I’ve got a billion half-thoughts swirling around in my head. Most of them not quite worth an entire blog post. So here’s a little gumbo for your Monday (lucky you!).

We started a new swim class with the kids on Saturday. It’s meant to get them gradually used to swimming without mom or dad in the water, so each week we’ll (attempt to) get out a few minutes earlier and leave them with the teacher.  First class, we stayed in the whole time, and the kids absolutely loved it. Rebecca bragged for the rest of the day about swimming “all by myself!”  And she did, a little, too!  Here’s to hoping that bodes well.

Saturday evening, we went to a cookout at a friend’s house.  And reminded each other that we seriously need to do this all summer long.  We all have 3-ish-year-olds who know each other well, so the yards are appropriately-equipped and everyone knows each other.  What could be easier than throwing some hot dogs on the grill for the kids and letting them get absolutely filthy?  And then everyone leaves in time for preschooler bedtime! Absolutely brilliant.

It didn’t hurt, of course, that they have an excavator in their yard at the moment.  There are few things more exciting to the 3-year-old set. Though attempting to get seven kids in the same picture was probably quite the entertaining sight for the neighbors.

Operation: Purge is starting slowly but well. Six big bags of clothes were dropped at Goodwill, and more are to follow. Many boxes of books are loaded into my car for donation.  And we’ve done our best to involve the kids. Rebecca got it in her head that the clothes and books are going to “a baby,” and she likes adding more things to the box. She did a great job helping me sort through her old clothes and books and was quite generous in what she elected to give away.

The focus of the purge, at the moment, is the room we usually refer to as “the changing room.” There wasn’t enough space in the kids’ nursery for two cribs plus dressers and things, so they sleep in one room and their clothing lives in another (we have four bedrooms, but none of them are very big).  The plan is to make the changing room into Daniel’s room. But because it was a room in which no one actually lived, a metric butt-load of crap has landed in there.  So we have to get rid of it to make space for Daniel to move in.  Exciting stuff, long way to go.

And to cap off this bucket of random-y randomness, some photos.  The first is from a few days ago. It was rainy and I was taking the dog out into the yard. When I turned around to come back in, this was the sight that greeted me at the front door:

My dear Daniel, love him though I do, may not have a stellar athletic career in his future. Hand-eye coordination is just not his forte. Don’t even get me started on trying to ride his tricycle and the fact that he has absolutely no concept of steering.

I’m here, I’m home.

Been home for days, actually.  And yet, have written nothing.

I’m in that slightly crazed, disorganized post-vacation mode. Getting back into the swing of things, shopping for groceries, doing laundry. You know, boring stuff that needs to be done before you can feel settled again.

Except, I’m feeling very un-settled.  For one thing, my house is making me crazy.  Maybe it was two weeks with my parents, who not only have larger houses than I do, but also keep them a hell of a lot cleaner. Happy as I was to be home, I walked in my door and felt claustrophobic.  Smaller space, yes, but oh my god the clutter! So much crap! You know how you live with something long enough that you just stop seeing it?  Well, I was away for long enough that I see it again.  With a big, glaring spotlight on it.

The trouble is this: when do I deal with it?  Most of my waking hours are with the kids, who are not exactly helpful when it comes to purging a house of all of its excess crap. Indeed, they seem to be magnets for the stuff.  That leaves me with the 2-ish hours that they nap, and the 3-ish hours between when they go to bed and when I do.

That should be plenty of time, of course, but I end up doing other things. Eating lunch, taking a shower, lots of sewing, blog reading, and hiding in my bedroom with it’s blessed air conditioning window unit (holy crap, summer has finally arrived).  Alas.  Sometimes I wish I could either send the kids away for a day or two in order to get things done, or pay one of those people who make it their profession to throw out other people’s shit.

This all feels even more pressing to me than before, I think because in my own head I would like to imagine that we’ll be trying to sell our house sometime in the next year or so.  I have no practical reason to believe that’s true, but it’s in my head, so there you have it.  And it most certainly could not go on the market in its current state.

More tomorrow on other stuff that’s bugging me (I know, aren’t you excited!), but in the meantime, a few of my favorite pictures from our trip.

My dad, stepmom, and stepsister were in town for a visit this weekend. It was fun to have them around, and they were an immense amount of help. For one thing, it was great to have my dad with me when I went to trade in my car and buy the minivan. I dread all things haggling, and was nervous about being talked into things that were unnecessary. Dad has purchased a lot of vehicles in his day, so it was good to have his experience and confidence next to me. It also helped that I had not only researched the heck out of the car itself, but had dutifully looked up Kelly Blue Book values for both the new and my trade-in. I didn’t need to come out feeling like I had gotten a steal, I just wanted to know I wasn’t paying more than I should. They ended up basically accepting the KBB values, and we were off.

But even better than the emotional support of Friday afternoon was the white tornado that came through my house on Saturday. I can’t be on my feet for more than 5-10 minutes without my ankles swelling to alarming proportions, and my beloved husband was passed out upstairs, having worked from 10pm to 10am (after a normal 10-6 day before then – he doesn’t normally work the night shift). And in truth, I’ve just never been a spectacular housekeeper. So it’s safe to say that things were a little on the messy/cluttered side.

After insisting that I sit on the couch with my new copy of Harry Potter and a bag of frozen peas on my elevated feet, the family went nuts. My dad mowed the lawn, busted out the weed whacker, and later put together a whole bunch of baby stuff. My stepmom cleaned the kitchen and dining room to within an inch of their lives. My stepsister painted our new-but-unfinished front door.

I couldn’t, in good conscience, spend the entire day reading on the couch, so I did get up and try to at least help people figure out where things ought to go. I offered up vast amounts of amazement and gratitude at their hard work on our behalf. The first floor looks like a new place, entirely. And as quickly as they arrived, they were gone, back to Chicago. It was a brief visit, though I have no doubt that they’ll be back on the first plane as soon as the new grandbabies arrive.

So a big huge thank you to my dad, stepmom, and stepsister. They did exactly what you would hope. They didn’t come to stare at my enormous belly, though that was clearly an enjoyable perk for them. They came to help, and help they did. It was awesome.