Just call me Gimpy and other bulleted news

• I am still hobbling through life. I just read on some medical website or other than broken toes can take up to 10 weeks to heal! WTF? That puts me right into the hectic holiday season before I can expect some normalcy back in my life?! Not to mention the fact that my footwear of choice right now are two pairs of sandals that offer support without constriction in the toe area. It's bad enough that I'm getting nowhere in my weight loss and am stuck in E.W. but now I am headed for total Geekdom when I start wearing socks with my sandals to keep my feet warm as the temperatures start to plummet. Nice.
  

• Stinkeroo (aka Little Miss E) has figured out how to get past the temporary fix that Rick put on the gate to keep her from Choking Hazard Central (aka the girls' bedroom and playroom). It lasted just over two weeks before she figured out how to lift the latch from the top to open the gate and make a beeline for 'forbidden land'! As a second temporary fix Rick used a zip tie to attached a heavy duty elastic to the latch thus creating more tension that would be too hard for her to lift while still be managable for the older two girls. Last night when he had more time he replaced the elastic with a metal spring that creates a similar type of tension to the latch but is less likely to break. So far, so good. The girls are still able to work the latch but E has not been able to keep enough upward force on it to actually get the gate open. But, I'm worried that we have the next Houdini on our hands and I pray this fix lasts longer than the last one....particularly since chasing her down the hall 100 times a day is not fun with this damn toe!

• I went to book club last night for the first meeting of the fall. We had a very good turnout - a lot of familiar faces as well as one newcomer for a total of 11 women. The book we discussed was "March" which is a fictionalized account of a fictional character (follow me?). It is the story of Mr. March, the fictional father of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and the husband of Marmee in "Little Women". The author of this book wrote about the life experiences of Mr. March up to the point when he returns to his family after being away at war for a year. Most of those in attendance enjoyed the book but felt that it stood apart from the book that inspired it. We had some interesting discussions about race and gender relations, the Civil War, truth and honesty, and idealism vs. realism. The facilitator, Eleanor, also did some background research on Louisa May Alcott's family and that added another dimension to our discussions that was facinating. As Eleanor said, it was a case of "Will the real Mr. March, please stand up" as we discussed the two very different fictionalized accounts to Mr. March and how they compared to the real-life inspiration of Alcott's father. I am looking forward to reading the book for next month "A Walk on the Beach" which is a memoir written by a woman named Joan Anderson about her accidental meeting of and subsequent friendship with the wife of the famous psychoanalyst, Erik Erikson.
  

• The sleep deprivation that was rampant around here this summer has finally started to wane. I have E on a pretty decent nap schedule of 10-12ish and 3-5ish and she goes down for the night around 8:30 and sometimes manages to sleep through the night until 6:30. Other nights, she is up once around 4am but she will nurse for a short time and I can put her back in bed awake and she will drift back to sleep. The older two have gotten mostly out of their night-waking rut as well so Rick and I are getting some decent sleep most nights. That alone is a huge blessing to be thankful for! I am no good without my sleep. I feel like a horrible mother and wife and I hate myself when I am cranky, out of sorts, disorganized, and depressed.
  

• For some reason I've been procratinating on getting A's skirt sewn up. I have all the pieces cut out and waiting but I just haven't found the spark of motivation to do any sewing in the last week or so. I had some time this moring but did I work on it? Nope. I spent the hour or so free time browsing the web and writing my blog. Maybe I'll find some motivation this evening after the girls are in bed. We'll see. I also need to find the time to get up to the quilt shop (that is closing at the end of the year - unless she finds a buyer) to find some fabric to make a quilt for A and use the gift certificate I got for my birthday. Not sure when I'll find the time to hobble over there since it's not along the paths that I travel daily. Oh, and speaking of quilting/crafting, I met a few new mom/crafters when I sat in the waiting area during A's gymnastics class yesterday. One mom (actual a grandmom) was working on a needlework project (plastic canvas...not something I enjoy but I always have to check out other people's handiwork), another mom was knitting a gorgeous yarn into a poncho for her daughter, and a third mom was making a fabulous ocean-themed wall-hanging out of batik fabrics for her son's room. It was great to chat with all of them about their projects and I was kicking myself (with my good foot) for not bringing along a project to work on during that 'free' hour. Next week I'll be sure to bring something portable along - knitting or cross-stitch...or maybe I can get the mom who is making the quilt to teach me how to do applique quilting! She and I already talked quilting for quite a bit and she is trying get me interested in going for a quilting weekend on the Cape in March! LOL
  

I guess those are all the bullets for today. I need to get E up from her nap a bit early because it's time to pick up A from preschool.

Until next time...