Pick of the litter

Litter meaning garbage ... just some random thoughts to spew before I get my Monday going:

• It's the week of G's qualifying exams. They are Friday. I expect not to see him much between now and then. How is the house going to stay clean? We are just going to have to be gone all the time, I think. Swimming pool, McDonald's, park, library ... what else can I do to keep the little messmakers away from the TV, the computer, the back yard and their own bedroom?
  
• Speaking of housekeeping, I worked my butt off all day Saturday and the house still looked the same. G came home and had it sparkling within an hour. How is it done? (Actually, I know. I spend a lot of time sorting and organizing. G confessed that he just puts things in piles, confident that I'll fix it later. Which I do. So I guess we complement each other.)
• Speaking of my detail cleaning work, A got a super cool birthday present from my parents. It is the Crayola washable paint sprayer. Really fun. The problem was that Sam liked the idea of painting the driveway so much that he thought he would continue the fun with some acrylic paints. Namely, the sparkly blue, peach and yellow paints from the tutu project. I scrubbed a long time on Saturday with a wire brush and got most of it off, but we still have a slightly sparkly driveway.
• I have six, count 'em, six, volunteer tomato plants! I am hoping they are yellow pears. Seems likely since that was the plant that was completely bonkers last year. Guess we'll see. And it's looking like the Roma plant is gonna be the big producer this year. She's doing great.
  
• Z is freaking cuter every day. She gets peek-a-boo now. Pulls the sheet down from her face and laughs and laughs. Also, she has six teeth!
• Just as S was exiting the bad-word-fascination phase, A seems to have entered it. To wit: "Mom did you know that sometimes bad words are in words? Like password?"
• It is such a gorgeous morning, and I had such a cute purse and comfy sandals, that I thought I would park in the faraway parking lot and walk up the hill to my office. This turned out to be not such a hot idea because of two things: (1) wrap dress, and (2) wind. Having to hold onto your skirt really dampens the carefree effect of the adorable red straw purse.