The following is brought to you courtesy of a very strong pot of coffee. My apologies in advance for any caffeinated rambling. I’m not in control of it.

Dash has been running a fever on and off for the last few days and is now waking up roughly every half hour through the night. Awesome. We think he has some more teeth coming in, resulting in much drool, fever, and need to be in mommy’s arms every moment of every day. Again, awesome.

And the moments he’s not in my arms, he’s walking around the house getting into the cabinets and bumping his head. Yes, that’s right, he’s WALKING. It started last week and it’s come in fits and spurts ever since then. I’ll save you the math- he’s only about 10 months old. Is that early? He seems pretty excited about it. Hmm… maybe that’s what’s causing the fever?

Anyway, fever boy is sleeping it off (for now) so I have a few blessed moments with my coffee and a stack of things to do. Must wrap gifts. Must pack up HappyDashery goods and Christmas gifts for family out west and head out to the Post Office (should be fun, what with this being prime holiday shipping time, yay!). In stark contrast to how I usually procede through the day, I’m going to keep my To Do list to a bare minimum to accommodate the Dashster’s feverish needs. Also, let’s be honest. This was the last of the coffee, and I don’t think I can do anything more than what’s listed above without passing out.

But if by chance I do pass out, I hope I land somewhat near our Christmas tree. I really love it this year. We decided to go with a short tree and put it up on a table out of reach of Dash. Strangely, we’re lacking in tables so it’s on my hope chest. Right at Dash’s level. Good plan, eh?

Anyway, I love it.
And that’s all just to tease you because I can’t seem to get the pictures up right now. Grrr….

Here’s the flickr link to satisfy your curiosity until I can figure out this problem.

Also! My new favorite place to hang out and get my vintage Christmas groove on? Vintage Christmas 1945-1970. You will not be sorry.

Can I just tell you how happy it makes me that someone:

A. did an internet search for “puddle jumping,” and
B. that it brought them to my site.

That’s so cool.

Just for you, puddle-jumping pal, I promise to talk more about that. And maybe even show some pictures. That’s how much I love you.

And gifted me with this little lovely:

A nearly brand new 5.5 quart Le Creuset dutch oven in a lovely appley green. I’m in heaven!
Just in time for the stews and braises that will keep us well fed and warm all through the winter. Time to go scour the cookbooks and head to the grocery store. Anyone have any can’t-miss recipes for me?

Guess what. I have a date tomorrow night. A handsome man asked me out for dinner and a movie and I said Yes. Total score.

Considering this is our first date in something like nine months I probably don’t have to tell you how much I’m looking forward to it. Dash will be home with his Granny and Nana, well cared for, so Neil and I can have sexy grownup time. Did I just say that? Well, come on. You know what date night means. We’re all adults here.

Speaking of that…

Since we’re all adults and a lot of us have had kids, we all know that bodies kind of change after a pregnancy. Yes? Not just me? Thanks. So even though I’m back in my old jeans and feeling pretty good about my waistline, I still decided to go out and buy some Spanx (or the Target version of Spanx cuz I’m cheap). Essentially, I want everything in its place and nothing in particular sticking out. Not unreasonable, I think.

So I bring home a size small (small, YAY! and also, FORESHADOWING!) and bring it upstairs to try on with my chosen date dress. A dress that still has the tags on it, hanging all lonely in the closet, waiting for my body to return to me so it can be worn. It’s your lucky day, dress! I’m coming for you.

You know,this probably won’t be all that funny to anyone who’s worn these before, but imagine my surprise and amusement when I opened the box and found this little number:

What’s that, you say? You don’t think this photo adequately shows my point? You don’t see how ridiculously tiny this body shaper actually is?

Let’s try a little experiment.

Here is the very same body shaper snuggling up with a favorite pair of Dashiell’s pants.

Size 3-6month INFANT pants. Size small ADULT body shaper.

So the body shaper is longer, but its waist is most definitely smaller than that of the infant pants. Fascinating!

Anyway, if you see me out on the town tomorrow night with a big smile on my face, man on my arm, and the waist of a nine-month-old, say Hello.

You know it’s November and I just realized that I never shared my new beautiful incredible wonderful pantry that I’d been begging Neil for ever since we moved in. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that my life has completely changed.

Quick reminder for you what the “pantry” looked like before.

And now…

The new and improved pantry. Keep in mind the limited photography skills and the very dark day we’re having here right now.

“Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me…” Courtesy of Neil and Home Depot, I no longer have to look at a counter full of random food. That’s right. I can now pile other random crap there any old time I want to. And I do.

[if i told you how many times i just typed ‘panty’ instead of ‘pantry’ you would laugh heartily.]

This seems like a good time to share with you the crazy organizational kick I’m on right now. Label label label. Watch out for I will label you with my label maker if you get in my way.

I don’t know. Maybe I thought I might look at this jar someday and wonder just what those oat-like things are? You can never be too safe. Or too dorky.

A truer label was never created.