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Wide Awake

The past three nights I have slept very lightly, which used to be the norm, but since I’ve been drugging myself, is a rarity. I’m not sure why this is occurring, but I’d like to go back to my drug-induced coma thankyouverymuch. This morning about 4 a.m. when Joshua crawled into our bed, I was unable to go back to sleep. Usually I barely even notice when he does this thanks to good old Ambien CR, but for some reason it’s taken a break from leaving me blissfully drooling away while my kindergartener steps on my head. NOT COOL, Ambien CR, NOT COOL.

I lay in bed for awhile observing things I have forgotten during my brief respite from being constantly awake in the middle of the night. For instance, we have a security light in our backyard that is triggered by movement. So if Joe Burglar decides to come in the back door, he is going to get a really bright light in his FACE and hopefully run away scared. Since our bedroom faces the back of the house, I would often see the light come on at night. I’d forgotten that. I saw it come on several times this morning, on and off, on and off, each flip of the bulb taking me by surprise. This is not because Joe Burglar was prowling around, but because we got critters, y’all. City critters. Our yard is home to many squirrels during the day, and sometimes a cute bunny rabbit or two, but at night hosts some skeerry creatures such as hardened city possum and street raccoons. I am pretty sure they have gang wars over our trash can. Said creatures’ attempt to get to our trash dumpster all night long (there’s nothing good in there, I swear!) leads to the fantastic light show I once again got to witness this morning.

Side note: the trash dudes broke the handle on our trash dumpster. As we now have a new mayor since the elections on Tuesday, I think his first order of biz-niss should be gettin’ me a new dumpster. That’s right, Gary Leitzell, I am talkin’ to you. I voted for change! Now change my dumpsta! Ok, I’ll be honest. I voted for you because you were not your challenger, and so far as I have seen, you don’t wear weird hats or assymetrical glasses like she does. But please can I have a new trash can anyways?

And some SLEEP? Can I have some sleep please? Because this train wreck of a post is what happens when I get none!

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WFMW: The Great Toy Purge of 2009

Ok so I can’t exactly say that the Great Toy Purge of 2009 works for me, because I haven’t exactly done it yet. I plan to, but I’m not sure how.

Which is where you come in.

I am making my Works For Me Wednesday post a backwards WFMW, because I need to know what works for you.

We have a full, finished basement, and while it is big and a wonderful space for the kids to play, 99% of the time it is a complete disaster. There are toys everywhere. (BTW, I swear we do not buy our kids lots of toys. I think they are like gremlins and multiply at night). I would show you pictures but I’m too embarrassed. And really, the kids have no idea what toys are down there and they can’t even enjoy the space, seeing as how they can’t walk through it.

So, my goal is to purge the basement of all the outgrown, broken, or generally unused toys before the influx that is bound to happen at Christmas. What I’d like to do is buy one of these for the basement (and one for my dining room, while I’m at it), so that everything has a home and can be nicely organized.
ikea expedit
The Ikea Expedit. Isn’t it lovely?

So here’s what I need to know from all of you smart readers:
1) How ruthless should I be in the toy purge? Or, I guess, how do I decide what to keep? (I have the “well we may need that someday” syndrome)
2) What should I do with the toys I decide to get rid of?
3) What’s your toy organization secret?

Basically, what works for you?

Because what we’ve got going on now… it doesn’t work for anyone.

I can’t wait to read your tips!

*****
For more Works for Me Wednesday (this week is a holiday edition!), visit We are THAT Family.

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Ramblings

My mind is all over the place today, and my blog post is going to be, too. So here we go.

— My phone interview for the Disney Mom’s Panel is today. It’s the final step in the process, and I am quasi-nervous about it but not as much as I expected to be. I have no idea what to expect, and I’m not sure what I should be doing to prepare for it, so I haven’t done anything. I am doing the interview on my lunch hour, and am trying to decide where to park my car to take the call on my cell. I know, big decisions. I wonder what parking lot has good luck? Hmmm… I will have to think this over.

— Because of said phone interview, I have to skip my Weight Watchers meeting today. I am a little nervous about this, because I’m afraid to get off track, but trying to do both things would make it too hectic today. It’s funny, because when I talked to the WW marketing person about getting involved with the Lose for Good campaign, she told me that she finds there are two kinds of WW people – meeting people and online people. For everything else in my life, I certainly consider myself an online person, but in this arena I am definitely a meeting person. And really, that is so odd, because I would so much prefer to just log my points on the internet and not have to go clap for everyone at the meetings. As I’m fond of saying, enthusiasm is not my strong suit. But having to go weigh in every week has really helped me a lot. As of last Tuesday, I had lost 13.2 pounds, and was 2.8 pounds away from my goal. Or maybe 7.8 away, I haven’t decided yet.

— I have six more classes for the course I’m taking this semester, and then it’s over. Thank goodness. Because it’s about been the death of me. It’s a philosophy course, and while what we’re discussing has the potential to be interesting, it is way more work-intensive than any grad course I’ve come across so far. For example, two weeks ago we had to turn in a 20-page play script. Fun stuff. And some of it is just so odd. A few weeks ago, I stealthily texted Jenny and Andy at the beginning of class (because cell phones are banned) and said “Our first class activity today – go outside and observe a tree for eight minutes.” Philosophy is like yoga. I just can’t take it seriously.

— When we got back to my house after trick-or-treating on Saturday, Kate discovered she had a loose tooth. She was so concerned about this that she decided she couldn’t eat any of her candy. I was perplexed by this decision, because even if I didn’t have any teeth at all, I’m pretty sure I would figure out how to eat candy anyway, but I went with it. The tooth is still hanging on by a thread. She called me this morning on my way to work and said “Hi Mommy! I haven’t taken my tooth out yet but I’m going to try right now. Ow, that hurt! Ok I will leave it in now and call you back later when I take it out. Bye!”

— Jenny and I are putting together a rockin’ holiday gift guide, and we have some fun giveaways to go along with it, so stay tuned for that.

— I am currently reading “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett. I haven’t finished it yet, but I love it and highly recommend it if you’re looking for a good book to read. I’m hosting a book club meeting at my house on Friday to discuss it, so lots of reading must take place between now and then, but it’s the best book I’ve read in quite some time.

— Last night I had my family over for my dad’s birthday, and I made chili and cornbread. The cornbread recipe said to put the empty pan in the oven to heat up, so I put my Pampered Chef deep dish baker in for 8 minutes at 400 degrees. When I went to get it out, I discovered I had a hole in my oven mitt. Unfortunately, the way I discovered this hole was by grabbing the dish with my bare finger. It was lovely.

And finally…

— Sammy thinks bowls are hats.
sammy cereal

(Oh, and finally FINALLY – go enter our giveaway to win a $100 Subway gift card on Reviewin’ It Up!)

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