Little Things Lately

This morning I loaded up the kids and took them to Angel stadium, so I could pick up baseball tickets for my husband. I anticipated a crowd, but I did not anticipate a crowd that merited wristbands and a several hour wait. After nearly three hours, we came home, ticketless. Last year I went on the first day of ticket sales, and there were maybe three other people there. This year people had chairs, blankets and picnic lunches. Good grief, Albert Pujols.

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I’m on my second batch of Catherine Newman’s 5-minute bread, and I love it so. It’s easy, the dough keeps in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, and each batch makes three loaves of bread. It’s so satisfying to watch the dough rising on the counter in the afternoon, and to be able to serve fresh bread with dinner. I’ve made it with half whole wheat and half white flour, and also with 100% white flour. I’ll let you guess which I enjoyed more. The wheat version was good, but definitely wheat-y.

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My house, you guys, is so, so clean. From the girl who has made a lifetime of annoying parents, roommates and a spouse with my lackluster  housekeeping skills, this is saying something. I really want to be able to tell you that I’m doing it all with baking soda and vinegar, but that just isn’t true. I’ve tried, but I’ve yet to find something that will actually clean my shower without simultaneously killing many brain cells with the fumes. I have switched to as many environmentally friendly cleaners as possible, but my shower, with it’s floor of one inch white tiles, remains a chemical filled mystery. I’ve also embraced the Magic Eraser as the cleaner of all things that appear uncleanable. My stove? Microwave? Soap-scummy shower door? ALL SPARKLING with relatively little effort.

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A post I wrote about sleep last year was run by Daily Buzz Moms today, and I had my very own It Gets Better moment. I honestly don’t remember those days, when the pre-nap ritual took up to an hour and was so filled with angst. I don’t want to say too much about Bubette’s sleeping situation for fear that it will all fall apart, but things are going well. She takes one, rather long, nap, and sleeps 11-12 hours at night with relatively little to do before getting into bed. In fact, she waves and says “bye bye” when we leave the room, and my husband even taught her to say “peace,” as we’re leaving. We leave the lights on, but dimmed, in the kids’ rooms when they go to sleep, and then turn them off before we go to sleep. The other night I popped into her room about 45 minutes after putting her in bed and she was still awake, but laying down, “reading” a book, and I very nearly died from the cuteness. She’s a mini-me!

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About five minutes after someone mentioned a new app, Draw Something, on Twitter, I had it downloaded and had ten games going. I’m addicted, but I’ve played so much that I keep getting repeats of the same words. If you’re playing I’m mamabub, and you could be treated to artistic gems like this:

Come on and feed my newest obsession! It’s available for both iPhones and Android devices, so we can all play. (Other current game obsessions include Where’s My Water and Scramble with Friends (I’m themamabub there because someone had already claimed my name.)