And suddenly, all was quiet. Relatively.
Well, we are moved and moved in, and the Carmelita house is mostly demo'ed. And suddenly...I find myself in the evenings without an infinite to-do list. Last night I watched House on hulu and did some hand-quilting on Spencer's baby quilt. Can you imagine??
Seriously, I have been packing stuff up (ours and Maureen's) and getting ready for the remodel for about a year now, it seems. Now suddenly, it's all done!
So I have started scheduling "ordinary" life tasks. Vet appointment for Finn. Service for the Mazda, to hopefully get rid of the heater fan noise that I fear was caused by a mouse dying in there. Looking into buying Michael a new car. Getting his old car cleaned of the ENCRUSTED sap from sitting under one of our pine trees.
I also need to start in earnest on the remodel decision-making stuff. Been browsing houzz.com, and I think I finally narrowed down my style. I'm not mid-century modern, I'm what I'm calling "zen modern". Straight clean lines, with natural materials and minimal clutter. What I'm striving for is calmness. The asian-inspired modern stuff is pretty close, but without any buddhas or paper screens or other chinoiserie.
I am rather enjoying the super-efficiency of the new space. I have been bitten by the simplicity bug. Once I start getting rid of things I start seeing how really very little one needs, and I want to get rid of more. And the truth is, with things costing so relatively little compared to the "cost" of storage and clutter, anything that is needed in the future is pretty easy to obtain via two-day shipping. The pantries only need to have staples for a couple of unplanned meals and snacks, otherwise we buy for food that week. She who dies with the least, wins.
Spencer is now very mobile. This morning I fed him, then he was restless so I simply put him down on the floor next to our bed. He scooted right out and went exploring around the kid room. However, this new-found mobility spells the end of his time sleeping in the big bed. I have been hemming him in with pillows since he could roll, but the other night I thought he was sleeping, and instead he crawled right off the bed. Thankfully it is a low bed, and there is carpet, but I still feel TERRIBLE and immediately bought the Ferber book on the kindle. Tomorrow we start the sleep training so that he will sleep in his crib. I've already read the relevant bits, and I realize why our attempts to get him to sleep there thus far have failed. Michael was also worried about Jack being able to sleep in the same room while Spencer cried, but so far he has been a champ. He will sing to him sometimes. But lately, Jack just falls right asleep through any crying. And their sleep schedules are pretty closely matched, except Spencer takes more naps.
Jack's recent separation anxiety seems to have waned. He still expresses worry ahead of time, and burst into tears at the sight of the babysitter the other day, but if I promise to stay "until he's busy and says I can go", that works pretty well. Today he told me I could leave preschool after about one minute there.
Seriously, I have been packing stuff up (ours and Maureen's) and getting ready for the remodel for about a year now, it seems. Now suddenly, it's all done!
So I have started scheduling "ordinary" life tasks. Vet appointment for Finn. Service for the Mazda, to hopefully get rid of the heater fan noise that I fear was caused by a mouse dying in there. Looking into buying Michael a new car. Getting his old car cleaned of the ENCRUSTED sap from sitting under one of our pine trees.
I also need to start in earnest on the remodel decision-making stuff. Been browsing houzz.com, and I think I finally narrowed down my style. I'm not mid-century modern, I'm what I'm calling "zen modern". Straight clean lines, with natural materials and minimal clutter. What I'm striving for is calmness. The asian-inspired modern stuff is pretty close, but without any buddhas or paper screens or other chinoiserie.
I am rather enjoying the super-efficiency of the new space. I have been bitten by the simplicity bug. Once I start getting rid of things I start seeing how really very little one needs, and I want to get rid of more. And the truth is, with things costing so relatively little compared to the "cost" of storage and clutter, anything that is needed in the future is pretty easy to obtain via two-day shipping. The pantries only need to have staples for a couple of unplanned meals and snacks, otherwise we buy for food that week. She who dies with the least, wins.
Spencer is now very mobile. This morning I fed him, then he was restless so I simply put him down on the floor next to our bed. He scooted right out and went exploring around the kid room. However, this new-found mobility spells the end of his time sleeping in the big bed. I have been hemming him in with pillows since he could roll, but the other night I thought he was sleeping, and instead he crawled right off the bed. Thankfully it is a low bed, and there is carpet, but I still feel TERRIBLE and immediately bought the Ferber book on the kindle. Tomorrow we start the sleep training so that he will sleep in his crib. I've already read the relevant bits, and I realize why our attempts to get him to sleep there thus far have failed. Michael was also worried about Jack being able to sleep in the same room while Spencer cried, but so far he has been a champ. He will sing to him sometimes. But lately, Jack just falls right asleep through any crying. And their sleep schedules are pretty closely matched, except Spencer takes more naps.
Jack's recent separation anxiety seems to have waned. He still expresses worry ahead of time, and burst into tears at the sight of the babysitter the other day, but if I promise to stay "until he's busy and says I can go", that works pretty well. Today he told me I could leave preschool after about one minute there.