Ponchos-R-Us

I was chatting with a mom friend of mine who is going through that period of adjustment that comes when your baby ceases to be the cute bundle of immobile joy, and literally starts to move into the world. You can no longer attach them to your hip (via arm or sling) while you get things done around the house. In the end, we decided that we are in desperate need of a support group – anal-retentive moms who can’t seem to actually get anything done. Any takers?

I did finish one monumental task yesterday, though. I finally finished edd’s (elder dear daughter’s) birthday poncho. Now many of you will know that her birthday is actually in September, but you will also know that it is a miracle I was able to finish a size 6 child’s poncho in under a month. So I say “hallelujah, it’s done!” Of course, I shouldn’t have added those extra two rows, and the extra stitches around the neck, because the poor child looks like she is wrapped in a purple/pink/orange lawn and leaf bag. But it’s cute, and she loves it, and I have learned that is what matters the most.

We received the girls’ passports in the mail a couple of weeks ago, and our trip to England is now less than a month away. I am looking forward to it with the kind of anticipation that makes me worry it won’t live up to my own personal hype. But we are in the best of all possible situations. We have two wonderful children who will have a blast running around the lawns of English castles, we are going with a wonderful friend of ours who is beloved by our entire family, and (as Rick Steves says) if we are changing diapers, we are changing diapers in ENGLAND, BABY! That said, I have made at least three separate lists of things to pack, and I am terrified we will show up in England and it will rain the entire time. I think we have it covered though. We are actually planning for a rainy trip (raincoats, umbrellas, rainy day activities), and unless I misremember, it doesn’t rain for days on end in the autumn in England (not like it does here anyway!).

Hallowe’en approaches stealthily (or not so, if you walk into any department store or pharmacy and are accosted by enormous bags of candy, practically forcing themselves down your throat). Edd has decided she wants to be a princess, and I (in my anal-retentiveness) found a sewing pattern and yards of bright pink denim to make her an adorable Renaissance-style princess gown. It is currently in pieces on my sewing table, waiting for the purchase of a sewing machine needle that can handle denim and some bright pink thread. It will happen, but I can see myself up until 2 o’clock in the morning (the true witching hour) sewing the last bits of trim by candlelight on October 27^th (the day before her school Hallowe’en party). And ydd (younger dear daughter) had warmed the cockles of my heart by telling me, in all the seriousness a two-year old can possess, that she wanted to be me for Hallowe’en. Oh, the parental pride! Tears came to my eyes. Well, all that is over – she told me this morning (after being put into time out for spitting at her sister during their morning tooth-brushing) that she no longer wanted to be me for Hallowe’en. Wiping a tear from my eye, I asked her what she wanted to wear for Hallowe’en. She told me “A dress, like Sisi”. I have been replaced in her admiration by her older sister. I know, get used to it.

DH (dear husbandness) continues to recover slowly from his surgery. The recent onset of a good old-fashioned cold set him back a bit, but he plans to return to work in a week or so. I will be sad, because frankly I have seen more of him in the past six weeks than I normally do in the fall, but he is itching to return to the work that he loves. He misses his kids at school, and his interaction with them, in spite of the grief they give him. It’s a little bit intimidating to want to someday be a teacher, when you live with a born teacher.

So that’s it for now. I will try and post to this once a week, more if it is emotionally necessary. Feel free to post comments if you so desire, unless you are going to try and sell a condo, or a mortgage, or some other less-mentionable items.

Love and blessings!