Monday, July 16, 2007

A Week of Blunders


Last Tuesday I attempted to make rice. Probably among the simplest of cooking skills, rice has often been disastrous for me. (Note the time I made dinner at Lauren's Aunt's cabin. "What? You have to measure the amount of water?...I thought it was like pasta.") I set the pot of rice to boil, forgot about it while trying to stuff Elijah in the Baby Bjorn, and headed outside to repot Eric's new office plant. When I returned upstairs our entire house was filled with thick, nasty smoke. It was by far the worst smoke accident I have had in this house. The air was so thick I started coughing and my eyes were burning. I turned the burner off, threw Elijah on the couch, ran the pot outside, grabbed Elijah and the boppy and ran downstairs. Of course, it was time to feed Elijah when all this happened. So, I sat in my car, air conditioning running...in my driveway...with smoke spilling out of my open door...and fed my child.

The temporary downstairs neighbors have not tried to befriend us, perhaps because these incidents are not uncommon. Or maybe because when I carry Elijah upstairs in his carseat I have to clomp up the steps.


Last Thursday I cleaned the couch. Our twenty year old couch was a gift from our friend's friend when they remodeled their house. It never was attractive. Nevertheless, we are very thankful to have a couch. The cushion covers seemed like they needed a good cleaning, what with the recently-acquired spit up stains and the dirt of twenty years. I removed the covers with great effort and washed everything...three times. Then I dried the covers with a little dryer sheet thinking about how pleasant it would be to sit on our clean, fresh-smelling couch. Twenty year old covers should never be washed unless you want a shredded feel to your couch.

When Eric came home he started adjusting the couch cushions. I said, "NO! I have them the best way possible." Our couch is a little beyond help at this point.

Eric is glad I can stay home and take care of things around the house.

In other news, Elijah is doing well.
Elijah practicing sitting up:
Elijah sleeping with Daddy:

Elijah sleeping just like Daddy:

Elijah dressed for church:

Elijah trying to find his thumb (done successfully for over 30 seconds this past Sunday!):

This week I will attempt more home improvement projects, hopefully yielding better results.

2 comments:

Hilary said...

What a cutie! Is it okay to call boy babies cute?

I shudder to think what will happen when I have a house to keep. I'm glad you can share your experiences in this very entertaining way, though. Maybe I'll be able to avoid the shredded couch syndrome. I one time ruined a pot of water I was boiling for some tea. Who can mess up a pot of water??

n8 said...

lydia ... i am cracking up because your post implies that you have had more than one "smoke accident." also, that tax deduction onesy is awesome. i havent gotten to itemize my deductions yet, but maybe one day ........