Two moments that stand out from today:

I drove over Lewisville Lake at what must have been the perfect moment during sunset. The water was glowing and rippling, reflecting the sky and the clouds… breathtaking.

Khai is still coughing, though not as much as he was. He got out of bed to come and snuggle with me for a bit– he has a way of nuzzling up and finding the optimal cuddle position that is just so Khai. Holding my sleeping not-a-baby-anymore in my arms, I felt so completely content. These two boys make me so happy. Crazy, too, but the happy far outweighs the crazy.

Twenty to midnight
Must write for NaBloPoMo
Where are all the words?

It has been a busy day, but a good one. We picked my sister up in Plano and met my parents at Laura’s Bistro for a fabulous gluten-free meal. Afterwards we spent some time at Rachel’s apartment, which is already decorated for Christmas, much to the delight of Max and Khai.

Rachel & Steve have such great taste and I wish they would come to my house and make it look better. Of course, I first need to contain the explosion of STUFF that lives here. It’s incredible, no matter how much I get rid of, the kids manage to find and spread out even more stuff. Paper bags? Let’s shred them! Beds? Good for taking the sheets & pillows off and making forts. Clean laundry? It’s like a snowball fight, only with clothes! LEGOS. I need not say more.

In my dream house, the main floor is all clean lines, warm-yet-minimal modern pieces. There is an entire basement level full of storage to house the kids’ millions of toys, games, puzzles, blocks and very important science experiments. There’s a place for everything and everything in its place, and every cubby is labeled so it’s easy for the kids to find where things belong. And in this fantasy, they pick up after themselves! It’s a beautiful dream.

We are hosting Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and while there’s a menu already, I’ve not done any shopping. I don’t dare try to do it tomorrow, so hopefully I can get it all done on Monday & Tuesday. Then I can spend Wednesday baking!

SO TIRED. I did get some sleep last night, though not nearly enough… but the cookies turned out so well! The kids (and the adults) at school loved ‘em.

I fell asleep on the couch around 9pm, only to be awakened by my dear husband coming in the door. I might not let him leave again. Like, ever. Sorry, Chicago, you can’t have him back.

It’s time to go back to sleep now…

With so many crispy-crunchy leaves on the ground now, I am having to vacuum twice a week, rather than my usual once. Those little leaf-pieces stick to shoelaces, socks, jeans, everything… and then end up on the floor. I remember reading somewhere, years ago, that one should vacuum frequently-used rooms every other day. Yeah, right. June Cleaver does not live here. This comes to mind because I should be vacuuming RIGHT NOW instead of looking at this:

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I lol’d! I cried! I drank the candle wax!

This morning, I caught Khai peeling a clementine and dropping all of the tiny bits of peel all over the floor. I told him he needed to pick it up and please put it in the trash. His reply? But I’m feeding the ants! Aha. It’s all so clear to me now. No wonder the little ants keep coming in the back door, no matter what I do to deter them. Khai wants them here. Even after explaining that we don’t want them in the house, he claims that ants are his favorite bug. Except fire ants. I should make him a big, cute stuffed ant to sleep with, and then call the ant mafia to deal with the other ones.

At this very moment, there’s a batch of sugar cookies (gluten-, dairy-, soy-, corn- and nut-free cookies, and good ones, thankyouverymuch) in my oven. I have about 10 more batches to go, and they need frosting still, too. My goal is to get at least four hours of sleep so I can function tomorrow at the boys’ school Thanksgiving Feast. The kids are all going to be a tiny bit excited. FOOD PARTY!

I wrote an actual post, a real one! And then accidentally hit the wrong key, sending my browser back a page and my words into outer space. I’m not rewriting it.

The quick version:

• It was another less-than-stellar day. Boo.
• The day is almost over… bed awaits. Yay!
• The new season of Project Runway started tonight. Yay!
• Only 30% of my to-do list got accomplished today. Boo.
• Aveda Comforting Tea! Chills me out a little bit: BIG YAY.
• Complete mess explosion in my living room. Boo.
• Fresh GF bread in the kitchen. Yay.

I demand a do-over. This day was just… unsatisfactory. Thanks.

Hi, internets. It’s 10 minutes to midnight so of course I’m just sitting down to do this little daily writing thing. I don’t actually leave time nor attention to write well… so it’s just hash. Whatever’s in the pantry! Throw it in the pan!

For the first time ever, I found flowering kale in the produce section of my grocery store. Having never eaten it before (only previously wondered WHY there were vegetables in the flower beds here and there), I bought some. Yum! The boys liked it, too. It was maybe a bit more mild than regular kale. A++, Will buy and eat again.

As a side note, I have been ravenously hungry for like three days now. I need to buy more snackity things, I think? Maybe?

Khai finally, finally slept well last night. First time in a week, I think. So I took him to school today, where he was greeted with hugs and joyous shouts by his preschool friends. That warms a mama’s heart. It was a special day, too– the Japan Society did a presentation for all of the classes and I took pics for the school website. I know like five Japanese words now! Best part? The presenter was showing the older kids some pictures of typical dwellings in Japan, and the kids noticed the different toilet. She explained that you have to stand up; of course, my Max asks, but how do you poop? She blushed a little and said she wasn’t going to tell, but if he goes to Japan he can call her and find out.

Could tomorrow be Sunday, Part 2? Please? I’m not ready for Josh to go back to Chicago, not ready to get the week started, not ready for Monday. The week ahead is very busy and right now sleeping through it seems to be the only option that makes sense.

Today I actually get some things done. The lawn has been mowed, blueberry-vanilla scones made, groceries bought, laundry and dishes done, children fed, read to and bathed… and some other stuff that I’ve already forgotten.

Max and Khai really want a Wii and have decided to ask Santa for one. I let them know that Santa understands why I don’t think they need one… but Khai turned on the drama and told me how very sad he will be if Santa does not bring him a Wii for Christmas. It’s not fair! They are totally playing me and IT IS WORKING! I am such a sap and don’t want sad kids. But I don’t think they need a Wii, either– they have their computer and their DSs. If I say no, I feel bad… if I say yes, they get something (expensive) that they don’t need. I have to hold my ground on this. Even if I do feel guilty for making them sad.

The day slipped by too quickly… and as usual, I didn’t get everything done that I’d hoped to. It will all still be here tomorrow.

Josh and I had hoped to take the kids to see Bee Movie in Plano and stop at Laura’s Bistro for dinner… but for some reason they vetoed that idea. I guess they just wanted to stay at home and play since Daddy is here? Not sure. Tomorrow they will probably decide we should go for it, though since Laura’s is closed on Sundays they’ll have to do without the best gluten-free food in the universe. Cue the tears and whining.

I need to go shopping and SO don’t want to. New jeans, a hoodie, some shirts… Anne? Jenny? I need you! Come dress me, my fashionistas! Plus, it has been too long since we’ve all been together and we need a spa date, tea date, Tetris date… something.

It feels like it’s 4am, not 11pm…. long gone are the days when I was just heading out at this time of night. If I had known then what I know now, I’d probably have partied more (and harder better faster stronger). Honestly, it didn’t occur to me then that I needed to get in a lifetime’s worth. Perspective is sometimes sudden, like walking into a wall. Things have worked out well, and while I do miss those days once in a blue moon, mostly I’m just glad to have so many good times stuffed away in my brain. And I do have SO many great memories of those days when responsibility was just a big, ugly word.

Mah hubby is home! He’s already in bed, asleep– apparently it was a pretty rough week. Maybe the boys will let him sleep in a bit tomorrow morning (AS IF).

Oh! The scones were a success! I ended up putting in a whole tablespoon of cinnamon and the zest of one orange. Deeeelicious. I don’t really like orange marmalade, but it would be so good to have just a bit drizzled across the top. Next time I might add currants, too. Tonight’s dinner did not turn out as well, unfortunately… my gluten-free pizza crust did not rise at all and just didn’t seem to have any texture. Too much water, maybe? Last time it was awesome. Kind of a bummer since it took an hour to make it. Ah, well– it was edible and I’ll change up the recipe next time. Don’t let any of that fool you– I am domestically challenged and am faking my way through everything I do. Please love me anyway and I will share my scones with you. kthxbai