I’m making a tiny doll’s quilt and quilted pillow for Soph for her birthday. The pillow is finished, and I’ve got part of the work on the quilt finished. I’m slow at it (first timer) and suddenly understanding those huge price tags on handmade bed sized quilts. Before I fall asleep, here’s a few things I’ve been itching to share:

* I called directory service to ask for the phone number of The Wooden Horse. The guy mumbled something about ‘trojan horse’ and I said, ‘uh, it’s Wooden horse,’ (very very politely, though) and he said, sounding so exasperated, ‘you don’t know what I mean!!!’ Then he switched me over to the recording of the number. I briefly considered calling back till I got him and telling him that I know trojan horse and if he wants to make jokes he should NOT MUMBLE. But, sadly, I have no time for that sort of thing.

* The chocolate chip mini waffles they sell at Whole Foods are not so cute anymore when one breaks off from the herd mid-toast and gets wedged in the bottom of the toaster. My kids saw me stick the following things into the (unplugged) toaster to try and retrieve the waffle: knife, fork, spatula, fingers. I had to chop it into bits and shake it out.

I’m trying to migrate from the family-minus-Papa bed in the boys’ room to the girls’ bed in the girls’ room. But, the boys get scared, so tonight saw us all five trying to go to sleep in the boys’ room. I’d wager that the root beer the kids drank at their dad’s house tonight was caffinated. I felt like I was laying on the deck of a fishing boat amid the struggling writhing flopping catch of the day. After I decided I could not clench my teeth any tighter without throwing my back out, I turned on a Lord of the Rings cassette tape for the boys and took the girls to their room, where Sophie tossed and turned because she was very plainly NOT tired (I ignored the obvious and tried to get her to sleep anyway), and Willow squirmed because I didn’t dope her up enough to stop the awful sensation of three molars floating, iceburgish, in her tender gums.

The outcome was Lexy asleep after 10, after lots of bitching from his mother to ‘be quiet and still!!’ Willow and Sophie asleep around 10:30, and Nathan asleep at 12:15, after a stint on the couch watching Bear in the Big Blue House while I sewed and told him to ‘pretend you’re sleeping so you can trick your body into growing and resting and healing the cut on your head. But make sure you close your eyes and be still and breathe evenly, or your body will know you’re lying.’

Tomorrow is birthday party for Nate’s buddy, bank, pay bills, get groceries, visit Target, finish quilt top, do the dishes (IT IS OUT OF HAND IN THERE), and make some doctors appts. Do I have any volunteers willing to be bumped to another day? I’ll get you a swank hotel room for the night!