my neighbor teran

A few houses down from lives a little girl named Teran. She and her friends play outside on the sidewalk quite frequently. In fact I have become quite paranoid that someday they are going to ride their bikes behind my car when I'm backing out, which has made me more careful lately.

Anyways, Teran and her friend Vanessa ride their bikes up and down the sidewalk, up and down our driveway and back again. I think they are between 8 and 10, I'm not good at kid ages. Last month during our garage sale they came by and asked if we had any free stuff for kids. We gave them a flag with a skull and crossbones on it. I didn't think they'd want it initially, but they immediately began some kind of pirate game in the back of dad's truck.

Awesome.

Then they came back with a handful of change and bought Kari's german candy. And they scored Kari's historic National Geographic collection. We hoped their parents weren't the type to be offended by nude photos of the Bushmen. (Bushman? People of the bush? You know what I mean.) Not sure what they did with the magazines, but I'm sure it was something good. They seem to be quite the team, those two. Vanessa is the bold one, and Teran is more shy.

Yesterday they came up to my front door and sat for about a minute arguing over who was going to knock on my door. I could hear them. It was hilarious. Eventually the more courageous Vanessa did, and announced that Teran had something to ask me (since I was her neighbor, after all).

Teran did not.

Vanessa, matter-of-factly: "She wants some water."
Me, surpised: "You don't have water at your house?"
Vanessa: "No, we're all out."
Me: (laughing) "Ok, hang on."
V, shouting after me: "Can we come in your house?"
I return with two cups of tap water and explain that I'm working, but they can drink on the front porch here.

They look at the glasses.

"Don't you have any bottles?"
"Nope. Sorry"
"Okay" and after one more doubtful look they drank as fast as they could from our big tall adult glasses. It took them a while and then they finished with a gusto, "AH!" and a big grin.

Me: "Was that a race? Who won?"
Vanessa: "ME!" and she hands me back the glasses. "Thank you!"

And they're back to their games.

...

Today they came by again (about 1 minute after I pulled in the driveway...) and we repeated yesterday, with the addition of a snack request. They especially like cheese, but I'm all out. Strawberries are also good, so I give them a little bowl. They mow them down hungrily. I tell them they can just leave the cups and bowl on the porch when they're done. They still want to come inside but I'm holding my ground on this. They are amusing but I have never met their parents, so I don't want to piss anyone off or end up babysitting for the rest of the night. Water and snacks, I hope, are ok. I am afraid I am setting a precedent, but it's more fun to be nice.

I remember going over to my neighbors and hanging out with them when I was about their age. I suddenly remember that they let me hold they newborn son when I was only nine. Were they nuts? It was awesome. I loved being inside their house and babysitting. But that house was tidy and ours is really, really not. In fact the last child I had in my house made sure to point out LOUDLY all the spiderwebs I haven't gotten around to sweeping up. :-D

...

They finished all the strawberries and 1 glass of water. I refilled the glasses with some ice and put out some more strawberries in case they get hungry again. Just in case.

My head is like a pressure cooker and the little whistle thingy is broken. This is why I have to yoga. I'm not always eloquent but I'm getting more bendy. Kind of.







Yes I'm using yoga as a verb. Go with it.

kicked out of my own kitchen!

Usually when Erich kicks me out of the kitchen, I like to think that it means he is brewing something delicious for me to eat in a few minutes. He often does this on special occasions. It's an extra good sign when he gets out the mortar and pestle to grind herbs (like he is right now).

But usually it is just because he doesn't want my inevitable 'help' in whatever he is cooking. Two cooks in the kitchen is too much!

Signs you've been trying to conceive for too long

You find yourself thinking "man that's good mucus". Wistfully. Because we're not trying this month.

All you temp-ers and NFP-ers know what I'm talking about. The rest of you think I'm weird, but I'm okay with that.

I've been gone for a long time. Normally I would have deleted my last couple entries and continued like they never happened, but I'm not going to do that. We lost the baby about a month after my last post. Three months later I got pregnant again and (again) lost the baby. So the last 7-8 months have been really hard.

But we're carrying on. Waiting a few more months before trying again. Enjoying old-school (read: non-hormonal) birth control and realizing why everybody else is on the pill. Doing a lot of yoga. Trying to enjoy the here and now.

and right now (taken from a few of my favorite blogs) I'm:

...listening to my husband tell me about how's he's sad the love of the main character of his most recent audiobook died. He's so cute.

...grateful that it rained today so I can't mow the lawn

...looking forward to my sister(in law's) wedding in a few days

...letting go of my irritation with a coworker

...vowing to get up early enough tomorrow to do a proper yoga practice before work

...laughing at myself because I know that I won't

...loving the handmade coffee mug I drank from this morning

...thinking happy uterus thoughts for Annie, Sara, & Jean. muah!