A few tidbits of this thing we call home....
* Eva stayed home from school today because she was super dizzy. I just assumed that this was a random word chosen to describe "I don't want to go to school today". But because she had a deep, bad cough, she got to cash in the "Mom's not in the mood to force me to go to school today" card. BUT....thank goodness for grandmas.....My mom suggested that she could in fact be dizzy because her inner-ear could be affected by this horrible cold. D-U-H. "Maybe she needs some cold medicine?" was the gentle suggestion. I gave it to her, and the dizziness left. When oh when will I start taking seriously what my kids say about how their bodies feel? This tendancy to assume they are crying wolf has to be a curse I carry from teaching 10 year olds for years. For them, "dizzy" meant "I didn't study for this spelling test and our nurse is really nice can I please go see her and find a way to say there until recess?"
Tonight, she said,
"Mom, I know it is truly a miracle that I am healed now. I feel like a fresh glass of water without any specks."
* We caroled at the villa yesterday. Oh how I love it when old people and new people look each other in the eye. Just plain love it.
* The Buzz started wrestling tonight. As in the actual sport, not just on our living room floor with his dad. He was so excited he couldn't eat supper. He even let me put shorts on him with sweats over them, because "that's what the wrestlers do." Riv in a singlet could quite possibly be the cutest, most disturbing thing I will ever see.
* My kids learned today that there is a special four-letter-word reserved for when I find stick-figures drawn in PEN! all over the nice couch. That's all we'll say about that.
* Did you know there is a 1-800 # for getting out stains? Here's what you do.....Call 1-888-295-6457. Then dial ext. 1. They will look it up on the internet and help you. I'm not kidding. Why not look it up yourself, you ask? Well, mostly - and quite importantly - hearing the soothing voice of a calm and reasonable stranger just after you have found pen on your couch is exactly what the doctor ordered.
So......pen on a suede couch? Rubbing alcohol. It worked like MAGIC. I might draw another stick figure just so I can do it again.
* Here's what's going on as we speak. See? JOY IS NOW!!