Shot Nerves, Dreams of Paris, and Bios

We made it to Thursday, which is what I say every Thursday because Wednesdays are so difficult.  Yesterday I was a bit more frazzled than usual, but it was due to Carson.  He has been very territorial and wants me all to himself.  He has been walking around hitting Dylan and stealing his toys, which means he’s been constantly in trouble.  He is usually nice to Finley (the little girl that I watch) but he has been rotten to her the last couple of days as well—stealing her toys.  It looks like a cat scratched Dylan’s face because Carson nearly clawed his cheek off, and I have been so tired at the end of the day from separating them and from hearing screaming.  I don’t know what is going on with Carson this week, but he is not himself.  I think he may be tired.  He is sleeping a lot and seems to be catching up.  Before I got all of the kids into the car for practice yesterday, I screamed “BE QUIET!  I want TWO minutes of silence.  I don’t want to hear ANYONE talk for TWO WHOLE MINUTES!”  They gave it to me, and it helped me to gather my composure.  One of my friends asked if I was mad at her yesterday.  I apologized and told her that it wasn’t her, but that my nerves were shot.  I felt horrible about that.  I am usually cheerful and I hate being irritated.  At least someone notices; I guess that means that I am usually in a good mood.  It's better than someone saying "Why are you so happy today?" 

I woke up around 2:30 this morning and watched Charlie Rose interview Ina Caro.  I smiled through the whole show.  She is delightful.  She is married to Robert Caro, a biographer, and they met when she was 16.  The moment she saw him she said “I am going to marry him one day.”  I assume that they are in their seventies, and yet they still seem to be so in love— I just found it so adorable.    Her main role has been researching for Robert’s award-winning biographies.  She said that when he is working, he doesn’t talk about what he is writing or it won’t come out right on the page, so she just gathers information without knowing what he is looking for.  They travel to Paris constantly and she wrote a book called “The Road from the Past: Traveling through History in France”.  When I go to Paris I am totally getting this book.  I am definitely getting it for my sister so she can use it the next time she goes to Paris.  The book is designed so that you wake up in Paris every day, take a train to a destination somewhere in France, and you are back by dinner.   The sites are to be seen chronologically.  I think that I am going to learn French or Italian while I drive around in the car.  That way when Don and I move to Italy or France, we’ll know how to function.  HAHA!  We always say that we’re moving together once our kids are grown, but it’s a joke.  We’d never be able to leave our kids, even if they are grown.  We want to be that old couple who has a thousand grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

I may not be moving to France any time soon, but I think that I am going to start reading more biographies.  I really enjoy them.  I would read them more than I do, but I love fiction so much that I don’t tend to share my time with non-fiction.  I think that you can learn a lot from biographies.  First of all, every person is fascinating—I don’t care WHAT you do or WHO you are…..every person is fascinating and has something interesting to share.  I love people and their stories.   Also, I love different perspectives on the same event.  I think that’s why I was watching so much 9/11 stuff last week.  I am really interesting in hearing different viewpoints on the same event.  I have talked about this book called “Fingersmith” for years now, and I still don’t think that ANYONE I’ve told to read it has read it yet.  (That’s a shame.)  One girl tells the story the way she sees it.  Then halfway through the book another character starts the story over through her perspective and it is so cool because it is shockingly different than the first.

 By the way, I also watched half of a biography on Andre the Giant after the Charlie Rose interview.  You want to know why I was awake in the first place?  A junk email came through to my inbox and my phone made a noise.  And you want to hear something crazy?  My phone is on vibrate.  It vibrated ONE time on the nightstand and I woke up.  Am I a light sleeper, or what?  My alarm clock is ridiculous.  It is a series of vibrations, no ringtone at all.  That's how I wake up at 5:45 every morning......vibrations on the nightstand.  This morning, however, it was on the leather ottoman because I came downstairs to watch TV when I couldn't sleep.  I still woke up even though my phone was on a soft surface!  It's so weird!

Today I am going to Pilates, cleaning out my car, doing laundry, and taking Lindsey to dance.   Tomorrow I am driving to Birmingham to pick Peyton up for the weekend.  I am leaving the kids here, so I get to listen to a book on CD.  We have a DVD system in the car, so I don’t even really get to listen to music when I drive anymore.  (I am not complaining…..that DVD system makes driving with that many kids possible.)  It’ll be nice to have not only peace and quiet, but to listen to something that I want to listen to. 

Here’s the Word of the Day:

bacchanalia \bak-uh-NAIL-yuh\, noun:

1. (plural, capitalized) The ancient Roman festival in honor of Bacchus, celebrated with dancing, song, and revelry.
2. A riotous, boisterous, or drunken festivity; a revel.