More Turkey, Mr. Chandler?

I love Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays. I love the warm coziness of hanging out by the fireplace for the first time each year. I love the food. I love the company. But it seems like every single year some debacle takes place which puts a damper on my good time. This year it was a bunch of men smoking cigars on my lawn, forcing my kids and myself to be confined indoors for 4 hours as we watched what was supposed to be a fun time. Last year it was a huge fight which erupted the night before Thanksgiving mostly having to do with a general disrespect for me, particularly in my pregnant condition. The year before that, some guests were late, causing the Turkey to be dried out and not the succulent meal I had perfected over the years. And so on and so forth. Each time, I recover from the debacle and still manage to have a nice Thanksgiving. But I can't help but dwell on the fact that it wasn't the perfect day it should have been. I know this probably speaks more about my unrealistic expectations for Thanksgiving to be perfect. You know what would help me lower the bar? If I heard about other people's Thanksgiving debacles. This would shatter the mental image I have of everyone else's day going perfectly. So if you have a bad Thanksgiving story please, please share it! It will be just like the Friends episode!

Celebrity Gift Bags

You know how when celebrities attend events they are provided with fabulous gift bags full of amazing things (because who deserves free stuff more than the richest people in the world?!)? Well, I got to thinking. If I could afford to provide fabulous gift bags for all of my friends, what would I put in them? There are some items and products I use every day that are just so awesome I want to share them with everyone. (And obviously if money were no object I'd buy all my friends diamonds and cars, but these are more like household items.)

Dawn Power Dissolver- you just spray this stuff on before you wash the dishes, then save those items for last. The caked on stuff just wipes away!

Almay Eye Make-up Remover- The only eye make-up remover that takes off waterproof mascara without messing up my contact lenses.

Nutella- holy crap this stuff is good. Highly addicting and most certanly NOT part of a nutritious breakfast as the ads claim. But OMG so good!

A Dyson vacuum cleaner- After using my Dyson for a while now I can say it lives up to the hype. It does a great job and is very user-friendly. I am someone who has had a lot of bad luck with vacuums in the past- they always seem to break on me after a year, no matter how expensive or cheap they are. But the Dyson has outlived them all and I actually like using it.

Tim Gunn Doll- Because I love Tim Gunn and love to hear his catch phrases all day long. Work work work! Designers... Talk to me... Make it work!

Thermacare heat wraps- I have already given these away on many occassions. They work miracles where and when you need them to.

2007 Flechas de Los Andes Gran Malbec- My favorite wine lately. I love rich, spicy dishes and this wine is the perfect pairing with them.

A meal to go with that wine- Either one of my famous roasts or my curried lamb. Both are heavenly.

Pink Fuzzy Bootie Slippers- because they are warm, fuzzy, and kind of dorky, so they make you smile whenever you look down.

The Beatles complete digitally remastered box set- for obvious reasons.

So there you have it. A fabulous gift bag for my fabulous A-listers.

Perspective

2 crazy little girls who did NOT want their pictures taken
2 babies who were tired, hungry, and cranky
2 mommies who just wanted a few decent pictures
3 hours at Picture People and Starbucks
$100 spent

But the results are just priceless:

This is What Happens

This is what happens when Shimmy comes home early:
*The girls happily play with him.
*I have time to make a great dinner.
*We all eat that dinner together, at the same time, and all enjoy it.
*The girls have fun playing with him some more.
*I clean up from dinner RIGHT AWAY instead of leaving crusty plates and left over food lying around until I have a minute to breathe.
*Both girls are on time to bed, and not because I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE.
*I am in such a good mood and have so much energy that I have an awesome work out from 8:30-9:30 *PM*
*Shimmy and I spend the rest of the evening together first on the edge of our seats watching the CAPS finally win after 11 shootouts, then laughing together while we catch up on DVRed shows.
*I am in awe and appreciation of this wondrous day as I realize it is as rare and beautiful as a solar eclipse.

MomGyver

I still get stressed out once in a while. I still wonder if I am making the right decisions now and then. But I no longer sweat the "small stuff" that used to scare me when I was a new mom. i have developed a self-confidence and an "I don't give a crap" attitude that I feel gives me an edge. You see, I am MomGyver. In any given sticky, smelly, or otherwise undesirable situation, I can usually find a way to make it work (best read in a Tim Gunn voice). Case in point: Today. Lilah is such a good baby that she must have sensed my frustration from yesterday's post. Despite going to bed EARLY, she slept WAY LATE. It *may* have also had something to do with the very dark, dreary weather. Since she slept late, I decided it would be okay if she skipped her first nap of the day and we set out to a store so I could meet with someone about a very important and time sensitive new house issue. Lilah was spectacular the whole time. As we were leaving, however, I realized she needed a diaper change. We made our way to the restroom. It had one of those pull down baby changing stations, but it looked gross. Even with a changing pad, Lilah is at the stage where she is reaching for, and touching everything. So I decided to recline her stroller all the way and change her in it. I had just opened up her very messy diaper when I realized that the wipes were still in the car. No problem. I found two antibacterial wipes in my bag, but they were completely dried out. No problem. I poured some of my bottled water on them and set to work. Lilah immediately stuck one hand in the mess. Ta-da- that's what the antibacterial wipes are for! Then she got her socked-feet in the mess. No problem. I always travel with an extra outfit complete with extra socks. I threw away the dirty socks. I gave her a toy to play with to keep her hands out of the mess. I looked in my bag again to see what I could wipe her with, but found nothing. Not even a tissue. No problem. I wet some paper towels to use as make-shift wipes. A minute later she had a clean diaper, new socks, and we were ready to roll. Just another day in the life of MomGyver.

Scheduling Conflict

It is only 9am and already my whole day is shot. I have been in this rut for the past couple of months where I cannot get anything done. Once Lilah outgrew the wonderful ability to sleep anywhere, anytime, I became housebound for almost the entire day. I knew this would happen with two kids, but knowing it would happen in no way makes it easier. When Sophie was this age (from months 6 to 13 I think), we had a good thing going on. She woke up, we nursed and played for a while (later on we took Music Together), then she took her first two-hour nap of the day. This is when I ran on the treadmill, got dressed, and got everything organized for the day. Then she woke up, we had a quick lunch, and we set out for a few hours to run errands, have play dates, etc. Then we came home, nursed, and she took her second two-hour nap. This is when I relaxed, made dinner, etc.

Here's how things are going now:
7am- Lilah and I wake up. I nurse her and leave her to play while I get dressed and make Sophie's lunch.
7:30am- Sophie wakes up and I am very busy getting her dressed, fed, and all of us out the door in time to get her to school by 8:15ish.
8:30am- Lilah and I get back home. I want to change her, feed her breakfast, get myself dressed for real (instead of the sweats I have thrown on to take Sophie to school in), and GET SOME STUFF DONE. But she is already exhausted and ready to take a nap.
9am-11am- Lilah is sleeping. I engage in a draining debate in my head. Do I just wait and be ready to go the second she wakes up in case she only takes a short nap? If I do this, that means I will not exercise or get any heavy housecleaning done. Or do I find things to do around here including exercise and housework, knowing that if I do, when she wakes up I will not be ready to leave quite yet and that will definitely jeopardize my GETTING THINGS DONE.
11am- Lilah wakes up. By the time I have changed her and fed her again, it is less than an hour until it's time to pick up Sophie. I may have a teeny amount of time to run a small errand, but certainly nothing significant and nothing that is farther than a few minutes drive from home and Sophie's school.
12:45pm- We arrive back home with Sophie. Chances are, Sophie has not eaten enough of her lunch at school and needs to eat again at home. By the time everyone is changed and fed, it's nap time again.
2pm-4pm- Sophie naps
2pm-*6*pm- Lilah naps
By the time Her Majesty wakes up, it is time for dinner, bath time, and bed time.
THERE GOES MY DAY!

This wouldn't be so frustrating if I wasn't trying to move in two months. In order to keep everything running smoothly, I am in constant contact with the contractor, kitchen designer, and various other vendors. I have had to make every last decison about every minute detail in this house's reconstruction, design, and decor. I am good at doing this over the phone, through emails, and online research/shopping. But sometimes it does require in-person meetings and trips to showrooms and stores. I would rather not lug a baby to these meetings and stores, but if I have to, it had better be a well-fed and well-rested baby I am lugging around town. This just doesn't ever seem possible.

So what am I doing today as I watch Lilah sleep on the video monitor? Am I waiting for her to wake up so we can go to the store and make an important and time-sensitive decision for the new house? Am I exercising and getting housework done? Nope, today I am just blogging about it all. Beyond that, I haven't decided.