Monday

Things are chugging along. We had a nice Mother's Day -- went to church, chatted with friends, then Emily and I went to the store to get stuff to take to Nesha's for dinner. Then Jon took over with the kids while I fixed a hellacious pasta salad, and then off to Nesha's for dinner: grilled steaks, green salad, my pasta salad, wine, hard cider, and strawberries & ice cream for dessert.

SO much fun. They are becoming real friends. It's funny how Nesha and I have gotten to know each other largely through posting together on the same message boards, which I stumbled on when I posted on Sybermoms that I knew someone with a dd named Philosophy, and two people immediately knew who I was talking about and led me over to those boards.

It reminds me a bit of when I was little and my parents and the Gallins would hang out, although they are pretty much the opposite of the Gallins, thank god. The Gallins scattered when my parents split. I don't think Rita was all that into it, actually.

So today, I hung out and nursed and watched TV in the am, then picked up Emily, took Max for his blood draw for the thyroid check, then off to the mall for lunch and some playing. Not a bad day. I hope the thyroid levels are continuing to normalize. I think they are. The alternative is just too terrifying.

Dinner: ground beef & peas curry, aloo gobi, basmati rice.

Got Emily a haircut today too. Not unlike mine, except hers is longer and her hair is not shot through with wiry grays. She did great -- got her hair washed at the sinks just like a grownup, and was OK about sitting still and following directions during the cut.

Tomorrow's a Meetup playgroup at Karen's. They have a teeny McMansion kind of house and a blingy playset out back, but she's refreshingly down-to-earth. Hoping it's a good turnout.

Friday Jon will be taking the day off, because it'll be Emily's last Friday at preschool (complete with Mom's Day Out so she'll be gone for FIVE HOURS) and he will take charge of Max (except for the nursing, of course) and I will shovel the shit out of this house and make my best effort to get it into some kind of presentable shape. I'm not trying for perfection, but I am trying to get us out of the "squalor" category. It's too gross. I think I'd feel a hell of a lot better, too, if things were fairly neat and comfortable, instead of dirty and chaotic. I'm going to set a goal of having a faculty party sometime this fall, so I can get the house presentable on a day-to-day basis and avoid having the hugely stressful marathon cleaning before the party.

I am also going to have to get the list of home improvements out and see where we can start. I did talk to Pete this week about coming by and checking out our landscaping (or lack thereof) to see what he can do about getting things looking better.