Nick and I have a date tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes...I think I really like him. ;) We're going to the matinee of Surrogates and a nice restaurant for lunch while Alex and Beth look after Emma. Sounds like 3-4 hours of bliss to me!
I made a huge chocolate cake today. Just trying out a new recipe, but it's three 8" layers with my favorite fudgy frosting. You know how some people say, "Oh, that was the alcohol talking."? Well, this was my uterus baking. It was obscene. I'll see if I can get a picture up. I also made a yummy lamb curry.
I'm working on a chest of drawers for the baby. I bought one from the Salvation Army for cheap and thought I could fix it up. Little more involved than I originally thought... I bought a palm sander, which is wonderful, and I don't know how I lived without it. To sand out some of the damaged or discolored areas brings that area down to a lighter color than the rest, so I'm trying to get it even. There may be no wood left at the end of this project! The bottom was water damaged, so I took off the decorative front, and we'll cut off the bottom inch of feet. Diane's husband, Joe, made a replacement for the facade. Nick's going to attach moulding for the decorative bevel edge. Then I'll stain it all to match. The chippendale-style bail pulls left an impression, so, in the end, whatever pulls I use will have to cover the original hardware area. Hardware is more expensive than I could have imagined, so, all in all, I figure I could have saved a lot of work and bought a really nice dresser from the antique store I love for the price of re-doing this one. Oh well, this is one lesson I keep learning over and over again. I'm such a cheapskate that I nickel and dime myself! And there is no reward in the project itself. This isn't a hobby for me, so the flaws of the finished project will shout at me. But, it will do, and it won't be in my life forever. We hope to finish up tomorrow.
Emma did the cutest thing at bedtime tonight. When I'm calming her in her crib I rock her side to side palming her bottom and work my way up and down her back. Like patting, but more rocking and light rubbing. So tonight I put her in and turn her onto her belly and she started rocking her bottom back and forth! And she said ni-ni, for night-night, with my exact inflection. It was unbelievably cute. Plus, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but she can give kisses now. When she kisses Nick she giggles because of his stubble. It's the best. Nick said when she was upstairs with him in her one-piece jammies, she was trying to put on shorts that were on the floor up there. He asked her if she needed help and she nodded emphatically like she does these days. So when they found me for bedtime she was wearing jean shorts over her red-striped long johns. Another priceless moment. Lately I've been enforcing that bath time is Daddy time, and she gets really upset right up until the bubbles and her new doll go in the tub. Then she's all smiles washing baby and playing with the bubbles. We love the Burt's Bees kind that smells just like the lotion, milk and honey.
Plans for Hobbs at Thanksgiving are now in the works. Thurs: Cloudcroft; Fri night, Saturday and Sunday morning: Hobbs; Sunday afternoon and Monday morning: Carlsbad Caverns; Monday night: Silver City; Tuesday morning: Gila Cliff Dwellings; Tuesday night: Home again! This will be our biggest RV trip yet. (Les and Doris have a really nice one and they are travelling right now up the CA coast!) If anyone has advice on our destinations or things along the way please write. I'm thrilled that Nick can take some time off and hit the road for parts unknown (to us).