Lilyism

So it's been pretty firmly established that Lily is my clone.  This morning I took out my old baby albums and I was looking through them with the kids.  Every picture of me as a toddler, Lily said, "Dasss MEEEE!"  "Das me dinkin' a baba."  "Das me with my friends!"  "Das me wif a dolly."

I kept telling her it was Mommy when Mommy was a baby, but she didn't wanna hear it.  "No, das MEEEEEE."  

Pretty funny that even Lily knows she looks exactly like me.  I have to scan in some pictures from this album and see if I can find any good comparison shots of Lily.  It really is uncanny. 

Gotta admit, I love it. 

In other news...

You may remember that I wanted to put grass down in our backyard. 

Robert was adamant about NOT doing it.  Which pissed me off, of course.

A week or so later, we were in the front yard and the kids were playing in the grass and he was with them.  The three of them were rolling around in the small patch of available, unlandscaped grass we have out there.  "See how nice grass is?"  I was feeling daring.  "Yeah, I was just thinking that actually.  Call the gardner and call Tina (our old realtor) and see what it does to property value."  Yippee.  Step 1.

So I called Tina, who told me if anything, it would increase the value of our house.  The previous owners spent a fortune on landscaping, but we really don't use a very valuable piece of our property.  It sure is beautiful, but with 2.5 kids, it would be way nicer to have a yard they could play in. 

Initially, Robert concocted an outrageous number he thought it would cost to do the work.  He said something like $40,000-$50,000.  I knew that was proposterous.

I called Carlos, our landscape guy.  I felt bad calling anyone else first, since he already works for us, but I also felt bad because the guy speaks basically NO English.  (insert rant about how I shouldn't feel bad about that and how he should make an effort to speak the language of the country he lives in, and raises his children in here)

Anyway, I spoke to his wife and to him and somehow agreed to have him come here the next night for an estimate.

He came with his almost 5 year old gorgeous daughter.  I figured this guy had older kids, so I was surprised.  She was so cute.  I made some Dora small talk with her. 

So...to take up all the rocks (which go from pebbles to huge mini-boulders), pull up all the landscaping, dispose of it, replant some of the usable shrubs in other empty parts of the yard, rip out some other stuff around the back that I want to empty so I can use it for the dogs to use, move my sprinkler connection so the new grass gets watered properly AND put sod (which is apparently way more expensive than using grass seed) on the entire space....

drumroll please....

$1,200

Yep. 

We got some money back from Robert's old job...long story but something to do with stock he purchased and a loan and now they are buying it back at a certain rate over a 3 year period.  So we've got the money. 

I said yes without even checking with Robert.  Because, ya know, it's like a fiftieth of what he thought it would cost.  Luckily, he's not giving me a hard time about it, other than asking me to get the amount in writing.  How on earth am I supposed to get it in WRITING?  I was thinking of writing something out and going to babblefish, but the last time I did that, it was so jumbled that my Spanish -speaking friend could barely read it. 

Oh, and he is going to do it a week from today.  And I think it will just take that day. 

Laszlo keeps asking me now, "Do we have grass yet???"  He's so excited.  I didn't think he'd be this excited.  And I know Lily will love it too.  I'm gonna move their playhouse down there and maybe invest in a cheap little swingset/climber thing for them, although that will probably wait until next year. 

We'll have more space on the deck for grown ups and a nice vantage point to watch the kids play. 

Yay!

If you've read this far, your reward is free shipping on any CuteThreads order within the US.  I'll have to refund it via PayPal because I don't know how to give discounts yet.  But you have my word you'll get it.

:-)

Yeah, I know the answer to this one already

The days that I'm the crankiest are the days I end up being the most nauseated.  So I'm guessing it's the hormones that are doing both.

I hate everyone right now. 

Of course, being awakened at 7:45 by Robert to take care of Lily was annoying enough, when he didn't have to leave the house for an hour to play tennis.  Then he left for tennis and came home, then took a shower and WENT to the GYM.  Granted, I support him doing these things and I'm very glad he takes care of his health.  It's extremely important to me and it's one of the things that eases my mind when I am reminded that he's 14 years old than me.  (hmmm, wonder if that's why 14 is Laszlo's favorite number, heh).  But on the mornings after the nights he knows I've been up with at least one kid...and he sees that they are misbehaving and bickering with each other...wouldn't you think he could adjust his schedule to say, NOT go to the gym? 

And he's playing tennis tomorrow morning at 8.  So no sleeping in for me then either.

I told him, as nicely as I could, that I was overwhelmed today.  His pat answer is that he told me to hire a babysitter.  Yeah, well I despise having someone work for me.  Literally, despise.  I can't stand being someone's boss and feeling obligated to that person.  I cannot tell you the stress this 13 year old mother's helper I had this summer caused me, just by the nature of agreeing to employ her. 
Then of course, it's time to make me feel bad.  So he said, "I did 2 nice things for you in the last few days.  We went out to your favorite restaurant and I bought you a present."  Yeah, he came home the other night with 2 really cute hair clips for Lily and a funky watch for me.  So, I don't wear a watch, and you'd think the man I've been married to for 7 years would know this, but it is really cool and I WILL wear it.  And it was super nice of him and it made me very happy.

AND I'm fucking exhausted.  I don't understand how doing something nice somehow buys you the right to disappear all morning Saturday leaving me with cranky kids...the one day I was able to sleep in.  My mother used to do that to me.  She'd buy me a shirt and then be a wicked bitch to me a day or so later.  "That's right Jen, I'm a horrible mother.  Would a horrible mother buy you a shirt that you liked?"  I guess this is just pushing all my buttons and I'm so fucking hormonal and frustrated at this very moment.

Part of me wants Robert to take the kids to my mom's today and I'll stay here alone, but the other part of me wants to go and just lie in the sun and do nothing.  Hopefully between my mother, Robert, brother and sister in law, my participation in child care can be limited.