Thoughts.

It’s the middle of the week and again, I’m struggling to find something to talk about on the blog. My good blog fodder (at least pictorially) comes from our weekend antics. If I took photos of what happens to me during the week, it would be just endless photos of strangers on the Metro and then endless stacks of papers and a computer screen at work.

Some things I’m thinking about this week:

1. Au pairs are generally contracted to work in the US for one year, but they can renew their contract for an extra year. Things have been going so well with Yvonne, that we asked if she wanted to stay another year. For various reasons, I was optimistic that she’d stay another year, but just last week, she told me after seriously thinking about it for a while, that even thought she loves America, she needs to go back home. So we are in the process of finding another au pair – targeted arrival of mid-May.

2. My new year’s resolution is to wear more jewelry. I found a stash of mine in a plastic baggie over the weekend and I’ve organized it into ice cube trays (earrings) and a small plastic bin (bracelets and necklaces).

3. Edda, at 46 (!) pounds is getting really hard to get in and out of the car. Actually, getting out is not so bad (you kind of lift from her armpits and drag at the same time), the getting in is harder, you have to curl her body and lift her so she clears the car seat and then tuck her tushy into the crook of the car seat. So getting in means that there is a moment that she’s 100% airborne and 46 pounds is a lot to keep off the ground. We are looking at purchasing a minivan with a seat that swivels out. We spent a recent car ride thinking of vanity plates for the new minivan and so far “MINIVAN” is the front runner.

4. Jeremy is attending an MIT alumni lecture tonight. Tonight’s topic “Energy Supply: Use It or Lose It”. I read in today’s NYTimes that MIT is no longer teaching 8.01 in 26-100. (For non MIT folks, that translates into “no longer teaching freshman physics in the large lecture hall.)

5. Edda’s IEP meeting/placement is coming up soon. ‘Nuff said.

6. Jeremy is planning on biking into DC for the inauguration. Someone is going to drop him off at the C & O canal and he’s going to bike the 10-15 miles into town. Apparently, he’s reserved a space at the “valet biking” service downtown. All the bike blogs are saying that the city will be so car-free that it will be a bicyclist’s heaven! I think I’m going to watch it on TV. Maybe.

7. We got the first real heating bill of the winter a few weeks ago. Just about fainted – we’ve been spending about $20 a day on our electric/gas bill. I can’t write the full number down, it gives me the willies, you can figure it out. We are zoned for heating and cooling, meaning that the upstairs bedrooms are separate from the downstairs. The main expense was coming from heating the upstairs rooms at night. In response, we bought a room heater for the kids and then dropped the nighttime temperature in the house to 50F which is so cold, you don’t want to get out of bed at 2 am to pee. Now every morning when I wake up and walk into the kids’ room, it’s like a little slice of (warm) heaven. Jeremy and I talked about maybe we should move into the kids room during the winter. (If you are coming to visit, don’t worry, we’ll turn the heat up just for you!)

8. O.A.R. went to my high school! Donald do you know them? I know, I know, they’ve been around for YEARS, but I just learned about them about 7 days ago.