Biological imperatives

I will have no idea what this post is about years from now when I see the title, but that's what labels are for...

We've been talking about redoing our attic for MONTHS. We've been in contact with the contractor and an architect. For MONTHS. Once we found we wouldn't need to use the attic as a baby room there was a little relief from the pressure, but not much. The plan had been that we would get the attic done into a guest room and then since they'd be doing the floor in there why not have them put floors in the kids' rooms too? I finally convinced Vader to get rid of the allergen-producing carpet and do it. We assumed they would do it at the end of the project since that's when they'd be doing the new room floor. With each delay (there have been so many) that pushed back the floors in the kids' rooms. Why does it matter? Because we're not putting the crib together and then having to take it apart to get it out of there to do the floors. It doesn't fit through the door, it has to be taken apart. Likewise, we're not getting SkyWalker a heavy new dresser that will just have to be moved. But SkyWalker will need a new dresser since Baby Boy is taking over his changing table nursery. We have the co-sleeper that attaches to our bed and that's where Quattro will sleep at night in the beginning, but if I'm going to get anything done during the day I need to have him sleeping safely in his crib. And, there is a biological need to have your nursery set up before you have your baby!! 

And then it hit me. 

We don't have to wait until the end. We don't need an architect to draw up a plan to put a floor down. Or a permit or anything. We can do it FIRST. I told Vader and he quasi-agreed. He has no biological imperative. I told him to call the contractor. He didn't. He did get floor samples from Home Depot, but that was it. I was on the edge of going crazy that the biggest obstacle in all this is HIM, when fate intervened and the contractor called US to schedule a final look at the plans. He came last night and can definitely do the floors first AND paint in the boys' room. AND he'll rip up the carpets so we don't have to. It won't take long at all and we can have it done in the next couple of weeks (I have approximately 5 weeks left before I start the countdown). He'll do the boys' room first. We'll move all the furniture across the hall to the girls' room. Then when he's done with the boys' room, we'll move everything into there and he'll do the girls' room. The girls' room will take much less time since it's just the floor and not painting. Vader has to pick out the floors and order them and pick up the paint (SkyWalker and I chose a color and we are not letting him argue with us. For some idiotic reason he thinks you paint once every 30 years. So he can pick out a different color in 30 years.). The boys' room has not been painted since we moved in, nearly 10 years ago. 

The contractor will be able to do everything through our garage so we won't have to worry about them messing up our new floors either. Not that I worry. 

So now I have to get Vader to do his part ASAP so we can set up an actual date for this. And hope that once this is all done I still have enough energy to wash baby clothes and get ready to have this baby! 

Let me sum up

I am just too wiped out to speak in complete sentences. So highlights of the last week:

We cleared everything out of the kitchen and living room in preparation for the floor guys. I put the DVR cable box in the bedroom and hooked it up in there. After over an hour of it still not coming back on despite numerous reboots I called TW. While on the phone with a very nice lady I discovered my problem. Instead of taking the cable wire from the floor, I took the cable wire from the OTHER cable box after I had unhooked that. So I had two cables boxes hooked up to each other. Much laughing ensued. 

On the ferry I ran in to an old friend. Literally. I got out of my car wondering how I was going to get two children out by myself and keep them safe and carry the umbrella stroller and diaper bag and get the tickets. I hear my name, turn and look at the car right next to mine and discover an old high school friend. He helped carry the stroller and stuck with us the entire time. He threw in a bonus of doing a healing prayer for the Princess since he now goes around performing miracles. 

Monday night SkyWalker used every excuse he could to not go to sleep at my parents' house. At 9:45 he left his room and started to go into my mother's room to sleep with her. What was significant about this is that he was entirely naked. He took everything off including his diaper and put it in his sister's travel bag. 

I got my dress fixed and I think I'm going to write a letter asking for at least a partial refund from the first lady I went to. She apparently used a tuxedo machine instead of a dress machine. There were ink marks on the bottom of the dress. Excellent.

I also got my hair highlighted and cut.

We have an hour before we can put anything on the floors. The jedi and I have been stuck in their bedrooms. Now we are down in the office playing/crying while Vader hand-vacuums all the dust off the counters. The dogs are still at the kennel. We'll clean and get as much stuff in today as we can and that will be our 4th of July.  

I have a really bad pain in my neck right now (literally) and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to help with the couch or the kitchen table or anything else. This weekend, my birthday weekend, is already shaping up to be as sucky as the last 3. Good times. 

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It was 80 degrees today

And my son wore his snow boots to the post office. He also had chapstick ALL over his face so he had a nice shiny complexion. Oh and the snow boots were on the wrong feet. With no socks. And yes, I did allow him to leave the house like this. The post office was just down the road and we needed stamps and more importantly needed to just leave the house for a few minutes. A lady was there and all she said was "What good children". I had to point out to her the snow boots and she hadn't even noticed them she was too engrossed in the cute well-behavedness of my children. Too funny. 

On Friday SkyWalker and I were musing about the staircase wallpaper and whether or not we could do it ourselves. The Princess woke up so I went to get her and when I came down... SkyWalker had started without me. He got quite a bit of it done too. It wasn't in a destructive way... he honestly wants to help me. Unfortunately it didn't come down as well as the kitchen bit did so it looks like crap right now. But that would have happened whether it was him or me. In fact it wasn't until I started pulling some off that we realized that it wasn't easy. 

We rode on Thomas the Tank Engine on Saturday and it was totally worth the 2 hour drive and $18 tickets. SkyWalker was less impressed with Sir Topham Hatt and tried to run away rather than take his picture with him, but other than that it was great. He got a new shirt, a new hat, a placemat and a balloon (Nana went with us). The Princess got a balloon and has been very happy with it. SkyWalker really wanted the Thomas shaped balloon and we walked all over the place when finally they blew up more and we got one. It was SO windy I held on tight to both balloons and wouldn't let him have it till we got to the car. Everyone got in and just as I was about to I looked and all I had was a blue string. No balloon. It just broke from the string and was up in the air. If I could have flown I would have. My mother thought I had lost my wallet from the look on my face. And then I saw the look on SkyWalker's face... My mother went back down and got another balloon and held on to the actual balloon and SkyWalker was happy. He could have had a wonderful day but he was so set on that balloon that not getting it would have ruined the entire thing.

I heard the most shocking thing yesterday morning. We had a guy come out to look at our floors and give us an estimate on refinishing them. The dogs were outside at the door. His exact words were: "What well-behaved dogs you have! I'm sure they want to come in and jump on me but they're being so good." I was in shock. They weren't barking, they weren't even whining too much. They were scratching at the door a bit but he was right, they were okay. Either they really liked him or more likely it was the 80 degree weather and they were too hot and tired to be a pain. They've actually been pretty good today too. They like being outside and hot as much as I do. 

We have a playdate on Friday so we've been cleaning the house today. I wasn't sure if I was going to do the bathrooms just yet when SkyWalker told me that he had peed on the wall. I went in there and sure enough he peed on the wall. Next to the sink. On the opposite side of the toilet. I said "um, how?" and he said "I peed in the sink but I got the wall." My husband claims that he has not done this in front of our child but since he has done the same exact thing I will still blame him for passing on his ridiculousness gene to his son. 

I should be cleaning but I am not. I really hate cleaning. It's never done. I'm not very good at it. I like doing things that get done. When I rip a piece of wallpaper I will NEVER rip that piece again. It's gone. It's done. When I do a load of laundry I still have another to do tomorrow. Same with the dishes. And sweeping and the bathrooms and all the other crap. I have a checklist on my fridge of what needs to be done and I check it off each time I do it. It's partly to remind me that I have to dust or vacuum or whatever but it's mostly so I can see that I did actually clean the kitchen sink even if it's a mess again the next day. So I can see some kind of progress. I'm not a housekeeper. I'm a SAHM and there's a difference. I don't want to waste all my time cleaning when I'm supposed to be with my kids. But at the same time I can't live in filth and neither can they. I don't run out of clean clothes and the dishes don't pile up for days. We don't have ants or creatures eating off our floor. Well, besides the dogs. I know that I'm not as bad as I could be but I still look around and see all of the dust and wish that I could wave my magic wand and have it all gone.

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