Just two things...

Very seriously, two things have changed over the past few weeks that have improved my daily life in ways I am already tempted to take for granted, but won't let myself.

1) We sold the cloth diapers, which you already know.

Oh, my gosh! Not to have to do the wash every 36 hours! It's been WONDERFUL! Ironically, we ARE washing every bit of material (blankets, clothes, towels, etc.) we are moving over to the new place because we found some silverfish in our wintery stuff (which has sat around in piles for months since we don't have a true winter around here). But washing different stuff then putting it into bags is somehow different from doing the same 15 diapers day in and day out.

2) We changed from pine litter to lighter clay litter, but it tracked awfully, too, so finally went with an old-school, big, fat, heavy litter... and I'm only having to sweep once in the early part of the day and maybe once later in the day. It's SUCH an improvement over having swept six times by noon. Sadly, something is still wrong with Aish, but it might be mental, so there's not a lot we can do about it. The litter is helping a lot, though. It's heavy enough that she doesn't leave the box with as much in and on her fur. Once we move, they'll have new top-mount boxes, too. We'll see how that pans out. (See what I did there? "Pan"?)

As I mentioned previously, D has really helped at the new place, but Monday I let her sleep and then have the afternoon to herself while Mal and I went to work a bit and to wait on the washer/dryer that never showed up. Grr, sort of, but it ended up being a good day.

Look, Ma! No furniture!

We got over there about 9:00 and put up some pictures, then put together some bar stools and vacuumed (with our old cordless; we are waiting on the new new one to come in) and worked for about two and a half hours.

For the grandmas: See how close the bars are together and to the ground? It's baby-proof!
For everyone else: Check out the view from our patio!

After working hard, we got into the car for a drive. Mal needed a nap, but wasn't able to unwind to sleep in the apartment just yet. So we went to Sonic, where I parlayed my earlier work (walking up the stairs six times wearing a baby while carrying clothes and art) into a Chicago dog, fries, and then a waffle cone sundae.

Speaking of this: My post-baby weight is lower than it was before I got pregnant, and this was NOT the case when Daphne was eight months old. But my life is so different now. I have time to bike and walk, I'm breast-feeding, and the whole environment is less stressful. Still, I shudder to think what might happen when Mal weans. It's been a year and a half of eating whatever, and I'm sort of in love with it.

If you haven't heard the vacuum story, this is it: I bought a "new but the box is worn" Shark Navigator vacuum on Amazon.com. When it arrived at the new place, I happily upended the beat-up box and found the canister portion, the handle, the extender, a handle for the cordless we have, and the charger for the cordless we have. I did not find the foot of the vacuum that has the beater brush and wheels, nor the corner device, nor the fabric brush. I DID, however, find about a quarter cup of dust and grime in the canister.

It wasn't even that the vacuum had been used when it supposedly was new; it was that someone had used it, returned it, and maybe not even the whole thing, but someone had boxed up a bunch of random crap and sent it to me as a vacuum. I was beyond disappointed and although I got to return it, Amazon lost my business because there was no way to seek anything beyond the refund. So I bought a new, and more expensive, unit from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Fortunately, I had a 20% off coupon. It should arrive this week.

Then the washer and dryer. We ordered Speed Queens from Austex Appliance... which used to be in Austin and isn't anymore. First, the model I'd ordered wasn't available anymore, even though it was still listed on their website. Second, delivery has doubled since their website was updated, and since we're upstairs and it calls for 2 guys, that was another $50. Whatever.

Then, because of the floods, it wasn't going to be here when they'd promised. No biggie there; we don't live in the apartment yet, I told them. So we scheduled it for Monday. I had no idea when Monday, but the office opened at 9:30, so we went ahead and got to the apartment so we'd be there just in case it was an early delivery.

I called their office and the lady said we were the 4th delivery, so between 2 and 4:00. *sigh* I wish they could have told me that Friday and I would have waited to go later in the day. They said we'd get about an hour's notice.

Regardless, after lunch, Mal and I got to have a great time just playing in the apartment. I'd already done all of the work, hauled out the trash, and we were just together. He started getting restless after a while, so we walked the property. Holy cow, he's heavy. And it's very hilly. But the pool is beautiful. I sat on the edge and stood Mal in the 6 inch water, then put some on his white head.

Then we went inside to the office where he explored the billiard area and the common rooms. Then we headed back over, since my sister, Mackenzie, and Tian were coming by to see us. Finally, at 3:15, I called the office to see when to expect delivery. I live downtown, and I did not want to have to try to drive at 5:30. The phone was answered by the voice mail message, and after the message came this: "This mailbox is full and cannot accept any further messages."

This was the case for 45 minutes, during which time I called about 15-17 times. Finally, at 4ish, I headed back to the Nuthaus.

At 4:51, I got a call from the delivery guy. I told him no, we'd have to do it next week. I told him I couldn't get there in an hour at that time of day, and had explained that I tried calling their office to see what the deal was and to tell them I needed to leave. We'll see how that works out with the delivery, but if I don't hear from them by Friday afternoon, I will call back to reiterate that I can't stay all day in an empty residence for no reason.

Still, it was a nice break for Mal and me to get to hang out with no distractions (there's little, "no, no"ing in the apartment... except for my phone), and Daphne definitely enjoyed a few precious hours to herself.

Now, it's definitely time for me to get some sleep. Hoping the allergy pill I took half an hour ago kicks in soon!