Moving + I feel like I'm falling for fall

Did I mention that we're moving?

Moving. Moving brings out, ummmmm... qualities. Probably not anybody's best qualities. At least, not anyone in my family's best qualities. There are a lot of awesome things about moving, though. The most awesome thing will be when it is done.

My time management skills are not that great, but they are evolving. They kind of have to.

I am trying to embrace my inner decorator. She is hiding under a shabby chair in the corner of my brain, but I am trying to coax her out. I am also leaning on super-smart, creative, and supportive friends who will help me pick paint colors and moldings and also remind me that it will all be over soon enough, except for the part that will probably be a work in progress for years to come, but that will be much more bearable once we're living in the new house. I think.

Anneliese is 8 months old, sort of crawling but only backwards, and sort of sitting up (both of my girls have taken a while to master this). She has the most hilarious giggle fits. She has two teeth and one on the way. She has serious separation anxiety, which is tough on both of us at times, but we'll get through it.

Nora is 4 years old, sort of sassy in a new and frustrating way, but still so kindhearted and loving that it makes my heart explode. She is reading paragraphs. She didn't want to write a single letter until she started her new school a couple of months ago, but now she is writing all kinds of stuff, which is especially neat since they didn't teach her that stuff at school, she just saw some of the other kids writing and decided she wanted to give it a shot. These days, when Nora gets angry, she is very dramatic. It's sort of hilarious, but I try not to let on that I think so. The other day she intercepted the American Girls catalog and she wants one of everything, but don't we all?

As always, the pose was her idea...

Tomorrow we hope to

• stop by the bank
• visit Sandy Springs Farmer's Market to pick up our meat CSA share and some veggies
• go to some builder's supply store that is supposedly cheaper than Lowe's or Ace (we'll see)
• pick up some moving boxes from a Freecycler (I hope!)
• work on the house while Nora watches movies and I wear Anneliese on my back (ummm, maybe!)
• attend the Candler Park Fall Festival (really doubt it but I can dream)

 Jason at the Candler Park Fall Fest his first fall in Atlanta, 2002

Happy fall weekend to you!

Rage against your animal friends.

I mentioned in a previous post that Nora enjoys stories about a made-up squirrel named Charles Squirrel. He's seriously like a member of our family. She has to have at least one Charles Squirrel story every night before bed, if not more. Usually Jason tells the story, but sometimes I do and sometimes Nora does. Charles Squirrel exists in the plane of semi-real, which is something I think is unique to kids Nora's age. I think on some level she knows the stories are just stories, but at the same time, she feels really warms towards the idea of a friendly, bumbling squirrel that lives in our back yard. We're moving soon, and she was really anxious about Charles until we told her he would move to the tree at our new house.

So this morning.

We have a mama cat and three kittens living under our porch. Real, actual cats, who are eating the real, actual good I bought them. I would like to get them some veterinary care, but so far I haven't been able to get close enough to even pet one of them.

This morning I looked out the window and saw a squirrel eating out of the cat food dish. When we were leaving for school, I said, "Nora, this morning I saw Charles Squirrel eating the cat food. For real!" (I for real saw a squirrel, and his name is Charles if I want him to be.)

Nora: Oh, no! I want to tell him not to do that.

Me: Okay.

Nora: (angrily and at the top of her lungs) CHARLES SQUIRREL, STOP EATING THE CAT FOOD! DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!"

 

Me: Wow, you were really loud. You sounded mad at Charles!

 

Nora: Well, Mom. I kind of was mad at him.

I hope after Charles's verbal smackdown, he still wants to come with us to the new house.

Menu Plan Monday Oct 4

I am way beyond tired, but menu planning is one of those things I have to find time to do, no matter how little time I have. If I don't make time for this, chaos ensues.

I have a few other blog posts cooking in my head right now that I hope I'll get to soon. Too bad cooking in my head doesn't equal typed and ready to post.

Some weeks I like to find most of my recipes on the internet. This week I curled up in bed with a bunch of my favorite cookbooks (and a few I had borrowed from the library) and found all of my recipes from books.

Without further adeiu:

Monday/Tues: Sliced, broiled ham with curried skillet cauliflower and collards (recipes from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (Better Homes & Gardens Plaid))

Weds/Thurs: Slow Cooker Sausage, White Bean, and Kale Soup (from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook)

Fri: BBQ burgers (with our grassfed beef!), recipe from  Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (Better Homes & Gardens Plaid); Basic Skillet Black Beans (Moosewood Restaurant New Classics)

Saturday: Huevos Rancheros (The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Heavy-Duty Revised Edition)

Sunday: Italian Stuffed Portabellos (Moosewood Restaurant New Classics)

All of the above sounds very yummy. I like cooking, but I like picking out recipes even more. I would like it better if someone else would cook the recipes for me, like the world was a giant restaurant.

Once again, got the format from Orgjunkie.com. :) I am not an organizing junkie myself, but I'm trying to learn from those who are.