I love this house

Light and air in abundance. Windows I can actually open to get a breeze. Central air conditioning. Rose bushes. I never realized how happy roses make me.

But last night, my favorite part of the house was the back yard. I pulled out a lawn chair to enjoy the evening in the shade of the huge tree in the yard, and Atticus climbed into the chair with me. He nestled under my arm and we talked and talked. We watched the birds and talked about what they might be doing or where they're going. We watched the clouds, and I mentioned that when we go up in an airplane in a couple weeks, we'll fly through the clouds.

Then we spent the rest of the evening talking about our airplane trip. His eyes lit up with each new bit of information: we'll be higher than the mountains! higher than the birds! Whenever I'd pause, he'd say, "Mama, let's talk more about airplanes!" So I'd think of something else, describing the interior and the drink cart and the snacks (please let there be snacks...), the airport procedure, the pilot and the flight attendants. He kept asking where "his" plane is now.

Normally he's content to sit on my lap for a few minutes, then he starts wiggling and kicking and sliding off head first. Last night, though, we snuggled and talked for more than half an hour. It was sweet time with my boy in our lovely new yard. Double blessings.

A work in progress

I forgot to take "before" pictures, so here's a "during" shot of our new living and dining rooms. "After" pictures still to come....

Atticus has been watching a Curious George DVD practically nonstop (or he would, if we'd let him), and it's raised a couple questions.

I mean, has anyone done a psychological profile on The Man with the Yellow Hat? Single dude, lives with a monkey, dresses entirely in yellow all the time, and has an unhealthy obsession with his hat.

Childhood trauma, maybe?

Update

It has been brought to my attention that my blogging habits have declined of late. So I thought it would be a good time to update you on the big and small events going on in the Bennett household.

Big Stuff

• We moved! Or, more accurately, are in the process of moving. We're living in the new place now but still have an apartment full of odds and ends. I sometimes have fantasies about the old apartment burning down (without damaging my sister's apartment downstairs, of course) so we don't have to decide what to do with that stuff. I'll post pictures and give you a tour later. After I take some pictures.
• We moved because I'm now managing the 5-plex we live in and two other properties around the corner. It's been a busy month, with plenty of maintenance issues and showing an apartment only to have the current resident decide to stay after all. James has become well acquainted with the lawn mower, and even climbed on the roof today.
• I just got back from a fantastic family history vacation with my mom and two of my sisters. Susan summarized it well on her blog (she's a much better blogger than I am--she even posts pictures and video): click here. Added bonus: I discovered I love fried okra. Mmm....
• James finished his first year of teaching French at Kearns High and got an awesome new job at Hunter High. At Kearns he taught half French, half ESL, but at Hunter it's full-time French. He did his student teaching there, so he knows the program well and even knows some of the kids. This is a fantastic opportunity for him, and we're really excited.
• We were going to go to Seattle for a friend's wedding this weekend, but there's just too much going on with moving and managing. We're planning a trip to Arizona next month to visit James's family. It will be good to go down there, because Atticus hasn't met any of his Bennett cousins or aunts and uncles. I was just barely pregnant last time we were in town. I'm just not all that thrilled about going in the middle of July. Of course, last time I visited Arizona in July, James and I pretty much decided to get married. He knew I was serious about him if I was willing to brave 107 degree days just to be with him. So Nana, you know we love you!
• My family is having our first-ever reunion in August. I grew up without much extended family, but as the fifth of nine children I have plenty of extended family now. We had a reunion of sorts when the first grandchild got married last month, and it was a good time. I'm looking forward to seeing more out-of-towners, but sad that my LA brothers are tied up with work and won't make it. Maybe we need to take a trip to LA... (Atticus does keep talking about having a picnic at the beach ever since he saw one on a "Thomas" video.)

Smaller Stuff (the "Random" in "Random Musings")

• I've started running again with a friend who keeps a similar pace. After not running for months, we were able to get 3/4 of the way around Liberty Park (over a mile!) without stopping. Woo hoo!
• I'm not pregnant, but I've been bloated and moody enough that I've wondered whether I might be one of those rare cases where I go to the doctor only to learn that I'm really 4 months pregnant without having a clue.
• The first half of Doctor Who season 6 is over, and I TOTALLY CALLED the shocking revelation in the finale. Excellent season, BTW. Yes, I'm a nerd.
• With the move we weren't able to put in a garden. Does anyone know what I might be able to plant now? We have a great south-facing plot, but is it too late for summer crops? Should I just wait for fall plantings?

I think that's all my news for now. I will try to post more frequently from now on. And Mom, I'm totally holding you to your offer to help clean the old apartment... :)

Experiment Update

These photos, believe it or not, are from Wednesday, when I chose not to blow-dry my hair. (Yes, I know I'm wearing the same shirt from the previous post. It really was a different day.)

My hair was maybe a little flatter, but still very manageable.

I didn't dry my hair today either, and though my scalp feels good my hair feels a little strange. Kind of dry, kind of sticky. I think I'll use shampoo tomorrow, then buy some high-quality shampoo when I go shopping next. I hear Jason is a good brand without a lot of the irritating chemicals of other shampoos. I will continue using baking soda periodically, though. And maybe in the winter I'll try the vinegar rinse. I wonder if that would have made a difference this week. I just can't imagine it not leaving a smell.

If you try baking soda or vinegar, let me know what you think.

Experiment

I took these pictures this morning, Day 4 of washing my hair only with baking soda. I got the idea here. Then when I showed the post to my favorite hair stylist because I wanted to model my haircut after hers, my stylist agreed that "baking soda is your friend."

I differ from Tsh (Simple Mom) in that I don't think conventional shampoo is going to affect my health much, but I hate spending a ton of money on hair products. Plus, with the changing seasons my scalp has been really itchy, and my cheap shampoo seems to make it worse. My stylist gave me some salon "repair" shampoo, but I didn't like the smell, and it seemed to build up on my hair. And I have a huge box of baking soda, so what the heck, let's give it a shot.
And I have to say, I'm totally surprised with the results. My scalp is noticeably less itchy, and my hair feels good. Washing with soda solution (1 T soda to 1 c water) takes some getting used to. There's no lather, of course, and when I rinse my hair feels rubbery and heavy. Every day I think this is going to be the day that my hair looks nasty and greasy, but then I dry it and it feels great. I even have more volume than I did before.

I've been blowing my hair dry every day. I used to let it air dry some days, but I'm a little nervous that it will just be flat and greasy-looking. I don't know why it would be, though, since I'm not greasy now.

This is supposed to be the "adjustment" period for my hair, so I'm curious to see how my hair does once my scalp gets used to not being stripped every day. Maybe I won't need to wash my hair as frequently, which is supposed to be good for your hair anyway.

And I don't think I'll try the vinegar rinse. I really don't want to smell like easter eggs, and I don't believe that it won't leave a smell. My stylist agrees. She can tell when her clients rinse with vinegar or beer. Sure, your hair is shiny, but once you get warm you smell like a bar.

Anyway, if you ever run out of shampoo, consider giving baking soda a try.

The New Cake Boss?

Atticus loves YouTube. He asks to watch his engine videos (12 minutes of a steam train leaving and entering stations in Wyoming, crossing bridges, etc., filmed with a handheld camera by some old guy), but he always ends up at the cakes.

Video tutorials for a train cake and a firetruck cake, specifically. He watches them with rapt attention. For the train cake they pipe a frosting track onto the plate. After watching them make two curved lines and add the cross ties, he got some paper and drew a set of tracks of his own. This was the first time he'd drawn anything other than scribbles. I was so impressed.

When he pretends to cook, he makes frosting. I swear there's a bakery somewhere in this boy's future.