I’m scattered so here’s a list:

1. Morag: “Ok, dude. Time for you to rest.”
Freebird: “I don’t wanna rest!”
Morag: “Well, I’m tired. I’m going to rest. First I’m going to have a shower, then I’m going to rest.”
Freebird: “You’re going to take a shower?”
Morag: “Yup. I’m dirty.”
Freebird: “What are you covered in?”
Morag: *blinks*

I had no idea he equated showering with being covered in something. I mean, I was covered in grass from running around the yard in a sprinkler, but still. Whoa.

2. Yesterday, Baba O’Riley stood up on his big baby feet, let go of the table in front of him, clapped his hands, and sat down on his tush. He stood unassisted. Walking will not be far behind. He’s 10 months old. Oh, boy oh boy.

3. We have our house back. Hubby and I were blessed by the coveted double nap on Saturday and Sunday and we cleaned and moved and schlepped and reorganized, and now we have a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and a big ass playroom for the boys. Used to be we had a construction site (kitchen), a temporary kitchen/holding pen of appliances (dining room) and an all-purpose mess room (living room). I have my home back. My house is a home for us again. I cannot possibly say how happy this makes me.

4. We were also blessed by a double-sleep-in on Saturday morning where both boys lovingly and adorably slept to mother-effing 8:30 am (Oh thankyou thankyou thankyou). But of course on Sunday, which is Hubby’s day to sleep in, Freebird was ready to rock at 6am. So I got up, and while Hubby and Baba slept in, and Freebird watched Super Why, his new favorite show (all about reading, letters, and phonics), I cleaned and moved furniture around and generally made myself and our house very happy.

5. Freebird helped me make pancakes ("I stirred the milk and the egg!") and helped Hubby install a new baby gate at the top of the stairs ("I did the screws!"). He’s on the cups of being a big boy and being the baby at home, now that he’s moved up to preschool, but seeing how capable and eager he is just kicks ass.

6. Baba O’Riley is at that also-annoying (for him, not us) cusp of wanting to interact with us and wanting to communicate with us, but not having the language or motor skills to do so. But funny enough, Freebird helps us out. This weekend, Freebird tore his cheese ravioli up into little pieces and shared them with Baba at dinner last night. I never would have thought to try that, but Freebird announced, “He likes yolis too!” (Ravioli are “yolis” in Casa Morag) and sure enough, there was nom-nom-nomming going on with both dudes. Baba was happy to sit next to his big brother and Freebird was very carefully and thoughtfully tearing up pasta and sharing with his brother. So awesome. Makes me happy just thinking about it. 

Why is all ecologically friendly and sustainable furniture modern, likely uncomfortable, impractical, and ugly as all get out? The environment, last time I looked, was rather attractive. 

Someday I’ll probably be back to complaining about normal weekend routines, but this weekend was full of errands and shopping and walking and hanging out and I loved every minute just because I got to do it. I wasn’t sequestered up in my office all day, staring at my laptop, squeezing one more word out of my tired brain.

Hubby and I usually exchange sleep-ins, wherein one of us snoozes until they feel like getting up while the other is up with Baba, who usually awakes hungry and loud at about 6 or 630. This weekend we decided to do late wake-ups for each of us, but only until 7. Trust me, when the baby wakes up at 6 on a Saturday morning, a 7am wakeup is a luxury. So I got up for Hubby on Saturday because he was painfully tired when Baba O’Riley started babbling, and pretty much all men were up and at ‘em by 730.

Then, I made pancakes.

Attention. Please read the previous sentence. I MADE PANCAKES. 

I read about this in Crain’s New York, and I’ve been fascinated by it for weeks. Unfortunately, I do not have a table and chairs to eat at - UNTIL NOW because I COOKED IN THE KITCHEN OMG I NEED TO LIE DOWN FOR A MINUTE.

Ok. Better now.

I cooked pasta with chicken and red sauce, ON THE STOVE TOP OMG with REAL FIRE, and had dinner with Hubby IN A CHAIR at the COUNTER which WAS INSTALLED LAST WEEKEND.

Seriously. I’m going to start hyperventilating.

But as for Freebird, he’s too short for most chairs and he HATES sitting in a booster seat. Behold: the Kaboost. I hope he digs it. I’m really excited - which likely means he’ll be utterly unimpressed - and did I mention I COOKED FOOD IN THE KITCHEN?

I did?

How about the fact that I WASHED POTS in the SINK AND RAN the DISHWASHER!?

Pics coming soon. I promise.

Still busy, and therefore still boring. Deadlines are hard and writing is hard and I have to remember that it won’t be like this forever even though the recent past and the recent future are the same as the now - busy busy busy.

This weekend, however, I learned an important lesson. One: Baba O’Riley is so strong, wrestling with him when he wants to be held but also stand up, be cuddled but also explore, and generally trying to keep him safe and not screaming is a very difficult burden on one’s spine. Hubby and I are both feeling the strain of wrestling the super strong Baba, but at least I know it’s normal. He’s just about to start crawling, so he’s extra clingy. Plus he’s cutting teeth top bottom left and right, so I’m sure he’s feeling the need for comfort even as he wants to get up on his knees and hands and take off.

Two: if it’s nice out, go outside, because it’ll rain later in the day. Both Saturday and Sunday started clear and beautiful, and we took the boys for long walks in the morning. We hadn’t showered, I particularly looked rather awful, but we didn’t give a shit - because later in the day it poured and we were inside the rest of the day. But the sunny morning start really made my day. I have to be aware that I can’t take the good weather for granted, and even if my hair is a violation of international peace, I should go outside and enjoy the sun.

The kitchen is still not done. I think it might not ever be completed. But, progress is imminent, and someday I’ll reteach myself how to cook again. I wonder what I’ll make in the new kitchen first. I already have plans for sourdough starters, baking gingerbread cookies and letting Baba and Freebird go wild with icing, mini cupcakes… and roasted chickens, roasted tomatoes, and all manner of salads.

Man, I miss cooking. I also miss the rest of my house. Living 100% in the living room just bites. It’s a nice reminder how miserable we’d be if we lived in NYC apartments, though. Hubby and I would not be able to hack it at all.

I have a suspicion that I will one day have a kitchen with functional appliances and a broad expanse of countertop, and I will still use one burner and a 2’ x 2’ space of counter for chopping and cooking. 

1. My hosting for this site is about to expire. I wonder if it’s time to hang it up.

2. I think the CNN election coverage is the strangest combination of the Weather Channel and Wheel of Fortune. They do nothing but repeat the same information over and over for hours on end, and they touch screens to make letters and figures appear like they’re Vanna White on politics.

3. I’m seriously bummed that Clinton won Texas and Ohio. I have a bad feeling that (a) the divided Democratic party will be a much, much easier target for the Republicans, (b) the pressure of one side to convince the other to abandon their candidate for the purposes of “unification” will be steady and unpleasant, (c) at this point there’s little difference between the two except personality so it’s becoming more a question of who do you like better and who can be meaner to the other, and (d) I am so fucking glad I am no longer a Pennsylvania resident, you have no idea.

4. I’m still tired and underslept, in case your first thought this morning was, “Gee, I wonder if Morag got any sleep?”

5. The kitchen is scheduled to disappear entirely today, leaving us with a fridge in the dining room and a sink. Wait, no. No sink. I’ll be washing dishes in the basement or in the upstairs bathroom. Last night we moved every last thing out of the pantry, leaving me with the following questions:

1. I own a LOT of different kinds of vinegar. Why?
2. I own even more different kinds of hot sauce. Why?
3. What do I cook that requires so much vinegar?

Regardless of the answers to the above question set, I know without a doubt I’m going to miss each and every bottle of vinegar while I’m making dinner out of the stash of cans and boxes that now occupy the dining room.