I have cornered the market on best intentions. I suck, I know, and I'm so totally not afraid to admit it. Life has been very busy, yada yada, three kids, yada yada, two Etsy shops...My life is what it is. I want to be here and write and be witty but damn if time gets away from me every.single.day.
(My three crazies. I can't remember what was going on when I took this picture. Makena looks like she smelled something bad, Aidan looks like he's trying to decide whether to tell her that he farted, and Nadia looks like she wants to hurry up and eat her cracker before it tastes like Aidan's fart.)
And things aren't about to get any easier, either. School ends for the summer. In two days. imnotreadyimnotreadyimnotready. For a summer kick-off I plan to take the kids to the dreaded Chuck E. Cheese on Friday and rake $20s from my wallet for tokens so my hyped-up-on-Sprite kiddos can stuff them back into games and cheesy rides with the finesse of wisened Vegas slot junkies. I plan to bring my Fire and watch "Downton Abbey" while sneaking rum into my fountain Diet Coke. Now THAT'S the way to do the Cheese. (I'm only joking about the rum.)(Mostly.)
Then on Monday my dearie from San Diego comes to town for a fabulous stay at Chez Mayo down in Rochester for some godawful cancer treatments. I'll be heading down there with her for several days while she hopefully gets good news and doesn't actually need the treatments and can come stay at Chez Cockburn and go antiquing and thrifting with me, and can help me beat the kids away with sticks while we try to have a decent conversation over coffee out on the deck. (My kids have an uncanny ability to make any grown up anywhere lose their train of thought in a conversation with another grown up. Most of my adult conversations are spent saying, "Now where were we?" and desperately trying to grab the thread that was quite ceremoniously jerked out from under our feet.) My husband would probably rather have the treatments than go antiquing with me, just in case there's any doubt as to how he feels about my shabbyretrojunk hunting excursions, so I'll be glad for the good company. Praying for good news, my dearie.
And then on Friday, as she's leaving, moments after the sheets (vintage, of course) on the guest bed have been laundered and the bed remade, six more folks from San Diego come to stay with us for the weekend. Our good friends and their two awesome kids and a set of their parents will stay with us while they visit other family in town. We are so looking forward to having some California sunshine in our midst for a week!
And then, on Monday morning, 11 days after the end of school, before our guests have finished waving and blowing kisses from their car on their way to Mount Rushmore (or Count Rushmore if you're Joey) a crew of construction workers descend upon our humble home and start tearing it to shreds. Well, the main floor, anyway. They will demo the old kitchen, take down a wall, build a wall, relieve the ceiling of its cottage cheese, remove old gross carpet, lay in new floor, new pot lights, new window, electrical, plumbing, new toilets, new vanity and counter and mirror in the half bath, IKEA comes to assemble the three pallets (!!!) of kitchen parts currently taking up half my garage, install new cabinets, install new appliances, put in tile backsplash, and then they'll get the hell out of my house.
(My new kitchen. Some assembly required.)
And since there's no way we could live in our house with three kids during all of this, we'll be renting a teenytiny house in St. Paul for a month. It's costing us as much to rent this house as it cost to buy all the cabinets for my our new kitchen. And while there's much about that month that will be a real hardship, I'm actually looking forward to exploring St. Paul. If either of my readers have any suggestions on what to do and see in St. Paul, speak up, dear friend.
So, that's what's coming up this week, next week and for a month after that. And here's a few snippets of what we've done these three long months.
Took the girlies to the MOA for some rides and fun while Aidan and the Hubs went to an all-day scouting thing. $54 and a whole lotta whining later...we went home.
I've gone Paleo. I've been eating better for about a month now and I'm feeling really good. This was an avocado, mango, turkey and tomato salad with olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper. I'm not too sure how much weight I've lost, but I feel better and I think I look better. Very little sugar (raw honey is pretty much it), some raw foods, lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats and eggs, organic when I can, very limited processed food. No bread, rice, potatoes, dairy, corn or pasta. I have dairy now and then but I pretty much drink coconut milk when I need milk, which I really like anyway. I don't feel hungry and this way of eating just feels right. Weight Watchers was just not a good match for me. I'd like to lose 30 pounds but I'm not making that my goal - eating better and sticking with this plan is the only goal for now. And going gluten-free with the kids this summer (part of Aidan's autism treatment plan) will certainly be easier now. And we'll see how my cholesterol and blood sugar are at my next physical in a week. Last year my cholesterol was around 230 and they said I was pre-diabetic with my blood sugar.
Had some insane rain a few weeks back. One storm brought 3.5 inches of rain. Our sump pump was going every 5 minutes for several days after. It's so green and gorgeous here now, and my tiny vegetable patch is showing serious potential. More on that some other time. Probably in October when I eek out another hour or two for my next post.
The Etsy shops are going really great, and I have a sheetload of sheets I'm trying desperately to get up in the sheet store by the weekend, and just today I added a few new items to the bunting shop.
Oh, and check this out. I did a custom quilt and bunting order for this amazing Aussie blogger mom, and she did a great post about her kids' room. Love it!
No wonder we haven't seen you at the guild meetings! Good gravy, lady. Do you ever sit down? Are you coming to the sew-in on the 23rd? Will we see you next week?
Posted by: Flaun | 06/06/2012 at 06:43 AM