Blackout, or, How Loudly Can Three Children Scream?

About 5:15 tonight the lights went out. I heard a loud POP and the house went dark. This was in the middle of a song-and-dance by the kids, who were boisterously watching Fat Cat on the Sesame Street Old School DVD. The girls just could not hang. They were crying so hard and were so afraid that I thought I would cry. Worse yet, it was dinnertime, and no dinner! I called Hubby Hub on the cell and said, I'm getting these kids out of here. And wonders never cease, Sarah Smith showed up at just that moment to drop off random tupperware and kid cups and helped me load the kids in the van (and tried to minimize the hysteria, despite her own boy having a rough go himself). The girls held it together through an entire dinner at Outback, and by the time we got back the neighborhood had electricity again.

I always forget how ominous the city can be until the power goes out, and the houses melt upwards into the dusky sky. But just like my friend coming in at just the right time to save the day, I appreciate the light that much more, now that I've stepped out of darkness.

My Pantry, or, What Did I Do Before I Had a Labelmaker?

I have a Brother labelmaker that I literally could not live without. I received it as a Christmas gift several years ago from Darling Husband and it changed my life. I label everything. I label my desk accessories (who wants to waste time looking for a staple pull?) I label tubs with supplies (my emergency kit in the van, my downstairs stationery basket, OC's Goldfish Dish next to her Princess Seat). And now, at long last, I have labeled the pantry. I have been struggling with lack of counter space despite a XXthousand dollar remodel two years ago. Essentially, the kitchen is still the size it was, minus incredibly ugly cabinetry and a fridge that is now in the room instead of in the hall. I needed a better plan. Part A was picking up some wall organizers from Pottery Barn, see http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p3170/index.cfm?pkey=gTHMHOG. Part B was actually rethinking the pantry set-up. I shuffled around a shelf, restacked items, and labeled away a good hour and a half on a Friday night even though I've got Brokeback Mountain waiting for me on DVD and three kids that will be up at 6:30. Sometimes, there's nothing more therapeutic than cleaning.

What I Did Today, or, My God, This House is a Sty

1. OC up at 6:30. So was I. Convinced her to lay in bed with me until she saw a 7 and two 0's (my hero) on the clock (so it wouldn't be night-night anymore). Somehow that worked.
2. Fed all three kids by 8, cleaned up, drank too much coffee.
3. Sent Bill to Target to get a picture frame that WASN'T broken plus random cleaning supplies. Got rid of paper junk for about an hour while the twins napped and Big Girl memorized "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. By 10:15, I had started wash, loaded the dishwasher, washed un-dishwasherable stuff, and decided that I needed to change my dishes.
4. 10:30-12:00 Post Office and grocery store. OC went with. Perfect behavior.
5. 12-1 Hot doggies and maccie for lunch.
6. 1-4 There was various napping. pooping and more napping going on. Fortunately, all of it was child-directed. What is it with kids that they can unload their diapers in their sleep? HOW DOES THAT WORK?! Meanwhile, I prepared 30 postcards for mailing, cursed the printer for its fake "PAPER JAM" warnings, did more wash, and had a bite to eat while sharing guacamole with Thing 2, who got lonely in her nappy bed and wanted Mama. Such is life.
7. 4-5 Changed out my fall dishes to my winter dishes and packed the fall ones away for storage in the garage. Cleaned out my fall decorations because I'm not hosting Thanksgiving and no one will see them anyway. Visually planned what furniture will need to move out of the living room to accomodate The Tree. Listened to "The Hokey Pokey" about 30 times. Supervised Bill's hanging of the new family pictures in the staircase. I think I had a drink of water.
8. 5-6:30 Dinner for the kids, prevented twins from smearing more guacamole on everything, refereed a hissy over tapioca pudding, more wash, more dishes, swept the floor, collapsed on the couch only to find Thing 1 carrying not one but two putty knives courtesy of Darling Husband, who was mudding the seams in the Oh My God Isn't It Done Yet? closet. Emergency washing and stripping of puttied clothes ensued.
9. 7-7:45 While all three kids were in the tubby tub tub I stripped the big girl bed in their room, remade it, threw all their clothes down the chute, relined the wastepaper baskets, and then did the jammie-book routine. I don't even want to go into the family room because it looks like a bomb went off, and there is still wash in transtion in the machines. I haven't had a drink of water in about 4 hours, and I look like I got hit by a bus. Yet every minute of my day was packed, and what do I have to show for it?!?!

What's Love?

Love is when your child, in all her snot-infused, dirty-faced, suspiciously damp-handed affection, offers you a piece of fruit that is mysteriously mushy and strangely old looking, and you're so thrilled that she knows how to share you eat it with relish. When she rustles up a second equally odd piece from somewhere in her chair, you still don't turn her away.

It's so cold the kids noticed.

I think of Halloween as the official end of summer in Ohio, not Labor Day. After Labor Day we can have several solid weeks of perfect weather, like we did this year. However, almost without pause, the week after Halloween undergoes a sea change and it's suddenly and irreversibly miserable. In our neighborhood at least, Halloween is a big deal, owing in part to the smart people we know who don't equate trick-or-treating with either childhood obesity or devil worship. It's just kids blowing off steam and nabbing some Hershey's along the way. I've noticed too that Halloween is often the last big night where neighbors socialize outside before the cold snap shows up and we all head inside until mid-April.

The last two days were so damp and "ugh" that even OC said, "It's chilly willy outside." You got that right, sister. As long as we live in the midwest, time to get used to it.

The Black Hole Under the Dav

I believe there is a time-space continuum gap under my davenport. Binks, books, toys, random stuff rolls under there and disappear forever. It's like the shadow on the carpet is the event horizon (which is also a wicked scary movie starring Sam Neill, btw).

If anyone else experiences this phenomena, let me know. We'll call Dennis Kucinich and let him sort it out.