The Best Laid Plans

The thing about having an electronic calendar is that you have to put stuff in and check it for it to be of any use.

I got a phone number that I was going to jot down on a piece of paper in my purse, only I don't have any paper in my purse because I don't carry a calender anymore. So you geniouses are saying--type the number into your phone, dimwit. Alas, I was getting the phone number off the internet on my phone and my phone was acting up as it was because I was at Hoover which is one of those buildings (like the courthouse downtown) which is mostly impervious to the signal.

Luckily, as I valiently tried to deal with this issue, I noticed that I had a message and I was able to go outside the door of the classroom--holding the door with my foot, (it's a good thing I don't allow my students to use their phones because if they had taken a picture, I shutter at the thought), anyway, I was able to call Jim to find out that I needed to go to court this morning and what the case was about, phew.

So I am trying to put the court date into my calender on my phone (with my foot on the door) and I see that I am supposed to be at another appointment at 9:30 and the cable guy is coming at 7:30 and now court is 8:30. I am an amazingly adaptable and capable person unencumbered by humility (I got that from Austin--I love "Pride and Prejudice"). I can do this I think. It was just like the morning I've already had. I had th cable guy scheduled for 7:30 and I had an appointment at my office at 9:30. What is one little court appearance in Glendale--a blip. I can handle it. But just to be on the safe side, I made sure to input it in my calender. Then I went back into class and found a piece of paper to write the phone number I wanted down and put it in my purse. (I think that piece of paper will just have to live in my purse in case I need a piece of paper again. Paper doesn't weight much, right, but I digress.)

Thursday morning, the cable guy was an hour late, so if they were going to be an hour late on Friday as well, I would be in court. So the first course of action was to find someone else to let in the cable guy. Check. The next course of action was to call the person I had an appointment at 9:30 to let him know that I would be late. (I had the phone number and I was going to court in Glendale, not cell phone hell) Check. Next I had to make sure that I woke up early enough and was quiet enough either to not wake Caitlyn up or to have time to get her settled so that I could get out the door. I was quiet enough and she didn't wake up or she wasn't at our house, so Check. I had to get to my office to get the file and get to court, find a parking space, get to the courtroom and still have time to read the motion that I was appearing on. At the office, I had a message that my 9:30 appointment was cancelled. Check.

Cable guy is done now, court is taken care of and I'll reschedule my 9:30, but the real question is should I put home repair and cable guy on my calender in the first place. I need to know all my appointments and notes (such as the month that I am the bulletin chair for Kiwanis), but my calender sincs to my office and my secretary and my assistant. Do I really want them knowing when I get my nails done? But I need to write all that stuff down, because I often overextend myself (the price of having no humility whatsoever). Alls well that ends well this morning, but what about tomorrow: class at 8, hair at 2:30, still need 20 hours on class project, taxes, lots and lots of taxes need to be done, Adam's computer, laundry, and keep open lots of time to be available to jiggle babies--Matthew expecially likes to jiggle and Madilyn likes it too. Wait, today is Friday--we have cookies at the office on Friday. I should write that down. Gotta go before all the cookies are gone.

Something to Write About

Gee, 401 posts and I've run out of things to say, but wait. What is new at my house? What cries all the time? What comes in two? What is everyone I know always asking me about? What am I always describing as beautiful, when if in fact they are not even close to being pretty? What is beautiful?

The twins, of course. [They can be beautiful without being attractive or even cute, thank goodness.] So whenever I am home and Marisa is home, sooner or later I get a baby to hold. They love to be held. Well at least I think that they love to be held, because if you don't hold them, they scream like bloody murder. Their poor little (teeny, tiny) eyelids get all red--their whole bodies arch in rigid distress. They are pretty young, but they are very good at making Aunt Kathy want to hold them and rock them until her arms and back give out.

My big, deep dark secret [that I told Megan one year when she lamented not knowing any secrets] is that I don't like babies. Never have. Sure, they smell ok right after a bath, but otherwise, pee ewe. I have changed many diapers in my life--I'm that kind of "take charge, not afraid of the dirty work" Aunt, but it doesn't mean I like babies. They are so much work. You can almost never tell why they are crying. There's no talking them into a good mood. You can't turn on a good movie to entertain them. Singing is hit or miss at this really young age (and my throat hurts when I sing anymore, so that's out). Toys don't work yet--it's not like you can read them a good book. At this age, they don't even consistantly like their binky.

So at two and a half months, the twins are still a little bit of a mystery to me. I hold them. I feed them. I change their diapers (although I am more likely to turn them back into their mother when they've made a deposit). I wipe up spit. I jiggle their car seat. I put them over my shoulder and rub their backs and pat their bottoms. I cradle them in my arm and make funny faces at them. Nothing. No smiles. No curious looks. It has got so I'm happy if they are not terrified and I can settle them down to just being a lump.

Then yesterday, I had my first breakthrough. I was holding Matthew. He had just had a bath and wasn't hungry. After I calmed him down (from being extremely put out over the bath thing), his eyes started to droop. He was calm and I laid him down on my bed and he fell asleep. Man, I hated to pick him up again to put him in the bassinet, but I had to get to work. Of course he woke up, but I had him asleep there for a few minutes. Last night I was holding Madilyn--that is a very tiny girl. She has no happy expression on her face in the least. She is always tense. But I fed her and burped her and changed her diaper and then rocked and rocked and rocked. Pretty soon, she was very calm and sleepy. So was I by that time. So I laid her on my shoulder and laid on the sofa. Then I repositioned her so that she was laying on her side on my stomack. She was off in the most peaceful sleep and I was not killing my back or shoulder. I didn't fall asleep, but I was very comfortable for a change. After a while, Caitlyn ran in and she wanted to be up on the sofa too.

I am getting pretty good about juggling--getting Caitlyn what she needs (or any little thing she wants) and holding a baby. Caitlyn's cuteness and adorableness is 700 times that of other children, so she more than makes up for Matt and Madi's lack of cuteness. But gosh, they sure are beautiful--well, when they are sleeping anyway.