House Arrest

Thanksgiving = Priceless

Miles traveled (round-trip): around 1,100

Horrifyingly nasty sticky mind-shattering poos along the way: only 1, thank GOD!

Stops at McDonalds' drive-throughs (round-trip): 4

Times that we thought Mark's Dad was gonna explode from joy: 1,000,000

Aunts, Uncles, Great-aunts and Great-uncles visited with: 5

First cousins, first cousins once removed and second cousins met: 8

Personalized quilts that all the aforementioned cousins chipped in to make for us: 2

Days away from home: 5

Number of days we held out before going to Walmart for a Jumperoo: 1

Times we were told that the Jumperoo was worth every penny: 23

Pounds of turkey eaten: 3.2 per parent

Times Maia went "Cujo" on Dad: 6

Hotdogs Dad fed Maia: 10

Games WVU won: 1, setting them up for a chance at the National Championships

Hand knit bibs made on the trip: 2.75 (the third is 1/4 of the way from being done)

Great stories told by Aaron, Janine, the boys and Dad: countless!

Fever, in degrees, that Aden got the night before we were supposed to leave: 101.6

Hours spent bringing it down: 3

Dead deer seen on the drive back: 8

Things the cats peed on while we were away: 0!!!

Hunter and Aden finally meeting Dad (grandpa) and PoMo (great-grandma): Priceless

Perpetually Behind

The weekend has come and gone. It's now 10:20 PM and I have found myself with a few minutes before I need to try to turn in for the night.

One of the most aggravating things in my life now is that I have to constantly play catch up. I feel like I need an extra day weekly to get everything done. Still on the "To Do" list are: write a budget, go grocery shopping, shred Mark's old files and use the space to file our current papers, go through the bottomless box of bills and file and shred at will, go through the magazines that are sitting in a bag at the foot of my desk and discard those I'm never going to read, and so on.

A lot of these things just keep being pushed off and off and off and I hate not being able to do them. I need to do grocery shopping because I need to be hardcore back on WeightWatchers. I gained 10 pounds in two weeks because of the stress over the layoffs and my clothes really don't fit well right now so I have to make a concerted effort to get back into shape. And, I don't want to FreshDirect because they've turned out to be a bit more expensive than the local supermarket so it works in our favor to just go to the store.

As for that box of bills... well, it's been sitting around since before Hunter and Aden were born! And now that our old room has become a very official nursery and the cat room has become our room, space is at a huge premium. I need to consolidate and shred and toss. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the clutter in this room but know that I have to tackle it gradually. After all, this was originally Mark's room and his organization method is different from mine. But for the sake of baby proofing we're going to need to make a few quasi drastic changes.

I need huge chunks of uninterrupted times in order to complete these task and I'm always hoping to be able to tackle them on the weekends. But something always seems to come up. This weekend Mark wasn't feeling well and needed for me to put in some extra time on the weekend.

As for doing stuff at night... Well, I can't even check my email anymore. Typing wakes the babies up, and Mark sleeps in the other room where my PC is. I've taken to calling my friends from the kitchen so that I don't die of boredom since I can't surf or watch TV in the nursery. However, my phone conversatons wake Mark up and have now become a point of contention. I'm like, WTF am I supposed to do?

Anyway, bitching aside, the babies and Mark and I are working through all of the changes. I'm dreading the drive to WV for the holidays but am looking forward to being surrounded by family. I'm especially looking forward to the babies' first Christmas.

I just wish that I could get myself past the clutter and more towards enjoying my time with them.

P.S. Both 365 galleries are now up to date. Click on the links at left to visit them.

[Edited to Add]

An addition to Mark's guest post from earlier:

"That was one exhausting workout!"

"I love sushi as much as my daddy does!"

Thoughts (guest post by Mark)

Random thoughts:

• Don't you hate it when, after you've put a fresh diaper on your baby, his/her bottom goes warm as you're heading toward the crib?
• Have you ever looked for a thermometer (for yourself) that hasn't been in a baby's bottom, been unable to find one, and just went for it?
• How can little angels become the agents of your own personal ego's destruction in the space of 30 seconds?
• As a parent of twins, that "sleep when they sleep" nostrum is simply a cruel, cruel joke.

That is all.

Tagged Part II - We Be Strokin'

Rich and the Happyrobot crew have decided to answer a few questions posed by Clarence Carter. This is my take on them:

Let me ask you somethin'...
What time of the day do you like to make love
Whenever I can get it. Right now would be good.

Have you ever made love just before breakfast?
Unless it was a continuation from the night before, no. I value the sleep I can get far too much.

Have you ever made love while you watched the late, late show
How late is late? And what do you consider "watching"? If you consider the Daily Show being on in the background as late night TV watching then, well, yeah, I'm ALL over that.

Well, let me ask you this
Have you ever made love on a couch
Sadly, no. My lovers and myself have never had couches. Something to do with the lack of comfortable living spaces in Manhattan. There were beds a plenty -- somehow everyone manages to make room for a bed, even if it's a mattress on the floor. As for other spots....

Floors, check. On top of a dresser, yes sir. Kitchen table, bingo. Couch, what's that?

Well, let me ask you this
Have you ever made love on the back seat of a car
I'm a NYC girl. This question should be rephrased to "Have you ever made love on the #2 line?" And the answer to that would be "sorta".

I did, however, witness two of my friends getting it on in the back seat of a cab.

Well actually, they were kinda "getting it on" on top of me. The girl's head was in my lap while the guy was doing his thing and the cabbie kept rubbernecking on the action as he drove at breakneck speed through the Central Park East-West road.

Good times.

I remember one time I made love on the back seat of a car
And the police came and shined his light on me, and I said:

I'm strokin', that's what I'm doin', I be strokin'
I stroke it to the east
And I stroke it to the west
And I stroke it to the woman that I love the best
I be strokin'
Since I have never had the opportunity to be caught in flagrante by a police officer, I have never said this to someone else. But I have said it when making cake batter. My cakes always wind up creamy smooth because of it.

And, in the spirit of fun, I tag my readers and ask them to post the links to their answers in my comments.