Quick hits

Thought I'd take a quick break from writing for pay to write for nothing. Not a whole lot of excitement around here lately, but things are good. This suddenly gorgeous fall weather meant we could leave the windows open day and night until a few days ago, when it started getting really quite chilly at night. We're a little more careful about the temperature of the house now that there's Claire to consider too. I do love open windows, though, especially when it was raining so much last week -- it was like sleeping outdoors.

I finally am done with that stupid dresser (except am still waiting on the pulls to arrive) and have learned it is not that easy to paint white over fire-engine red. After coats of primer, a white I didn't like, beige, more white I didn't like (how and why are there so many shades of white?!), and accidental crackle from an insufficiently cleaned brush, I wound up just using our trim paint, a good creamy antique white. It's oil-based, so our whole garage smells like paint, which I don't necessarily mind, and our kitchen smells like paint thinner from cleaning the brushes. Hopefully tonight we'll move the dresser into the house and then I can actually park in the garage again. I like how it turned out and will try to remember to take pictures.

Speaking of tonight, Matt and I get a date night tonight thanks to Terry and Dan! Very exciting! We're going to kick it off with a Business After Hours featuring Amy's new cupcake catering company, The Cupcake Bar, then head to dinner, place TBD after we see how many cupcakes we eat.

I don't want to jinx myself, but Claire is doing fantastic in Mom's Morning Out. I think she might actually be over the hump (until the next round of separation anxiety, which apparently hits around 18 months). When I drop her off she wiggles down from my arms and starts playing, which I realize doesn't sound like a monumental achievement, but if you've had a kid with separation anxiety you'll understand. This morning she didn't even acknowledge my saying goodbye. It felt great.

OK, back to a little more "real" writing before I have to pick her up.