Who would buy that on eBay?

Tim and I are kind of cleaning up our office and I have found a bunch of crap that he doesn't want to "just throw away" such as a small printer that prints single photos, a random scanner and some other computer nonsense. For whatever reason Tim is unclear on the concept of Amvets who call us monthly and ask for donations of "household items and gently used clothing". I usually take them up on their offer to come and cart away the things that are clogging every drawer, surface and storage area in my home, such as old clothes*, random bags given to Tim by his father who procured them in his business wheelings and dealings, strange toys that have been in toy purgatory long enough that they will not be missed, and other random useless items that can't even be regifted. Sometimes I feel bad that I am giving these people my random trash that isn't really trash, it is useful, just not to me, but I can easily get over it when we deal with our taxes and we can deduct some of the donations.
So Tim tells me we are going to eBay these things and I asked why in the world anyone would want to buy this crap on eBay, and he kindly reminded me that I have been bidding on this since ours broke during bedtime tonight.
I guess he might be right, someone out there may want this crap, but really, do I have to deal with eBay? I think I am going to try Craigslist first.....

*Random story about old clothes....When I was in middle school (maybe about 7th grade) there was this store in Northbrook Court called County Seat. It was where you could buy your Z. Cavericis, and whatever else your trendy little heart desired. So that year for Christmas I got an outfit from there that included this crocheted white top with a shirt that went under it and some random jeans (which I am sure had pleats- yikes). It was so 1990 an outfit and I remember thinking it was the coolest thing ever. Anyway, I was over it by the mid 90s and didn't think of it until I took my mom to the airport and she was wearing this shirt that used to be mine about 15 years ago. Is it weird that my mom is wearing my clothes form 15 years ago? And is it weirder that she looked adorable and I was about to ask her where she got it until I realized that it came from the County Seat in Northbrook Court circa 1989? It is not like she doesn't have a million other things to wear (she does as well cleaning out he closet as Tim does cleaning out electronics). Do you think she'll let me borrow it?

A Memo to My Husband

Hi honey, remember me?
I know that you are trying to take a new approach to your career, and I think that is great and everything, but seriously, you need to be home more than one night a week. And even if you are not, when your kid is yelling for you at 6:30 in the morning, it is because she wants you, not me, so please don't tell me to go take care of her. If she is asking for you in the morning you can't get irritated because I don't get irritated the seventeen other times she asks for you during the day. Being home on the weekend, and one night during the week is just not enough. Especially when one of the nights that you have missed bed time was been because you worked kind of late and then chose to go out and drink with your little boyfriends, and the other was because you had hockey. Apparently your new strategy for your career is to do things just the way your dad did. Please don't complain when they are 30 and resent you as much as you resent your dad.

Also, just so you know, Costco is not the only place it the universe to buy grocery-type items. So when I say, "I need to go to the grocery store this weekend" please don't say, "yeah, there is some stuff I need at Costco too". I find it annoying.

Thanks for your time, honey. I'll see you when you get home (oh, yeah, and you know how you said that your buddy had to pick up his car at closing tonight, that does not give you liscense to go out and frolick with him thus missing bedtime with the girls yet again. I don't care what names he calls you, or if he tries to make you feel guilty, trust me when I tell you that what I will do to you will be much worse if you decide to give in to him).

St. Theresa

There is so much I need to blog about. Including (in no particular order) a play date with Mrs. Materialism, our Father's Day weekend extravaganza, naked children in the middle of the mall, Tony not knowing who Eddie Haskell was and being a wanker on Sunday, Tim's absence, organic cleaning products, cherry picking, belly dancing, my hyper competitive friend, my blast from the past, the new Barbie Jeep, as well as many other things.
But right now all I can say is that if Tim's grandmother sends me one more email forward of St. Theresa's Prayer or the moving Thomas Kinkade paintings, or the fricking Maxine cartoons, I just might lose my mind. Seriously, how do I get off her mailing list without it involving me hurting her feelings or spending life in jail because I killed her?

The DNA Test

I took this picture of my kids last week when I was making them an afternoon snack, which is coincidentally the time of day that I have a spoonful of peanut butter. I have seen every member of my family do this, my mom, sister, grandma, aunt, father, stepmother, and I was pleased to learn that Tim actually does this too. I ralize that it may be gross to some, to eat out of the peanut butter jar, but really, it just tastes better that way. Apparently my girls think so too.....

Linus

Sunday night I collected all the laundry around the house and brought it downstairs. In said laundry I put one of Eleanor's blankies that desperately needed a bath. Most of the time she doesn't notice if I take one blankie to wash it because she has two of the exact same blankets, just in different colors.
So I had put green blankie downstairs while Tim was giving her a bath. We got her all jammied and ready for bed, but during stories she got a touch of the fussies and we decided to just put her to bed rather than hold her down just so we could get to the end of Goodnight Sweet Butterlies. So we tuck her in and get set to leave her and she starts crying. This may not seem odd to most, but this is not how bedtime goes for this kid. She then cried on and off for about an hour, and Tim kept going in there to calm her down.
Finally I figured out what might be wrong- she wnated green blankie. So I dig it out of the laundry and bring it up to her. She was this hot mess of tears, and was on the verge of hypervhentilating because she was so hysterical. I walked over to her crib and when to pick her up, blankie in hand and she immediately stopped crying. I didn't even need to pick her up, she just grabbed blankie, laid down, rolled over and closed her eyes.
Tim and I spent the rest of the evening in amazement about her attachment to the blankie.
He walls came crashing down yesterday morning when I made her put it in the washing machines. At first she was in consoleable and just stood at the washer crying. THen she went to play a little, but every now and then she woudl go back to the washer and se how it was going.
The next time I wash this thing I am going to train a video camera on her when she an blankie are reunited so that the world can see what true love looks like.

Only Child for a Day

Sunday night my mom took Abby for an overnight at her house. Abby loves going over there because there are no rules and she can prance around like I did at my Grammy's house when I was a kid. I also like when my mom takes her because it gives me a chance to hang with Nora all by herself.
Sunday night was kind of weird without Abby. Tim had worked all day and I think that when she has had no one other than me to entertain her for 7 straight days, she gets a bit bored. When Tim came home from work he was in the midst of some existential crisis/temper tantrum that was oh-so-fun to deal with. After we put Nora to bed (which is my next blog post) I looked at Tim and asked him if he felt bad that we didn't spend more time with just Nora, to which he gave me some dramatic answer about how he doesn't spend time with anyone (which I call bullshit on since he was out with the kid he works with until 3 in the morning on Friday).
So yesterday Miss Eleanor and I had the day to ourselves. We did laundry and cleaned out the office a little bit. She showed me some fun games with this little tunnel thing we have. She and I talked about colors and where some of our body parts are. We ate peanut butter on a spoon for lunch, she took a kick ass nap so that I could finish my book club book. We ran a couple of errands in the afternoon, and life was good. I guess I had forgotten what it was like when you only have one child to tote around. It was all so easy, but at the time is was unbelievably difficult.
I really liked having the day to get to know my youngest in an environment without her sister. Sure, we had the days that Abby was in school, but those were always packed full of having to do that or clean that before Abby came home. It was fun to just take Nora to the grocery store where she could sit in the cart and not have anyone pulling at her feet or poking her in the back. She really seemed to bloom in the complete center of my attention, and I hope I can give that to her a little more often now that she is older.
The funniest result of our day apart was that by about 5 o'clock it was obvious that we were both missing Abby. Nora doesn't really say her name, but she does make a noise in reference to her and she ran up and down the hall making the noise with a slight inflection at the end that made it obvious she was looking for her sister. And she got so excited when she finally saw Grammy's car pull up and Abby pop out.
It is good to have her back.