Sans Papi

We are midweek of Week One Without Daddy..... These are not my favorite weeks.
And may I just preface the rest of this by saying I know two weeks ain't nothin'--I can name at least two families on my block that have done month and year stretches without Dad. I couldn't do it. I am not that strong. However, this post is actually happy, not whiny. Keep reading....

Chad is my Zen. So Mom without Dad can be a little ominous for my trooper children. A nutso mom all day, and no break at night?? A shame. So I told myself to clear my schedule. Just wipe out any ideas of getting projects done, running big errands, etc. Don't get busy, I told myself. Just relax. And it's working like a charm! I know the whole idea of doing nothing freaks many of you out. Quite honestly, it's not my easiest place to be. But it's what I have to do in high-stress situations (like being sans lover all week).

And the week has been lovely! I have been doing nothing but playing with my kids.
Really. Truly. Playing.

Coren and I were monsters, and we chased Risa around the house. We've read Brown Bear, Brown Bear about a hundred million times. We danced together in the kitchen. I saved Coren multiple times from falling off of my bed into the lava lake... and this activity was even Coren's idea! Complete with him dramatically hanging over the bed frame, reaching for me, crying, "Mommy! No! Mommy!" Excellent! I chased him with the hose, and then he chased Risa (which wasn't as big a hit). We've marched, hopped, and crab-walked across the living room dozens of times. We've had countless tickle fests with Risa being the hapless victim (which was a hit). Risa has been showing off her mad dance skills and breaking down into her (happy) psycho alter-ego.... which neither Coren nor I have witnessed before; and it cracks us up! Collectively. Coren keeps looking from Risa to me, saying through chuckles, "Risa funny!"

I am enjoying--deeply, deeply enjoying my children this week--down to my bone marrow. They are spectacular! They are stupendous! They are melodramatic... but in good ways too! They are thoroughly lovely people.

I love this person.

And I love this person.



















And despite the stressful end of the day, when I'm trying to get them into bed, and Risa is screaming her head off, and Coren is ignoring every sentence that comes out of my mouth (literally), it has been--overall--one of those weeks that encourages me; that assures me that, yes, in bits and pieces and days and weeks and months, I am learning to be a mother... and not just a woman with children. Which is a big difference. And I am, in fact, making the switch. One playful (sometimes dad-less) day at a time.

From Trash to Treasure

We had a yard sale yesterday. It was a great thing! I've been perpetually de-junking for the last three months, and was telling my sister-in-law about the excitement of it (mm-hm). And she mentioned that she needed to go through her own kids' playroom and clean out the six hundred bins of toys down there....

And then the lightning struck. Why not sell the goo that we don't want to people who do want it. It's a win-win! Getting money for junk you'd gladly donate, and having someone do the hauling for you?! Excellent!!

So we got things rolling. We doubled our de-junking efforts, combing through corners of our homes we haven't ventured for a year and a half! And we got our next-door neighbors in on the project as well. Now it was becoming a multi-family project--what could be more promising?

I'll tell you what--a Bake Sale on top of the garage sale! Our plan was quickly reaching epic proportions. So Friday was spent in a baking frenzy (which was actually quite fun for me, and a tad more stressful for my sister-in-law.... Sorry, Ciara!). 

And then Saturday morning unfolded in a glow of dewy, seventy degree loveliness. We woke up bleary-eyed (thanks to a total of five hours of sleep the previous night after staying up to finish yard sale signs). Chad went cruising around to post the signs. Family and Neighbor showed up, and we fell to our tables and our baskets of stuff. The lawn was overspread with all of our treasured-once-but-long-forgotten items, and customers started trickling in early. The bake sale table was piled with cookies, muffins, chocolate-covered popcorn (an addicting piece of gloriousness!), Chex muddy buddy mix, homemade turtles, and even bags of home-grown cilantro. Our neighbors, Jim and Kayla, provided sno-cones as well. We were a buzzing hive of activity for the next five hours.

And the results were impressive! We surpassed our goal, and we whittled everything down to two baskets of leftover stuff to take to Savers. A successful morning for one and all. It's true what they say--one man's trash is indeed another man's treasure. And isn't the cycle wonderful?! 

(On a personal note: I did have to say goodbye to many dear old friends. Yes, I finally parted with my unicorn collection! It was a bittersweet parting for me. I reveled in a half-hour of nostalgia. I picked out a few of my favorites, and the rest have gone on to better places. I guess we all grow up sometime.... although I kept all my notes and papers for the unicorn book I'm still planning on writing someday. So maybe we never let go completely, which is as it should be.)

Classifieds/Personals

To the handsome gentleman looking for his missing wife:

Five feet, nine inches. Crazy strawberry blonde hair. Blue eyes. 

One hundred seventy-ish pounds.

I may have found her.

I can’t be sure. There are a few characteristics that don’t quite fit…

“Patient and sweet.” Doubtful.

“Keeps the house clean.” From what I have seen….??

“Great in bed.” Umm….

“A thrill to be around.” Could this really be the same person?!

Still, the physical description fits. And she does answer to the name Charity. 

And perhaps the lost characteristics are a direct result of her displacement.

Quite frankly, she seems more trouble than she’s worth. 

And you appear to be a rather tall drink of water (literally and figuratively)…

What I’m saying is, you could do better.

But as you seem to be in earnest about finding her, here’s my deal:

I can’t in good conscience return the sad version of your wife 

I stumbled upon in my garage.

I will take the half-wife that I have, and I will comb the county over 

until I find the other half.

A great guy like you deserves the complete package, 

not the sad semi-imitation this wife seems to be.

And I will personally deliver to your door, by this evening, 

the patient, sweet, tidy, thrilling, vixen of a wife 

you’ve been missing the last few weeks.

In one hundred percent tip-top shape.

Guaranteed.

And if she isn’t the wife you’re looking for, well, 

we’re having a garage sale this weekend.

Drop her off on my curb.

Sincerely,

A concerned acquaintance… 

who’s madly in love with you and thinks you deserve better.