In case the title of the blog hadn't clued you in...
...I really love lilacs. They remind me of spring time, of my grandmother's house once the snow was gone, of playing in her yard, which was smaller and less substantial in every way than my parents' yard, but made better by novelty. They remind me of my cousins and the glory days of childhood. They remind me of the bitter sweetness of my grandmother's elderly years, her gentle decline into Alzheimer's, and those last few moments before we moved her out of the house she'd lived in for many, many years.
The lilacs are blooming in Vermont. I had been riding the bus to work for the past three weeks, and one of the reasons I was loving my bus rides was that I could open the windows near me and breathe in the sweet fragrance of the lilacs all through Chittenden county. They're almost too sweet, aren't they? They dance the line just near cloying -- but for me, they never cross.
Unfortunately, my bus rides have been canceled, at least for awhile; Mom's taking care of Lucy for us, so that I can work, and she's too tired at night to bring Lucy back home; it's completely idiotic to ride the bus all the way from Burlington to Essex, just to turn around and drive back to Burlington. I was getting home at 7, after leaving the house at 6am.
So I'm back to having a huge, depressing carbon footprint. :( I'm currently driving a 99 Taurus that my father is kindly paying insurance/any bills on for a year. I'm researching cars for next year, something that won't cost me $200 a month in gas (it's an estimate, don't quote me). I love that there are fuel efficient sub-compact sedans that are actually safe. I'm torn between the Chevy Aveo and the Toyota Yaris. Next time I bring our Focus in for an oil change, I'll quiz my mechanic, see what he thinks.
Meanwhile, my sock knitting has also been cut into severely. This, just after I'd signed up for that Summer of Socks thingy. Oh well. I'll survive, I'm sure.
Other than that, I'm just having a whiny Friday. I'm tired, Lucy didn't sleep more than a couple hours at a time after I went to bed, and I'm thinking of starting to transition her to her crib, to see if maybe she's one of those babies who sleeps better on her own. That means I have to clean the laundry out of her crib. Sigh. It was so much easier the other way, but even if it means that I nurse her before I go to bed and get up a little earlier in the morning to nurse her again -- I think I'm encouraging her to wake more frequently in the night by being there to soothe her back to sleep.
I do have the common sense to try out this little plan of mine over the weekend, rather than on a weeknight, when I really need the sleep.
Other whines include: I hate pumping, I hate people who don't listen, I hate bills, I hate money, and I hate clutter. However, I have to/am willing to live with all of these things, given that I have very little choice on some of them.
My LYS is having a huge sale this weekend. I suspect that will cheer me up immensely. :) I'm going to get yarn for at least one sweater for me, at least one sweater for Lucy...after that, we'll see what happens.
Much love to all of you.
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7 comments:
Well, hello neighbor! I'm in Essex. Yes, the lilacs are beautiful. Someone keeps fresh ones in our ladie's room at work.
If you have a choice, do not buy an Aveo. It's a little cardborad box on wheels, IMHO. Yaris has better airbags all around, as far as I remember from researching last year (have yet to buy). Better everything.
Take care and cuddle that Lucy for me.
You had me taking in the lilacs too; thank you. Beautiful.
I certainly wouldn't worry about your car. It's another thing you have very little choice on, especially at the moment.
You do what you can. My husband drives to work every day even though we only live 4 km away and he could walk there in half an hour. He's just lazy that way. But we never fly anywhere, we compost, recycle, are conscious of energy use, and try to teach our kids the same principles.
Every year we make more little changes to improve things...the car is something that you need for now. You can change it later, when circumstances are more favourable.
As to the sleeping, I have kids like that too. My four year old still gets up twice a night. The first time I can put her back in bed with her sister, but less than an hour later she comes in with us.
From what I've heard, you can count on a sleep transition taking about a week or two, depending on the personality of the child and how consistent you can force yourself to be.
I, myself, thankfully never had to bother with it...
I love the new look to your blog. My dd has brought in lilacs for the last two weeks, so our home has been filled with the scent. I LOVE it. It is heavenly, just the right amount!
It's hard getting them to sleep on their own, the only way we could get our first one to do it was because I was pg with the second one and he was already 4! The second one took much longer. I know it's do-able though and my thoughts are with you as you make this transition.
For what it's worth, I absolutely love my little Yaris. I can generally fill up my tank for under $40 (remember, this is CA) and that'll last me between a week and half to two weeks, depending on how many other errands I run after work (like to the local fabric stores).
Ug. Me. Boy. Me talk cars, not flowers. :)
Throw another support for the Yaris, when I went through a spot of car trouble I started looking, and the Yaris, for a small commuter call was about perfect for what I wanted for my 30+ mile (one way) commute. I have no clue what size Rob is; but me, sitting at 5'11" and 250 fit into it comfortably. No clue on longer drives.
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