spy

I know I have mentioned before about spying on my neighbors. And that I am already the nosy old woman that is always looking out the window. : ) I have started noticing the lady that lives caddy-corner behind us. On Monday, NJ and I played outside in the backyard because it was close to 60 degrees out there. I noticed the lady watching us play and I smiled at her and she smiled back. She was very obvious about staring at us and it made me feel a little weird. She was leaning against the door frame with the door open.

The last two days I have looked out our back door and have noticed the lady standing with the door open again. It has snowed and has been very cold. It doesn't make any sense to me to stand with the door open. She has a long red housecoat on which I think would be cold too. Has she done this wondering if we were going to come outside and play? Or is this something she always does around 10 in the morning?

Sometimes I wonder if I should have been a spy. Maybe I am too obvious at spying and would never have been a good undercover agent. I think it would be cool to be on a stake-out. Some may think it would be a little boring. I am a boring person though. I think I will stick to watching my FBI tv shows and movies.

at least we have a pot to pee in

Dust has been working on the bathroom for almost two weeks now. Our house has been in disarray. We have been brushing our teeth at the kitchen sink. That is where our toothbrushes and toothpaste live now. Dust shaves in the shower. So his shave gel, mirror, and razor have been on the tub. We had emptied the medicine cabinet and vanity drawers into a box that had been in the office. We would dig through the box to find the item we needed. Last Saturday, Dust hung our new cabinet on the wall. So, it was nice to organize our stuff into that. Our upstairs toilet has been sitting in the area above the stairs by the door to the garage. I am thankful though, that we have a 2nd toilet in the basement. It has been cold to go down in the basement to use it. Sitting on the cold toilet seat is sure to wake you up though!

I really don't want to complain. I know that soon enough we are going to have a nice bathroom to use upstairs. I don't like the inbetween stages though. I have had some interesting living conditions in my life. I lived in a farmhouse in elementary school. My brother and I shared a room for awhile and a closet. In sixth grade, we made the upstairs attic room my bedroom. It was too cold to sleep in during the winter, so I slept on the living room couch. We had a wood stove for heat. In the summer, we spent most of the time in my parents bedroom because that is where the only air conditioner for the house was. I feel really blessed for the house that we have now. I feel ashamed for not being content with it sometimes.

rough week

We all have colds in our family. It has hit us all hard. NJ had a fever for about 3 days. My body has ached and I have no energy. NJ has been extremely clingy and wants me to carry him around the house all day. So, I haven't been getting the rest that I need. Poor Dust is going to work with his cold. We have plans to re-do our bathroom this weekend. I am going to tell Dust to rest as much as he can.

Last weekend, Dust painted our bathroom a medium brown color. He put up a new light fixture and mirror. This weekend, we need to put the new sink/vanity in and put down tile flooring. I had debated on whether to get a pedestal sink and decided against it. I want a cohesive look in the bathroom and had a hard time picking out individual items that matched together. Our mirror, vanity and cabinet unit that goes over the toilet matches. It is a cherry wood, which I usually don't like. I am using three different shades of brown in the bathroom. I hope the finished product looks put together.

a lesson in sharing

Yesterday, I babysitted two little girls. They came over to my house while their mother went to a doctor's appt. The girls were 2 and 3 1/2 years old. The girls made themselves right at home and started playing with NJ's barnyard playset. That didn't set well with NJ. He started crying the minute that they were there. I hugged one of the girls to comfort her from her mother leaving and NJ looked at me with eyes of betrayal. He cried when one girl sat in his blue Thomas the Train chair. The youngest girl picked up his beloved horse stuffed animal and NJ yelled, "Neigh, Neigh." (The horse's name is Neigh)

NJ was pretty upset the entire time that the girls were here. I had to comfort NJ most of the time so I wasn't as available for the girls. I kept an eye on them the entire time though. The girls sat very well at the table and had a snack and played with some toys. They were both content to find a toy for awhile and play with it. They were very low maintenance.

I think the whole experience was a good lesson in sharing for NJ. He needs to realize that there are other kids besides himself and it is ok if they touch his toys. I know this will be an ongoing lesson especially if he has a sibling someday.

dig deeper

Dig deeper. This is my motto for 2008. Let me explain. I was reading an article in MomSense magazine titled Stuck Places. It is about feeling stuck in your life when you have little control over the circumstances. Winter weather and sick children can make you feel stuck at home. There was a story about a woman that went to a retreat center to get "filled up". The woman told the nun that she felt dry and empty. The nun replied, "You know that when the well runs dry, the farmer doesn't refill it. He digs deeper."

Yesterday on the drive home from our Christmas vacation, I kept saying to myself dig deeper. NJ was extremely fussy and uncomfortable. The portable DVD player wasn't helping him any more. He had a hard time falling asleep for his nap. I tried not to get frustrated as well because I was tired also. I had to tap into my inner resources and with God's help, I didn't loose my cool.

This stage of life is only temporary. The way it is now isn't the way it will always be.