This is the first quiet, unassigned moment that I've had in days (besides the fact that I should really go to choir practice... oh, well). I feel like I've been so busy that even while I'm eating or checking my email, I'm thinking about all the things we have left to do. Going in to yesterday, I was pretty stressed about how much we had left to do, and first thing tomorrow morning, I'll probably wake up and realize how much there still is, but for right now, I'm feeling pretty good about how much we've accomplished. Here's the home projects we've completed or mostly completed: caulked the bathrooms, fixed the broken drains, painted a closet, installed flooring transitions, ran an electrical line in our garage, and caulked the kitchen tile. Then add the emptying and organizing we've done: linen closet, master bath cabinets, kitchen cabinets, kitchen pantry, closets in all bedrooms, and coat closet. Now add to that all the stuff we've hauled out of here: living room chair, freezer, and about 25 boxes of all the stuff we emptied from the closets and cabinets. I'd say we've done a lot, all considering. What's left is mostly cleaning stuff up--not to make that sound simple. There's still a ton to do. But I'm pretty proud of us, and I feel like we've accomplished a lot. Plus, if you think about it, everything we've already done is one more thing we don't have to do before we move (including all the stuff that's already packed), and that is definitely a good thing.
Yesterday, in the midst of all our cleaning, we also babysat Kaylie, one of Anna's little friends. They're not quite old enough to entertain each other very well, so we had to help them play, but they had fun. Anna is still learning how to play with other kids, and one of my big struggles is teaching her how to stand up for herself when others take her toys away. At one point yesterday, Anna was actually running away from Kaylie, who was trying to take her ball, and yelling, "Mommy, Kaylie no have ball!" with abject panic on her face. Adam sat down with both girls (while holding Mariah, by the way) and gave them a little lesson about how they can BOTH play with a ball by rolling it back and forth. Their attention wandered quickly, and their game only lasted for a few seconds, but it was so cute to watch them. Anna would stand and hold the ball, then Adam would talk to her, and with a very concerned look, she would place the ball on the ground and roll it in Kaylie's general direction. Kaylie would go get it, pick it up, and after some encouragement, roll it back with a similar look of concern. Anna's face would light up as the ball came back to her, then darken as she had to roll it back, and Kaylie was the same. It made me proud of Anna's daddy, but it also made me glad to be a grownup who understands that the ball will come back. Of course, I guess most of us THINK we understand that.
The other adventure of last night was feeding dinner to the missionaries. Here's the play-by-play. At 2:00 P.M., they call and say they're coming at 6:00. Fine. At 4:00 P.M. they call and say they're coming "between 7:00 and 7:30." Not so fine. At 6:15, I start cooking, with the house such an out-of-control mess that there's not a seat anywhere on a couch or even a place to put a plate on the table. At 6:30, I turn the rice off instead of turning the heat down, I realize that I don't know how to flavor the chicken, and I call my mommy to ask her about Greek spices. At 7:00, I realize I turned the rice off, have a tantrum, and turn it back on. At 7:15, the food is done (except the rice), so I start cleaning off the table, and Anna decides she's eating NOW, so we get her some food. At 7:30, the table is set nicely, the rice is almost done, most of the food is sitting on the table, Anna is almost done, and the Elders knock on the door. It was a good thing they hadn't come at 7:00. At 8:00, after Adam has gone to put Anna's PJ's on and after every hint we can think of, I say to the Elders, "Well, guys, thanks for coming. Sorry to kick you out, but it's bedtime." "Oh, that's okay. We understand." And they keep sitting there. So I carry a few more dishes to the kitchen, then I come back out and call down the hall to Adam, "Can you guys come out here? We need to say a prayer so the Elders can leave!" Yeah, I know--I'm such a hostess. But after I've kicked my butt for almost 2 hours to feed them dinner, the last thing I have in me is a way to push them out the door with finesse.
Other fun this week:
1) Anna and I got to go shopping by ourselves for a couple of hours on Friday morning because Adam took the day off to work and stayed with Mariah. It was so fun to be able to focus on just her for a little while. We were silly, dancing around in the stores and singing funny songs, but I just felt so free.
2) Mariah has decided that she likes to scream. Anytime that she feels she's not getting the attention she deserves, she lets out this horrible, death-like squeal. As soon as you pick her up, she gives you a big grin, as if to say, "Wow! It worked! I'll try this more often!" She was screaming during Young Women's today, and every time she did, the girls in the row in front of us would turn around and grin at her, and she would grin back like an angel. Yes, we have us a girl who knows how to get what she wants.
That's all I got. Have a good week.
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