I’m not regretting it. My only question is this: will the two dudes scare my little Kindergarteners once I start back at school…because they kind of scare me. I’m going to risk it and Swag it up. All thanks to The Biebs.

DUCKS 

We have a pond walking distance from our house where ducks live. Every so often we’ll walk by “the lake”  to see how they’re getting along and let Sydney sniff around. The other night Barry and I told Maggie that we were going to go feed the ducks and loaded her down with crusty bread and old crackers. She was beyond excited and we were happy to take an evening stroll. Well, of course the ducks were gone and we were left looking at a pond with hardly any wildlife, save for the bugs.

As we continued on our walk Maggie became upset that we couldn’t find the ducks. We explained to her that we didn’t know where they had gone, but we’d come back soon to look for them. Maggie wasn’t satisfied with answer and started to yell at the top of her lungs, “Ducks, where are you?? I got bread!! Where are you, ducks?”

She started waving around the lone hot dog bun and kept bellowing out her sales pitch to the ducks that probably couldn’t hear her.

DOLLIES

Since Maggie started falling in love with baby dolls, probably around 18 months, she has shown such compassion, love and patience for her babes. It makes me proud to see her mother in such a way. Lately she’s been putting them to bed and insisting that we be quiet. Heaven forbid we wake her sleeping babies. I know how it feels when someone or something wakes up my baby, so I always oblige and tip toe around their bed. Syd continues to be evicted from her bed/disc in the living room. It doesn’t worry me, because clearly she has found another place to chew on her bones. (See above).

THOSE TWO

Last weekend Barry went hiking with some of his friends for another over-nighter. When he got back home, Maggie “helped” him unpack his backpack and wanted an answer about everything that he pulled out. We’d just returned from camping, so she knew a thing or two about tents, sleeping bags and backpacks; however, it was his special water pump that captivated her. She spent the longest time pumping water in and out of her little pool. And when she was done, they plopped down on our drying tents and had a love-fest. It never, ever stops making me feel happy, fulfilled and grateful seeing them together.