mostly dead (it just feels that way)

Blog friends, if I still have any out there after I have ignored you so badly:
I have been sickitty sick. Like the kind of sick where sitting in a chair and staring at the walls takes too much effort. Sleeping for long parts of the day sick. Taking one step forward on the list and 5 steps back (which is especially frustrating because I was starting to win, and even though my head feels like it's stuffed with spaghetti, I'm still with it enough to know I've now got further to go than when I started). But not with it enough to type a coherent sentence, apparently.

Anyway, I coincidentally have a dr's appointment tomorrow anyway, so I will have him listen to my lungs (though I'm not sure they're there anymore, as I have been working hard to cough them up all day). And much to my mother's dismay said doctor will not likely want to test me for H1N1.

Also, a big shoutout to my sister, who cleaned the kitchen today--I've been managing to do some of the cooking still, and driving Nina to school, but not much else unless you count moving laundry to and from the washer and dryer but not actually folding any of it. The mere thought is exhausting. Now excuse me while I go pass out, I didn't manage to have a nap today and my head weighs approximately 800lbs. That's a lot of spaghetti.

realization about the list

I really need to get the house neat before I tackle any of the other projects. This is going to be a monumental task because of the aforementioned clutter, but so be it.

blindside

It's nothing I'm ready to talk about (and I may never be) but I received some news tonight. It was news I have been expecting for a very long time but was still surprised by. I don't know how I feel yet or what I'll do. I feel very blessed to have friends and family to help me figure it out.

the list

So, now that Nina is in school full time* (and I got laid off by the CSA I was working for) I can really focus on some projects that have been put on the back burner for far too long.

So here's the list (it will probably grow some before it gets smaller)

• get rid of all clutter rallying points in the house (and by get rid of I don't mean move to another spot)--this may require a trip to the container store
  
• clean and organize the garage (maybe enough to fit a car in there?)
• make the back yard pretty
• put together Nina's doll house
• finish the kitchen (backsplash, painting, window dressing
• baseboards and transitions in rooms with cork
• sewing projects galore (hmmm, maybe I need to come up with specifics and list them)

*I will blog about Nina's first day of school, my mom has all the pics on her camera.

clean coal--as seen by the coen brothers

I really love these guys. And now they're weighing in on clean coal--as a rebuttal to the "clean coal" ads that have been airing on tv.


Also? Even if it burns "cleanly" there is still the environmental impact of getting it out of the earth--flattened mountains and buried streams.

iron in my soul

This blog post about the transformation most people experience when they become parents for the first time really hit a nerve--I hope you enjoy it too. As you know if you have a child, there is a mother bear lurking inside who comes out when we need her to protect our dearest ones.

what we don't tell you about parenting

Because we often talk about how hard it is. But more often than not it's also unbelievably funny. Overheard in the car with a friend:

"Ok, I'm a hat pirate and you're a lady with lots of hats."