Mars and Venus

Dan: (fiddling around with a broken drawer in the kitchen) I am so sick of this drawer. We just need to get it fixed.

Me: Yeah, I hate that drawer. I hate that whole set up. We need to get a second mortgage and just redo this whole kitchen and make more room in here.

Long silence.

Dan: Yeah, I'm just going to fix the drawer.

And that's how we roll around here folks.

Not in My Bed

Tuesday nights are getting out of control around here. Dan is usually gone on Tuesdays, and without him around to maintain some order, chaos reigns.

First off I had to in to work on my day off to cover for a co-worker who went home sick with a nasty stomach bug. I worked with her all day Monday, and with every twitch of my stomach, I was sure that I was about to be over come with nausea and vomiting.

Then last night, Piper and Olivia both slept with me in my king sized bed. We were all on the same side, with me huddled on the edge trying not to fall off. Both of their beds were empty and quiet. It's ridiculous and something that Dan would never stand for.  But I am a sucker for small, warm bodies cuddled up with me in my bed, so somehow, it is not difficult for both of them to end up under the covers with me.  I just always have it pictured that we will all be snuggled in the middle of the bed. But even if we start in the middle, it always winds up with me teetering on the edge. 

And then at 2:14 in the morning, I was awakened by Piper jumping off my bed. Piper usually sleeps like a rock all night long, so it was unusual for her to be up. And then, almost as soon as I was semi-conscious, I heard the unmistakable sound of barfing.

There is no more annoying noise in the world than that of your dog throwing up in the middle of the night. Go on, try and name one. I bet you can't.  But least a dog has the courtesy to get out of bed before they barf, which is more than you can say for a child. At least I didn't have to get up and start washing sheets.

Anyway, the night turned into an unending cycle of gagging and barfing noises, getting up to let the dog out, the dog barking to be let in, letting the dog in, just drifting off to sleep again and then more gagging noises.  My sleep-addled brain could not quite get a handle on the best course of action. I couldn't leave her outside. She would bark and wake up the neighbors. I didn't want her to throw up in her kennel, although  now I really cannot recall how her vomiting in her kennel seemed worse than her vomiting on my bedroom carpet.  And I just wanted to go back to bed. Of course, Olivia slept through it all, spread eagle on my side of the bed. Piper and I finally got a little bit of sleep from six to seven, then it was time to drag my rear out of bed and face another day,while Piper looked guiltily at me from her warm place at the foot of my bed.

I guess I'm glad it's not me throwing up. Cleaning up dog vomit in the middle of the night is perhaps slightly more appealing than being nauseous and vomiting yourself.  Oh, and the dog seems fine tonight. Of course, she got to sleep it off all day.

Mocha Me Crazy

A really bad thing happened a few days ago. And then, it happened again today. See,  I was shopping at Target last week, and I innocently stumbled upon these mocha flavored M&M's that were strategically placed at the register, where I couldn't help noticing them. They practically threw themselves into my cart, and I naively allowed myself to be taken in by them.  Now, mocha seems to be one of those things that nobody sits on the fence with. You either love mocha or you hate it. So, if you are one of those crazies that does not like mocha, well, all I can say is, as you were.  But if you love mocha, oh my word. Prepare to swoon.  These mocha M&M's are just life changing.  I bought one bag, ate almost the entire bag on the way home, then obsessed over them day and night for a week. Finally, tonight, I made it back to Target to get some more and thank heavens there were still some there. I was so worried they were going to be sold out by the time I got back. And then I would have had to cry a little bit.  I bought five bags.  I just can't even explain in words how tasty these little buggers are.

The really bad part of all of this is that lately, I have zero self control over anything I eat, and even less over things involving chocolate and mocha. I joined Gold's gym last night in an effort to get back into shape, and I'm sure that I have since eaten at least four times the amount of calories I expended in exercise, just in sugar.  I would blame Christmas, but really, it's been a problem since the wedding.

I was looking over old blog posts from 2012 tonight. I am finally getting ready to splurge and order my blog book from that year. And after looking at 2012, I have resolved to do two things. The first thing is to blog more. There are so many things from 2012 that I completely forgot about until I read my blog and saw the pictures, and I'm so glad I have those posts. It seems harder to write these days, maybe because everyone is older and more private and boring, but I am vowing to be a better blogger in 2016 than I have lately.

And the second resolve is to lose some stinking weight already. I lost a bunch of weight at the beginning of 2012, and looking at the pictures from that time makes me want to get motivated to do it again. I just have to realize that Mocha M&M's are NOT MY FRIENDS, no matter how sweet they seem to be to me.  I love them, but they are just not right for me. Our value systems will never mesh.

Thanksgiving

We had such a great little Thanksgiving this year.  We opted for the "small group" option this year, and stayed home. Alisa and Erwann flew in for the weekend. Since they aren't going to be with us for Christmas this year (sniff sniff), it was great to have them here. Although, I must say, I really missed our warm, beach-themed Thanksgivings that we have enjoyed in Southern California the past two years. Oh well. Maybe next year.

 Thankful for sister time

 No Metcalf Thanksgiving celebration would be complete without a little dog torture. Piper was not a fan of the werewolf mask.

And here is our whole crew. Grandma Sally, Aunt Carole, Will, Alisa, Erwann, Duncan, Dan, Grandpa Dee, Olivia, Audrey, Mitch and me, (not pictured, as usual, not complaining, just stating a fact).  We started a new tradition of weighing in before the meal, and then again after. Mitch won, he gained like five pounds. I gained two and a half. 

The rest of the Thanksgiving weekend was relaxing and peaceful.  We ate breakfast out every day.We took Erwann Black Friday shopping for about 20 minutes, which was enough for all of us.  Audrey, Alisa and I had a girl's night out and saw Mockingjay. Erwann got to go to two basketball games, one at the U, and a Jazz game, that he took Alisa and Dan to, for Dan's birthday. And then, they flew home on Sunday.  But not before we got the tree decorated.

 And, now, let the Christmas Carols begin!!!

Goodbye Princesses

It all started with my neighbor deciding to sell her daughter's adorable bedroom set for a ridiculously good price. Olivia has been using an old, old, OLD dresser since she was born, as in probably close to 100 years old. The drawers were falling apart, and falling out, and it was not big enough. So, I jumped on the bedroom set, which then involved calling up my home teacher to get his truck and bring it home for me, which resulted in this:

Will taking a cold ride in the back of the truck to hold the furniture in. Fortunately, it was a short ride.

Then, once we got the furniture home, and her bedroom torn apart, I realized that I could not in good conscience go to all the work of switching out furniture without repainting her room.

Which led to saying goodbye to these wall stickers that we put up when we moved in.

  I started to pull them down while she was at school, then I stopped, for fear that she would be sad they had come down without her.  I thought about trying to save them so we could put them back up if she really wanted them. Then I thought, oh well, and just pulled them all down and threw them away. She never even noticed they were gone.

 And a before shot. Excuse the unmade bed. This is pretty standard around here.

After I shed a few tears over  the loss of the princess stickers andmy baby growing up and growing out of princesses, we got down to the business of painting. Olivia was all over that, and turned out to be a pretty good helper.

And now she has a fresh and clean room with new to her furniture, three spring green walls and one fresh hyacinth wall. A month later, we are still getting around to touching up a few spots and getting her a new bedspread. So no after shot  yet. And I have yet to put my paintbrushes away, since Audrey is now making noise about moving her bedroom downstairs.

More Halloweenering

Just a few more Halloween shots that we want to save.

Our pensive Harry

No matter how hard I try, I  just don't look that scary.

Our Dumbledore, aka Audrey, who makes a very good wizard.

our werewolf, aka a bunch of towels stuffed into a werewolf costume, also in full birthday regalia in celebration of Dan's birthday on Nov. 2

And a few more of our Harry. She makes a very good wizard as well, I think

Halloweeners

So. I've had my phone for almost two years. Tonight I found out I can edit pictures on my phone. Turns out that sometimes, I am not the sharpest pencil in the box.

I took this picture of Livvi and friends at a Halloween carnival tonight, and because I am also not the most professional of photographers, I had way too much ceiling in my picture. This is what prompted me to explore the boundaries of the camera on my phone and now I feel like a kid with a new toy on Christmas. And just in time for Halloween too!