Up (What is)

Ordinariness abounds.
Mr Renn's school is cancelled tomorrow in anticipation of another snow-dump-day.
(Thus we cannot find it in us to dislike this snow).

Our obnoxious plastic transition-to-walking toy broke this morning. So after institute this morning, we visited the thrift store where I found a push-cart that weighs twice as much as the captain and will probably outlast me, (as well as a cute rocking chair with a really drippy paint job). All for under $8.

Mr Renn's going to kill me when he gets home. We are supposed to be de-junking.


Sir O managed to plow into the floor last night as he was running in footed pajamas in the kitchen. Somehow or other he jammed one of his front teeth further into his gums and out-wards a little. Mr Renn says there is a chance it will correct itself, but didn't didn't seem nearly as distressed as I did. I always resent that a little.


And Sir O has taken to playing with my hair. Always a party around here.

little tender mercies

A funny thing happened today.

I'd had my eye on this little slide on display out in front of the second-hand store for over a week. (I recognize that it's a big hunk of brightly colored plastic, but as you can see it was a hit, as I suspected it might be) I finally stopped yesterday to look at it, and was really bummed at the crazy price-tag. I couldn't justify it. I drove home all pouty, thinking of how much fun sir O would have had with it. I was also thinking, "Well, that explains it's still there after a week". After chatting with my visiting teachers this morning, I decided to head back and try to talk the price down. If you know me at all you find this hilarious, because I've never talked my way into any sort of a good deal or situation. My powers of persuasion are, um lacking.

Lo and behold, as I pull into the parking lot I see I big "50% off" sign plastered all over the slide of Sir O's dreams. It is the slide of Sir O's dreams because it can be played with in our apartment courtyard, then brought inside to save it from abuse from some of my less-favorite neighbors. I snatched it right up and brought it home. Sir O still prefers eating dirt to playing on his new slide when he's outside, but it comes in a close second (baby steps). Plus all the other little kids seemed to like it too, bonus. Someday Sir O will appreciate my attempts to boost his popularity. Until then, there's a heap of brightly colored plastic to show I tried.

nothing really

Not the most exciting day of my life, but that's okay. You need days like that so that the exciting days seem more exciting in contrast. If you are looking for poignant writing, I'll defer to Jeff, who just updated his blog with many many good thinkings.

I did a lot of napping today, which is good. My insomnia has been out of control lately. As you can see, Sir Oliver was not so keen on napping. Which is too bad, because Mr Renn is trying really hard to study for his finals.

But on the bright side, I had some random success at the thrift store today. I was looking for a small pot to put in our 72 hour kit, and stumbled upon these beauties. A food mill and a mini-doughnut pan, all for less than $4. Now I'm off to try a baked doughnut recipe.

Wish me luck!

ETA:

doughnuts are great! Although I learned in 3 batches to fill them more than halfway, and that 16 minutes is plenty baking time.

bonus

I found these black chandalier light fixtures at Voldemart for $6 each. Since the "designers" of our apartment complex didn't see fit to have any built-in light fixtures (brilliant, no?).... we have been left to our own devices for light. I like the drama/contrast of this, and I'm working on ideas for a shade for the actual light bulb..... the wheels are turning.

I will not be living in a poorly contructed, poorly designed apartment forever, but most days it feels like I will.

On a lighter note

Loving winter clearance sales today, especially at Target. I got Mr Renn a slew of shirts for under $5 each, and I got Sir Oliver a snow suit for next winter for $3.
Makes me feel like a better wife and mother.

And for a brief moment the normally contradictory spheres of household finance and family wardrobe coordination are in perfect harmony.

buttons, bells, and whistles

Mr Renn and I just switched cell phone providers in order to get on my parents' family plan and save $10/month. (No stress- our phone numbers haven't changed). In the process we also got new cell phones for the first time in.... well....

They weren't exactly bricks we were carrying around, but we sure weren't cool and confident whipping them out in public.

I'm blown away by how much phones have changed in such a short period of time. And I, sadly, am no tech-savvy lady. I fall faster and further behind every day. It will be quite some time before I figure out how to do everything my new phone is capable of. And by then... well, the phone I have will probably be old and uncool again. Who can keep up with this stuff?

A wee rant - I'M IRKED

So I thought I should gather together a respectable church-y outfit for Sir Oliver to wear to the wedding tomorrow.
What a joke.
I think perhaps the people who design, manufacture, distribute, and stock the shelves of baby departments are entirely inexcusably sexist. Do you know how many stores I searched and how many racks of ruffles and dresses there were for the ONE rack of vest-with-tie outfits I found (at Voldemart of all places). And I absolutely failed to find a decent pair of non-tennis shoes, preferably in black, without flowers or rhinestones - at least in the stores I dared enter because of my price range. The entire baby clothing department is 80% girl. And baby shoes are even worse. Target was the worst culprit, with a 9 to 1 ratio of girl shoes to boy shoes. How is a mama supposed to keep her boy looking respectable with the odds stacked against her so? Where the heck are all the boy clothes (that aren't plastered in basketballs or dump trucks) hiding?

And so Sir Oliver's going to look darling tomorrow, but his shoes will look rather out of place, and IT ISN'T MY FAULT.