It is the simple things

There are small things that just can make one's day. For instance, I just finished folding some dry laundry. The key word here, folks, is dry. Yes, I have a dryer!! Most people wouldn't get too excited about having a dryer, but I haven't had one (or one that worked properly) since August 2003. The lovely Bosch dryer arrived today, and I wasted no time setting it up. Dry clothes in under an hour -- woohoo. At our last house, we had a horrid contraption known as a washer/dryer. Basically, that means the machine neither washes your clothes very well, nor dries them very well. Talk about frustration. I can't wait to wash my towels and have them be all soft and fluffy. I realize it isn't very environmentally friendly of me to get so excited about something that uses up so much energy, but London just is not a dry enough place to hang out your laundry to dry.

Enough about that.

Elsa is still working on getting over her stuffy nose. Part of the problem seems to be that she's working on her two first teeth and I remember that teething always gave Anna a runny nose. Maybe the same is happening to the Chubster. She really seems rather miserable. Poor little one.

Other simple things that make me happy:
- hot, milky tea on a rainy day
- biting into the perfect apple - crispy, juicy and a bit tart (rather than mealy, dry and sweet - yuck)
- when Anna and Elsa sleep until 8:30 (this doesn't happen very often)
- Elsa's bear hugs
- reading bedtime stories with Anna

I wonder if I'll get any trick-or-treaters tomorrow?

Happy Halloween ... early

We went to a Halloween party today. Not much exciting to report from the party, but here are some pics of the girls.

Stuffy

Minus Carlos, we've all got colds at the moment. I feel like my head has been stuffed full of cotton balls (or cotton wool as people say here). Anna had a tremendous amount of energy today despite the fact she had a torrent of snot flowing out of her poor red nostrils. She ended the day by jumping in her bed like a maniac for 10 minutes. I got exhausted just watching her. Elsa is also all boogery -- probably from the fact that Anna is always touching her. She was not quite as energetic as Anna today, but still pretty feisty. Elsa really really wants to crawl, but all she can manage to do is push herself backwards. I don't think that's going to cut it for her.

Executive Summary

With the new house, Anna starting school, Carlos traveling constantly and me trying to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I just can't keep up!

House: Loving the new house, but the 50 steps from top to bottom are literally kicking my butt. We've still got a bit of work to do on it, and now have a bit more after a pipe burst in the ceiling of our family room while my mom was visiting.

Carlos: He's actually in London this week. Poor guy has been traveling like it was going out of style.

Anna: She's a hoot. Ever since she started school, she's full of funny things. The other day, while my mom was visiting, she went upstairs to get something from her room, and told us: "You stay here people". !?!?

Elsa: Now 7 months and 20 lbs. Very juicy and delicious. The only problem is that she's teething and reaching the separation anxiety phase so she's not sleeping all that well. It stinks to go from having a good sleeper to a bad sleeper. I really hope this phase passes quickly.

More details and photos to follow!