Friday random

I just realized I haven't written Chloe's 6 month post. Or edited any pictures. Or thought about it pretty much at all. And guess what? OH WELL. I'm sorry Future Chloe. I really do love you as much as your oft-written about brother but adding you to the mix has made life busier. And me more tired. So so tired.

Let's see, what else is going on? Oh! We hired a new nanny/sitter/magician who is FANTASTIC. I kind of want her to move in with us and we can all raise the kids together. She's fabulous with the kids and knows how to handle me and does the laundry and the dishes and I HAVE NOT UNLOADED THE DISHWASHER IN TWO WEEKS. That right there is the best thing ever. She's taking the dog to the groomer next week and going to start experimenting with making Chloe baby purees. I KNOW. Are you totally dying of jealously right now? Too bad, you can't have her. She's miiiiinnneeee. Granted we pay for these services but when I walk in the door every day after work and don't have a pile of dishes staring me in the face or a million Legos all over the floor I send up mucho thanks to the powers that be (and a side eye to the Indian Hawk Guide). She makes being a working out of the home mother (to be PC about it) so much easier for me and it's worth every expensive penny. And she takes such good care of my babies. Obviously that is most important. But followed closely by the clean dishes.

Random segue but I read somewhere that the half ages are the terrible ones. It's like a wave where the trough is the full year age and the peak is the half year age and they're certifiably NUTS at the peak. Like little tiny maniacs. I believe this to be true with Noah. We just came out of a half year peak at 3.5 in Jan/Feb when he was a devil. He was defiant, mean, nasty, sassy, and an all around unpleasant little person. Not all the time but enough of the time to make me consider gypsies and front yard for sale signs. And then POOF! Almost overnight he became the sweet, kind, loving boy he used to be at 3. He's polite again, tells me I look pretty in my dress and is eager to please. I am going to ride this all the way until January when the evil half age version comes out again and I have to stop myself from posting him on Craigslist.

Another random segue...we signed up with Mint.com last week. I've heard mixed reviews but I was having a hard time sticking to our budget and couldn't figure out why. Well, now I know. It's FOOD. Holy hell do we spend a lot of money on food. With both Tim and I working downtown aka Land of Ridiculously Expensive Lunch Options we have been spending far too much on lunch. I also found out that Tim has a penchant for breakfast sandwiches/muffin thingies with large Diet Cokes in the morning and he has been put on notice. AND as much as I claim to hate grocery shopping I sure do spend a lot of time and money at Trader Joe's/Marianos/Whole Foods. Oh, and eating out on the weekends is a big chunk of that money. In summary, I am overhauling our food budget and attempting to get back into basic couponing and meal planning. Want to see our meal plan for this coming week? (It's just thrilling for you to come here, isn't it?)

Monday: Stuffed Shells
Tuesday: Coconut Curry Shrimp over Rice
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos
Thursday: Chinese Chicken and Broccoli over Rice
Friday: Pepperoni Pizza made at home
Saturday: eat out...maybe.

Now that I have sufficiently bored you to death, I am going to go eat this muffin that WORK paid for. Go team!

A little of this, a little of that

I know it's so annoying when bloggers say "I have something going on but it's unbloggable" but...I have something going on that is completely unbloggable and it SUCKS and is AWFUL and I am a ball of anxiety. No, no one is dying, no jobs have been lost, nothing irreversible but a major life issue nonetheless. I most likely won't be able to talk about it in this space due to the nature of the "issue" but please send any positive, happy thoughts my way if you have some to spare.

(My Indian Hawk Guide didn't tell me this crap was on its way. I'm putting in for a new Guide, perhaps one of the Eagle variety.)

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Gah. Anyhow. Moving on. Baby updates! Chloe is thisclose to sitting up on her own. Perhaps I should save that mile marker for her 6 month post but it's just too exciting to not share. We've been spending some more time together as a result of That Issue Mentioned Up There so we've been practicing her new tricks. I just want to eat her up and smooch her cheeks every chance I get.

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What's up with the awesome weather, Chicago? I fear there will be snow in May. I refuse to pack away the snow boots even though it is currently SEVENTY-SEVEN degrees outside and I am sweating in my house. Is The End coming? Should I be prepared?

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Tim and I just finished planning our monthly budget for this year and holy spendslot. On one hand it was a good exercise because it opened my eyes to just how much we fritter away on random shopping trips and eating out. I'm not renewing our Costco membership because each trip cost me $200. COME ON. I'm avoiding Target like the plague and ordering any disposable goods online. For example, I went to Target to buy diapers today (with coupons no less!) and left with diapers, two summer outfits for Chloe, two outfits for Noah, random crap from the Dollar Spot, a new wrinkle cream for me and pots for summer plantings. The only thing I needed on that list was diapers. Sigh. It looks like April and May will be our No Spend Months. Now I know why I complain about not having money...Target and Starbucks ate it all. 

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Me: Noah, what's your letter of the week?

Noah: W!

Me: What's a word that starts with W?

Noah: Wine!

Me: Whine? Like what you do before bath?

Noah: No! Wine! Like what you drink in your fancy glass!

Me: Errrrrr...

Noah: Can I have some?

Me: NO. 

Annnddddd, goodnight!

If I was religious it would have been Hallelujah all over the place

I have many things rattling around in my brain space. Things like an overdue five month post for Chloe, pictures to upload and edit, a monthly meal plan that I want to try out to attempt to make dinner-time easier, discussing a new volunteering thingy I've recently started and very much enjoy. But instead I am going to steal ten minutes from my work day and tell you about the strangest thing ever.

It begins with last February, as in a year ago. Without getting into all the horrific details we had had a rough couple of years in the self-employment sphere and Tim was putting feelers out there for a salaried position. This decision was really hard for him to make and he wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. One afternoon during this time of major deliberation, as he was pulling the car into the alley behind our house, he happened to look up and saw a HAWK perched on top of our neighbor's fence. The hawk was just staring Tim down and Tim was taken aback by it. By the time Tim pulled into our garage and walked back to the alley to check it out, the hawk was gone. I haven't done any research but my guess is that it's not all that common to spot a giant hawk in the middle of this big city. Let alone a giant hawk chilling on your fence.

The next day he was offered a lucrative, salaried position with a former client of his, precisely when we desperately needed it to happen. Tim credited his "Indian Hawk Guide" and considered him a sign of good things to come.

Fast forward to this past Wednesday. I was getting Noah unbuckled and out of the car so we could pick up Chloe at her sitter's house. As I turned around I happened to look up and saw a HAWK sitting on a condo balcony across the alley. And, yes, he was staring right at me. What made me look up and behind me? I had no reason to do so but I did and he was there. Just watching me. I immediately called Tim and our conversation went like this:

Me: HAWK! SPOTTING! What the...???
Tim: Shut up. What color is he?
Me: Gray and brown. And BIG.
Tim: That's MY hawk! You know this is totally a sign...
Me: Of what?
Tim: Dunno.
Me: Thank you for your insight.

I'm sure he then ended the conversation with some ridiculous comment like "Patience, little one" and then I hung up on him. Anyhow. I gave the hawk a stare right back and went inside to pick up the baby. By the time we got back out, the hawk was gone. Poof, vanished.

Then today happened. Today we received final confirmation that Noah got a coveted spot in the (FREE!!!) preschool at our neighborhood school for this coming fall. We needed that spot so badly and it happened. I also found out that I got the raise I asked for as well as a bonus above and beyond what I had expected. We needed that so badly too and it happened. I'm really grateful for today.

I'm also really grateful for our Indian Hawk Guide who clearly shows up right when we need him to. Both times we spotted him we had good fortune come our way. Now if only he showed up the next time (only time?) I play lotto. Mama could use a HUGE windfall.