Ty napping in the park after flat tires

I  just noticed a little trend. Little things seem to be breaking all around. My watch battery stopped a few weeks ago, which is no big deal. So, I took it to the shop. Then they called and said, “Ms. Anderson, that will be $500 because it is completely missing the little crank thing (they did not say thing)”. Really, because it had the little crank thing when I dropped it off. I would have noticed the gaping hole in the side of the watch. No biggie. I went and picked it up and sent it to my old watch guy in San Francisco to be serviced. I can’t decide if I’m enjoying having no concept of time or slowly losing my mind.

My small point & click camera suddenly went kapowee. Just died, even though battery is fully charged. Pretty sure that small person in house dropped or threw it. Thank goodness for buying two year warranty, even though I didn’t know if it was worth it. Okay, it is. Two drops and repairs and it’s totally worth it. So, I’m stuck taking pictures with my old gen iPhone and my eight year old SLOOOWWWW Canon, which has a 1″ screen and is heavy metal. I really want a good camera, but probably not smart as long as small person in  house might throw it.

I decided to get the hell out of the  house with my son, Ty, yesterday. I loaded up a picnic, a blanket, lots of sunscreen and diet coke and headed out the door with the bike and bike trailer. Two blocks later. Oh, those tires seem a little low. Okay, sorta flat. No biggie. I walked to the bike shop about 5 blocks away and they pumped my tires right up. Of course, I realized that the tires were maybe ten years old and maybe I should get some NEW ones. Not much time lost and we spent the rest of the day, including toddler naptime and attack of the squirrels, in the park.

Got back home filthy and jumped in the shower to degunk. Now time for relaxing with something cold and legos. Knock knock knock. It is the maintenance guy for our building (at our temporary apartment). “Hi there. Just wanted to let you know that one of your car tires is about halfway flat. Looks like you have a screw in the tire.” Oh nuts. Okay, let’s deal. Since I can drive a little, we hop in the car and search for an actual garage. You know, where they sell gas and actually fix cars. I wasn’t sure if they had them anymore. Yea! There are TWO screws in my tire. 45 minutes and $15 later, we are golden.

Please stop breaking. Although, everything is getting fixed. Significant upsides to the story.

1. Sometimes warranties on electronics are totally worth it.

2. Awesome apartment complex maintenance guy. I would have walked out to a flat & had to deal with that AND a toddler.

3. I have an actual working garage in my neighborhood. What a luxury that I didn’t realize.

View from under tree where squirrels were attacking me.

I’ve said before that I’m not a great house cleaner. As much as I love Martha, I am incapable of channeling her. But, I do like to PUT AWAY stuff. The floor might be covered in crumbs, but I hate stacks of stuff. Even when they are staring at me and mocking me.

Now, I love reading Flylady every now and then, but I’ve never gotten hooked. Maybe I’ll try subscribing to her site to get motivated on the home front. But, I do have a secret muse.

Ingrid Bergman is my cleaning muse. I once heard Isabella Rossellini, Ingrid Berman’s daughter, interviewed. She was talking about her mom and how she was sort of a clean freak. Not in the Bree Desperate Housewives sort of way. But, she thought that every time you left a room that you should take something with you and put it up. That you don’t have to do major cleaning if you do a little bit at a time every time you move around.

I have really no idea why that has stuck with me for like ten years. But, when I’m getting overwhelmed by clutter, I chant “Ingrid Bergman” to get motivated to start toting things from room to room as I go through the day.

Ingrid Bergman is my girl this past week. House is staying a bit more clutter free than usual.

Image is uncredited photo from Wikipedia.

I’ve been trying to get back into a good rhythm for our summer. I’ve been doing lots of running around to prepare for our remodel project and have somehow slipped out of our good working schedule. Also, Tim is in China for 7 days, which means I’m trying to pace myself for long days with Ty. (Oh how I bow at the feet of full time single parents. You have my respect).

I did manage to get back to the gym three times this week. Yea! The gym is a fabulous place—FREE daycare! It’s easy to get motivated to go to the gym, but oh so easy to fall out of the habit.

I’ve been trying to get to the park once or twice a day for Ty. If he doesn’t get enough running around in, it’s hard to get him to settle down for bed. But, he is the pastiest child and all the sunscreen in the world doesn’t seem to prevent a little sunburn on him. I’ve been trying to find the shadiest Denver parks to minimize some of the sun.

One pic of the craziness that is my back yard…they just replaced the original sewer pipe from 1955. Yikes!

And, just a pic of my little guy at one of Denver’s parks.

We had a big weekend filled with house projects and a family picnic. The picnic was bombarded by crazy thunderstorms so we all moved inside. Luckily there were loads of little kids so my son, Ty, had lots of older boys to follow around. I’m grateful that we live near my husband’s family now and that we get invited to so many family gatherings. BUT…

But, I wish we had real friends here in Denver. It usually takes me a few years to meet really good friends whenever I move and I know it only gets harder with age (and family). My son isn’t in preschool yet, so it’s not like I have the mommy connections. I joined a mom’s group. Everyone is super  nice and pleasant. BUT…I haven’t managed to meet anyone who seems like they want to hang out outside of the scheduled playgroups. Also, to be perfectly honest, they’re so very nice, I feel like I’m editing myself to town down my silliness! I’ll keep going…maybe I’ll meet someone.

I’ve been hanging out with our architect’s wife. They have a 3 year old and I really like them all (mom, dad and little guy). We’ve been going to the park or pool or whatever about once a week, which has been so very nice. We met late this afternoon at the park for a “meeting” with the husband architect while the boys played. And, then we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. The boys were wild together and I loved it. I loved having another couple to hang out with. I loved that dinner wasn’t planned weeks in advance. I hope they like hanging out with us. It’s weird that I’m almost 40 and I’m getting this excited about making friends. I feel like I’m 12 all over again.

I always like to include a photo with my blog posts, but I seem to only take pics of my son. So, for the photo feature, here is my son at my in-laws reading his Elmo books in his favorite chair. I hope he continues his love of books for a long time.