FINALLY!!!!!

Andy is home! He left town on Tuesday, and the week has been freaking TOUGH. Kids and I were sick some of the time with Claire's weird stomach pains. Andy was full-on pucking his guts out on his trip, so I count my blessings. By today, I was openly threatening my kids' lives in the halls of the church. With witnesses.

So when Andy walked in the door (with chocolate), I walked out (with chocolate.) I went to my mom's to get a break from those children of mine. Gabe has just become nuts. I call him Nutsy, in fact, during the day. Hey, I KNOW he's spoiled and it is my fault, I got it, you ain't gots ta tell me. But, as Charlotte told half the parking lot at church today, he's driving me BONKERS.

What will I do this week? I mean to get out of the house in the evening to recharge after being left alone with my offspring for 5 straight nights. Well, I imagine I will see a lot of my mom and sisters. Somehow, their kids never get on my nerves like my own. [Okay, in the event that one of my kids has grown a bit and is reading my blog, this is all said with love. If you are already a parent, then you know. If you aren't, withhold your judgement until you are, got it?] Maybe the vanity I ordered for the half-bath will arrive this week, that's always something to look forward to. And I borrowed a book from my mom's house. And I stole her tv guide from the paper. Looks like I'm set! With the cream puffs my sister-in-law made me, I can stay occupied for days!

State of this Union

I am wishing I were the kind of person that doesn't view watching the state of the union address by the president as a wicked chore. It isn't that I don't care, it's just that I don't get politics at all, so he says stuff that sounds kinda nice, and then everyone goes to town ripping it all up, so I'm totally confused and wonder what the point of it all is. And then I feel guilty if I don't watch it because, well, I'm American. I think that is built in somewhere.

Speaking of state of the union, here's the state of the Ruggles household these days: Claire is home sick with stomach pains, poor baby. I am very glad she hasn't puked because I hate dealing with that, but it is sad she hurts and confusing not knowing what is up. Gabe is alternately excited she's here and irritated that she isn't playing with him or letting him pick the cartoons.

I'm sleepy from having woken up over and over in the night to care for Claire. I am doing piddly little chores here and there in an effort to maintain the house. I am wondering why my show is a rerun (yet again) so that there isn't even that little joy to dull the agony of the state of the union address. I planned on grocery shopping today, but with Claire home I didn't go. Now dinner is sucky, and I have no frosty beverages to keep me company. Maybe I can squeeze in a trip this evening? Around 8 o'clock, during the state of the union address?

I am slowly acquiring materials to redo our half-bath. I have ordered some tile and a vanity, which is super exciting, but I'm not known for being a finisher of projects, so I temper my excitement.

Maybe I can haul the kids to the store now and then get in line to get the other kids from school? Drat, all my jeans are in the wash. Maybe not. I better go put them in the dryer...

It's the middle of the night, so I'm rambling

Just up in the middle of the night, watching a documentary on science fiction tv in the sixties. WHO AM I????

Gabe's new emotion that he's exploring is outrage. He is quite good at it. He can do it with one word: "WHAT?!" I wish I could convey it in print the way he says it. His facial expression of incredulity, his tone. He just used it the other day when we were eating lunch as a family it Chili's. He told me which dessert he wanted, and I replied with, "I'm sorry, baby, we aren't getting dessert today." "WHAT?!" He had his hands thrown up, he was looking at me like he was about to say, "The hell you say!" Apparently, he got used to vacation dining which always included dessert.

Now, he uses it all the time. If the sisters say they don't want to play Hot Wheels, "WHAT?!" If we don't have any more Cinnamon Toast Crunch, if I say no more tv, if he isn't chosen to say the prayer. His face says, "You gotta be friggin' kidding me!" as he exclaims. I laugh every time, which causes him chagrin.

Does anyone else get super-itchy at night when they get sleepy? Or know what causes it?

Welp, that's it. I am sleepy enough for bed, and the Star Trek saga has lost its hold on me. Incidentally, William Shatner was 3rd choice for Captain Kirk.

To market to market to buy a fat pig...

HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN JIGGITY JIG!!!

I TOTALLY know what they mean! I jiggity jigged when I finally got home from our trip to Pennsylvania last night. Rather, early this morning.

We left the morning of the 26th and drove for two long, fun days to see Andy's family. Our kids are great travellers, and we like a good road trip, (plus I don't have to drive), so if some of you are imagining a nightmare, that is NOT what we experienced. The kids went nuts in Tennessee when they saw snow on the ground. We actually stayed in Chattanooga at the end of the first day. I liked that little city. I learned that nobody actually knows the meaning of the name Chattanooga other than it comes from the Indian word for something or another. Fascinating. Plus, in Tennessee they have half a town. True! Bristol is half in Tennessee and half in Virginia. Cahrazy.

Once established at my in-laws house with all sorts of family there, Andy took Charlotte and Gabe to DC. They saw the White House, a frozen river that they threw sticks at, and the Smithsonian. They adored it. Claire wanted to stay behind to spend the day with her cousins. She went to Chili's and Bounce U. She repeatedly declared it was the best day of her life. A future in civil service? I think not.

Then, we all went up to NYC together. Naturally, it wasn't a perfect trip due to our poor planning and timing and whatnot, but who cares! It was New York! We saw the Statue of Liberty from the car windows, stepped out of the subway practically at the foot of the Chrysler Building, and went up to the Botanical Gardens for this gorgeous train exhibit. What it really is is all these landmarks of NY (Penn. Station, The Skyline, The Statue of Liberty, etc.) recreated - smaller of course - in natural materials like bark, pinecones, twigs, and fungi. It is simply incredible. And train tracks are wound all around the displays so miniature trains are just chuggin along in and out of the scenery. The bridges of Manhattan, like the Brooklyn Bridge, are so big that you actually walk underneath them. The kids loved. We walked, took a bus, and spent a great deal of time on the subway. Our kids are such good little pedestrians!

PLUS PLUS PLUS, we had dinner in Harlem with my dear dear friend from college and her family. Her kids and ours hit it off immediately and were running, screaming, playing banshees for the rest of the night. It was so perfect.

The trip home was just as fun, but after 12 days away, there ain't no place like home! Plus, my sweet momma bought us some staples like milk and bread, eggs and fruit, so we don't have to sit our butts in that dang car again first thing when we wake up! Thanks, Mom!

I haven't looked at the mail or the answering machine or the laundry. I haven't unpacked or even gotten dressed. I'm relishing not having to wear clothes every minute! I'm slowly taking a few ornaments off the tree each time I pass it, eating up the last of the holiday candy in preparation for Operation To Market To Market*, and just enjoying being in my own home. It doesn't matter how dumpy it is, it is mine.

*Ah yes, To Market To Market to buy a fat pig. I weigh the same, so I don't know if it is a trick of the nasty Pennsylvania light, or they have an Evil Mirror, or I have traded in muscle tone for equal amounts of fat, but what I saw out of the shower on this vacation was disgusting to me. I swear to you, I have never looked that dimply and saggy in my own mirror at home! True! And I can't stand it. Okay, I am sure I can stand it because I am lazier than your average bear, but I am going to add working out to my life, I swear I am, this year. And I am going to go back to my healthier eating habits, if I can remember how. As I recall, it included a lot of shopping for fresh food, preparing of fresh food, and snacking on fresh food. High maintenance, but I was not okay with what was curdling on my thighs, butt, and belly on the East Coast. And to make matters worse, everybody on the east coast is skinny. True! I could tell we had drifted into the south when we stopped for gas and everybody was nice and soft and plump again. To be totally fair (and rude), we may be fatter down here, but there are WAY more pretty people down here. I ain't kiddin'. Just the general masses are prettier. Rude, I know, who cares. Common courtesy ain't part of Operation To Market To Market.

Let me list the states we were in on this trip for posterity's sake. Actually, my kids keep asking, and I keep forgetting, so I am writing it down now:

Texas

Louisiana

Mississippi

Alabama

Georgia (just the corner)

Tennessee

Virginia (the kids didn't like this part - they said Virginia took too long)

West Virginia (just a sliver)

Maryland (an even smaller sliver)

Pennsylvania

New Jersey

New York

Here is a picture of Penn station and one of the bridges at the train exhibit. You can't tell, but Penn station is, like, 3 feet long and two feet high (ish), and you can make out the people walking under the bridge. The pictures are total crap, but that's what I got. You can't tell, but everything is made out of bark and stuff, even the bridge. Plus, trains went across the bridge:



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