Not the standard here in Fiesta town

Once a week give or take a couple days, I have someone, some stranger stop me and tell me how pretty my eye color is. For the last three years, I would say thank you and then go on my way thinking that they were wacky. And then when I got four complements in a week, it finally dawned on me that my eye color, Grey with a gold center, is not common what so ever here in San Antonio where the normal color is brown or clear blue. So me with my stormy eyes stand out a bit. And for the sake of love and friendship ignore the wrinkles, stray eyebrow hairs and lack of makeup.

Old Man Twain

Color Inspiration

Alex's Bathroom shower Curtain.

It is a bit washed out and transparent, but this is my color inspiration for Alex's bathroom. I want to paint it the dark blue color, with bright white accents. I also can't stop thinking of ripping up the yuck linoleum floor and putting down basic white hexagon tiles and maybe a pedestal sink or new sink cabinet unit. I know Home Depot always has good deals on bathroom fixtures and if our timing is right then I can totally score. And new floorboards, oh for the love of new floorboards!

All this bathroom talk stemmed from all of us sitting down and hashing out a set of house rules, rewards, daily chores and consequences. Today's chore for Alex was trash collection and take out. So it being his first time I showed him the ropes and we used a super big bag since I had been slacking on trash duty. When we reached his bathroom, which is one of those previously mentioned rooms that I haven't been in for weeks, I got fed up and super cleaned, purging under the cabinet, purging bath toys, and disinfecting everything from the ceiling to the floor and back again.

Which brings me to an Aside: PINE SOL LEMON ROCKS. End Aside.

So with his bathroom purged, a better understanding of the bathroom clean up expectations, I now feel the urge to revamp his bath, because honestly bathrooms are meant to be nice places to relax in. Right? Nothing can clench the booty checks together like a yucky bathroom, hence the sole use of the Master bath for the last couple weeks. LOL!

So if you haven't got it yet, I am excited about bathroom revamp possibilities.

What they do...

...to bond when Daddy comes home from a business trip. They lock themselves up in Casey's office (that really needs a paint job) and play Halo for hours against each other. The lights are turned off, the speakers are up to 11, and they chase each other around in cyberspace with phantoms and rayguns and crazy ass maps. Love them for this. Love my geeky husband and bug.

Last night Alex had his first sleepover at a friends house, and it went wonderfully! The other mom is a single military mom and has very strict rules and expectations, but she is the best rewarding Mother I have ever seen. I know the boys had hot tub time, a full sized tent to sleep in, a marshmellow fight with her involved, and a hike this morning before I picked him up. Casey and I spent our solo night catching up over revamped leftovers, a poorly played Spurs game, and an early night in bed. We woke up early, which was a bit of a surprise, had breakfast at home and made a trip to Home Depot for supplies to fix the fence. It was nice...

Then we raided the movie store where we got a kiddo Hot Wheels movie and Borat and hit up the grocery for mad sandwich makings. Once home we gnashed sandwiches together, watched the kiddo movie and then I sat stunned over the fat hairy man's nude scene in Borat. OMG, I can't believe that mad it past the censors and honestly i can't believe that movie was nominated for an Oscar, OMG one more time.

Dinner was Chicken Bruscetta and pasta, and now I am in the throws of laundry that really needed to be done while the menfolk play some crazy Halo. A good fun Sunday.

Interesting

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Look I did plug it in!

Wish I could have google's satellites track every step I take during a day. I really would like an aerial shot of the inside of my house with my path drawn out for every step. I know that there are rooms I haven't gone in for weeks, literally.

My craft space has been totally neglected and ignored because I moved my laptop to the kitchen table for the last couple weeks. I also have been in a bit of a scrapbooking rut, more like a scrapbooking canyon. Nothing has inspired me, no paper or embellishment has tempted, and my photos have been nonexistent. That I believe is the problem, lack of photos, the images I like to document and caress with my eyes in the future.

I have been creating though, I have been consumed with Crochet. I abandoned my needles for a hook and it is my new best friend. These books have been my distractions, happy Hooker with it basics, and 200 Ripples ( a lovely gifty from my mom). That and my yarn stash, nothing bets shopping from my baskets bins and closets.

I also have a new sleepytime routine. I discovered a new author with a line of books that combines Vampires, Magic, and Sex in the best way ever. Each books is fast paced, addicting, and oh so yummy. Add in my iPod and I have the best bedtime routine ever.

Some nights Alex joins me, and I lend him an earbud and pretend to read while I stare at his sleep soft face, with his heavy eyelashes, smatters of freckles, and I can see ColdPlay pictures dancing in his eyes. Moments like that are when I wish I had a camera in my head, and when I blink that image can be stored and later printed. I would love nothing more then the chance to capture Alex in those sleep soft moments when he is just my boy, and I feel our connection tugging at my heart.

Nik-Crank-ster

I am grumpy, have been for days. Everything big and small makes the furrow between my brows deeper. I have only slightly blown up once, otherwise I just seem to be digesting it all. Eating it like a dark cupcake of grump, taking it in, like I am hungry for it. I really just want it to go away. But it sits inside like a squishy dark blob that is heavy and there. Damn grump.

I have been grumpy about laundry, not dirty laundry but the clean laundry that my son is incapable of putting away nicely and in a timely manner. I have been grumpy because Bella won't stop licking me, I was so grumpy with her over it I made her submit for five minutes. But then I had to play and rub her down for 10 because she doesn't deserve my grump. I have been grumpy because my downstairs is clean (due to a stream of guests), but my upstairs, its a nightmare, a pile high, messy-o-matic nightmare that is my one household to-do tomorrow. I have been grumpy because I am working, not the bringing in cash part of it, but the damn I have to teach stupid classes part of it. I have been grumpy because I miss my husband, my man, my traveling man. I have been grumpy at me, for various reasons and things. Damn grumpy me.

Look Mom no pictures!

So have you noticed the lack of pictures lately? Casey has started taking his camera (which I had unofficially adopted from him) on his business trips, and me, well I keep forgetting to plug in the charger for my other camera. I really need to go plug it in because I am supposed to be taking baby pictures for my neighbor when she goes into labor and she is ready to POP!

There have been so many things that I could have been taking snippets of:
Alex's crossover from Tiger Cub to Wolf Cub
The Muffins with their new shaved do's.
The mega fireant mound in the backyard.
The mega laundry pile in our bedroom.
The clean (yes that says clean) living room! Without all the stuff it looks plain.
Random shots of my feet, new shoes, Alex's tony hawk shirt, our pillows, our new nighttime routine of Ipod Coldplay time, and the lovely rose Alex gave me on Mother's day.

So yeah, I guess I will go plug in that camera.

PS: This is my 200th post!! Woo HOO!!

Summer is Coming round the Mountain

Signs of Summer

• Mosquito bites all over my legs and feet
• Pool temperatures hovering around 89 degree
• AC turning on by 6:00 am
• The constant skin stickiness, time for another shower
• My blessed flannel finally feels way to hot.
• Lettuce and fruits fill the bottom part of our fridge
• Sunshade up in the car.
• New bottles of sunscreen, including a lovely misting gel.
• I actually wore a pair of Casey's boxers as temporary shorts yesterday, it was just too hot for jeans of any kind.
• Muffins got shaved today, and Archie looks like a totally different dog, a SUPER tiny one with a SUPER big head.
• Weather maps in orange and read, no more blues and greens.
• Summer Camp sign up is complete!
• Two weeks and two days till school is out.
• I have the urge to make chopped salad and peach tea.

Mother's All around

It is pretty amazing to think that all of us at some point were inside a womb, our Mother's womb. Inside her body, hearing her heart, setting our clocks by it, comforted by the gurgles and swooshes she made. Taking it one step further we can even say that we were all at some point inside our Father's bodies, well at least half of us was.

If you're anything like Alex then you think that the half from the waist down came from Daddy, which makes sense ( in his mind) since it is the same equipment. But that means that his brain came from me and on some days I don't know if that is a good point in my favor. *grin*

Candles on a Cake

I have this favorite person, like one of my absolute favorite people in the whole world. And today is her birthday, and I want her to know that I am thinking of her, love her, wish I was with her, and that her gift is sitting downstairs on my coffee table. And its a very Me gift, so me the temptation to love and keep it is strong, but the box is packed and taped and addressed and ready to go. I know she will love it just as much as I do! Oh nothing gets me giddy like a great gift to give.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!! I love celebrating each new year we have as friends!

Misleading

Yesterdays quick evening post was misleading, it made my day sound simple, when in fact it was crazy busy. Time Line follows:

6:00 am Phone call from my neighbor at work, her daughter thinks her water broke, so that means we are in for a fast trip to the hospital. * I was asked to be there for the birth!*
6:30 am Alex is up, chowing food in a sleepy way, we are both partially dressed and doing the mad Monday scramble for school stuff.
7:00 am Alex is dropped off at school early, but Ethan is waiting too, so the boys are happy as goons. He gets an extra breakfast of cinnamon rolls because he has been such a good sport about the crazy morning schedule change.
7:05 am At neighbors madly shoving things in neighbors overnight hospital bag because she didn't think to pack anything!?!?!?
7:45am Arrive at hospital after battling some crazy traffic.
8:15am FINALLY find a parking spot and get her waddling butt up and down the hallways and elevators. Want to stick a coffee IV into my neighbor since she is in LaLa land thinking her grandson is on his way. I have sneaking suspicion that her water didn't really break due to conversation.
9:30 am Doctor's decide that she didn't have a rupture, her contractions are mild enough and more BH like that they can send her home because they really need the room. * There was an IN LABOR women in the waiting room, having to be on a bench because the LDR ward was FULL* Seriously.
10:00am Arrive at parents for pre-arranged Mother's Day shopping trip. Dad distracts me with his new luggage show and talk of mini vans.
11:30am Lunch, what can I say, its a good thing, at Grady's for some crazy BBQ. Dad thinks the zit on my chin is a spot of BBQ sauce. GREAT...
Noon Finish said shopping trip with Dad.
1:00 pm Arrive home to tie up some lose ends on work and email, let out the dogs, and distract my Mom *who is with me now* from the mess that has become my house.
2:00pm Alex gets let out early, we head to super stadium theater to see Spidey in IMAX. SWEET!
4:00pm Spidey was good, the part we saw because IMAX projector BREAKS at the Climactic Height of movie.
4:20pm Theater decides that all 500 of us can't hang out until it gets fixed, so they cancel this showing and ask us to wait in line for a refund and vouchers for anther IMAX flick.
5:30pm head to super uber mall, ooohhhh retail therapy. I love touching it all.
6:00pm Dad surprises me with my Mother's Day gifty, I think I say "really?! WOW!" like 100 times.
7:00pm Finally leaves Apple store.
7:15Pm Park our butts on the patio at Chang's. BLISS
8:30pm Leave Chang's and drive home with the sunroof open and the cool crispy evening wind blowing in. Love last nights weather.
9:00pm home and have to do some mad dog management since the boogers had to be in the dark due to a burnt out bulb. Poor muffins were frantic.
After 9:00pm Don't remember much, just wanting bed and quick.

I fell asleep remembering the sound of Alex's fetal heartbeat. Such a steady comforting sound. I swear his heart still beats that fast.

iNicole

Connectivity was down all day, but now it ups (thanks to me and some power cable reboots), and I have a fabulous new toy, an iPod Video. Seriously, my parents rocked the Mother's Day giftie. Its still snug in its shrink wrapped box, waiting for me, calling me, asking me to unwrap it. But the yummy blue Nano is calline me from the Apple store too. I do think the ability to have a movie or two on my pod is good for the Alex factor. What do you think?

Basil Crows

The sky is cloudy and heavy with grey. Silver greys, pewter greys, white greys. Rain is forthcoming but just needs a bit more heating. The creek is full from the thunderstorm last night, the waters quick and muddy in this shallow path. The grass is covered in more then dew, it like the blades are slicked in wetness, ready for more. The dogs are wet from the knees down and in the case of the Muffins, from the chest down. My small basil plants are getting bigger, greener, their leaves pungent and sharp when I touch them. The smell sticks to my fingers and masks the vanilla sweet of my coffee and lotion. Sweet Basilnilla.

Today is the perfect day for The Counting Crows, music that calls up lingering, silver moonlight, memories of clouds and starry skies, of murmured words and thoughts. Music that calls me back years and years ago, memories that I knew where permanently marked in my heart when they were unfolding. Those memories were made with flannel, kisses, and knowledge of my one Man's love. Sweet Sweet August and Everything After.

The day and the music make me languid and prompt those deep liquidly smooth stretches, arms above the head, neck arched, toes pointed, and muscle loose. I feel content, happiness settles on me like my favorite blanket, my mind is focused, my thoughts ready to move forward steady. This is a perfect feeling.

My Zen and My Pontiac Maintence

When I was early early pregnant with Alex I drove a lovely car, MaryAnne, a 66 Buick Special, and she saved our lives in an accident on the 5/78 interchange. Because poor MaryAnne was so abused I started driving my Del Sol again, and I drove my fun funky sassy little car right up until Alex was born. But both Casey and I agreed that a Del Sol, a two seater, was not the right car to be tooting around with our newborn in. So we bought another car to be best pals with Casey's Neon. We bought our Pontiac Grand Am, and she was good, sturdy, dependable. But then I started driving her more and more and honestly I am not the easiest person on a car. I can burn through brakes like they are french fries and well things just seem to happen.

Seven years later, she is still with us, but lately her increasingly angry Check Engine light comes on. She has been in twice for her check engine light in the last month and this morning she flashed it at me again. AGAIN!! I get it, your used and abused and somethings wrong, by WHY?! oh WHY?! do you have to be broken again one week after we get you back??

What's that? You think you need a long vacation from Nicole's driving? Well sweetheart, we might just be able to arrange that if we can talk a MiniVan into taking me on.

Damn car.