Friday Check-In

Just thought I'd pop on and let you all know how we're doing around here on this fine Friday.

NO Sickies For Now
We are all well as of today, except for the mystery bumps on Samantha's elbows and knees that persist despite the steroid cream. But, they don't bother her, so it doesn't really count. We are, as of this day, currently free of any maladies keeping us in bed or under the weather.

Unless you count the fact that I am on the rag...there is that.

Shit.

Did I just tell the world I'm having my period? Well alrighty then. I think this is a first here at FMFO. Whoo-hoo. Stand back, big moments here today.

Ooookay, moving on...

Kids' Stuff
Samantha is LOVING preschool most of the time, and her new BFF Anne is a cutie pie with a little brother of her own the very same age as our Mr. Jackson. The four of them together is just one big pile of cute, and we look forward to play dates outside of school with the "R" family soon. (Hi, Sara!) Oh, and I owe you people first day pictures, don't I? I should get on that. Sorry, that week was a little crappy outside the preschool realm, I'm grateful I remembered to take pictures at all. I promise, they're coming.

Tomorrow we'll travel to Lincoln for a drop-off birthday party for Miss Caroline, one of Samantha's best buddies who is turning FOUR. VERY big stuff, this "drop-off party" stuff (it's Samantha's first), and while Samantha is hesitant about it right now, she is more excited to go than she is nervous to be dropped off, so we'll play it by ear and I'm sure she'll be waving us out the door before we know it. It's the funnest part of our weekend, we're sure of it! Mom and Dad will take Jackson out for some good 1-on-1 time in Lincoln, and we expect a good time for all.

Jackson is a talking machine now. Ok, in volume and quantity, if not in clarity and quality. He repeats the entire alphabet and numbers to ten, and will give any word a shot now, with MUCH higher rates of success than what we saw in the summer. We are glad to see he's found his voice and is excited about using it. His favorite word is "Yooooohoooo!" when he wants your attention. Need to get that on video for you, it's a riot, folks, trust me.

Just a Month Ago
I am fine, I guess. It seems like it's been longer, and yet I can remember talking to her like it was yesterday. I am dealing with Aimee's death as well as I can on any given day. Four weeks ago today was her wake. I go back and forth between being glad and regretful that I didn't take pictures of her in her casket. I wanted to before I saw her, didn't want to after I did see her, and now I just don't know. I know it's not who she was, and it's just the part of my brain that connects her body with who she is automatically that wants a picture; and in time I'll forget that shell of her and only be able to remember the Aimee I knew whose nose moved when she talked, whose green eyes sparkled when she laughed, and whose hair was much cuter and perkier than what I saw four weeks ago today. I know that. I still miss her every day, still wonder if she can hear me, and still know my life will never be the same without her. But I continue, also, to be blessed by all of you who have cared about me and continued to check in on me during the past month. Thank you so very much for that, it means the world.

TCB, Or Planning To, Anyway
Anyway, we have SO many projects we'd like to get done this weekend. We did get the garage cleaned out earlier in the week, a fun family night for all that was long overdue. But that project was one on a huge list that is longer than I care to share of things we'd like to get done before the snow flies. (Maybe I NEED to share it...hmmm...) Well, OK we've gotten a few things done...I did clean out my kitchen pantry the other day, and I did tackle the storage room yesterday, but that will get torn apart again when The Great Paper Movement of 2008 begins. (Yes, I am still not working on that yet, I have still not cleaned my office so I CAN do that yet...see "huge list" above). We are ready for another garage sale followed by a pick-up from Goodwill, especially since I didn't do that last time Mrs M and I had a sale. What was I thinking? But that sale will probably have to wait 'til spring, as winter is threatening to show up any day, blowing thoughts of garage sales out of everyone's minds until then.

So, anyway, about that list...

*Clean out storage room - check
*Clean out garage - check
*Clean out kitchen cupboards - check
*Get all laundry done, including blankets, etc
*Clean out office nightmare
*Sort/box/rotate/purge toys before the holiday in-flux (that surely threatens to bury us alive in Fisher Price and Leap Frog)
*Rotate winter and summer clothes & purge outgrown kids' stuff
*Deep clean all main floor
*Clean all windows in and out (I'm not sure this even got done in the spring, so we're overdue)
*Begin The Great Paper Movement of 2008 (TGPMo2008)
*Refinish Samantha's pink cabinet
*Install last replacement doors on main floor
*Strip and re-paint foundation
*Winterize flowers and plants
*Install shelving in new garden shed

Wait. Now that I'm thinking about it...did I ever explain here the fundamentals of TGPMo2008? Maybe not. Let me back up. Let me clarify so you can have a clear understanding of what's to come.

TGPMo2008
I have been remiss in my filing. For longer than I'll admit. You don't even know. It's a little crazy now. It's a little MORE than a little crazy now. Can some of it now be thrown? Sure - but those things exist among documents we DO need, and there is nothing to be done but sort, sort, sort, and file, file, file, ad infinitum. It's such daunting task that I weekly find other projects that simply "must" come before it. Which I am aware is only adding to the pile. Or pileS, rather.

Strangely enough, I am looking forward to the task, and dreading it at the same time. Surely it will take DAYS to complete. (Yes, it's REALLY that bad. Think circa 2006 since I put anything in a file cabinet. Shut up. Whatever, I had a baby that year. And this year has sucked my ass. And 2007, well...whatever. Shut up.) The files in the cabinet, many of them, are no longer current, so much labeling and relabeling of files is necessary as we go along.

SO. The goal is this: eliminate the boxes of paperwork requiring attention, purge what can be purged and file what we need, and find a better system to prevent it from happening again. MUCH movement of files, of needed documents, of memorabilia, of books, magazine articles, etc., is on the way - thus the title "The GREAT Paper Movement of 2008".

2:42 Means Time to Goooooo
Gotta go pick up the girl from preschool. So that's what's up with us. Bored? Feeling the need to work but just have no place to be? Give me a buzz, we can put you to work, and we pay in food and my kids performing cute tricks for you. I'll wait for your call.

I'm sure I'll be absent a few days when TGMo2008 happens, and a few more days when we tackle all that other business listed up there, but no worries. I'll always find the computer again, no matter how deeply it gets buried, believe me. You are like the prize at the bottom of the Cracker Jack box - I'll keep digging until I find you. Have a stupendous weekend, my lovelies.