Nanny 411

I'm glad to say that, today, we were finally able to interview and hire a nanny!! Yay!! I haven't heard when she will officially start, but it may be as early as one week from today (Nov 1). Looking forward to once again having a clean house (its been a while), having laundry done within a few days of it being dirty, rather than me trying to decrease the size of the heap throughout the week and never quite getting to the bottom of it. Looking forward to making (and being able to keep) appointments for myself. I've been needing to see the dentist since June (for a persistent toothache), but haven't been able to guarantee that I can actually keep the appointment, therefore, I haven't bothered to make one. DH has a very erratic, busy schedule and it can be difficult to make/keep appointments unless they are last minute. Looking forward to getting back on my treadmill - ok...so not the actual exercise itself, but the results (read: fit back into my jeans). Looking forward to doing some minor home renovations - painting the hallway, the den, the cement floor in the basement. Looking forward to planning a major reno of the kitchen for the summer. And I'm also looking forward to spending sometime in the company of other adults at DH's office....they have plenty of work to keep me busy.

It will take some getting used to to have someone living in our house with us, but I really do think its the best solution for us right now. My poor little man, E, won't have to spend so much time in the car withme driving his sister and brother to and from school...he can stay with the nanny and so what he does best - play, make messes, torment the cats and eat...in no particular order.

I'm not sure if any readers out there have any tips for us re: the nanny. I'd appreciate any advice, even if its just about employer/employee relationships and has nothing to do with having a nanny. I've been the employee plenty of times, but never an employer.

Gotta go put my two big kids to bed or they will be grumpy and tired in the morning.

Thanksgiving Weekend update

I haven't felt very bloggy lately....just kind of in a funk. Feeling a bit better after spending most of this weekend at Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls....the kids absolutely loved it! I think we spent more hours in water for one weekend than we ever have...including when we go on va-cay to the Carribean! Our littlest man was the most difficult to convince that it was time to get out of the pool...he even managed to go down a few of the smaller water slides...this boy has no fear :) We jam-packed our weekend with water slides, story time, arcade games, glutonous meals at the buffet restaurant and even a horse-drawn hayride on Saturday night. I do have pics that I will share as soon as I can get then transferred to disc from the disposible camera that I was forced to buy after forgetting the digital ;(

Speaking of pics, I have decided to go only semi-anonymous...meaning: some pics, some more personal details, but without 'real' names - letters only. House Mouse 1, my biggest boy (almost 5) will now be called "N". My girly, girl (almost 4) will now be called "T" and our little man, House Mouse 3 will now be called "E". (If you happen to actually know us in person, you're probably thinking that I've chosen such original pseudonyms ;) My hope in all this is that the blog will be a bit more interesting to those that have started to read it, yet at the same time, keeping things a bit protected. I really hope to keep this blog within the adoptive community only, therefore, don't mind sharing more personal details at times.

Back to this weekend's happenings....This afternoon, we spent some time at our local county fair...takes place each year during 'Thanksgiving Week'. It was quite unusual this year in that it was actually warm weather...actually, hot, uncomfortable weather for this type of event. Most years, we end up bundling up in warm jackets, sometimes even mittens and hats have been required. The warm weather actually changed the whole focus of the fair (for me, anyway). My main goal, since I outgrew the rides, has been to eat my way through the fair...seriously. Let me explain the annual event more clearly. I start out with one dixie dog slathered in mustard (painted on with a brush, actually) - Bryan's Dixie Dogs only! Then I make my way down 'greasy food alley' towards Bev and Suzie's chip wagon - THE best fries in town. Then I need somewhat of a thirst quencher, so its fresh squeezed lemonade at the booth with the big line-up (can't remember the name). After walking through a few of the buildings (chickens, rabbits, horses, commercial buildings etc...) it is nearing the time to go home (because some years there have also been slices of pizza, BBQ beef on a bun, giant kosher pickles and one time even an elephant ear added to the list!!). On the way our, I travel a very clear path - first to Laur's booth for a few sticks of taffy (blue raspberry and wintergreen), then to the cinnamon bun place for a few take-home bundles of sugar topped with more sugar. Next is the apple cider booth for a jug of something 'healthy'. It varies slightly from year to year (depending sometimes on certain cravings if timed at that special time of the month), but my take home stash has also included a candy apple or two and sometimes a bag of caramel corn. By the way, I've been reading about this 'new' eating disorder...something to do with 'overeating' or 'binging'....lol!! I figure its once a year and my diet starts tomorrow ;)

While at the fair, we did manage to see some old aquaintances,see some real characters (can you say 'barely a set of teeth between an entire carload of folks'?) and actually meet some new people. I finally had the chance to meet another adoptive mom from this area with whom I've been communicating with online for several months (hi JAJ!!). You would think that living in the same smallish town, we would have run into each other by now. It was nice to actually meet her and her family in person...her gorgeous girl reminds me a lot of my T when she was that age...ahhh memories. And her youngest son is quite the charmer....I think he and I could have had hours of interesting conversation...what a cutie :)

My little man...I mean "E" has decided that its not quite sleepy time yet...so I'd better go reintroduce him to his bed...but I'll try to post a few pics before I go....