Slush-o-rama

It's a melty, slippery slushy mess out there today. I think our high is predicted to be in the high 30's - just enough that the oily-black road-grime-encrusted snow out there is beginning to melt. It becomes big rainbow slicked puddles of the nastiest water you've ever seen. It's so gross that I wish I didn't have to go anywhere today. I just don't want to step out in it.

I have errands to run, the worst of which is a stop at the post office. I'm already two days later than I said I'd be on getting my brothers' battery charger that he left here in the mail... bad sister. The other brother left his coat, so I've got to get it boxed up as well. I hate the post office on a good day - but four days before Christmas and I may just go postal. I need stamps for my Christmas cards that are very un-handmade this year and very late. Blame it on the kitchen.

Already this morning I've had to give a bath to E. - he wet the sleeping bag last night. The kids were all sleeping together downstairs and I think he was awake too late talking and couldn't wake up when he needed to go. I also had to cut K.'s toenails - they were literally daggers sticking out of his socks. Disgusting. I hate feet - and toenails are simply the nastiest things on earth. The older the kids get, and the less involved I get in their grooming, the more I dislike being involved at all. Wiping their tiny little bottoms was nothing compared to clipping pre-teen, curled over, yellow nasty toenails. Blech. I had assumed he was taking care of that himself. Wrong.

Asia maintains this fantasy that someday I will come to love feet. His feet specifically. Sometimes he waxes on about how lovely it would be if I gave him nightly foot massages, kept his nails in shape, and took care of his callouses. Not.gonna.happen. Ever. I'll clip his ear hairs for him, scratch his back, rub lotion into his bald head and put Ben-Gay on his sore muscles. But the feet? Nope. (Wow, that word Ben-Gay looks weird. Is that how it's spelled? It seems so un-politically correct, like something we may have whispered to our classmates if we suspected little Benjamin was batting for the other team...)

I went to Target last night. I had to finish up my Christmas shopping. The challenge of having three kids with birthdays right before Christmas, is that you buy up all the coveted toys to give as birthday presents, then you're left sans ideas for Christmas. I especially have a hard time buying for S. - who has never played with toys and already has tons of clothes and accessories. She tells me all the time that she wants either a cell phone, a Palm Pilot or a laptop. Well, she's nine, so that's out of the question. She got all new bedroom stuff for her birthday, so she doesn't need anything like that... she's extremely hard to buy for. I ended up buying her the first season of Little House on the Prairie. I hope she likes it - if she doesn't, I'll watch it for sure. I loved Little House. I used to pretend for hours that I was blind Mary... I thought she was so beautiful.

Gracie finished up Puppy Preschool on Monday night. She learned Sit, Stay, Lay Down, Leave it, Stand, Come and is working on Heel. She's such a good dog. Other than eating sponges, (and whatever else she can rummage out of the trash) she's doing such a good job. I'm very proud of her. She can Speak, and she sings with Asia... I'm not enrolling her in the next round of classes - the days and times just don't work for my schedule. There's still more I can learn, as a first-time dog owner, but I'll have to see if I can work it in later.

All the little nagging things I need to accomplish today are whispering sweet nothings in my ear... I can't resist their urgings. Time for me to go.