Accomplishments for Today

I don't know why, but I feel like listing all that I got done today. And I feel like doing it in a new font.

1. Make a big mess on the kitchen floor by throwing down the jug of protein powder that wouldn't open, thus shattering the lid and spilling the contents all over the rug.
2. Refrain from screaming. At least the jug was open now.
3. Get Atticus some milk, change his diaper, and install him on the couch with a Thomas the Tank Engine video while I clean up the mess.
4. Wash the rug.
5. Mend Atticus's blankie and my sheets. Both were slated for the scrap pile, but I decided to give them a little more life.
6. Change the bedding with newly mended sheets.
7. Wash all the old bedding.
8. Wash, fold, AND PUT AWAY every bit of laundry in the house, including towels.
9. Make an apple pie with pie crust from scratch and filling I canned last fall.
10. Finish knitting Atticus's cap for Halloween. He's going to be a grinder monkey. Details and photos forthcoming.

And it's not even 6:00 yet. Maybe I'll get around to putting the cushions back on the couch and straightening the living room. And maybe, just maybe, I'll dust. Wish me luck.

I want this room

One of my favorite blogs is SouleMama, written by Amanda Soule. Her family recently bought a 100-year-old farmhouse in Maine, and she's been posting their renovations and move-in progress. I've been drooling over each room, with the wide-plank floors and the funky angles and nooks upstairs, and all the gorgeous light through the windows. But the library tops it all. It's officially the dining room, but really, how often do you use a formal dining room?

I have always wanted a library, a quiet place full of books and a comfortable chair and good light and lots of pillows. A place to snuggle up in winter with a good book and a cup of tea. As Atticus gets older I'll want to add art supplies and such, like she did here. Or maybe he'll get his own art room, and the library will be mine. We'll see.

When I mentally renovate the house I'm currently coveting, the dining room looks a lot like this, except it will also be used as a dining room. And it's about half the size. Oh well. You have to start somewhere, right?

See more photos here.

James has a couple new toys, thanks to your tax dollars. Kearns High School applied for and received a grant (from a part of the stimulus bill that allowed for technology in schools) to buy every student and teacher an iPod Touch for use in the classroom. As a bonus, every teacher gets an iPad. James is pretty stoked, and one or the other has been in his hands pretty much nonstop. Atty thinks they're pretty cool too, especially the app that lets him draw with his fingers.

His iPod is also a still and video camera, which is a handy bonus. We caught a few pics of Atticus the other day, and this is my favorite. I love his laugh. Notice how the photo is iPod shaped. Kinda funny.


And here's a video, which is also iPod shaped. I hope it works right. James is pretty proud of that pumpkin, as well he should be. It's gorgeous. The colors are beautiful--it almost glows. Atty thinks it's pretty fun to sit on.

Not much else is new this week. We made grape juice at my parents' house on Saturday, and it really felt like fall. Beautiful. And I've picked up more work with my old job at Exhibits, which is a nice change of pace but a good reminder that I really don't want to go back to work full time right now.

And that's what's going on in our lives at the moment.