"Mommy, it's too hard for me to be quiet."

Rick is off playing poker tonight, enjoying a much deserved night away to hang out with friends. I am home, already in bed (before 9pm) and all 4 of the kids are in bed (we are watching our niece again for the week). I'm enjoying a mostly quiet house- outside of the whispers and "Shhhhs" coming from the girls' room down the hall (hence the title of the post), the spin cycle on the washing machine, and the whoosh of the baby monitor.

... Well, so much for semi-silence. Riley's drapes (which weren't very sturdy to begin with) just fell (or were pulled down), causing a mini-crisis. Both girls crying (out of fear or guilt?) and Riley declaring, "My room is ruined!"...

20 minutes later, after calming the girls down, I can finally settle back in for my "me" time, which will consist of me finishing this post and reading about 3.5 pages of the 7th Harry Potter book before I can't keep my eyes open any longer and crash. Probably with my glasses and the bedroom light on, too.

Had a garage sale today, so we had a very early start, and we'll do it all over again tomorrow. It feels so good to purge so many things that have been taking up precious space in our closets, drawers, 3rd car garage stall, and shed... Whatever doesn't sell will be shipped off to Goodwill first thing Monday morning. It never ceases to amaze me how much people will haggle and offer WAY less than the price marked... I mean, at least wait until the second day of a sale, when I'll be much more willing to take a quarter for everything, then 1 hour after we open on the first day. Definitely the most difficult thing we've sold so far has been the entire bedding set and decorations we had for Riley's room when she was a baby... I nearly cried. Okay, I teared up a little bit.

Running with the new schedule has been going much better, which is good news because I dropped the $100 entry fee for the Portland Marathon a couple of days ago. No backing out now. I find it a little funny I was willing to PAY somebody else $100 to LET me run for nearly 5 hours- voluntarily. I've also been following along behind Rick in eating WAY too healthy. He started the P90X program on the 2nd, but I need to figure out a balance between the crap I was feeding myself before and the starvation I'm feeling most days while I deprive myself of carbs and all things yummy. I want to be supportive, but no Starbucks whenever I want it is pushing it a bit too far. :) But seriously, I don't think I've been eating enough carbs my body needs to recover from running so much, because I've been getting a little dizzy and feeling sort of weak, so a minor adjustment may be in order. I'm certainly ready to say goodbye to these pesky 10 pounds that don't seem to want to leave my body since having Cooper.

I'm hoping Rick will let me post his before and after photos on here when he's all done with the 90 day program. He's working his butt off in the workouts everyday, so I'm really proud of him! (He even got up before 4am today to complete his workout before we had to set up for the garage sale- total dedication. Or he's just mental.)

Alright, off to put the smackdown on two little girls who are STILL awake- at 9:40pm!!!

Make that ONE little girl who is still awake:
"Mommy, I need a hug and kiss."
"Mommy, I need to go potty." (which she did)
Riley: "Mommy, I need cuddles." me: "Maybe tomorrow, it's too late tonight." Riley: cough, cough, "Mommy, I don't feel berry well. I think I need cuddles right now." me: (on the inside- AAAAHHHHH, I just want to read my freakin' book and go to sleep!!!), but really I cuddled with her for a few minutes.

Somehow I don't think this is over... at least Cassidy is asleep. Riley is the lone holdout.