Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Or as Avery would say: "Mr. Sunshine, come out now! I said NOW!"

We might get a little break on Thursday, but other than that it's going to be wet. Avery's rain boots and umbrella came just in time. She shared it with Devon and I yesterday -- I'm sure I looked funny, but Devon looked ridiculous all bent over trying to get under the umbrella with her, and continue to walk.

Both Devon and my mom have made comments such as "when it stops raining I'll do ______." My reply: "Oh, so in July then?" Actually its supposed to be a warmer & drier year, so we'll see. Of course that means we won't have much snow in the mountains, so it'll be yet another year of no skiing/snowboarding for me. Avery & Jordan were both born during great snow seasons, but I didn't make it out to the hill either of those years. The other years since we lived here have all been terrible snow seasons. Typical, eh?

It's been an unusual couple of days. Finally no appointments, no doctors, no running around catching up from being away. I took some naps, and relished in:

"Besides the noble art of getting things done there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials." -Lin Yutang, Chinese Scholar

I never would have been able to consider this, let alone accept it, before I became a parent. Even then it was a gradual transition that has grown over the last ~3 years. And even now it doesn't work all the time. Some days I'm my usual manic self, doing, doing, doing. That's part of my nature and I can't deny it or sweep it under the rug. But I realize now that it's okay to slow down, and leave the laundry unfolded & the photos unlabelled some days. It's okay that the house is a disaster, and there's no point in cleaning it all up -- even for guests -- when we're in the middle of renovations.

So to all you "aggressinators"* out there, it really is okay to just do nothing sometimes. I encourage it!

That said, I did get the chance to catch up on e-mails, upload my pictures from the last couple of weeks, take some naps, sort through all the mail from the last 2 weeks, and even buy paint. Yep, time to paint! 7 gallons, from light green, to cream, to blue, to iced tea & apple sauce for touch ups in the great room. And gallons of primer, too. Earl & Linda are headed down for a weeked of painting mania. And I love painting, so it's going to be a little insane in here. Devon got a head start tonight by priming the edges, trim, and corners. He never seems to get paint on his clothes, whereas I seem to get covered every time I touch a roller or brush. I have quite an array of painting clothes since moving into this house.

I for one, will be glad to get those rooms all finished up, if for no other reason than Mojave won't be able to go in there and meow like a cat with a car parked on his tail, and listen to the hollow echo of his voice for hours at a time. That is one weird cat, and he seems to grow weirder with each passing year. (Can you guess what he's doing right now?)

It's a good thing we'll have 2 grandmas to play & snuggle with the girls! And boy does Jordan need snuggles! She is soooooo crabby. My only guess is the topography I can feel on her lower gums -- teeth. Avery was completely asymptomatic with teething, and Jordan is so different, I really don't know if that's the problem or not. She seems to be soothed by having her gums rubbed, so it probably is a teething issue. Boy howdy does she get mad though when she's not being held. Devon put her down in her crib a while ago, and she woke up (very unusual, usually when she's asleep for the night, she's asleep). I heard crying for awhile, so I went to check on the situation. There was Jordan, doing tummy time on the bed next to Devon, screaming her lungs out, and there he was asleep, with earplugs in! Well, at least we are all good sleepers, once we're asleep. So I picked her up, gave her some Tylenol, and then rubbed Anbesol on her gums, which was devestating to her. I thought she was going to barf from it! But she didn't, and she fell asleep within a couple of minutes of being in my lap. So, yeah, it probably is the teeth.

*aggressinator = (Kelly's made up word for) the opposite of a procrastinator