Random memories.

One of my earliest memories is getting ready to take a bath. I was 3 and my mom had told me to take all of my clothes off. I vaguely remember that she was busy with my little sister--either Terra was crying or had just woken from a nap--but my mom wasn't really looking at me while I got ready. She yelled at me from the hallway to climb into the tub. I looked down and realized that I'd left my socks on. I sat down to take them off when my mom, in a much more stern voice, told me to get in the tub. "But, Mommy, I still have..."

"Ginny, GET IN THE TUB!"

I shrugged my shoulders and climbed into the tub. I started playing with my bath toys and my mom turned to me and started washing my hair. Mid-lather, my mom stopped and stared at my feet. "Ginny, you still have your socks on!"

"I tried to tell you. You didn't listen." I then went back to my toys.

I got to keep my socks on for the whole bath.
When I was in 2nd grade, there was a day at school when I was really tired. I kept nodding off in class. I decided that I needed to go home and take a nap. I knew full well that neither my teacher nor the school secretary (who was the end all of all when calling parents to come pick up their sick kids) would let me go home just because I needed a nap. So, I told my teacher, Mrs. Hillman, that I felt sick. I wasn't a student who ever complained or pretended to be ill, so she sent me to the nurse.

The nurse took my temperature and told me it was normal. I told her I felt like I needed to puke. She said that if I puked, to come back to her office. She then sent me back to my classroom.

Seriously, I super needed a nap. So, I stopped in the school bathroom, sat on the toilet, imagined puking in my mind, felt like I'd sat there long enough for a good puke, and then went back to the office.

"I just puked in the bathroom."

"Really? Just now? On your way to class."

"Yes. Can you please call my mom?"

Silence.

"Ginny, what if I told you that I was in the bathroom when you were and I didn't hear you puking."

"I'd say you went to the bathroom really fast because I didn't even see your feet or hear you wash your hands."

My mom came and picked me up 10 minutes later. I slept for 3 hours.

Rude.

Evan and I started dating my senior year of high school. I was 17 and he was 15. We'd been friends since my junior year and had spent endless hours together at speech team competitions, play practices and hanging out at our many mutual friends houses.

So, when we officially started dating, there was a comfort of friendship already there. We knew each other's parents, he'd known my sister since fourth grade when they'd been in the same class. We'd been over to each other's houses a lot well before we were boyfriend and girlfriend.

When we were first dating, we'd spend a lot of time hanging out at each other's houses. I'd drive to his house for dinner (where Evan would be sad that I spent more time talking to his mom and his sister than him...he still gets sad about that, actually) or I'd go pick him up and we'd hang out at my house for a while. We'd do homework together or sit on the couch and he'd read the newspaper and I'd crochet (we have always believed in practicing our "old married people" habits). It was nice because we were perfectly happy doing absolutely nothing together. We're still like that.

One day, Evan was over and we were watching tv. My sister loudly proclaimed she was hungry and wanted a snack. I was sitting and crocheting happily. It occurred to me that my new boyfriend might be thirsty.

"Evan, are you thirsty?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you know where the kitchen is," and I turned back to my crocheting.

I heard my mom gasped and yell my name in her "I can NOT believe you just did that" voice. I looked up at her wondering what she was upset about. She had her eyebrows raised till they were about ready to climb off her face.

"What?" I asked.

"Gin, that was rude!"

"What was rude?!"

"You asked if he wanted a drink and then told him 'YOU KNOW WHERE THE KITCHEN IS!'"

I look over at my very new, very cute boyfriend to see his mouth hanging open at me.

I turned about 15 shades of red, jumped up off the couch and booked it for the kitchen asking, "Um...what do you want to drink? I can get it for you!!" I was mortified. I hadn't meant to be rude. I'd just wanted him to know that he didn't need to wait for me to get a drink for him to get one; he could make himself at home. Instead, I made myself sound like a jerk who wasn't going to be a polite host and get my guest (even if it was Evan) a drink.

Of course, my sister was laughing so hard at me that she couldn't talk or breathe.

I then heard Evan's deep voice respond, "Oh, no. Don't worry. I know where the kitchen is."

Needless to say, Evan has never forgotten that day. He has also never lets me forget it.

Today, when getting a tootsie pop for himself, I asked him to grab me one as well.

"Oh, you want one?"

"Yes, please!!!"

"Well, you know where the kitchen is."

Grr.

a few of my favorite things...

1. Nephews. Red headed ones with freckles and blue eyes and cheeks that need kisses from their Aunt Ginia pronto! (I also love their mommy who sends me pictures of them daily.)

2. Stickers. They entertain, they can be put anywhere on your body and look stylish. They are a conversation starter. They keeps small children quiet for hours. Elisabeth loved them when she was 2.5. She spent an entire family reunion plastering herself with stickers.
3. Baths. Especially when they are for babies. I don't know what kind of perfume crack they put in Johnson&Johnson baby shampoo, but I could huff babies for hours.
4. Duct tape. It's a fantastic invention. I can't find ours.
5. Cousins. I can not wait until they are all grown-ups and we can whip out baby books that I've made (for all of them...I heart making scrapbooks) and we can ooh and aah over their cuteness. And then compare how much they still look like their baby selves. And to see how much taller Ethan and Owen will be compared to my girls.
6. Babies. I love babies. I'm not a fan of the endless crying or the lack of sleep or the learning to nurse or the odd infant poopy diapers, but I do love babies.
7. Kitchens. I like my kitchen. I like it more than the one I had in DeKalb. I like being in the kitchen. I like cooking in the kitchen. I like all the things I have in my kitchen. I do not like having to clean the kitchen. However, I do like a clean kitchen.
8. I like taking pictures of crying babies. I don't know why. Perhaps I'm a bully.
9. I like seeing glimpses of what the girls are going to look like as adults. I don't like it all the time, mind you, because that's very far away from now. Every now and then, though, I catch a small peek of just how beautiful they'll be when they're women.
10. Evan. He makes me laugh. Like in this picture. Look at his face. He went down the slide and between the bumps and being shocked with static electricity, he screamed out in pain the whole way down. Best day ever.
11. Naps. I took one today. Evan and the girls are taking one now. We still have the plague in our house, but we're starting to re-cooperate. Oddly enough, Julia, the one who is normally the illest of us, has not been sick. Knock on wood.

Crap. Now I've jinxed it.

Sick day.

I am still sick. I'm not worshiping the porcelain gods anymore, but I still feel weak and icky.

No worries, though, because today is Veteran's Day, so Evan has the day off.

Except he's been sick since about 4 o'clock this morning.

Sigh. We are ill, people. ILL. I'm just really hoping the girls do not get it.

So, today is a movie day. A lay around on the couch under fluffy blankets day. It's a tea and toast day.

Thankfully, yesterday Julia did get a chance to play outside with Evan in the snow for a few minutes (you know, when Evan was still healthy).

The snow is all gone today, but there's more in the forecast for the weekend. Thank goodness Julia likes the snow this year! Hopefully we'll all be well by then and can enjoy it with her.

Ten on Ten: The ill with the flu version.

10 pictures capturing 10 moments in 10 hours on the 10th of the month.

(Please note: I spent 6 hours of "sleep time" sick with the stomach flu. My day consists of moments where I wasn't sleeping.)

Please go visit Ten on Ten and check out everyone else's day!

Virtual Coffee

Another Tuesday. Another Virtual Coffee. I'm so glad you're here today.

If you were really here having coffee with me today...

You know we'd talk about the weather. We'd have to, because it's been in the 70s lately and will be in the 60s today and that's just about the perfectest fall weather you could ask for. There's snow in the forecast for this week, but I'm not even angry because how can I possibly complain about the first snow fall not being until almost 2 weeks into November?!
I'd tell you that I'm already planning my Thanksgiving meal. We're having some of Evan's co-workers over and his parents are flying in Thanksgiving morning now, too! I'll be roasting a turkey, which I've already bought. I know, I'm so on the ball this year! Another family is bringing a turkey to fry and the other family is bringing a ham. I'm thinking we're good to go on feeding 14 people, don't you?
I'd probably show you my laundry pile. It's enormous. It's invading our living space. Why? Why does it only take a couple days of neglect for it to reach an overwhelming amount of dirty laundry?! And the thing is, I have no problem sorting and washing and drying and folding the clothes, but I hatehatehate putting the clothes away. It was a glorious day when I realized that Elisabeth could put away her own laundry from now on.
If you were sitting with me at my kitchen table drinking coffee with me...I'd ask what your Thanksgiving plans are. I'd ask what foods are always served (I'm always on the look out for a new recipe, you know). I'd ask if you ever host Thanksgiving. I love hosting. I really do.
Tonight I have book club. We're reading Judas by Frederick Ramsay. It's a fictional account of the Judas from the New Testament and all the events from his perspective. It's a super interesting idea (especially for those familiar with Judas being portrayed as a villain), but I find the writing lacking. I don't feel like there's enough character development and I am wanting to know more about Judas' thoughts and feelings than I am getting. I can't wait to see what everyone else thought of it though! I will tell you what, book club is one of my favoritest things. It's so nice to get out of my house and have intelligent conversations with other adults. Sure, we laugh and joke and enjoy some wine, but I use my brain and I debate and discuss. It's nice. Especially when most of my day is spent talking about using the toilet, reminding my children why outside voices used inside make mommy cry, and forever cleaning up after the people who live in my home (myself included).

As you were leaving today...I'd remind you to check out Amy over at Lucky Number 13. Her posts and pictures always make me feel warm and happy. Sometimes it's like she's read my mind and posted my thoughts on her blog. You should go visit her.

Goodbye and I'll be here waiting with coffee next Tuesday!

Pictures.

The thing about blogging every day in November is that there are days when I can't think of anything to talk to you all about.

Today is one of those days.

It's also one of those days where I have a lot to do around the house and I'm not sure how to get it all done. I have loads and loads of laundry, I have Halloween stuff to put away, girls clothes to sort and put up, a beautiful fall day to take advantage of, a toddler who really needs a full day in her cloth underwear to remind us both that we're still learning to use the toilet and not to rely on diapers.

I also am sorting through pictures on my computer in between chores.

I love pictures. I love going through albums--even other people's I don't know. There's something about a picture that moves me. Someone somewhere found that exact moment with those exact people or things or scenery important enough to capture forever.

It always makes me sad when we go to antique stores and there are albums of pictures that have no owner. Someone's memories have been lost by there families and are now sitting on a shelf waiting for someone to care enough about them to buy them.

I know that I have a total picture problem. I have quite a few albums, boxes of negatives and prints that haven't made it into albums, and lots of storage space on my computer dedicated to pictures. Once, when our hard drive was dying, we thought we'd lost all of our pictures. I cried for 3 days. Thank the lord my dad was able to salvage them all.

I'm sure when my kids are going through my things after I pass away, they will comment to each other that they can't believe how many pictures I have and how they'll have to go through all of them. I am also sure that, not only will they laugh and cry while going through them all, they will divide them all up amongst themselves and store them in their own homes for all of my grandkids to have to go through someday.

That makes it all worth it, in my opinion.