Things I'm Not Doing Right Now

The girls and I just got back from watching the first half of Bryan's soccer game. He's still there, obviously, playing the second half. Eden is "resting" upstairs (supposed to be napping, but I told her she didn't have to sleep, just rest in her bed - she's actually in the bathroom right now, but I'm ignoring that because she's fine). Leah fell asleep in the car on the way home and so is sitting in her carseat right next to me, snoozing (I don't dare move her for fear of waking her).

There are a million things I could be doing, but instead I'm going to take a little "me" time and blog. And to catch you up, here's a list of the things I could be doing:

1. Cleaning the house. Our condo rocks. I promise to put up pictures soon - I've been working on assembing them when the pictures get up on the wall and the room is relatively clean... it's a process... We probably never would have considered buying here, but it really is a phenomenal setup. It's a large, well-established complex that is leanly managed by long-time trustees, so the place runs very well. I was worried at first that the space would be too small for us, but actually it works perfectly, and we even have a little room to expand (we want to put a bathroom downstairs in our basement bedroom). We spent a lot of time this summer getting Eden used to the pool in our backyard, which went surprisingly well. Once she got comfortable, she did really great. We're going to have to get her lessons soon, but at least she's not totally foreign to the idea anymore.

2. Changing the water in the goldfish bowl. We are no longer cat owners, but we are the proud caretakers of two goldfish as of 6 days ago. Eden "won" them last weekend at a birthday party (it was a setup, I know it). These things are a lot of work! Sheesh! (This is why I'm not a pet person). Eden refused to name them for several days, and now they're apparently both named "Flippy," which is the name of the goldfish Oswald gets in one episode. Incidentally, I'm not sure if I blogged this yet or not, but Mr. Nino had to go to a new family when we moved - the condo association doesn't allow pets, and he was requiring way more attention than we could give anyway - I honestly think he was not super satisfied with us. So the day we moved, we gave him to a woman I found online through the neighboring town's parents listserv. She already has 2 cats and 2 sons who love cats, so he went to a good home. I have to say, I liked him OK, but it is SO NICE to not have to lint roll my pants fifteen times a day!

3. Setting up a spreadsheet for withholding taxes for the new nanny. (Oh this stuff is so complicated!) You know Bryan got a new job (and it's going extremely well, by the way. He LOVES it. But we are noticing that working-mommy-guilt also plagues fathers who used to be SAHDs. He misses them a lot - it's sweet, and at the same time I find myself saying, "YES! NOW you get it!" because all the things he's saying, I've said a million times.) Anyway, through a series of coincidences (you know I don't actually believe in coincidence, right?) we ended up being able to re-hire the woman who watched Eden when she was a baby. She "officially" started yesterday, and she's here 5 days/week, all day, with Leah. She keeps Eden on Mondays and Fridays too. WE LOVE HER. If we can't do it, there is no one we'd rather have with our kids all day!

And, Leah just woke up and needs a new diaper, so I'm off. But here's a little cuteness for now: