Monday: minute by minute

Finally, finally, FINALLY today was the day! Today was the long-awaited day. The day that I'd looked forward to since we moved into this house over five years ago.

We got the stairs and hall re-carpeted.

That's right, folks. No more nasty, soiled, ripped, chewed, dull, dusty, dirty gray, poor excuse for a rug! Well, except for in the upstairs den and our bedroom. Sigh. But let's focus on the positive, shall we?

Before...

"Hi, I'm the first thing you see when you walk in. Welcome to our disgusting home!" ...

This hot mess is where Brody decided to thank me for letting him roam the house 

when he was a new pup and I was at work...

 Why was there a giant threshold in the middle of the hallway? 

Yeah, no one knows. It's a mystery...

I was mortified when Gregg ripped this up and I saw the filth,

These "black lines" will haunt me until at least next week...

Looking better already...

During...

Wrench in the works - Installation Man asked if he could use our living room to cut the carpet due to the rain outside. Drat. I hurried to gather Scarlett's toys and little chair, I took my phone, laptop and water bottle (essentials) and we hunkered down in my bedroom. The couch was relocated into our dining room. The new living room area rug was now in the kitchen. The Pack 'N' Play was in the hallway. Scarlett was unable to use her "jumpa-jumpa" (doorway jumper) which is her favorite morning exercise. Bummer. So, there we were. S- rolling around with a few toys and Doc McStuffins on the TV for entertainment. I- on the bed updating my facebook and twitter in case the workmen had a  sinister agenda. A few blurry pics ... 

Nap-time was greatly affected. S usually closes her eyes between 10 and 10:30 but by 11:10 the workers were still hammering away just inches from her crib and she was having no trouble letting me know she was tired. 

We improvised...

After...

A big, big improvement but I wish we would have chosen a darker carpet... maybe even brown rather than bland ole tan. I figure we'll have this rug for many years to come, maybe it will grow on me. It definitely dresses things up, ya know, without that giant hole at the top of the stairs. I'm just happy to cross it off my list of "things I said I wanted to do immediately when we moved in." Funny how that list is complete, naive bullshit, huh? Haha. First thing on my list was to remove the god-awful brass on the fireplace doors. Yeah, they've never been brassy-er. Oh well. Soon enough, friends, soon enough. 

Monday: minute by minute

It just hit me that today is Monday and I normally write my 'minute by minute' posts on Monday. Drat. Another day with minimal activity, although I did get a lot accomplished.

I knew it was going to be in the 80's today so I was admittedly a little over-excited to pick out Scarlett's outfit. She has sooooo many cute nine month outfits and I don't want her to outgrow them before it is warm enough to wear them! So I packed the diaper bag with two outfits and chose an adorable one for her first real taste of "summer"...

This was one of the very first outfits we bought for Scarlett the day we found out we were having a girl... May 5, 2011 to be exact. Wow, already almost a YEAR since that wonderful day!

I am slightly less fortunate when it comes to having a plethora of appropriate clothing for warm weather. I have plenty of shirts but when it comes to bottoms... it's maternity or bust. Crap. I had forgotten that I was pregnant last year and wore the same four pairs of capris all summer long. I had no choice today but to rock the denim ones. Rock is being way, way, way kind and stupid. I actually felt like a pregnant hobo. They were falling off of me. Saggy. Baggy ass. Rolling down. I was pulling, clutching, rolling, folding and tugging constantly. SO annoying. But I trudged on. I brought Scarlett to my mom's house for a visit and decided to run some errands before lunch. One of the errands would clearly be to find pants with a very specific waist and hopefully belt loops.

My first stop was CVS - because I practically live there. Next up was Lowe's, to bite the bullet and just go through with the "ordering of the carpet installation". So that's done and I got a great deal on the financing - 0% for 18 months... and yesterday was the last day for it. I finally snuck in before the bell rang! So, now we are just awaiting the phone call from the installer to set up our official 'carpeting of the stairs and hallway' appointment. Thank God. Those stairs are atrocious. I have hated that nasty, gray carpet since we bought the house. And then Brody made it far worse by chewing holes in it when we left him alone as a new pup. It's hideous and embarrassing. And soon to be all better.

My last errand was a Target run. I wanted new denim capris and a new cheapo, bright colored bag. Mission accomplished. And the bag is exactly what I was looking for...

{source}

I had no choice but to change into my new jeans upon re-entering my mother's house. Sorry, old maternity friend, you'll be packed away with the rest in case of a future summer pregnancy. I've read about people wearing their maternity clothes for months or YEARS after having a baby. How?? HOW?? I ask. Well, actually I do have a couple of shirts that I still wear because you can't tell ... or can you? Ask me if I care. 

Baby girl had a lot of fun rolling around in Grammie's new three season room - since there is no furniture in it yet. She was making my grandmother laugh so hard acting like a little big shot. She's very fun these days and she's been sitting up playing for such long periods of time. Such a big girl!

That was the bulk of the day.  The rest included: a ride back home, a beautiful cross-breeze, bills, mail, dinner, playing with S, bath-time, sleepy-time, humidifier fill-ups, dog bones, frozen yogurt and The King of Queens.

Hope you all enjoyed your Monday - no matter how your pants fit.

Monday minute by minute

Well, I didn't intend on writing tonight but as I set up my new laptop I am instructed to not shut it off until this program finishes doing it's thang. So what else can I do while I wait?

Today was a pretty busy day! It started with lots of laundry and vacuuming. I also had to clean up all of Scarlett's 1st Easter hoopla-leftovers! She got a very big basket filled with lots of new clothes for summer and some toys and books and a bunch of other "ditties". Thanks, Grammie! She loved it all... and so did I. It was so fun to open. I hope everyone had a nice Easter!

Gregg is on vacation this week so while he took the dog to the vet (just a booster shot, no worries) I worked around the house. We had a lot of errands to run today and some tax refund money to spend! My mom watched the baby while we ran out to such favorites as Target, Best Buy, Chili's for a little lunch, Building 19 in desperate hopes that we'd find a new living room rug, (which we didn't) and last and certainly least Walmart. Because Walmart is seemingly the only place left on this planet that carries my humidifier filters.

One of the many great purchases of the day? Scarlett's new Zany Zoo! I've had my eye on it for a few months now ... she seems to love it so far - and so does Brody ...

Monday: minute by minute

Monday, April 2, 2012.

Also known as EASTER BUNNY DAY!!!! (and my father's 62nd birthday)

Today I decided to partner up with Grammie and take Scarlett to see the good ole mall Easter Bunny. We've seen him in nearly everyone's family pictures across the state. The dingy yellowy costume that makes him look like he's been hidden away in somebody's cellar all year long just waiting for this week to make his appearance. His crafty straw hat complete with fake flowers. And his classic purple flowered dress. Ohhhhh wait, that's right, he's a GIRL. I always forget that. I just always thought of the Easter Bunny as a boy. The same way I tend to call all cats "she" and all dogs "he". Oh well. Either way, Scarlett enjoyed her first of many meetings with MISS Bunny.

The perfect sweetie outfit for Bunny-viewing

Sitting up like such a big girl 

(after tipping over and hitting her face on the carseat - Mama's fault - no marks, no tears)

Scarlett meets Madame Bunnyface McTilty-hat

Success!! (minus the fact that you can't see but three inches of her outfit)

After our festive, holiday event we had a little shopping to do at Target. I naturally needed baby wipes because pretty much any day of any week I could be in need of baby wipes. I wanted to also get this mesh feeder/teether that my friend Vanna told me about. Her daughter, the BEAUTIFUL miss Sydney was born just about three weeks earlier than Scarlett so she usually does everything just before us - I get the tips and reviews haha. So I found one ... 

  

I think Scarlett will enjoy this inventive alternate banana-eating experience. 

I also picked up some little puffs for her to try...

I'm thinking she'll enjoy those too.

And I got my Star-Wars obsessed nephews a couple of little things for Easter...

It's been a productive day and will continue to be as I call At(and)t and demand better rates. Wish me luck with that. There's always a huge rat-race that ensues with them. Last year my best friend, Kim, called them - pretending to be me - and got six months worth of awesome discounts. She's the miracle-worker when it comes to getting what she wants from people. Me, not so much. It's like I have a perpetual "kick-me" sign on my forehead. Here goes nothin'.....................

Monday minute by minute

Wow, is it Monday already? Lucky for you - you get to read about my super duper, hair-raising, crazy exciting Monday! (Hope you all felt the sarcasm dripping from that last sentence).

Let's get started, shall we?

Today started off like any other day; I got out of bed. After boring morning chores and a shower I decided to make what has thankfully become a monthly (instead of bi-weekly) trip to Walmart. I called my mom to see if she'd like to watch the pea while I took a trek. She delightfully accepted and, in fact, baby-napped my girl - whisking her away to Grammie-land.

I got myself ready in "old Sheri" fashion. Meaning I chose clothes that maybe aren't What Not To Wear approved but they make me feel like me, and I love that. Lately, I've been knocking around in dark-washed jeans hemmed to perfection for a flat shoe with a neat-looking shirt and age-appropriate jacket. Truth is, I hate jackets, I hate hemmed jeans and I hate flats. Who am I trying to impress? And why am I looking so mom-ish? I like a loose shirt with a cute hoodie. And I like my old pre-pregnancy jeans that have a teeny bit of that gasp-inducing 'fading down the front of the leg' look and are way too long for flats because I LOVE HEELS. I'm short! I like jeans that hit the ground and show just a little of my shoes or boots a la Jessica Simpson. So here's what 5'1" old Sheri wore today:

...it's really not SO bad, Stacy & Clinton.

My trip to Walmart was almost a complete success! Pros: I didn't have to knock someone out in the parking lot, they had a generous supply of sanitizing wipes for the skeevy carriage, I found a few cute, cheap things to put into Scarlett's Easter basket, I had zero encounters with aisle-blockers. Cons: My carriage, albeit clean-handled, was a three-wheeler that allowed for resistance training while shopping, they were out of my humidifier filters, the unattractive smell of Subway sandwiches almost made me vomit upon entering the store. Cashier issue: She kept asking me "Are these tampons?" "Are THESE tampons?" confused by two different sized boxes. Just read the coupon, lady, will you? Man alive. I was waiting for her to hold up my Advil asking "Are THEEEEESE tampons?"

Little brightly-colored finds for Scarlett:

After setting up my new car air freshener (let's see whatchu got for me, Airwick) I headed home to put away my loot. Baby-free, I decided to watch a DVR'd episode of My So-Called Life. Don't you dare make fun of me, that show was GOLD when I was in high school and I enjoy it just as much now. Although now I kinda relate more to the parents which makes me a little sad and pissed off. Lounging in my recliner I noticed that there had been an accident while I was out and I quickly rectified the situation...

... I'm guessing airplane vibrations knocked miss Coraline down a peg. Or a book.

Lunch consisted of the other half of yesterday's deliciousssssssss eggplant focaccia w/fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, spinach leaves and of course eggplant, ding dong.

I'm about to wrap up my nephews birthday gift and then head over to my mom's to pick up my little darlin'.
That's Monday thus far!

Hope you are having a great one and hope you enjoyed today's post.

Monday: minute by minute

Now THIS is a beautiful day. It is currently 72 degrees, sunny and blue. Absolutely gorgeous. As soon as I got out of bed this morning I flung open the windows. I'll admit I had to dust a few that hadn't been touched since probably October. One awesome thing about our house is that we get fantastic cross breezes. The scent of fresh air is one of the things I enjoy most about a nice day.

I chose Scarlett's outfit easily this morning. It's nice to not have to bundle her up so much... gives us both more freedom. I settled on a long-sleeved Hello Kitty onesie with polka-dotted sleeves and cupcakes on the front. The colors are so soft and summery - pastel pink, purple, yellow and aqua. I was pleased and amazed to find aqua colored pants to match it perfectly. So cute. 

We enjoyed our slow morning. I sipped coffee at the dining room table, leafing through the Sunday fliers while listening to a relaxing ipod playlist. Scarlett had a ball screeching and practicing her acrobatics in her doorway jumper. She's such a maniac in that thing. It's hilarious. I never would have bought one and am so glad my sister-in-law gave us hers. While S was taking her morning nap I decided that I would bring her over to see her ninety year old great-grandmother today. She gets such joy out of her visits. It's priceless to see her playing with the baby. She smiles the entire time and even has to take Ibuprofin because her back hurts from leaning over so much!

Whilst I was getting myself ready our power went out. Not a big deal since I was just about ready to go to Grammie's. I packed up the car with our bags and stroller and heard my neighbor's voice. She asked if I had also lost power and then walked over to see the baby (for the first time) and we chatted for a minute. We both marveled at the fact that Scarlett will be SIX MONTHS OLD on Saturday. I can't even fathom it. 

Upon arriving at my mother's house I noticed that she had lost power too. Bummer. I was hoping for a delicious lunch but ended up with a peanut butter sandwich. Still not bad. We played with the baby for a while and I decided to come home to do some writing but of COURSE I'm drawing blanks. So here I sit with my Monday minute by minute that's about as exciting as a beige necklace. I'll get back to my project one day ... when the inspiration is dripping from my fingertips. 

Hope you are all enjoying your Monday wherever you are, whatever you're up to.