D Day!

That's Door Day! Or more like Door Week. The old door came down on Saturday and is being picked up tomorrow by a junk removal service. The new door is up and got its first coat of paint today. Not too much to say about it yet, other than painting a door is a little harder than I expected. Hopefully one more final coat tomorrow will make a huge difference to the streaky door I'm looking at right now and I'll be happy that we got talked into a high-gloss rather than a semi-gloss. Here are pictures of what's been going on:

Goodbye!

So far, I've just painted just the door, not the sidelights. I'll need some opinions as to whether we should paint them black too or leave them white. What do you think?

Love to hate GOOP

I was looking for books to put on my library hold list and NPR had recently done a review of Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook, so I added it. I hadn't decided if I hated her or liked her. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't love.

She's been around forever, but I can't really think of many movies with her in it. The one where Michael Douglas is her husband and tries to have her killed because she's having an affair is always on TNT, so I've probably seen that more than twice. It's mildly entertaining on a dreary day when you're stuck inside. I'm always chuckle when she speaks Spanish (she did live in Spain with a Spanish family, didn't you know?) because she uses the Castilian lisp that most visiting Americans don't attempt. But of course GP would. She also has the British thing going on, so maybe she's just really adaptable.

Having seen lots of interviews and read articles about her, I feel like I know enough to make the following statements . I used to think she was arrogant, but now I just think she's totally out of touch with the real world. Her website is ridiculous, suggesting places to travel and hotels to stay at and restaurants to eat at and recipes to try. If you are a zillionaire, take her advice. My favorite is when she talks about the 10 clothing items to have for the season, each of which cost $500 (or more). These are must-haves for working moms, making it SO simple to get ready quickly in the morning before dashing around with your kids! She also loves to exclaim that she has to work really, really hard for her body. She doesn't get to eat whatever she wants, and she looooooves to eat, you know. And who can't identify with that? But then she goes on to talk about how she works out two hours a day with her personal trainer. And that's when I start getting annoyed, because who does she think we are? Chris Martin's wife? Who has that time and money, besides her and Madonna?

But her cookbook piqued my interest because it's based on food she cooked with her dad, who she writes was the love of her life until his death in 2002. And that loss is one I can identify with. As I read the book's forward, I softened towards her as she talked about her father's cancer. I imagined having a good cry together over a glass of Rioja while we kneaded whole wheat dough. But then she started talking about her best friends the McCartneys and Spielbergs, and how she spent her summers in Nantucket, and vacationed in Hawaii, and had cooking lessons from her friend Jamie Oliver, and how her backyard wood-burning oven was one of the best investments she's ever made. Seriously.

Conclusion: I won't be trying any of GP's recipes. I don't have any spelt flour, or barley flour, or buckwheat flour, or grade B Vermont maple syrup (unless store brand Mrs. Butterworth's, with extra hydrogenated corn syrup would work as a substitute?). And I'm certainly not going to the store (what store?!) to buy tempeh bacon or hemp milk.


PS - I'm kind of disappointed in myself for having written multiple paragraphs about Gwyneth Paltrow. Shows you what a new stay-at-home mom thinks about all day. Consider it to be a book review. I just saved you some time.

Social networking

It was a busy week for the Z family. T had school, A had work events in the evening and I forced myself to get out of the house, for my sake and the sake of the boys because they needed fresh air and it's just not healthy to be stuck inside with your significant other for too long.

I think of myself as pretty personable, but I've never been one to seek out new people for no reason and I don't really enjoy chatting it up with strangers. I'm lucky enough to have two sisters who are my best friends, and most of my other BFFs I've known forever, even back to junior high. These are girls that I may not talk to every day, but they know me well, have been through the best and worst times of my life with me, and I'd do anything for them (you know who you are). Gosh, I think the last great friend I made (and still have!) was about 5 years ago, and when you're in your 30's, I feel like it's pretty lucky to connect with someone so easily, no? But, I have to try because I need some friends!

So during the beginning of the week I was in mental preparation for my coming-out. Wednesday night I went to a neighborhood book club/swap. Since I am great at reading I figured it would be a good way to meet ladies with similar interests and also make off with a couple books. I'm not gonna lie - it was scary to knock on the door of someone I don't know and walk into a room full of girls that all know each other. But it turned out to be fine (even though I felt like a total dork) and I scored a glass of pinot grigio, two books, and an invitation to join their Monday Morning Coffee Club.

Thursday night we had T's Preschool Open House and ice cream social. It was a little awkward, standing around in a teeny classroom with people we didn't know and feeling forced to chat about each other's kids, but a nice couple with 2 girls who live down the street invited us to dinner at their house. Friday I took the boys and met up with four other moms for a playgroup in the afternoon, and later we went to dinner with the school family. It was nice company, good food and wine, great to be out of the house, and by the time the kids were melting down, it was 8pm and we were home with plenty of time to watch four episodes of Entourage on library DVD. Call us crazy!

This weekend, there was a large home project going on (details and pics to come) but we a date, sans kids, last night with A's high school friend and wife. Needless to say, I was way too exhausted to go to church this morning.

BOO!

I thought about saving landscaping for later so that come Halloween, all we'd have to do is enter the neighborhood's spooky house contest and turn out the lights. But, I went outside earlier this week to find A tearing out the rest of the "garden" because he just couldn't take it anymore. So instead of this

we have this

The before pictures actually show a little cheerier than the yard felt. It was too overgrown and tangly, and I saw one snake and way too many spiders for my liking. The little white flowers you see are wild clematis, which smelled amazing but grew like a crazy vine and overtook the entire garden down the length of the house. While the flowers looked pretty when in bloom, the yard (complete with a lawn full of weeds instead of grass) had an abandoned house kinda feel. Every neighborhood has "that house", and we were it, but no more.

Oh, and the tree in the side yard is not actually a tree, it's a huge mulberry bush! It's really pretty and shades the side of the patio, and has lots of spiders that hang down from it at night. (Do you notice my mention of spiders? I have a gift that allows me to walk into any room and immediately direct my eyes towards any eight-legged non-friend. I need to know where my enemies are. I call it my spi-dar.) Almost every day, T asks if we can hold hands and go 'round it while singing together. So we do.

Back in the game

Our new 46" flat screen. This is extremely exciting news, people. This arrived just in time for Fall premiere season. I won't have to just read reviews or recaps. I get to have my coffee with Matt and Ann and my morning cocktails with Hoda and KathieLee.

Granted, it's in the Dining Room right now, so no sprawling comfortably across the couch to watch. And yes, that is in fact an antenna sticking up from the back of the TV because no, we don't have cable. But rabbit ears are not gonna take away from this new luxury. No, not yet they're not.

Play rooms

Right now, we have a makeshift playroom in the room that will actually be the Dining Room.  We're getting the big table that my mom had made for her kitchen shipped to KC from VA, hopefully sometime in the next month.  Until then, the amount of toys we have fit best in that room, which is also out of sight as you enter the front door - thank goodness.

I also wanted to make the boy's bedroom upstairs feel cozy and welcoming, and I think T needs a special place of his own so he can get away from his younger brother when he wants to play with small things that are off-limits to little hands.  Their room is big and used to be the guest room where we stayed when we visited A's mom.  It's painted a pretty gray, which I've decided to keep for now.  It has lots of windows (and can get pretty cold) and enough space for a bed, crib, changing table, bookshelf, glider, and a kid's table with chairs.

One of my first mini-projects was painting an old table A's mom left behind when she moved out.  It was chipped black paint with wobbly legs that I just tightened, then quickly and lightly sanded and spray painted two shades of lime green.  I thought about painting pictures on the top, or using stencils, but I found some cool transfers at the Crayola store to put on instead. 

T has been using it as his Coloring and Cutting Station, not suitable for toddlers according to him, but G doesn't agree, as you can see.

Frog and snails and puppy dog tails...

...and ER trips? Is this part of having two boys? My MIL told me that she was once questioned by CPS at the hospital after multiple ER visits with her three accident-prone children, 2 of whom are boys, in a short span of time. We already had our first ER visit earlier this summer before the move, and I'm hoping I don't need to map out the fastest way to a KC hospital anytime soon. Tonight, though, we came close.

Last week I bought a used jogging stroller to replace one I was *persuaded* to give away before G was born. We didn't have room to store it back in VA, and I guess I didn't use it allllll that much. But I am convinced that this recent $35 splurge will get me out onto the jogging trail right next to T's school everyday.

So after today turned into a beautiful Fall afternoon, T and I took our first jog together up to the park and duck pond. It's pretty hard to run/push a 33 pound kid uphill (but a good workout!) and we were admittedly not going very fast but I guess my stealth was just too much for a wee 3 year old, and T was inspired. After we came home, I went in to make dinner leaving him on the porch to watch A do some yard work. While A walked around the side of the house to get something, T got into the stroller and tried to recreate our ride....DOWN THE FRONT STEPS, of which there are eight.

A said he turned around in just enough time to watch T make his descent. He made it down almost 4 steps before he flew out onto the concrete, onto his face. When A brought him in, the wounds looked a lot worse than they turned out to be (blood'll do that) but he was lucky he didn't break an arm, or worse.

While I cleaned the gravel and dirt from the scrapes on his nose (which took the brunt of the fall), forehead and out of his mouth, A asked him "What were you thinking?" He didn't answer - I think he was too traumatized - but I thought to myself how fun the idea of going down steps in a stroller must have sounded to a 3 year old. Like, seriously, totally fun! He just HAD to try it. And I don't blame him. But I realize how lucky we are that nothing worse happened, and it makes me nervous about what else will look fun to him and to G in the future. Especially when they put their minds together...