Random Bits and Pieces

1. I love all things that involve organization. My supervising professor in grad school one day told me my spiritual gift was organization (This was a compliment coming from a professor whose tests' layouts involved a specific planning process with a certain amount of spacing between items and carefully constructed boxes around questions so that answers would be neatly contained.). Because I love organization, I adore The Container Store. I can look for hours at their carefully constructed closets, pantries, and mud rooms. The Container Store is currently having their Spring Sale. On Wednesday Isaac and I swung by and picked up a few things. The first was their various sizes of lingerie boxes (currently $2 off original price). These make excellent storage spaces for baby socks, onesies, pjs, and burp clothes and prevent one's dresser from becoming an explosion of baby clothes. I used these in Isaac's dresser and now Evelyn has her own set. We also picked up another clear storage bin because Isaac's puzzle collection was overflowing it's original container. These clear storage bins are great for children's toys with a variety of pieces because they are clear (Isaac can see what is inside), they are sturdy (Isaac loves to sit in the larger ones and be pushed through the house), and the lids snap shut tightly (Isaac can't open them on his own, which prevents too many toys from being tossed around the living room). If you are out and about this weekend, peek into your local Container Store and find some great buys!

2. Our new sand and water table is officially open for business. Being the intelligent parents that we are, Tobe and I left the 40 pound bag of play sand outside during the rain last week. Oops. Currently the sand in the sand table is a bit damp, but you can make some groovy sand castles with it. Isaac is quite thrilled with this new outside toy (he was actually quite thrilled with it during the week it resided in our living room with no sand or water in it and he had to pretend to dig) and often takes a shovel over to Bunny so he can join in the festivities (By the way, Bunny is not actually our pet nor does he reside at our house full-time. There is some confusion out there involving this little hare. He rotates between a few homes in the neighborhood throughout the day. He often visits us from mid-morning until early evening.).

3.I trekked out to our local Wal-Mart last night around 8pm to pick up some necessities for the weekend. I prefer to make such trips by myself or with Tobe when it happens to be just the two of us. The whole experience is much more peaceful without Isaac, even though he happens to be a great errand companion. Although I was fortunate enough to be alone, there were quite the number of parents with small children in tow completing their own shopping. I know some of this is out of necessity, but I still wonder why people have young children in Wal-Mart at 9pm at night (Yeah, I was there a long time.). The sight that shocked me the most was the one year old riding happily in her mother's shopping cart drinking a 22 oz soda fountain drink from QT. It wasn't the occasional sip to keep her pacified either---I believe this was the child's personal drink. Oh dear.

4. Speaking of QT, guess where Tobe and I ate dinner last night? QT. After he arrived home from work, we began talking about our respective days and lost track of time a bit. I was also feeling a bit "blah" and was contemplating leftovers rather than the shrimp pasta I had planned to cook. We decided to go ahead and feed Isaac and then pick up a small bite to eat for our own selves. Somehow we ended up feasting on a hot dog (me) and taquitos (Tobe) in the parking lot of this fine establishment. Sounds a bit disturbing until you have visited our local QT (it is quite nice and incredibly clean) and have tried their food (pretty tasty). Our particular QT is next to a storage building facility and we noticed a few men parking their cars in the QT parking lot and walking over to the storage facility. Tobe guesses that they most likely live in one of the units. I immediately felt disheartened that someone had to live in a storage unit, but then wondered why they were living in this particular storage facility. Our local QT (and its neighboring storage facility) don't actually reside in our hometown but in the neighboring suburb which is much more expensive and ritzy (Thus, the nice gas station). These men could likely get a better deal on a storage unit if they would simply relocate about 5 miles down the road. (Truth be told, I hope they don't have to live in any storage facility and our guess about their residence being located at these units is wrong.)

5. Yesterday, Ink-Ink had to have his teeth brushed, socks put on, fed goldfish, and be "rah-rahed" (This means be "rock-rocked" and Isaac has to join in the fun as well. The three of us are quite a sight as we attempt to fit into the glider). Poor Evelyn. I think she has just lost her first sibling battle over a toy. (Don't know who Ink-Ink is? Check the post below.)

6. Because it is Friday....here is a video of Isaac chasing Bunny on Easter. Enjoy! (Random Tip: Never purchase a home whose front yard is shaped like the state of Florida. You can see our "peninsula" in this video--not fun to maintain, my friends.)


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