Treat Yourself

When I shop on Amazon and see something I may potentially buy, I add it to my "Wish list."  However,  just because it's on my wish list does not mean it is something I'm wishing for.  It just means I didn't want to forget what product I was considering.

The dining room in our new home has carpet.  A word to the wise: Carpet in a dining room is a BAD IDEA!!

We've been in the market for some sort of splash mat to put under Porter's chair because babies, food, and carpet do not mix.  We eventually decided to get an office mat to put under his chair.  Apparently I need to clean out my wish list because Amazon is sending me tempting emails to treat myself to splash mats.

It's just what I always wanted!

Lucky Us

Last Sunday, Nate made a delicious dinner of lemon chicken, brown rice, and peas, covered in a homemade bechamel sauce.  Lucky woman?  Yes I am.

We had some brown rice and sauce left over so Nate decided to make himself some hard boiled eggs to go with it in his Monday lunch.  He started the eggs and when they began boiling I turned the water down to simmer.  Then we both settled back to relax and enjoy our Sunday evening.

Around 6 PM we got a text that my nephew N was born and at 6:40 we got the go-ahead to drive to the hospital to see the baby.  So I gathered my camera and we made the one-hour trek to the hospital.

N is beautiful.  Enough said.  We hung around long enough to watch him get his first shots (pitiful!) and his first bath in the nursery.  We visited with my sister and brother-in-law and even got to hold the little bundle.

Baby N, about 2 hours after his birth.

Then Nate said, "Katie, did you take the eggs off the stove?"

You can imagine our horror when we realized neither of us turned the stove off.  Nate started calling neighbors to see if they'd check on the apartment but nobody answered. ("What are they going to do anyway?" I asked.  "Watch it burn down?")  He finally reached his dad, who was about 20 minutes south of our apartment and who agreed to go check out the situation. (When we got home and met him, he said, "I don't know what I was going to do, other than watch it burn down.")  Did we try the complex's emergency line?  Yes.  No answer.

We rushed home without getting pulled over  and we booked it into the apartment. The water in the pot had completely cooked off.  Amazingly, the pot was fine as were the eggs.

Lucky us?  Yes indeed.

Sprinklers

I dodge sprinklers.

It is quite a dash, I assure you.

First of all, let me begin by saying my apartment complex is nice.  The buildings are newer, the facilities are clean, and the grounds are well tended and maintained.

My apartment is on the ground floor.  The door opens to a breezeway which, at the end of the building, continues on (uncovered) as a winding sidewalk leading circuitously to the clubhouse and my goal: the workout room.

For the first few weeks we lived in the new complex, getting to the workout room was a breeze.  Open door.  Turn right.  Follow the path to the clubhouse.  Easy as pie.  I only paid slight attention to the wet sidewalk.  "Did it rain?" I'd ask myself, the thought leaving as quickly as it came.

Cut to two weeks ago.  5:12 AM.  Open door.  Turn right.  Follow the sidewalk...stop.  Water was shooting across the path, blocking my exit from the building.  My first inclination was to turn around and go back to bed.  No way was I walking through sprinklers to get to the gym.  Pause.  (It was 5:12 AM.  Things require more time to process that early in the morning.)  The voice of reason chided, "You're not seriously going to let the sprinklers stop you.  What a lame excuse."

Well, I certainly wasn't going to run through the sprinklers, either!  I glanced back at the enemy to plot my next move.  The sprinkler rotated.  As it arched, it generously watered the sidewalk.  So glad we're keeping our sidewalks healthy and happy.  We sure don't want any part of them to shrivel up and die.

I decided to run down the sidewalk when the sprinkler rotated away from my building and follow the path the opposite direction, where I would then backtrack to the clubhouse.  Good plan, right?

Yep, except for as my eye followed the path I would take, my jaw dropped.

All of the sidewalks were being watered.

Bed was looking better and better.  And then...

I blinked.  The path to the gym was clear as all of the sprinklers rotated away from my building at once.  All I had to do was run, in a diagonal line, to the clubhouse door.  Straight through the grass.

Yep, that's right, folks.  If you don't want to get wet from the morning sprinklers, avoid sidewalks and run through the grass.

So now, if you happen to drive past my apartment early in the morning and see someone sprinting through the yard you know what's going on.  Open door.  Turn right.  Dodge sprinklers.