Well this is becoming a bad habit

Me not writing for long periods and then feeling like I need to catch up. Acch! Okay, so Scott has now been unemployed for over two months…I don't think I've mentioned that here before, but most of you know he was let go from Oracle in the last round of layoffs in February -- him and about a thousand others. He wasn't terribly upset about it. After working at the same company (well PeopleSoft/Oracle) for the last ten years he was ready for a break so he's been enjoying some time off.

And I've been slowly going insane.

Because though I love my husband dearly, I am someone who Needs My Space. So having him here 24-7 for the last two and half months has been a major adjustment for me. And of course the last couple of months have been filled with an endless amount of rain, meaning we've spent much of that time trapped in the house.

Mommy needs some quiet time is becoming a very familiar phrase around here. And my family doesn't do quiet very well. Alyssa obviously can't be counted on to be quiet on demand, Scott requires that the TV be on every second, and the last time I asked Amanda for some quiet time she agreed wholeheartedly and then proceeded to have a long discussion with me about the best possible way for her to be quiet. Seriously, picture this:

"I know! I can make only quiet noises, like THIS," (as she proceeds to blow into her plastic teapot like it's an instrument that makes no noise) "OR I can dance!!! Because dancing doesn't make any noise. Or, or... I know! I can color. Coloring is REALLY quiet! Would that be a good idea? Or... no, I think I changed my mind. I want to watch my show. It's easy to be quiet when I'm watching my show. Mommy, can you turn on my show? Mommy? Can I sit in your lap while I'm being quiet. Brrr...I'm cold behind my toes. Can we have a blanket, Mommy? Mommy, will you read me a book? Mommy, remember how we went to that hotel in Monna...Monnaway? I liked that hotel. I liked that hotel and I liked our vacation. Can we go there again and get cotton candy and ice cream? Mommy, I'm whispering because I'm being quiet. Oh, Mommy? Just one more thing before I'm quiet. Can you make me something to eat? Mommy, I'm pretending it's opposites day so if you want me to be quiet you have to ask me to be loud."

And then, just because she's evil, she adds, "Mommy, you make me cozy and sooooooooo happy."

So I've been going a little crazy, but there's a pretty good chance that Scott will go back to work at Oracle as a contractor soon. Keeping my fingers crossed that actually works out. Things are getting easier anyway now that the weather is clearing up. Scott is playing golf more often and last week we went to Monterey for a couple of days. That was fun and relaxing… The aquarium, fisherman's wharf, the beach, Alyssa's first time putting her toes in the sand…

Before that, the girls and I spent a week at my mom's house, which was a nice break even if it did rain the whole time. I got to do some scrapbooking while my mom and Bob played with the girls. I should say it was a nice break for me. My mom and Bob are still probably recovering!

For Easter we went to Rick & Cara's for brunch and an egg hunt. Fun, fun… Then we swung by Harvey & Ila's since we were in the neighborhood. The girls had a blast.

In other news, I finally got a haircut and my hairdresser informed me that wave is coming back. That came as a relief because I was just thinking the other day as I was torturing my hair into straightness how annoying it is that when my hair was stick straight I was constantly forcing it into curls and would have killed for some natural wave, but now that I seem to have acquired a bunch of natural wave, I'm forever dragging a flat-iron through it trying to straighten it out. So anyway, she used a diffuser and scrunched my hair and I ended up with this whole new look that I can pull out on occasion.
Scott loved it. I think I like it and this is what Amanda had to say...

Me: Do you like my hair?

Amanda: Well, umm, no. I don't really like it. It's all messed up. And well, wow... What are you gonna do to fix it?

Me: I just went to the hairdresser and she did it this way on purpose. I like it.

Amanda: Really? You went to a hairdresser and she did it on purpose? (said as she was trying to straighten my hair with her hands.) You like it? Well I don't like it. And when I touch it, it feels like bird poop.

Yeah. I don't even want to KNOW why she knows how bird poop feels.