Thoughts on a Thursday

Today is Thursday, a day when my kids are in school and I get to do my thinking. Some thoughts off the top of my head right now:

1) Bobby has completely randomly become obsessed with Ghostbusters (the original Ghostbusters). Alex and I have no idea how this came to pass, but the other day I bought him a Ghostbusters tee shirt because it was on sale, and I thought it would be cute for him to wear during the Halloween season. I assumed he had no idea what it even was. And then he saw it and shrieked, "It's Ghostbusters, Mama! I love it!" And, dear Lord, since that day, it has been non-stop Ghostbusters in our house. Somehow, we randomly own the movie, and we have watched it every single day (sometimes two and three times during that hurricane). He.is.obsessed. Thankfully, he finds it funny instead of scary. And now he keeps asking to be Slimer for Halloween. I had originally planned on Bobby being Thomas the Tank Engine and making Vivi either a crazy cat lady or a raccoon for Halloween; but now I'm thinking that if Bobby goes as Slimer, then Viv might make a great ghostbuster. Or an even better Marshmallow Man. 

This is why I had kids, after all.

2) My new next-door neighbor, who is a true NY Italian, told me that she finally figured out who I reminded her of: 

Blanche Devereaux of the Golden Girls. 

Compliment?...

I'm taking it.

That does sound like something I would say.

3) I have started putting out some Fall decor, since Fall is in the air. Just kidding. Fall ain't nowhere in this air. A few days ago, it felt almost somewhat pleasant outside--comfortable, with just a hint of a breeze. And I thought, "aha, maybe we will actually get some real Fall weather here." And then I remembered that the calmness was due to the hurricane rain and winds we had just had. The treacherous Florida heat and humidity has resumed, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight, but that's never stopped me from prematurely putting out seasonal decor. 

I've always meant to make a wreath of cotton, and somehow, in all the years that I lived on a cotton farm, I never made it happen. So when I saw a stunning cotton wreath in HomeGoods the other day, I knew I had to snag that baby up. I love it hanging on the front door with my Anthro deer door knocker. We're keeping it pretty simple with the rest of the Fall decor; I put out a few glitter pumpkins in the planters by the front door, and I put a leaf garland around the kitchen chalkboard, and then I called it a day. I usually get so involved with my Halloween decor that I try not to overdo it with the autumnal furnishings. Speaking of that, I am dying to put out my Halloween decor!

4)   Random dinnertime conversation:

Me: "What color hair do you have?"

Bob: "Brown!"

Me: "What color hair does Mama have?"

Bob: "Umm...blonde!"

Me: "What color hair does Vivi have?"

Bob: "Messy."

You got that right, partner.

5) Bob has also become a huge bedtime staller. He's always played in the minor leagues with this, but he's upped his game to major league lately. It seriously takes this kid like 4 hours to get to sleep. We make him clean up his toys, then get a bath and get dressed for bed; then we read a bedtime story and say our prayers. Normal enough routine, right? But--every night-- as soon as we get back downstairs to our bedroom, we will hear him crying this pathetic little moan, which usually ends up meaning that he wants more water/hugs/stories/light/silver spoons/etc. Once we snuff out that candle, we will get back in bed and usually start up a show or something, and then--after a while--we will hear rustling around downstairs and can tell he's just sitting outside our bedroom door. So we will say, "what's the matter, Bobby?" And he will sheepishly come in with some kind of off-the-wall problem that he really needs urgent help with. Last night it was spiders. Spiders came into his room and bit off all his toenails, except then pinky one. They left the pinky one. And he told his story over and over again without the slightest break. We were stifling laughs as we looked at his unblemished, perfect little feet, and he was dead serious. Spiders. Spiders ate his toes. That's the kind of bullshit we are dealing with now at three and a half.  

5) I always love a good show to get into. Alex and I recently finished House of Cards (I know, we were late to the game), just in time for American Horror Story to premiere its new season last night. I'm digging the theme so far and like that it's a bit of a departure from the last few seasons! Anybody have any must-watch tv show recommendations? We hate reality tv and usually err toward drama. Or South Park. Anything we have to see?

6) Viv has been acting awfully unusual lately. She has been more clingy that usual and much more reliant on her blankie and pacifier than ever, and she refuses to drink milk out of anything but a bottle (although she is perfectly fine using sippy cups for any other beverage. I guess milk out of anything but a bottle is unrefined?). She never used to want any of these things except at bedtime, but more and more recently, she wants them all the time. She's also subject to meltdowns for absolutely no reason at all, and she will change her food preferences on a dime. I'm hoping this is just a phase that was induced from the gypsy summer and moving into a new home. They say moving is one of the most stressful things that can happen to a person, and I'm sure it has been really confusing to a toddler, so hopefully she will work her way out of this.

Cause for now I'm stuck with this.

7) I am in love with our new bedroom. Our last bedroom was a great size, but we let it get somewhat chaotic because we got the kids ready for bed in our bathroom. So their stuff was always everywhere, and it just felt cluttered and crowded with stuff that wasn't even mine. My goal for our new bedroom was to eliminate that completely. At the risk of sounding like a real asshole, I have to admit that I said, "no kids in this bedroom or bathroom." It also helps that our bedroom is downstairs and all the other bedrooms are upstairs. That definitely helps define boundaries. And so far, things are going great. I feel like I have a real adult space where I can retreat. It's relaxing and understated, and I love it so much. 

8) Alex goes back to work tomorrow after an amazing two months leave. I have gotten really spoiled having him around the house all day and night. He's really helpful with the kids, and he is surprisingly super handy, so I have benefitted immensely by having him home for the last two months. I started thinking about it the other day, and I think this is the longest we have ever spent together at one time ever. He has always had TDYs or deployments or training exercises in the past, so we only get short bursts of time with him usually. These two months were much needed and perfectly timed, what with moving into our long-term home. He's done so much work and taken a lot of stress off me. So I'm kind of dreading him going back to work and him being gone a lot again. But, on the bright side, I am excited to get into more of a real routine here. With Alex home during the day, it doesn't feel like real life. 

Do you ever feel weird during random holidays like Columbus Day because you're both home, and you don't exactly know what to do with yourselves? It's not quite like a regular day, but it's not really a vacation either? That's how the past few weeks have felt. With Alex still home, it feels like we are still in transition mode and don't really live here just yet. Once he starts back work and is gone during the day, I can begin my routine with the kids. And I think then I will really feel like this is real life. 

Which is a dirtier looking version of this.

Cheers to it almost being the weekend!