Friday was awesome. I ordered balloons (in GIRL colors - which I never get to do with two dudes) and we brought in Boston Market and we feasted. There was also cake, and thus Baba O’Riley has a new favorite food.

Saturday was errands and house hanging.

Sunday was awesome. We decided to each spend some time solo with each boy and allow Freebird to skip his nap. He was exhausted at the end of the day but he was SO much fun. He’s so good at playing by himself and becoming absorbed in his activities that I forget he would probably love time with just one of his parents - and he did. He and I went to fetch our grocery order (order online, pick up at the store, save about 90 minutes and pay $10 extra, or $5 with the coupon in the mail = LOVE) and then to CVS to pick out a new toothbrush for him. He insisted on carrying the basket through the store for me. Then he and I cleaned out Mommy’s Car and Daddy’s Car. He was so into crawling all over the car and deciding whether something was trash (very likely) or a toy to be saved for later car rides. I would have taken him to get a car wash and interior vacuum, but it was raining and would have been a waste of money. Maybe in next month’s budget we’ll wash Mommy’s car and watch it go through the car wash.

I also took time both days to work out and am profoundly proud of myself for that.

While I always have piles and piles of work to do, I have to make myself stop and put the computer down and away, and let myself cross stitch quietly, or hang out with my dudes one at a time or together. Yesterday was wonderful. Note to self: do it again. 

I am so busy keeping up with everything and taking on a new project (book promotion in every direction I can think of) that I barely remember how to cook things. Hubby has been doing the cooking while I put the boys to bed at night, and I can tell that both Baba and Freebird relish the time when they have my total and complete attention. yes, this makes me feel like shite.

Tonight the inlaws are coming to celebrate my mother in law’s birthday, and an offhand question from my sister in law the other evening sent me into a tailspin: “Did the boys make cards for their grammy?”

Uh, no. So last night there was coloring and stickers and impromptu art projects—after dinner, before bed, which is the worst time for any kind of activity. Freebird was marginally into it, but Baba did not want to stop and ended up with marker (washable) all over his face, sweater, and hands while he shrieked at the idea that it was time to put the markers away. Not entirely fun and a deviation from The Routine, which none of us deals with well.

But I do have some cards, sort of, and we’re going to do a takeout dinner (Boston Market, which is 1mile from my house and makes me so happy with all that yummy chicken) and I’ve realized I can probably get some balloons from the shop down the street—but any deviation from the routine sends me reeling, because I have my day pretty much divided into microminutes. I ordered a USB aircard and mobile broadband service for my HP Mini so I can start carrying it to work and doing site work on the bus home, because I’m not getting enough done at the end of the day after dinner. I’m too tired.

At some point this will all be worth it, I hope, but I’m thinking I need an intern. Or my own wife. I know Hubby would be down with that. 

Freebird is a moderately picky eater. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “I only eat Oscar Meyer bologna and nothing else” (true story) he’s probably about a 4 or so. He eats fruit and yogurt and his favorite food is peanut butter and jelly, but then, I make him peanut butter and jelly with whole wheat bread, natural peanut butter sans sugar, and Polaner All-Fruit so it’s about as good as it can get and still be somewhat edible and delicious (I like the sandwiches, too).

But dinner can be a challenge. He likes pb&j, chicken nuggets, and that’s about it. He’s not fond of anything with skin, crust (except the nuggets) or burn marks. You’d think he was allergic to carbon. Things shouldn’t touch, or get slimy. And if you put it in itty bitty containers, then it’s an automatic win.

So when I first saw the Lunch in a Box website, I thought, ok, that’s spiffy, but there is no way on God’s green earth that I have enough time on my hands to pack bento lunches for Freebird. I mean, seriously. But when when I read the pages about picky eaters, and bento for preschoolers, it started to dawn on me that this might be ideal for Freebird. For one thing, tiny portions in itty bitty containers? Separated by either a cup or another piece of food? WORD. Lots of variety including things he likes? DOUBLE WORD.

I gave it a try last night, and made him a bento dinner in one of my Tupperwares that I use for their lunches. He had matchstick celery, peanut butter in a Dixie cup that I cut down a few inches, strawberries, apple slices, raspberry salad dressing in another Dixie cup, and popcorn. He was SO into it. Dipping and moving things around, eating the parts that he liked and trying the different sauces. He was totally in charge of his dinner. So I made him another for lunch and we talked about what to put in it.

Today’s lunch: a pb&j made from one slice of bread, cut into two tiny triangles and two tiny rectangles, with string cheese, matchstick celery, peanut butter, popcorn, and strawberries and grapes. He was talking about it this morning.

Hopefully I won’t get a report from his teacher that he refused to eat his lunch.

1. My tonsils are swollen, which is either a sign of Heap Big Sickness coming my way, or a sign that something is stuck in them. I hate my tonsils. HATE them. I am so ready to have them taken out - but my understanding is that tonsillectomies on adults require about a week of recovery, with a lot of pain, and no talking. With two kids at ages 3 and 1, I am not sure how the no talking thing would work. So I’m waiting until they are older. Plus, with my allergy to medication, I can only take Percocet or Tylenol. I’m a fan of Mistress Percocet, but it makes me stupid loopy, and I would want to be the primary caregiver to either one of the dudes while I’m hopped on the loopies.

2. We’re going to get another 3” of snow today. I’d love to have a big dumpus storm. That would be awesome. A good foot and a half? Word.

3. I have a new windshield thing for my car. We don’t have a garage and I park in a public lot to catch the bus, and on days when there’s ice and snow, it’s a lot of work to excavate my car. I’m curious if this new thing, which wraps around the sides of the windshield so I can shut the door on it, will help at all. It’s amazing how few people sell windshield covers that actually look like they’ll work.

4. The Accutane adventure continues. I’m now back to wiping Vaseline in my nostrils and compulsively stocking lipbalm in strategic locations. While I was on the cruise last week, I worked out and then went in the steam room. The steam room was about the most blissfully wonderful thing I could have experienced on Accutane. OMG. Bliss.

The best part comes up next: any blackheads or skin congestion starts to get squeezed out so my skin feels like sandpaper. Until you look closely, and then: ew. And also, wow. 

I am tired.

Yay Steelers.

Teleflora can eat a dick.