Never buy a red rug...

I know this might not sound like sage advice, but trust me on this one. In preparing for our house to be on the market, I bought a red rug for a family room to match the lamps. I lucked out and find a comparable red and I went for it!

Soon after this purchase my entire family came down with the stomach flu. (Everyone except for me that is, but that is another blog for another time! ) Well, the NEW red rug must have had a bulls eye on it that I couldn't see, but both my boys had their first bouts of the stomach flu right on the rug. Of course, not at the same time. They waited till I thoroughly cleaned the rug the first time and then the second child got sick.

When my husband came down with this dreaded flu, I asked if he, too, needed the red rug. He felt he could actually make it to the bathroom.

After many cleanings, I felt the rug was sanitary enough to bring inside our home once again. Since then though, I realized that it shows every piece of lint anyone tracks in the house. I have had to vacuum it so often, I decided to keep the vacuum in the hall closet as oppose to downstairs in the storage room.

Today, I walk in and see that the cat has decided to "discard" his previously digested hairballs all over the rug. REALLY??!! Is there no other place that my family and pets can throw up on?

I hope you can see the error of my ways...and never purchase a red rug.


Ahhh...the price we pay for decorative style!

I heard it on the radio...

I was driving into town the other day and there is a daily trivia question on our local radio station. The question was...40% of women polled would give up desserts for a year if they could have this? Now think about it, a whole year without chocolate and my abuelita's torte de capas! It would have to be something big.

One of the callers said a perfect husband. My gut reaction was to say "AMEN" but after thinking for a moment. How would I define a perfect husband? I did the list in my head: Honest - to both me and himself, someone who keeps me honest, funny - life is too short to not laugh, someone who could look at me and in his eyes, for that moment, I would be the only person in the universe. (that is until Emma shrieks, or the boys start fighting) Now, I would also love that he helped with the kids,the laundry, the dishes and of course could lovingly meet my "needs".

Hmmm... I already have the perfect husband who happens to be a wonderful father! And to think, I didn't have to sacrifice a single dessert!

Oh, the answer to the trivia question....good hair. Now, that I may consider!

My Wife the Wii Master

When she's not scouring the web for the perfect house or working her booty off to maintain the illusion that our home is the perfect house for potential buyers, my wife is usually in our basement honing her Wii skills. After the kids go to bed she then uses those finely tuned Wii-bilities to kick my ass.

A couple nights ago I beat her soundly at billiards though it's a game (Wii Play) we just got and neither one of us really knows how to play well. The next day at 2pm she called me at the office to tell me she'd just won gold medals in both billiards and target practice. I can't say I'm surprised.

She possesses perseverance that I can only dream of; if I had her dedication I would have written at least one or two novels by now and probably a screenplay to boot.

I do things that feel good until they stop feeling good, then get frustrated when they go bad. She finds something she enjoys and then continues to work at it until she does it extremely well. I enjoy feeling good. She enjoys doing well.

I see the same traits in our sons. Seth is just like me: talented but easily frustrated and ultimately defeated. Ben continues working on a challenge until he's proficient. His perseverance often overcomes Seth's talent.

It's both frustrating and enlightening to see your own worst traits in your child. All you can do is try your best to be aware when he might be teetering close to giving up and be there to head it off--all the while trying to stay self-aware and fight your own tendencies toward throwing in the towel.

My husband made me do it...

Ok, I will admit, I am a little obsessed about real estate. I love to look at houses and I especially love finding a deal. The problem with my little obsession is that we are currently trying to sell our house and if I said it was slow going, I would be putting it nicely.

Matt and I just recently had a discussion about pulling our house off the market. We have had this discussion in the past, but it was always a theoretical one. This time it was real. I have to tell you that this discussion through me for a loop. I didn't realize how much energy I was investing per day to look for the "right" home for our family.I was fantasizing of a life that didn't include a 30 minute drive to get anywhere. In one short discussion, my "bubble" was popped.

Now...what do I do with my time? Most of my day, during the summer, I have spent with my kids, but this week Seth and Ben are off to camp and Emma takes these glorious long naps and well I have found myself actually bored. Now I have found projects to do like paint the porch, redo our master bathroom and sort through baby clothes and I even offered to take on the responsibility of the bills. (desperate- I know!) I guess Matt realized that I needed a hobby that was cheap....

So he came up with blogging. Hmmm, I guess I will give it a try. In a previous life (you know the one; before children) I used to say I willing to try anything once!

I will try to post daily...happy reading!

Leslie
PS who am I kidding...you know that I going to check the CAAR website after I post this. Obsessions are a little hard to give up!