Old Vagina Book Club

is meeting at my house tonight to discuss David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day. And, um, I have only read about half of the book. I like it a lot, but I just have had no time to read. At all. And since I am babysitting Sam Davenport all day today I mos' def will not get a chance to read today. So, oops, is all I have to say about that.

another day, another $500 dollars...

I borrowed George and Leila's truck today and made another trip to Ikea. I picked up the bed for Lion and a mattress and a desk/table for Jonathan since our desk will be waaaaaaay too big for the apartment and I also got a bookcase for Blue's room. Am I finished? I think so. Are we broke? I think so.

And I did a rotten thing. I had a Wawa coffee cup in my hand, a full 16 ounce Wawa coffee cup, in my hand in Ikea (can you tell where I'm going with this?) and, oh, yeah, I dropped it. I dropped it and spilled coffee all over the floor by the rugs display. And stared blinking at the floor in confusion. So then, I picked up the coffee cup, which had about an ounce of coffee left in it, and set it in my cart and tracked down an Ikea employee and told them what I had done and waited by my mess for this young girl to come out of the stockroom with a mop and bucket.

Embarrassing, right? But it gets better. Twenty minutes later, the cup that I had put in my cart and forgotten to throw away fell over and I spilled the remainder of my coffee all over the floor by the potted plants. And what did I do? Yes, that's right, I ran. I set my now empty cup on the nearest shelf and I fled the scene. Isn't that terrible? But I was so mortified and I just couldn't bear to face that poor young girl with the mop again. Because I just knew that they would send out the same girl. I just knew it, so I ran...

our new digs

Jonathan found us a 3-bedroom apartment in an amazing complex just outside of Denver, in Aurora.  It sounds very nice--lots of amenities, including a heated pool. And it is very close to Cherry Creek State Park, so we'll be able to go hiking and camping a lot. And horseback riding! Which I think would be so much fun to do with the kids. Maybe for Blue's birthday... There's also an elementary school within walking distance so if we stay put for more than a year, the Lion and Mabel and I can walk Blue to school.

Call me crazy, but I love the idea of downsizing. I must be crazy to want to move from this roomy house into an apartment with two small children and a puppy! But I like the idea of having less things--of having to have less things because we would have no space for them. My current favorite book, Apartment Therapy, shows real people's homes and most of them are really small. One homeowner said something about having fewer belongings means every thing you do own has to have real value. Or something like that...

I went shopping with the kids today and we picked out a bunch of new activity books for the backpacks they are bringing on the airplane. And I bought Lion a big stuffed clownfish in Target, just because. He's been carrying Nemo around all day, telling me to "feel his tail" because "it's so soft." He made some old dude in Marshalls feel Nemo's tail, and the guy was such a good sport I could have kissed him.

Tonight, I put Lion to bed first after their bath and then Blue and by the time I came out of Blue's room, Lion was in bed with Nemo, telling him, "We're going to Colorado. We going on a plane."

predictions from 1993

I was going through a box of papers in my closet looking for the kids' birth certificates and I found these 2 little slips of paper from the summer of 1993. Andrea and I had just exchanged yearbooks and we decided to try and predict where we will both be in 5 years. Which would have been what? 1998 and I had to laugh at how much we each thought the other would accomplish in just 5 years! But they are pretty neat. Here they are:

Where Andrea will be in 5 years...

Andrea will be dancing in some company but we will still be in touch and very close although we won't see each other often. She will still be beautiful and lithe and exactly the same.

She will not be married -- yet, don't despair, Dree -- but she will be in love w/ some awesome guy who will put Scott Rochon to shame & who is either a dancer or an actor. Or her choreographer. (Someone who has the kind of job where one would expect him to be gay, but he isn't.) He's older than her by about 2 or 3 years and treats her like a queen...

I only see her once a year but she always calls and writes and sends cute messages in the mail.

She will be married eventually, just not yet, okay?

--Erin

and then Andrea wrote:

Where Erin Roth will be in 5 years?

I predict that Erin will be living in Fredericksburg or somewhere in Virginia with a husband. She will be teaching English, perhaps at North Stafford, and she will be one of those teachers that students adore and come back to visit. Erin will possibly have a child. If not, one will be on the way soon. In her spare time she will continue to write poetry and stories. I think Erin will write a masterpiece, but this might be later in her life.

When she has kids, Erin will be a wonderful mom. I can imagine her singing her children to sleep just like she used to sing in the Drama Department's Girls' Bathroom.

ERIN WILL ALWAYS HAVE MANY CATS! (like that isn't obvious)

highs and lows

The high for today was the locating and applying for a really nice apartment in Aurora, Colorado, just outside of Denver.

The low for today was the news that our tenants will not be renting our house next month because they are approved for a mortgage so they are buying a house instead.

The high for tonight is calling a second prospective tenant we had turned away last month (because we had already found tenants) and finding out she is still looking for a place to rent and is still in love with our house... I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

ABC meme

A. Attached or Single- attached

B. Best Friend(s)- Jonathan and Andrea

C. Cake or Pie- yes, please!

D. Day of Choice- Christmas Day

E. Essential Item- a large cup of coffee in the morning

F. Flavor of Ice Cream- Breyers Fried Ice Cream

G. Gummy Bears or Worms- neither

H. Hometown- Fredericksburg, Virginia

I. Indulgences- sleeping in, reading a book, taking a hot bath

J. January or July- January

K. Kids- Bluebird and Little Lion Man

L. Last movie I saw in a theater- Iron Man

(M is Missing in Action)

N. Number of siblings- 2 brothers, 1 step-sister and 2 step-brothers

O. Oranges or Apples- apples, preferably in a pie

P. Phobias or Fears- the dark

Q. Quote- "The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." Jane Austen

R. Reasons to smile- Jonathan, Blue and Lion

S. Season- Autumn

T. Tag 4- Olivia, Katherine, Adrienne and Roxanna (and Andrea -- that's 5)

U. Unknown fact about me- when I was a kid, I had a hamster named Clark Gable, his eye fell out one day and then he died

V. Vegetarian or oppressor of Animals- I eat meat, sometimes

W. Worst Habit- pulling out my eyelashes when I am stressed

X. X-rays or Ultrasounds- ultrasound

Y. Your favorite Food- currently that would have to be Lucky Charms

Z. Zodiac- Aquarius

for you, Adrienne

Check out this fabulous toilet seat cover from Urban Outfitters:

Yeah, I thought you'd like it.