Home Repair

I have a lovely old lamp from my childhood. It's white and yellow painted metal, with flowers. I've used it for years, and we decided to keep it in the nursery for Clementine. So we relocated it to the changing station and plugged it in. It flickered briefly, then went out. Well, it's an old lamp, so we figured the wire had a short in it.
Last night Dale went to considerable effort to redo the wiring and finally got the lamp to work. We had to get rid of the night light feature due to space restrictions, but that's not a problem. It's not really in the best place for a nightlight. We took it back to the room with great ceremony and plugged it in. Nothing.
So the plug we used was covered with a baby proof plate. I suggested that the plate was too thick for the plug to make contact, so we switched the plate (after all, the plug is behind a heavy piece of furniture). Still nothing. That's when we figured out the real problem. The plug we're using is back to back with a plug in our office. The office plug stopped working a long time ago, thanks to Duchess' regular baptisms in urine. Her pee not only ruined the office plug, but seeped through a ruined the nursery plug! Dale ended up replacing both plugs and now it works. Too bad we didn't think to check the plugs first!

The on-the-go mom

Dale and I were talking the other day (which is always dangerous), and we came up with the best idea! We were discussing how I plan to buy a backpack diaper bag, because I'm just not OK with loading up one shoulder. Additionally, I plan to use a baby carrier (the kind that goes up against my body) as much as possible, because I also don't want to lug around a giant car seat. When your back is as touchy as mine, doing an uneven load like that (bag on one shoulder, carrier dangling from the other arm) is just a bad idea.
So there I'll be, a diaper bag behind me, a baby in front of me. How could I get more done? Well, they have these lovely hands free breast pump bras. The idea is that you can attach the bottles to each boob and go about your day, as in the picture below:

But since I'll be running around with a baby in front and a bag in back, I need somewhere else to store the bottles. Enter our invention! We will convert a beer hat into a bottle hat - the pump will directly deposit my milk into a hat on my head, a hat similar to this!

Are we geniuses or what?

Memories of my Grandmother

I just wanted to take a few minutes to write some happy memories I have of my grandmother, my mother's mother.
I remember once when we were visiting them in California, she asked me what I wanted for breakfast. I was very young at the time, probably only 5 or 6, and I wanted a Coca Cola and peanut butter on crackers. And so she made it for me! That's a great Grandmother!
I remember how she used to recite poems, in great dramatic voice. She knew so many poems. She also had a drawer full of knick-knacks - gifts from students. Often she would let me go through the drawer and take an item for my own.
Then there was the year that we all went to Abilene for Christmas. We can never forget that, mostly because my brother ambitiously recorded a lot of it on video. I remember at one point during that trip, my Granddad was talking about how he and Grandmother met. And she interrupted him every other sentence! It was very funny to watch.
After she moved to Knoxville, the first time Dale and I visited her in her house, she offered us food and coffee. Dale observed how very grandmotherly of her that was, to press food on us. She was a good cook, and I remember her cookies and pies well.
She was a good grandmother. I will miss her, but I'm glad that she is at peace.