Quick 5

Warning: this Quick 5 is being written with a severe case of vacation brain.  Please adjust your expectations accordingly.

1.  Joya is more 2 than Alaina ever was.  She has destroyed two big, sturdy cardboard toddler books, along with a few other traditional paper page books.  She figured out a way to chew on the blinds next to her crib.  Yesterday I found that she had unloaded an entire box of Kleenex into the toilet.  And every time you ask her what she's doing, she'll call out, "Nufing!"  I think I'll be a little more diligent in looking for gray hairs.

2.  I had my glucose tolerance test this week.  It always seems to mark a big milestone in a pregnancy.  The ladies at the lab made fun of me for how fast I chugged that nasty juice.  My theory is, once you start it don't stop, because then you'll really realize how gross it is and might not be able to choke the rest down.  They all wanted to see me with a beer.  I didn't have the heart to tell them that I've never chugged a beer in my life.  (My test results were normal, in case you were wondering.)

3.  Whose bright idea was it to buy a house?  We've lived here less than six months and we've already had to replace the motor on the a/c, replace a spring on the garage door, and have the furnace serviced because it wasn't working right.  Apparently the furnace was the dirtiest one the guy had seen in 30 years.  And he said that he hoped he got there in time, because we were dangerously close to have the motor burn out on that one too.  I suppose this is a lesson in "You Get What You Pay For."  Because of all this, our lovely dead dead dead pine tree stands tall and brown in our front yard.  Every time we think we have the moola to have that puppy cut down, something else pops up.  It's like the tree has nine lives, only it's dead.

4.  We leave for Kansas City tomorrow.  I'm ready for a week away.  But I'm also slightly dreading the drive, since the last time we drove across Kansas Alaina puked the whole way.  We're hoping that the smoother ride of the van makes it easier on her tummy.  Regardless, I am packing an entire car sickness kit: towels for her to sit on, paper towels, plastic grocery bags, wipes, two extra changes of clothes and ziploc bags (which make excellent barf bags.)  She will also not be allowed to have any dairy products for the duration of the drive.  Mostly I hope we don't need any of it.

5.  I'm afraid I'm not feeling very thankful this month.  I've caught myself rolling my eyes at all the daily thankful posts on Facebook, and I know that this attitude of my heart is very wrong.  Really, it's been a crappy month, and no one seems to care.  But I read a book once where the author noticed that when Jesus did miracles, thanksgiving always preceded it.  So, even though I still don't have warm fuzzies in my heart, I am thankful for many things.  My healthy three girls, my husband and his job, the fact that we have money each month to pay our bills, and my electric blanket.  Maybe the warm fuzzies will come on vacation.

Happy Thanksgiving, all.