she doesn't call, she doesn't write

More than two weeks since I've stopped in here to say so much as hello! That's a new record. Even my usual sporadic pace of blog-reading has been stretched to extremes, as those of you who received a comment from me some three weeks after the post in question know. It kind of cancels out the whole instant-gratification aspect of the internet... I mean, at this rate, I might as well go back to letter-writing. I have really been out of it (where "it"=the internet, that is).

We have been in the midst of some transition here in the ao neko household, nothing earth-shattering, but requiring some adjustments on everyone's part. J has been working more (a big job on the fast track through the fall – wait, I'm in denial that it's now fall, so let's call it late-late summer). Meanwhile, I am supposed to be working less, only this week I have actually been working more. Office work, that is. I also have a big job to do this late-late summer of the work-at-home variety, but my mother, who cares for Iris on my work-at-home days in exchange for meals, kisses, and the opportunity to hone her tantrum-defusing skills, is down for the count with pneumonia.

And wouldn't you know it, Iris has chosen now, this moment, this late-late summer, to give up her nap. Oh, I saw it coming. And I closed my eyes. But it came just the same. We are now, officially, sleepless in Pittsburgh, at least during daylight hours. Since the demise of the nap, Iris does admit that she's tired and ready to go to bed about an hour and a half earlier than before, but her parents are usually too beat by that time to do anything more ambitious than drink wine and watch another Sopranos episode on DVD.

So no, I've got nothing to show for myself in terms of creative pursuits. I don't even have a photo for this post. I've got a to-do list as long as my arm, but it's on hold, listening to endless repetitions of "Someday, Someway."

One thing I can cross off for now, albeit somewhat abashedly, is a bed cover for Iris' big-girl room. I was, of course, intending to make something, but still contemplating exactly what when I saw this. The price was right and so were the colors, which is to say it's pink but not so pink it denies that other colors exist, and I think it will play nicely with the dresser. So I took the plunge. I may still make something eventually, especially if I get her a duvet, which was the original sort-of plan. But the magic of online retail brings me effortlessly one step closer to having her room complete. I think that's called a quick fix.