The Friendliest of Flies

Without trying to gross anybody out... remember the Cluster Flies of a two summers ago? Well, they're back. Just as they did last time, they have just appeared in our house. And they will randomly disappear too.... only to come back in greater numbers. It's really gross. And as far as I can tell, there's nothing we can do to get rid of them.

However, I had a visitor today who cheered me up about the flies. Her name is Wilomina, although I'm not sure that's at all how her name is spelled! She and her husband came through our house on the Unseen City tour and she and I hit it off while in the next room, without my knowing it, Martin and her husband were doing the same thing! They stayed for so long that night just talking with us. That night she told me she would bring me some Sweet Annie to plant, and today she did! I invited her in before I remembered the flies, but when I apologized about them, she shrugged it off and said they have them too, but they call them Attic Flies! Martin and her husband are both into guns and squirrel hunting, while she and I talk about gardens and homemade soap. When I told her Anja's birthday is in November, she told me that hers is too, and she'll be 77 this year. I'm SO GLAD she stopped by today!

They live in the country, as do the parents of my friends Anne and Laura. The girls and I were invited out there yesterday and we had a very fabulous time. I didn't see as much of Monica and Mary Grace as I would've liked, though, so I guess we'll all just have to get together again next time Anne comes to town! It was the most wonderful thing to sit in the shade while our toddlers ran around half naked and our babies laid lazily on a blanket in the grass. I kind of can't imagine a better way to have spent my afternoon! They have goats and chickens and Anja LOVES animals. I thought she'd be more into the goats, and she liked them, but she was more obsessed with the neighbors little dog who kept wandering over to visit. When I came home and told Martin about their parents' place, he said it's a good thing he wasn't with us or we'd have a For Sale sign in our yard already! We love living downtown but we've been itching lately for a little more space and a little more nature. I know that if/when we ever live in the country we will miss the conveniences and the social side of living right downtown, but gosh... especially with our neighbors leaving us this summer, a nice secluded place in the country where we can have an organic garden and shoot squirrels for dinner sounds really great.

Not to mention we're kind of outgrowing our house already. I like having us all in one room, but it does make bedtime complicated. It didn't used to matter when all Greta did was sleep, but now she is getting her own routine that doesn't quite match Anja's, so our evenings have gotten difficult again. (Again. As if they were ever easy.) It'd be awesome if our house was set up as our neighbors house is--their half story is two bedrooms and their second bathroom is at the bottom of their stairs, whereas our half story is a bedroom and a bathroom. If only we could just kind of trade houses...

But we are trading beds instead! I think Martin will be very happy to finally have a real bed. I just hope babies don't roll off during naptime! I could go on sleeping on our mattress on the floor for the rest of our lives, but apparently Martin has this crooked idea that civilized adults sleep on real beds instead of just mattresses flopped on the floor. It actually is perfect timing though, as this bed is coming with sheets included and just today when I was doing the towel laundry I found our sheets at the bottom of the laundry basket covered in mildew!!! EEEWW!!! Oh well, we won't need them anymore because now we will have a KING SIZED BED!! And I thought we were fancy for having a Queen Sized!

If you look at the playdate pictures that Anne posted on her blog, you can sorta-kinda see the shirt I'm wearing. Well, you can't really see the shirt and in one picture I look pregnant (I'm not, btw) but you can at least see that the shirt is orange. Anyway, that shirt was a dress earlier that day, but I cut it off and sewed the bottom back on and had myself a new shirt to wear. When Greta was born Martin gave me a Gap giftcard and we went there the other day to try and spend some of it, but I didn't find anything I loved. It was disappointing because I'm finally back in my regular clothes and I was feeling like I could use a cute new something in my old size. I'm actually really happy to have dropped my babyweight so fast.... thanks, summertime!

Our bathtub drain was mysteriously clogged this morning and the water was really scummy so I didn't take a shower. Martin just fixed it though, so I'm looking forward to my morning shower tomorrow! Anja didn't nap today, which is always frustrating, but she was in such a good mood by the end of the day it was almost sad to put her to bed. It's funny, the days she doesn't nap always seem to be when she is in the WORST mood in the morning. I give her three tries at naptime, but I don't like to put her down any later than about 1:00. By that time she seems to have caught her second wind and is often a delight for most of the afternoon! Today it took her awhile to catch her second wind... but still! We ate chocolate pudding together! She is such a good little girl.

Okay, and now that I'm sitting here chuckling to myself about her, I just have to share some of her cuteness. Today I was folding laundry in the kitchen and she really wanted to help, so I put all of the bloomers in one laundry basket and told her where they went. She was SO HAPPY to help me!! She took all the bloomers, one pair at a time, and put them in their spot. And she was so proud of herself! She seriously LOVES to help. Today she was taking Cheerios from her mug and lining them up on the floor. I told her she needed a diaper change, and she put all the Cheerios back in her mug, then stood up and came to the bedroom for a clean diaper. It was great! She is so cooperative!

And Greta is all cheeks and thighs and wonderfulness.