Happy Valentine's Day

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed...

Every morning I try to sneak up to the loft to get a bit of computer time -- at least to check email -- but soon enough I hear the pitter-patter of little feet coming up the ladder. Sometimes it's Laz, asking me to button or snap his pants, or "I just want a hug and a kiss, Mama!" Usually, though, once he's up here, Maggie is in hot pursuit, and my five minutes of computer time (four of them spent deleting spam email) are over. My loft, once my refuge, has been breached and is showing it: Maggie gravitates to my sewing corner, pulling open drawers and playing with fun little tools (the sharp ones are well out of reach now), and my thread bobbins have now been completely de-threaded and scattered under the sewing table. Lazarus has arranged and rearranged the empty CD cases that I've never managed to fill with CDs containing backup data, pictures, music, or anything else, and his obsession with a small tile clock that just needed a new battery has rendered it useless. They both are emptying my paper trays, page by page, and the pens they palm to create their masterpieces are probably congregating under the bed, along with stray socks and fat dust bunnies. It's far beyond time to clean up the loft, both because I can't find or do anything anymore and because I'm supposed to set a better example for my children... so it seems, anyway. Though they sure do have fun up here, and, although it means losing my alone time, I have fun, too.