Stream of consciousness

Last night I pulled some lasagna out of the freezer.  On the foil cover were Sharpie-scrawled baking instructions in my friend Kym's handwriting.  I flashed a smile in the dark garage as I remembered the day my friends helped stock my freezer for days like today, when I am quite certain that dinner time would otherwise roll around without a meal plan.  It turns out that having an appetite hasn't cured my distaste for cooking.  Or planning for cooking.  Or eating, really, although I seem to manage that just fine.

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Today I also raided the freezer for lunch.  No one in my family (except me) likes Creamy Chicken Taquitos, so I've decided to nibble away at the stash in the freezer by myself.  15 minutes from frozen to fantastic.  And I hardly dirty a dish in the process.

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Which brings me to the sink piled high with dishes.  The sink was never piled high with dishes when my mom was here.  I might have to take up domesticity again now that I don't have the excuse of being sick and pregnant.  I'm finding I slapped that excuse on many things (for good reason) and that walking back into my old life is going to be a bit of a culture shock.

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Between dilemmas over what to fix and the inevitable kid chaos at the table and the messy aftermath, I think life would be so much better if food was eliminated.    I'm sure God intends for me to learn to manage all of these things with more love and grace, but seriously, I'd be content if that whole element of my life disappeared.

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I got my hair cut and [sparingly] highlighted today.  I told John that I'd like a shoulder length cut that is stacked in the back with a bit of an A-line.  He got everything right except the length, which falls around my third chin.  I'm trying not to have a coronary. It's just hair, right?  Hair grows...right?

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Speaking of hair, it still cracks me up that Tyler tells me on an almost-daily basis that Kate has "so much hair for a baby."  I'm pretty sure she's our baldest child, but Tyler is convinced.  She also rarely wears one of the many darling hair bows I have because Lexi just pulls them off.  Kate is wearing a new headband today, however, along with the adorable outfit that flew in from an awesome Oregon neighbor yesterday.  We were going out, and I couldn't resist.  I should take a picture.

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I'm still trying not to be one of those moms who never photographs the youngest child, but man, it's hard! Besides the fact that I'm too sleep-deprived and hormonally imbalanced to think a clear thought, when life consists of eating and sleeping and policing ornery children, who would think to whip out the camera?  "Here, Baby, sleep in your seat a while longer. There...that's a photo op."

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And by the way, I'm kind of tired of being a police officer, especially when it comes to the neighborhood children.  That's all.

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Who wants to buy me a plane ticket to Arizona?  I'm thinking that some Mesa show-and-tell is in order for the baby.  My parents and all five of my siblings and their spouses and kids, two cousins, and some good friends all live in/near Mesa.  As my sister-in-law put it, we live just close enough  that it seems like we should visit more often, but just far enough away that traveling is really time-consuming and expensive.  And then there's the whole family-of-seven-plus-school-is-in-session dilemma.  One of my brilliant children should invent teleporting. 

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Sometimes I think Gavin and Lexi can actually teleport since they disappear so fast.  I was amused last night when I was searching the back yard for Betsy and found two small pairs of shoes and two crunchy pairs of wadded-up socks behind the shed.  The shoes have been missing for a few days.  At least we found the kids a little sooner.

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Gavin's occupational therapist says he's doing a "fantastic" job in his therapy sessions. She alluded to his "graduating" from therapy...but not until I bring Kate in to meet her. Ha!  Garry has taken Gavin to his last two sessions, but I'll go back next week.  It sounds like OT may soon be a thing of the past!

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Another Gavin story: Last night at soccer practice Gavin hit his head on a tether ball pole. He cried so hard that he passed out and face-planted on the ground.  Pretty scary!  Garry was across the playground and watched helplessly from a distance.  By the time Garry reached him, Gavin was conscious again.  He has seemed normal since then.  What a blessing.

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These are all the kinds of things I am used to posting on Facebook -- a line or two here and there, usually from my cell phone.  I have become accustomed to sharing these silly snippets from my life.  But I am abstaining from Facebook right now, trying to break the computer habit I developed during my long and bedridden pregnancy.  It's time to connect with people in real life instead of just online.  It's time to reconnect with my kids. It's time to move my body more.

After all, with this short hair, I really need to lose at least one of my chins.