Trouble, Trouble

That's right, double trouble. Anastasia has taken several steps completely on her own, but they are still quite hesitant to walk. Maybe they spend too much time in slippery footed pajamas. When we we hold their hands to have them walk, she says "wakwakwak." But none of that is really any trouble.

The trouble is, our electronic components are all at eye level for them, and they love buttons and lights. We moved the coffee table to in front of them to deter them, but since it is a lightweight bamboo, they have figured out how to push it out of the way. They know now when they are doing something wrong and will check to see if I'm looking before they get into stuff. If they find that I am looking they rush doing whatever troublesome thing they were going t-o do so they get in as much trouble time as possible before I get to them.

Remember, there are two of them. One will be told no and be removed from the place she is not supposed to be and the other one will rush to it and make sure that the rules apply to her to. This is what is commonly known as a tag team. -**-*-* that is Amelia- tou-chi+ng the+8 +-88keyboard while I try to hold Anastastia off and continue typ*ikn*g. Fun game she -thinks.

Now you know why I don't blog so much these days. Today, though I am also starting back to school, so that is one more reason to be on the computer and not blog. I will probably post writing assignments for you on occasion, but my first class is math, so I would++ not expe+*ct to have much of interest to post on that. (The extra baby type is less because- th-e*+y-********************ach- +++++++++++++++ HAD been pulling everything out of the desk drawer.

Love y'all

Where is Everyone?

I think blogger is getting a lot less activity these days. I know I have been kind of out of it and my regulars have not been commenting as much as they used to. But I'm here anyway.

I am starting back to school next week. It is a good way to keep from having to repay my student loans. My degree will be in organizational management. I don't know how much I have left to do, but it should be getting pretty close--especially if I test out of some of my general courses. I just hate the headache of filling out the financial aid paperwork.

Friday I will be going to support Emylie in her Solo and Ensemble competition. Saturday my voice student will have hers. This is the first time I have taught one-on-one voice lessons. It was a bit of a challenge for me to translate my own skills into lessons. How do I sing? I don't know, I just always have. I think she got something out of it, though.

Isaac's birthday is on Friday. He will be 15. I am not sure what we are going to do, but he will be here with me.

Before

Just for the record, both Anastasia and Amelia could dance before they could walk. They have excellent balance and will stand unsupported (usually with something in their hand for security) and bob up and down or sway from side to side. And yet they refuse to take more than half of a step.

They are 13 months old and have yet to be determined to walk. I really would prefer not to carry around 23x2 lbs. regularly. I do have a little bit of extra tricep bulge, but I would rather have the weight training be purely optional and not mandatory.

They are starting to really play with each other. I have not captured any of it on film, but but I say "Say Hi sis!" and stick them together and they put their heads together and giggle at each other. They have started hugging and tugging at each other. Amelia is really cuddly and she will initiate loving on her sister. They aw sigh and laugh at each other as they do it.

They also are picking up a whole bunch of words and actions. Whenever we are sitting at the table to eat, when there is a lull in the "conversation" they will look to the window and woof at the sound of the neighbor's dog. They can also say dog. We are working on bird and "tweet." They are starting to mimic hand actions to Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

But, again, for the record, they could sing before they could talk. They have ah ah ah'ed little pitches in response to my singing to them for a long time.

They have both overcome their fear of navigating the stairs from the top, so they are downstairs playing the piano this morning while I am up here blogging. I suppose I should do something about that. Bye

Rain!

Last night around 5 am it started raining. I have been hoping for that all week. I have some berry bushes to plant and I want the ground to be soft and delicious for the little sprigs. I am yearning to do yard work. It has been 3 years since I've gotten involved in my flower beds. I also hope to plant a few vegatables this season.

I do fear that spring has come to Texas. Puxatawnee Phil is on the east coast. What does he know about Texas? The cold happened in December. My heating bill was lower in Jan, and I haven't turned on the heat here in 5 days. I expect there will be a few more cold fronts this season, but I am seeing some ant activity and the amount of green grass in my back yard is increasing. I only fear that because it means having to worry about pest control and A/C sooner. But I am looking forward to planting and digging in my new yard and making it distinct from those of my neighbors with colorful blossoms instead of this bland contractors landscaping.

I hope we have a really wet spring, because it has been a really dry winter.

Glory, Glory, Halleluia!

In The Overworked American by Juliet B. Shore, she reports a study on the usefulness of household appliances, and their ability to reduce the number of hours a woman spends doing domestic tasks. "Studies of US women also found that those with more durable equipment in their homes, work no fewer hours than those with less. Only one major appliance has been shown to save significant amounts of time (the microwave oven). Some actually increase housework (freezers and washing machines)." (p. 88)

If you will recall, it was several months ago that I reported our microwave had blown up and was no longer working. Shortly after we contacted Maytag who sent someone to look at the microwave and repair it. That was in October.

By the way, the reason the Maytag Man of commercial fame does not have anything to do, is not because the machines never need repairing, but he was fired. There is no such thing as a Maytag man. Maytag contracts their repairs through private companies.

So after 2 different repair companies, 5 different service calls, 10 replacement parts (and 5 back order holds on those parts), 3 major holidays (and 3 minor ones), and, most notably 4 months without a microwave, glory be! we have a fully operational machine again.

We celebrated by popping a whole box of microwave popcorn. My babies can have warm baby cereal in 9 seconds, instead of me having to let the water run until it gets hot. I can defrost meat that I need for dinner right now since I never think of it ahead of time--again, I save time and water by not having to thaw it in the sink. My husband can have his beloved melty cheese hot dogs. I can use the storage containers I put my leftovers in to reheat them instead of having to dirty a pan to warm it on the stove (which usually means having to wash it out first, since I have such a limited quantity of cookware). 1-2 minute reheat calculates to much less than all of that.

In short, I was skeptical of the findings of the study when I read it a decade ago. Though I was able to maintain food quality and care without a microwave, I am satisfied that there is some validity to the conclusion that the microwave is an actual time saver, and I am ever so thankful to have one that works.