Of coffee (a.k.a. human bondage)

No, I am not making a claim to writing some great literary feat, but there is something about coffee or at least Starbucks that somehow manages to make a few million humans wholly inadequate without it. I'm only talking about coffee because Georgianna once again climbed the counter, grabbed my coffee tin and dumped ground coffee all over her bedroom. It smells like a coffee house in their room, and when I vacuum, I get a sudden urge to drink an espresso.

I didn't get my first cup of coffee until 4:30pm today. I decided to let Tanner sleep. I think espresso must stimulate some sort of creative part of my brain, because I couldn't think of anything interesting to do today with the kids. We took a walk to Kolache Rolf's for breakfast. It's their favorite breakfast place, and just in case you were wondering, "what is Kolache Rolf's?" I will take this time to say that we wondered that for almost a year.

Kolache, pronounced coal-ah-chee, is a Czech delicacy. I guess we have a large Czech population in the Brazos Valley since we have a Kolache festival every year. So, a kolache is a soft, fluffy bread filled with either jam or meat. The girls like both and a kolache only costs .89 and are preferred above McDonald's. I don't really care for kolaches, but getting them on the weekend is becoming a tradition in this family, and I don't care to be on the outside of any tradition, so I take them to Kolache Rolf's.

After breakfast, we walked home. Did I mention that it was cloudy and drizzling? Yup. It was also 72F, so it didn't really matter. As long as there isn't a storm, a little bit of water isn't going to stop us from taking a walk. Once we got home, the girls raced into the backyard to do a bit of digging and mudpie making, leaving me to try to come up with something else to do. So, I did pilates. Then I did yoga. Then I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen and made lunch.

My creative side just wouldn't kick into gear. I watched "Destry Rides Again" because I was feeling kinda nostalgic, and I remember watching it with my mom when I was little. I folded some clothes, picked up a few toys, read some email and wandered around the house a little aimlessly until I remembered that 2 year olds need a nap.

I fixed the screen door, played with our kitten, cleaned up muddy shoes and stuff like that. I kept trying to clear the cobwebs out of my head, but I gave up. I waited for Georgianna to wake up to signal me to wake Tanner up. They both tumbled out of bed at 4:30, and we managed to get all the kids ready and in the car before 5:00. A rare testament to the power of coffee. Starbucks never smelled so lovely. I drank two shots of espresso and then we all strolled to Hobby Lobby just to take a stroll. Did I tell you that by this time it was dark, cloudy and rainy? It still didn't matter because it was a balmy 72F. Suddenly, my creative juices kicked in and I let the girls pick out paint pots and paper and brushes. We drove home, made dinner and had a painting party. Splashes of rainbows, hearts, flowers and bushy trees swirled across their papers and strangely enough NOT onto the floor.

I'm hoping the awakening doesn't keep me up until the wee hours of the night. We will see, but that won't keep me from drinking some "joe" tomorrow morning.

What an interesting day yesterday was. You always know when there's not much "happy" news when someone labels something "interesting". Of course, it's not bad news, either. It's just...well, interesting.

It started out as a coolish sort of day, and perhaps that should have warned me because coolish means the girls can't go outside to play or maybe they won't go outside to play, so they are inside all day. After dropping Kate off at school we came home so that I could work. The girls quickly grew bored of playing in the back room, and I'm pretty sure that I should have clued into the fact that something was up when the dvd player was turned on, but I was busy.

When I finally did tune in, Georgi was running around without any clothes on. A quick search revealed a lovely little wet patch in the back room. Round 1 of cleaning and dressing Georgi. And then there was Round 2. And then Round 3. And then 3 cups of water spilled on the kitchen floor. And another dose of water in the dining room. And then a 1/2 filled cup of coffee drizzled about.

Like I said...it was interesting. So interesting that I showed the girls how to steam clean a carpet this evening.

It's a beautiful day on Paradise!

I know most of my family is going to object to the usage of the word in referring to anything other than Hawaii. I just can't help it. It was a lovely Sunday in paradise.

This morning rolled around and I woke up to two snuggly kisses from tiny little lips and a tight baby bear hug from two tiny arms. Georgi had crawled into bed sometime during the night. It was 7:00am and morning time! "Wake up, Mommy, it's light out."

I still didn't feel like the girls were over their sickness to take them to church, so I took them on a walk instead. Two little hands in each of mine lead me to the Kolache Factory where the girls picke out their favorite treats. Kate had blueberry, Reagan had apple, Georgi had peach. I had coffee. A slow stroll back home as we basked in the early morning sun, jackets unzipped, letting the fresh air ruffle our hair and blow away the last wisps of sleep.

Daddy didn't open his eyes until almost noon because we were so quiet when we got home. The girls played with their kitty, taught her how to chase her tail and giggled into their blankets. Laundry, mountains of laundry waited in ominous silence behind the bedroom door. Being sick for over a week meant that I had laundry. Tanner is good at starting the laundry and switching the laundry, but folding the laundry...like, I said, there were mountains. So, I made the girls fold it ALL while Tanner and I crept quietly out of the house to do 2 weeks worth of food shopping in an hour and a half.

We browsed the vegetable aisles, the cheese mound, the baskets of bread. Slowly piecing together a menu of dinners. Fresh garlic, cheese, spinach, ricotta and long thin lasagna noodles; white wine, garlic, cubed bread, swiss and gruyere cheeses; fresh mozzerella, basil, spring greens...we enjoyed our leisurely foray into the grocery store.

We flung the doors open wide and let the breeze ripple through the house. Long sunrays stretched across the carpet and played with bits of dust in the air. Yes, a beautiful day in our bit of Paradise.

Finally, the winter weather has rolled away, and we get our sun and blue skies back for the next week! I cannot believe I have lived so many years looking forward to sunshine June rather than complaining because I don't have sunshine in February.

Every person I know has been shaking their head in confusion. Sleet, hail, ice, snow...these are words that only exist on paper for most of us. They belong to the stuff of legend and lore. You know the stories, "When grandpa was a kid there was snow storm that shut down the town for 3 whole days..." It is shocking to have these stories jumping up and taking our lives by storm. The kids are morose: no day off of school on Good Friday. And Good Friday is usually sunny and warm, a day to play in the backyard or on the street. It's a guaranteed picnic day, lunch-with-mom-or-dad sort of day. Instead, it's a school day. No one gets to spend the afternoon dyeing eggs. It's just a normal day at school.

But, I guess legends have to be made and re-born every 30 years or people begin to forget what makes everything else special. It was a lot of fun watching 22 and under kids trying to drive in the snow. They would get stopped and a light and then the car wouldn't grab the asphalt, so of course they decided the best course of action was to step on the gas even more. We were tempted to set up lawn chairs and a beer stand on the corner and just watch the cars slide. We didn't because while everyone was dealing with winter weather, we were dealing with the flu.

I now understand the purpose of flu shots. It's to keep parents healthy enough to care of kids who get sick. It's taken us an entire week to finally put to bed the last fever. Everyone but Georgi is starting to eat again. This bug makes you disinterested in food for at least a week. A great incentive for weight loss, but really, I'd rather go on a 40 day fast.

We welcomed the sun this morning. For the first time we all felt like we had energy to take a walk, so we bundled everyone up and went for a walk. Starbucks, pet store, shoe store, Ross and then home.