Jiggety Jig

I did not go to market, I did not buy a fat pig.
But I did come home again, and it's about time!

(I also did not buy a plum bun, in case you were wondering. Nor do I care if market is done.)

I am thrilled to sit in my own bed, in front of my own TV, next to my own beloved. As opposed to sharing the bed with a pile of Stuff, as I have been doing for the past month.

New House Smell
The first thing I noticed upon entering my house after five weeks away is that it still smells like a new house! I have no idea why, but I think it was brought on by the Captain leaving the A/C turned off for the last 10 days. New House Smell has a little bit of pine, a whiff of carpet fiber, and a rush of memories of our first days in this house last summer.

To fully unleash the flood of memories, several of our lovely neighbors stopped by to visit while we unpacked the car. I was reminded of the long summer nights a year ago when we first began to get acquainted. We really have great neighbors. While I have some reservations about living the subdivision kind of life, these neighbors give me hope. I so enjoy the sense of camaraderie that we all share. I look forward to continuing to build those friendships, even after the New House Smell fades.

Hangin' at Daddy's Crib
The Captain takes a monthly business trip to the Dallas Metroplex. For a special treat we got to spend the final night of our trip at his hotel. After staying in a clean, family-friendly, budget-level hotel chain for four nights this week (and twice on the outbound trip, and two nights on another trip last year, and the entire four-night trip both ways last summer), this hotel made me feel like a pampered woman.

The pool was nice, the room was totally awesome. Hot cookies and a TV in front of each bed impressed the kids. But the highlight of the evening for this very tired (and also a little sick) driver and mamma was when the Captain asked the check-in clerk if there were any upgrades available. To which the clerk replied, Of course!

Of course. We were special just by virtue of traveling with our daddy, our main guy, our Team Captain. I love when I get to be special! On this trip, special meant a lovely two-room suite including a king size bed. Ahhhhh. Throughout our stay we were treated as friends, our every need tended to instantly. I could get used to the special treatment.

This morning the hard-working Captain used the hotel room as a business office while Lulu napped and I took the big kids down to enjoy the hotel pool. Other than an unfortunate experience in which Boo Bear's pinky finger got pretty badly squished in the bathroom door, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. I can't wait to go back sometime without kids and take advantage of some of the nearby nightlife.




Voyage of the Doll House
I have been pondering what to call this trip. So many elements flavored the trip, from road conditions (400 miles of rain through all of Arkansas), to hotels (see above), to side trips (we stopped along the Mississippi in Memphis to absorb a little history and snap a few photos).

On this visit to Ohio, my dad pulled out the dollhouse he made for me in 1976. I would have been three that year. He painstakingly fashioned shutters, detailed the windows and doors, and painted it the same color as the house we lived in at the time. I played with my dollhouse for many years, through different generations of dolls, but Barbies fit in it best.

The kids fell in love with this dollhouse. And Mom and Dad offered me the dollhouse to bring home to my own house. If I could fit it, of course.

So we put it in the car and packed around it. Couldn't use the rearview mirror for our entire 1350 mile trip, and we didn't have room for much more, but we got it in! While we didn't so much talk about the dollhouse during the entire trip, it was really the elephant in the room if ever there was one. So to me, this trip was the Voyage of the Dollhouse.

I look forward to my dollhouse having a new life in this new generation. I just need to remind the kids that it's still my dollhouse. They only get to use it.


Well I am pooped. I get to sleep now, in my own bed. Tomorrow begins the new era of me never eating in a restaurant again, for as long as I can help it. I am so sick of restaurant food!

Many thanks to the dozens of you who 'fess up to reading my blogs. You honor me by admitting you spend your time here. Really.

For now, this concludes our broadcast day.