Done Iscreaming

So last week I was home for 6 whole glorious days. And it was just great. I got to be with my parents, spent quite a bit of quality time with my sister, and obviously bonding time was had with Rubix Cube. Oh Phebe and I were trying to come up with fun nicknames for Ruby other than Rubes and Rubester and we came up with a few..Roo, Rubix Cube (pretty proud of that one; it definitely has stuck), and Rhubarb Pie. Yes, the last one was a stretch but it just worked at the time.

So anyway, whenever I get home, everyone, including me, thinks of it as, "yay, Jaquelin is home, let's eat ice cream every single night." So, as usual, we did that. The 3 of us were able to polish off lots of half gallons over 6 nights. I'm not going to share just how many to spare any embarrassment anyone might have, but let me tell you, WE DID GOOD.

So I got back yesterday afternoon and thought to myself, okay self, no more ice cream for awhile because you are what you eat. Seriously, my feet started to fuse together into a cone shape...kind of like mermaid style except it looked like a cone. Thankfully I went running just in the knick of time so I was able to keep both feet separated. But whew that was close. Another time in VT I opened up the freezer door at the store to get 2 half-gallons (because why would I only get one? actually, one time I did that and I got the shaft from my family members) and I felt this weird sensation like all the ice cream was telling me I belonged in there with them. Weird. I know.

So anyway, I was given the task of making my friend an ice cream cake for this morning so I did, thinking that this was it. I would make myself a sample to the side (you know, I had the huge dish for the cake and a small tupperware aside and I'd say, "first layer of oreo crumbs for the team, first layer for me...next layer of vanilla ice cream for the team, next layer for me....you get the idea), eat that, and that would be it. But NO. The cake was huge, there were only 4 people there to eat it this morning, including me, and the birthday boy was "being smart" and not taking it home. So "yay me" I got to take it home. There is a HUH-YOOJ dish of ice cream cake in the freezer. Waiting for me to eat it irresponsibly. Like, for breakfast lunch and dinner and snacks tomorrow. Watch, I'll do it. I will.

AND I have several different gift certificates for ice cream in my possession. Some with expiration dates coming up soon. WHAT DOES A GIRL HAVE TO DO AROUND HERE!?!?

I'm done iscreaming. I need to start broccoli-in'.

Nothin' Stops Her.

I continue to be in awe of my sister post-Ruby. There are 4 distinct examples for your reading pleasure. I will explain them in order of their occurrance since Rubes' birth.

1. The day after Rubes was born we did what any sisters and infant would do. We had a photo session together. Me, Pheebs, Rubes. Nothin' stops her. 

2. When I sort of kiddingly asked her if she'd like to come see me in Massachusetts for a weekend (we do this often but I assumed that what with a human life depending on her, she'd opt out) she said, "oh yeah, your roommates would really love that," to which I reminded her of my crazy housesitting responsibilities. She spent a long weekend with me and Rubes and Nema (Arabella's grandma name) in Massachusetts. Nothin' stops her.

3. While she was visiting, fortunately the house had a pool, so we were able to take FULL advantage of that situation. Even before I did this, out of the blue, she ran full-speed up to the pool's edge, jumped in and yelled, "CANNONBALL!!!!" I hands-down gave her a 10. This is 3ish weeks post labor. Nothin' stops her.

4. The Best Moment Since Rubes' Birth. Last night we had a lovely early celebration for my birth at the Olive Garden. We were driving afterward to the grocery store (for obvious reasons: ice cream) and Ruby was quite upset because she was so hungry. Phebe and I were in the back seat on either side of Rubes'. So we wouldn't have to stop, like normal, boring mothers do, she took off her seatbelt, yanked out a boob, leaned over Rubes, and fed her. Meanwhile her face was right next to me and she says, "So Jaquelin, how was the drive?" My father connected the emergency access of the boob to Rubes to the oxygen masks that pop out of the ceiling in airplanes in emergencies. I laughed so hard I was crying. Nothin' stops her.

I hope, although am pretty sure I will not be able, to be half as freaking awesome as Phebe is as a mother. 

Housesitting Top Ten...

As I sit on the couch and maturely look back at my 18-day experience as housesitter extraordinaire, I'd like to share with my faithful blogees my top ten (in no particular order) favorite moments. 

*After asking the owner of dog #1 (Josie) what she would do if, theoretically, I stole her dog, and/or if I could please be Josie's godmother, the latter question was accepted with a resounding "yes". Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you, me, Josie's godmother.

*When Mom, Pheebs, and Rubes came to visit for a long weekend. There are so many top ten things that come from this experience and because I should save some room for other happenings, I will make this point an umbrella, if you will, to numerous events...

-When we had Bertuccis for dinner 2 of the 3 nights together.

-When Phebe asked me if I wanted to burp Rubes at least 3 times a day and every time I said YES!

-When I won a movie-themed box at a fundraiser we went to and we chowed down on 3 boxes of candy...in the morning.

-When Phebe, after having Rubes one month ago, yelled, "CANONBALL!!!!!" and jumped into the pool. Phebe Hubbard Mott, ladies gentlemen.

-Rubes' face.

*Lots of quality walks with dogs.

*Watching Abby, dog #2, frolic in the baseball field and run really really fast. For a small dog, she is as fast as lightning.

*Giving Abby baths. With all the hair wet and matted down, she's the size of my pinky.

*The POOOOOOLS on these hot days. OH the pools.

*Having various friends over on various days/nights. Friends are so good.

*The levels of cable at the 2 houses were on the opposite ends of the spectrum.  House #1 had like 5 channels. House #2 had all channels in the world. And this brings me to what I'm doing right this second. You see, I was a Babysitter's Club girl when I was little. You know, I loved Kristy, I had a locket from the club, I wanted to be in the club, wanted to start my own club, etc. etc. I'm watching the Babysitter's Club movie on the Starz channel this second and it's SOOO good. And by that I mean, SOOO good for a childhood memory but SOOO bad. Bad acting, bad movie, cheesy, bad bad bad. But wow, SOOO good.

*Ice cream. I don't know what it is, but subconsciously I think that housesitting means I deserve to have ice cream in the freezer at all times. These past tons of days have been no exception. Except I finished the last half gallon last night. I think I'm on my way to going back to normal life. No housesitting, no ice cream. Of course, I'm headed home in a couple of days so it might start all over again. That's right. Ruby and ice cream. Can't get any better.

*I went for a 16 mile run 2 mornings ago and I realized that I had forgotten to get Gu's (gels that I have to take for caloric consumption during long runs). But then I realized that I was housesitting for my Team in Training coach, and he had all sorts of gels and stuff in his basement. I was practically swimming in gels. I took 4 of 'em and they did GREAT during my run:)

So, there you have it. My top 10 favorite moments/reasons I love housesitting. Now...my next job is the worst one. I have to spend the majority of the day cleaning this beautiful house that I have made into big big mess. Ready set go.

Random.

*Phebe, my mother, and Rubes came to the area this past weekend for some bonding. While in the ice cream aisle at the local Stop and Shop (obviously; best aisle EVER), Rubes threw up cottage cheese textured stuff. A couple of days later I was back in the ever-so-great ice cream aisle and I missed Rubes. Missed Rubes and her cottage cheese.

*I'm housesitting right now and earlier tonight the dog, whose name is Abby, threw up. I noticed her eating it and said, "NO ABBY!" But then realized that pretty much it was just chewed up dog food. So I walked away and pretended not to notice...I wonder at what point is eating throw up gross? If it still ACTUALLY looks like the food, what do you do?

*I really really love seltzer water in the summer. There's nothin' like it.

*I can't WAIT for new episodes of The Office and Parks and Recreation to start. Can't wait.

*Last night I did some Team in Training work at their headquarters in Natick. It was appropriately called "Call Night" and consisted of me joining a couple of girls who worked there. They gave me a list of people to call and said, "call them." So...suddenly I realized I was the one that my father always hangs up on. Or the one that my mother very preciously says, "well we're already giving money to other organizations but thank you for what you do." Last night I definitely would rather have had more Arabellas answer the phone than Bucks. But I definitely got a couple of Bucks. No Arabellas.

*Oh and back to Rubes, yes, actually, my sister and mother did leave one of Rubes' pajamas here so I could snuggle with it and miss her. Yep. Ruby should be a little scared of me. Oh well it's all out of love.

*Today on my run with a friend she was talking about how her and her husband went shopping for lenders and they had to get a loan for it. For 3/4 of her story, I thought she meant she had to get a loan because she and her husband had to shop for a blender. Whew glad we uncovered that misunderstanding.

*I've been getting mad with faux Jenga blocks. I have bought 2 different sets of cheap-o Jenga sets (for tutorial purposes) and both have proven to be cheap indeed. It's almost impossible to move a block without moving all blocks on top as well. I should probably just put the extra $5 forth and not have to play this game anymore (no pun intended although wish I could take credit for the pun).

*Ever since I started at Landmark I've wanted to make a parent cry. Obviously not for sad reasons, but because maybe they see that I made such an impact on their child's self-esteem or reading or whatever. FINALLY, on parent's day last Friday, I was talking to a student's parents and both of them were crying. On the outside I was all professional mature teacher and on the inside I was like "YAH!!! THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!"

*Ice cream is why I run. Also endorphins. Okay and also lots of other reasons. But ice cream? I love running.