After my post yesterday, things deteriorated a bit. More than a bit. I really felt like I was on top of things, and on top of this day and things were going to get done. Then I looked in the mirror and noticed my shirt was on inside-out and didn’t care enough to turn it right, which should have been a clue (to me) about what kind of energy level I had and how the day was really going to go.

Anyway, before it became apparent I was only going to get through the day by being a complete slug, I decided to try something I’ve been meaning to try for about a week or so: Amalah’s pancakes. Which I did, and which were good (I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was), and which my kids liked a whole lot. I still have a few kinks to work out of my own execution of this recipe, because I suspect my tendency to eyeball everything may have resulted in a not-quite-standard batter, and also I don’t use nonstick pans and ALSO I may have been a little aggressive with the heat. Here’s a little look at the cooking process:

Resist the urge to clean my drip pans. If you start cleaning, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Anyway, those pancakes there were some of the lighter ones, and the earlier ones were all dark and weird (my fault) and then there were these and then I adjusted the heat and they were perfect, but it took me a while to figure out what heat I needed. ANYWAY, I’m going to use the recipe a little more and figure out just what I need to do to make it work how I want it to and will post details. For now, I wanted to say that I was completely shocked that my kids would even try these, because they don’t have that anemic, sugary look that my kids seem to prefer in a pancake, AND they said they were better than regular pancakes! Can I show you how excited my older son was to see me cooking breakfast? He wanted to set the table so we could all sit down together. He’s very sweet:

So we sat down. And I watched the boys eat some pancakes. “Some” was more like, “I am quietly starting to wonder if you’ll be able to keep those all down.” Whatever. It was nice. And it happened at noon, which I thought was about ten o’clock.

I spent the rest of the day in a fog, barely having the energy to clean up the kitchen, deciding to knit on my sweater, knitting a sleeve inside-out, then crashing on the couch for hours, sleeping through multiple requests for lemonade and Wii.

That’s not how I usually parent, you guys. Usually I parent sitting upright in a chair, staring into the computer screen. HA!

Oh, dear.

Anyway, today I have these crazy purple-y black marks under my eyes and still feel crummy, so I guess I’m having allergies or some kind of cold thing or I don’t know what.

It’s not a case of parental negligence, is what I’m saying.

But! The baby gift is in progress:

And finally, Heat Wave. Day Two. We’re making it. I think we’ll be spending the balance of the day in here:

Blanket fort inflated by cold air. I’m glad all those books are coming in handy for something.