nancy - 66/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 26

A busy, busy Saturday.

Purchased a new vacuum cleaner. Who would've thought we'd be so freaking excited about a vacuum cleaner?

Lunch out with my guys.

Finished Doug & Davelene's wedding photos.

Vacuumed and mopped all 1404 square feet.

Detected a remarkably foul odor in our home that we can only surmise is a dead rat. Called Critter Control. They came out. Agreed the house stinked, but couldn't do anything about it today. They'll send The Nose (a pest control guy with a superb sense of smell) out on Monday. Joy! We have guests coming tomorrow to our stinky house.

Because odor seemed to be coming from the hall closet, we took EVERYTHING out of the closet. We searched and found nothing except a really bad smell. This task wasn't for naught. The closet really needed to be reorganized.

Dinner out with my hubby. Woohoo!

Came home to a hot house. The A/C wouldn't turn on. Decided that we needed to suck it up and call the repair people at 10:00 on a Saturday night because the house would become unbearable soon. Pro-Tech came within 35 minutes. Unclogged the drain line. Due to my fastidious maintenance record with them we were charged $0. Woohoo!

nancy - 62/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

june 22

The view from the sink today includes a visitor of the pesky, er pesty kind.



The professionals have arrived!

$199.95 later and we've got a contract for some rat/squirrel/possum heads. We have two potential entry spots and those critter's are going to be controlled.

nancy - keeping it real day #2 - Orlando, Florida USA

june 21

There is no photo today. If there was a photo it would've been of either:

• jeff and i staring at the ceiling at 7 am pondering whether it was a squirrel or a rat we heard in the attic.
  
• discovering that we are, once again, nanny-less for the summer. option #2 just fell through. we miss jana!
• calling mom in tears because i have a horrible toothache and need to go to the dentist and have no one to watch the boys and my tooth hurts and i can't think straight...could she please please please come into town?
  
• jumping for joy because i got an appointment with the dentist except that jumping would hurt
• despite wanting to DIY the rat/squirrel/racoon/possum in the attic, calling the professionals
  
• laying for a few hours in the dentist chair breathing some lovely nitrous oxide while Dr. Pike worked his magic.

What a Monday! Pictures tomorrow for sure.

nancy - 57/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 16 5:34 pm

Owen has just finished devouring sweet potatoes, apples and rice. He's now thrashing in his chair and laughing at his brother.

John is drawing out the dinner process. He knows he's going to bed EARLY.

I've enjoyed some sparkling water with lemon. Dreaming of a quiet dinner with my hubby.

Rugs are hanging on the drying rack. Laundry to be folded sits in the chair.

This is a normal evening. Waiting, waiting, waiting for Dad to come home.

It was a long, long day filled with a crazy afternoon storm that lasted for hours. Inches of rain and hundreds of lightning strikes. I was ready to put these peeps to bed. Boys were down by 7:00. I was out by 9:00. It's a glamorous life.

nancy - 52/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 11

For years we've tried to grow basil in the summer. By mid-June it always becomes apparent that the basil is dying. We thought the problem was the heat. Surprise, surprise we tried again this year because we're stubborn. By late last week it appeared that we epically FAILED.

Then I had an idea. Why don't we change our approach. Every year we put the basil in a pot and stick it on the patio where it may, or may not, get watered on a consistent basis. And it's subject to the sun's punishing rays all day long. My brilliant idea was to stick the pot under the tree where'd it have a break from the midday sun and water from the sprinkler system.

Guess what?

In one week we have pretty, pretty dark green basil.

AMAZING.

All I did was change our approach and just look at the outcome. Perhaps I need to apply this to other elements of my life.

nancy - 50/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

june 9

today I'm grateful...

that the car started slowly enough that I knew I had an almost dead battery

that Bob could replace my battery AND my oil in a mere 45 minutes

that I randomly had two jars of owen's food in my bag since it was lunchtime

that there was a slight breeze making the walk from Bob's to lunch bearable

that our playdate was just delayed and not cancelled

that the boys so thoroughly enjoyed playing in the cold water

that Jeff went to get Pei Wei for dinner and picked up a book at the library for me

so, so thankful.

YUMMY:

nancy - 49/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 8

It was one of those days where you feel woefully behind on everything. You cross one thing off the list and add ten. Tonight I'm attempting to pay bills for the month, balance the checkbook and file. Keeping it real here on Robin Road.

nancy - 38/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

May 28

One of the biggest surprises about life with children is the inordinate amount of time I spend in the kitchen, cooking and washing dishes. Sometimes it drives me crazy because I really like a clean, organized kitchen. Other times I remind myself how blessed I am to be standing in this sweet little kitchen, cooking my children meals, and peering out the window at our little neighborhood.

Nancy - 28/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

May 18

It was bound to happen.

An entire day passed and I didn't take a single picture. The perfectionist in me isn't very happy about this, but it was bound to happen.

After a bumpy flight full of screaming kids (not mine!) we arrived home to an empty refrigerator, a needy cat, a stack of mail, a beautiful backyard, and blooming zinnias. The sunflowers are also about to bud and we have about 20 green tomatoes. Looking forward to the flowers of summer.

nancy - 12/365 - Orlando, Florida

Since he woke up at 5:45 in the morning, we decided that John needed an afternoon nap/quiet time to get through the rest of the day. He begged Jeff to snuggle with him for a few minutes. Since they don't get much together time during the week Jeff obliged. About 20 minutes after they lay down I began to wonder why Jeff hadn't emerged from the room. This is what I found. John was just giggling and singing and Jeff was sound asleep.

I woke him up.

Saturday May 1, 2010

nancy - 9/365 - Orlando, Florida

The day devolved kind of like Owen's attire, though the highlight was being treated to lunch at Ravenous Pig with a friend who is helping with this huge project. More meetings, more emails, more phone calls, more notes, more lists...

Wednesday April 28, 2010

nancy - 6/365 - Orlando, Florida

He stayed an extra few minutes to read bedtime stories to the boys even though he had a flight to catch. They love it when he reads How I Became a Pirate because he uses "pirate talk." I hope he makes his flight, though we wouldn't be disappointed to have him home another night :).

Sunday April 25, 2010

Nancy - 5/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

I often think I won the husband lottery. Today he let me sleep in a bit, cooked a fantastic pancake breakfast, took John to Leu Gardens for a little one on one time, took us all out to lunch, helped put away laundry, played & played & played cars with John, changed some dirty diapers, and let me get out of the house with Andrea for a kid-free afternoon break.

I am grateful. So very grateful.

Saturday April 24, 2010