if you don't have anything to say ... blog.

Generally I have a pretty good idea of what I want to blog about by the time the kids go down for their naps but today ... I do not.

(And now it's the night and lots of kind folks over on the Facebook page have given me oodles of post ideas so ... let's get ready to rumble with those very very soon).

But let's just run through the day realfastlike. Theo has yet another runny nose (I blame his staunch opposition to wearing hats out in the cold) and is having trouble figuring out that he has to switch to mouth breathing while sleeping even though I have explained to him in the greatest of d'tail ... so he's spent much of his nap being rocked and spoiled and rocked some more in the upright position. Wait. What's that you're saying?? That babies don't keep? Yes, I know but mommies don't keep their marbles locked up nice and tight unless those babies nap independently. Trust me.

Yesterday's trip home made Friday's trek look like a little frolic through Candy Land and I believe we'll all be emotionally recovered and speaking to each other again by mid-June. And SO the morning that accompanied the trip hangover was embarrassingly and laughable frantic as I faced a morning of getting the kids out the door to preschool (you call it glorified daycare - I call it preschool - you're probably right) followed by a race to fill the Odyssey's bone dry gas tank and to my OB appointment in a very small window of time with Firehose Nose in tow.

Small potatoes for many a veteran mother but the high for today was 15 cursing degrees and this kind of frigid puts this novice in a really rosy mood. I know everyone is sick of the interminable winter that keeps on giving and hearing people talk about the interminable winter that keeps on giving but really ... this winter is out for blood. A frozen blood slushie maybe but Spring 2014 is really jonesing for a raging welcome home kegger, isn't she? I'll host and I hate hosting things but I'll host big. I'll even host tomorrow. Or in an hour. I don't care - I'll love it.

I had to wait sort of a long time at my appointment which was fine because I don't normally have to wait and my OB always cheers about excessive weight gain rather than scolds which is probably the most important lesson you can learn in obstetrics (okay - within reason - but really ... hormonally charged houses don't need to be lectured on giving into a few too many of their cravings, in my hormonally charged opinion).

Theo scored a (generous) 5 out of 10 on the behavior scale so I rewarded him with a trip to the post office.

His favorite. 

And all of Saint Louis was in line to send 99 individually wrapped Valentines to their bevy of loved ones. I got myself, my two non-Valentined packages, and my whinepot of a child to the front of the line and WELL would you look at that? Break time for the Postlady. I really wish I were exaggerating when I report that there were at least 12 people behind me in line that had the pleasure of watching the "Grace gives Theo a toy/wallet/sippy/ and Theo dramatically throws it across the room and Grace retrieves said failed distractor and repeat and repeat again" show but ... no exaggeration here. And when another Postlady came out and opened up the other line and people tried cutting me and my errand rat you better believe I wasn't going down without a fight that may or not have involved bloodshed.

I won and no one lost a drop of blood and the rest of the day was just fine. Julia gave a ten minute report on her preschool friend's diaper deets and Sebastian (as usual) reported that he played with, "chrucks!!!" ...

I made a pretty run-of-the-mill vegetable soup for dinner and half way through the meal Simon politely and tentatively asked, "was there a recipe involved or just .... ???" .... trail off. My domesticity skill set knows no bounds these days or any days ever.

And now for a very important question .... we are two episodes into this season of Downton and does it get better? We used to be diehard .... when Sebastian was a baby we would watch as many episodes as our greedy little Downton paws could get a hold of ... in a row ... backtobacktobacktoback ... but now it lulls me right to sleep. We'll forge forward if you say it gets better ... it has to .... right?

I'm thinking - right. Absolutely right.