Laundry and Vodka

Let me sum up my week with one sentence… We ate McDonald’s for dinner last night.

I’m sure those of you who have had babies are like, yeah, I know all about weeks like that. But for those of us that are in week 9 of a life-long role, it’s a bit of a shock how something so small can consume so much time.

My house had become somewhat of a junkyard, so I used any and all free time yesterday to clean, clean, clean. I HATE it when I walk barefoot in my own home and can feel grit under my feet.

But because I used those couple of hours to clean, I did not have time to cook. (Nor the desire). I want that key lime pie I’ve been promising myself, but I settled on store-bought chocolate chip and m&m cookies. I ate them for dessert, and I might have also eaten them for breakfast coupled with a pot of coffee. I guess I should be grateful that there is no Starbucks up here in the mountains because I would probably spend a good penny on Venti Non-Fat, No Foam Lattes.

Speaking of my coffee order at Starbucks, many of my friends have teased me for this. I like to order my latte at 150 degrees. I used to travel for work all the time. Early in the morning we would hit the road for photo shoots, trying to reach our location prior to the sun rising. If we were lucky, there would be a Starbuck’s on the way. And if we were lucky, they would be open by 5am so we could get our fix. And I wanted to chug one coffee and have a second to drink on set. A barista in Santa Monica, CA suggested I order the first one at 150 degrees, perfect chuggable temperature. The second would be their normal temp, 180 degrees I believe, so it would stay warm until I arrived on set. BRILLIANCE!!!!!

I’ve been hitting drive-thru’s more frequently than ever in my whole life. My husband hates picking up my order because he says I’m too high-maintenance for fast food. I have no idea what he means by this…I will list a few of my orders and you can see if you agree with him -

McDonald’s: Cheeseburger, no onions. Or Egg McMuffin, no meat. No sausage, no bacon, no Canadian bacon, YUCK. Just give me cheese and an egg-shaped like a hockey puck. (And I eat it with mustard and jelly, I know I’m gross).

Chick-Fil-A: Chicken sandwich, no butter and extra pickles. Sweet tea with light ice.

Zaxby’s: Chicken finger plate, no slaw, extra toast, no butter on the toast, and extra Zax sauce.

Dunkin’ Donuts: Large coffee, milk NOT cream, 1 Splenda. Bagel with cream cheese on one side only. 

Moe’s: 2 tacos, with steak (NOT ground beef), rice, black beans (NOT pinto beans), shredded cheese (NOT melted cheese), the salsa verde (NOT red salsa), diced tomatoes (NOT the pico de gallo), pickled jalapenos (NOT the fresh ones), cilantro (NOT lettuce).

See… I’m not high-maintenance!!! Now if I spend time in the kitchen instead of blogging about my stupid orders I might get to eat a home-cooked meal tonight and key lime pie!

L&V

Have you guys found Instagram yet???

Blank looks on several faces. Okay, let me start over.

Hi, my name is Alex. I am technologically challenged. I rarely find anything remotely advanced in the world of computers, cell phones, gaming that I can (or would want to) share with others.

I have found the exception! It’s called Instagram. It is an iPhone application that allows you to take photos, or as we Southerners say – “make” photos, then manipulate them with filters right there on your telefono!

I’ve been photo crazy with this new app. I took this photo of my little girl’s booty… That little bear makes me giggle.

Instagram has its own feed, so you can follow other people addicted to the app and they can look at your photos.

But I also post them on Twitter, where you can follow me by searching LaundryandVodka. Or just click on the links to the right of this page where my tweets are shared.

I’m not saying that I take photos of “important” things, but sometimes they are moderately interesting. And it’s so fun to share little things that I see here and there that I wouldn’t normally post about, but think it’s fun to snap a little photo and tweet about it.

And if you guys are Instagramming - find me there by searching LaundryVodka, I want to see what all of you are photographing!!!

L&V

1. We are going to dinner tonight. Like, in a restaurant. Like, not in my house. Like, with people around us. Like, with friends. Like, I’m totally excited.

2. My car is clean, inside and out. My husband took it up to the local car wash to run it through the machine. He happened upon a kid that was working his first day. He offered to clean the car inside if my husband would just do the “Basic” wash. When he got the car back he realized that the kid had totally detailed it, surely hoping to receive a big tip and a kind word. #WINNING

3. Nash is looking quite nice today. He got a bath and we shaved him all the way down to his skin. He looks handsome! I wish I had a photo to share, but I can’t get him to sit still.

4. Being a baby is hard work… You have to do stuff like this:

I mean, look how much work goes into swinging. Her brow is furrowed as she sits in her swing, I’m sure that is because she is deep in thought about the 2012 elections.

Maybe she is pondering that lowered credit score and how it will affect her future.

Or maybe she is just concerned about how much time will pass before her next bottle.

And after all of that hard-work and deep-thought, a girl needs a nice, long, warm bath to relax. Drew loves her bath-time!

5. I have all the fixin’s for key lime pie, I just haven’t found the 10 minutes to put it together. I’m committed to getting it done tomorrow, cuz key lime pie just sounds sooooo good right now!

6. I still miss Nigel almost every hour. I keep trying to think of other things, but just like this list…it always comes back to thoughts of my beloved weenie. So on that note, I’ll end this list by asking all of you to give your pets an extra hug in honor of my Nigel…

L&V

Drew is already a Daddy’s girl.

As you all know, we had quite a traumatic day yesterday. Drew was asleep in her carrier when we returned home, so I decided to let her be while I took a shower. I asked my husband to watch her for a few minutes, and he obliged with a simple nod of his head.

I returned just a few minutes later to find them sitting in his chair together.

“Was she fussy?”

“Nah…I just needed a cuddle from my baby girl.”

And this is where they sat for a very long time.

She looks like him, and squints her eyes like he does. I hope that she has his passion for life, his work ethic, his loyalty, his willingness to forgive, his charm, his ability to laugh at himself, his sincerity…

And I hope she loves him as much as he loves her.

L&V

Nigel went to heaven to today.

This all happened too fast for me. I didn’t have adequate time to feel good about this decision. I didn’t get to cuddle him quite long enough. I didn’t get to feed him the whole bag of treats.

But for Nigel, I think it was too slow in coming. He told me today that he was ready to become an angel.

I will miss that weenie dog for the rest of my life. He was my dearest companion and beloved friend. Nigel knew more about me than any human ever will. And I am so grateful to have known him and loved him.

And I learned today that he can in deed eat an entire double cheeseburger by himself, and that he does not like pickles on his burgers. 

I love you Nigel.

L&V

I sure do love this little dog.

I love him so much that I wonder if I’m making decisions based on how much I love him instead of what’s best for him.

Nigel is going through another spell of back issues. He was in grave pain last week, but with the aid of a lot of medicine again, he seems to be a good bit better. He still is only a shadow of the dog he once was, but he still loves to be loved.

He drags his back legs now, and he’ll whimper if we lift him to go outside to potty, but he magically finds the strength to scamper across the room if the baby cries so he can frantically bark at her.

For example, when I was trying to get a cute photo of Drew in her little sun bonnet, she had a total meltdown.

There were tears, screams, cries, and her new word that she has figured out receives immediate attention, “Owwwwwww”. I know 7-week-old babies can’t talk yet, but I seriously hear her saying “Ow” and it breaks my heart.

Then I hear the clickity-clack of a little weenie dog’s nails across the hardwood floor as he makes an effort to run to her salvation. Barking the whole way of course. Increasing the intensity of the meltdown situation… And making me love him all the more.

So, what’s best for him? We’ve decided to love him until he just can’t tolerate our love anymore. When he stops giving me kisses every time I put my face up to his, I’ll know it’s time. When he won’t squeak his toy for me, I’ll consider that a sign. Or when he doesn’t race to my baby girl’s rescue, then I’ll assume he’s ready for his next chapter in doggy heaven.

Until then…

There will be two babies in this house. The furry kind and the human kind.

And when I show you sweet, serene photos like this – You can assume there was a weenie dog barking in the background and a meltdown somewhere along the way…

L&V