I have gone out on a limb and submitted five paintings for the next Projekt30 online art exhibition. I will be extremely surprised if I get accepted as one of the chosen, but I guess being on the cover of Skirt! has inspired me to risk rejection.

Somehow my blog has switched to Times font and I can't figure out how to switch it back.

Amazing Feats of Domestic Engineering

Today I cleaned house and actually had a good time. I have always hated cleaning and have never been very good at keeping up with it. For the past few years we've had a maid service once a month but since I quit my job I decided to take on the cleaning myself. Also with a baby creeping around it's important to clean the floors more than monthly. Lucky for me, modern technology and innovation have changed the face of cleaning for the better. It is a brave new world.

I've invested heavily in Method cleaning products, which are safe for the family and the environment. At first I was sure something that was so good for you couldn't possibly work as well as the strong stuff, but I was mistaken. Method works better. And right now our bathroom smells wonderful; I used cucumber in there and I have pink grapefruit and lavender products for the kitchen.

Mopping floors has always been one of my very my least favorite tasks; it's just such a hassle, and with our grey green dirt-camouflaging tile it's not been necessary very often. I needed a new mop and I almost bought the usual $5 one to use with a bucket, but then I noticed that the Swiffer Wet Jet was nearly sold out. It was $20 but obviously they were flying off the shelf for a reason. So I went with it and I'm so thrilled that I did. Who knew mopping the floor with a battery powered maxi pad could be so fulfilling.

Someday, I hope to have a Roomba robot vacuum.

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Connie Helen Rice

2. WHAT COLOR PANTS ARE YOU WEARING? Black shorts

3. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO NOW? The dishwasher

4. WHAT'S THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A salad with Ken's Steakhouse Greek dressing (highly recommended)

5. DO YOU WISH ON STARS? No

6. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Periwinkle

7. THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? A cloudy night, 80 degrees

8. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Andy's mom

9. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT YOU THIS? I adore her

10. HOW OLD ARE YOU TODAY? 34, for one more week

11. FAVORITE DRINK? Currently: 7-11 Hawaiian Punch green berry slurpee

12. HAIR COLOR? Dark brown

13. FAVORITE SPORT? Currently: surfing

14. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Used to, until the miracle of Lasik

15. SIBLINGS? 3 sisters

17. FAVORITE FOOD? Currently: dark rich chocolate in any form

18. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? The Life Aquatic (fantastic!!)

19. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR? Thanksgiving

20. WHAT DO YOU DO TO VENT ANGER? Bang on things and slam doors

21. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD? I loved my Barbies

22. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer

23. HUGS OR KISSES? It really depends on the situation and the person

24. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate

25. DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS/FAMILY TO WRITE/E-MAIL BACK? Since I'm doing this in my blog I expect no such response

26. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? N/A

27. WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? N/A

28. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS? A one story stucco house surrounded by slash pines, palmettos, and wild blackberry bushes...with my husband, son, and two cats.

29. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Yesterday (PMS)

30. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Flat storage containers of gift wrapping materials, sorted by Christmas and birthday

31. WHO IS THE FRIEND YOU HAVE HAD THE LONGEST? My girl Erin in Los Angeles

32. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? Played dominoes with Andy, his mom and aunt, and my niece

33. FAVORITE SMELLS? Flowers, my baby

34. WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? Conservative right wing republican religious nuts

35. PLAIN, BUTTERED OR SALTED POPCORN? I like olive oil drizzled on my popcorn actually

36. FAVORITE CAR? Currently: Toyota Prius

37. FAVORITE FLOWER? Currently: passion flower

38. NUMBER OF KEYS ON YOUR KEY RING? Several

39. CAN YOU JUGGLE? Two items, does that count?

40. FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Sunday

41. WHAT DID YOU DO ON YOUR LAST BIRTHDAY? Went out to dinner somewhere

42. IN HOW MANY STATES HAVE YOU LIVED? 5: Maryland, Rhode Island, New Mexico, DC (it should be granted statehood!), and Florida

43. IN HOW MANY CITIES HAVE YOU LIVED? 6

44. HOW MANY CARS HAVE YOU HAD & WHAT WAS THE FIRST CAR THAT YOU HAD? I have had three of my own plus the two of Andy's that have become "ours"...my first was a 1977 blue Toyota Celica with no air conditioning

45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Our nation's capital

What's going on is not much. I have a lot of housecleaning to do, I'm tired, bored. The baby is getting one of his front teeth. Besides that he screeches a lot. We can't take him to restaurants anymore, he's just not willing to sit quietly for any amount of time. I think a lot about having another child, our plan is two, and though I know it would be hard to have the second one soon it's appealing to get the baby years over with that much quicker. Yet it's hard to imagine getting pregnant when Merritt is still nursing exclusively, so nothing will probably happen on that front until he decides regular food is good enough for him. I'll be 35 years old in less than two weeks. It's an age that has always seemed like the jump off point from funky young adulthood into stale middle age. Right now that's what it feels like. I need to lighten up.

The beautiful bridesmaid dress I will be wearing this fall. Ours will be a gorgeous red dupioni silk:



Another view (presumably when the wearer has loosened up a bit after some champagne at the reception):

Blogs may be boring but they sure are the next big thing...

"Company X continues its free teleseminar series with blogging guru and serial
tech entrepreneur Xxx Xxxxxx. Xxx will share a ton of
strategic-to-tactical tips on creating your blog, building an audience,
generating revenue via your blog, and taking advantage of new
blog-related technologies. You'll even have the opportunity to actually play
with Company X's test blog and create your own blog entries! The teleseminar
will begin at the following time:
12 noon pacific, 1 p.m. mountain, 2 p.m. central, 3 p.m. eastern"

Andy says blogs are boring and he's right. Excepting the occasional few, like this one of a former stripper. If it's real, it's awesome. Even if it's not real for that matter, the writer is that good.

I'm thrilled beyond comprehension to be Brigette's bridesmaid this fall. I was looking forward to her wedding as much as I did to my own, but now I think it's more so. And their bachelor/bachelorette party is going to be in New Orleans!

New Merritt pictures I like...

First trip to Hooters:



Baby speed:

Ways my life has changed since I had a baby:

1) At home I drink water out of plastic cups instead of heavy glasses.

2) My butt and thighs have gotten smaller, but my stomach is far from flat.

3) I keep my fingernails trimmed very short and never polish them.

4) I do the same repetitive things everyday.

5) My cats are no longer my babies, but simply pets.

6) I walk all the time.

7) I like the minivan.

8) Going to dinner or the movies seems really exotic.

9) I rarely watch DVDs, and not nearly as much TV as I used to.

10) I hardly ever wear a dress.

At the yoga studio I caught a free Artist's Way class. I came away with some very useful concepts but I doubt if I'd sign up for the whole series. It seemed more like group therapy than anything else.

For years I wanted to start or join a book club and I have finally done so. Our public library, which is just around the corner (another reason why I adore living here), has a book club that meets once a month. I went to my first meeting where the book discussed was The Lady and the Unicorn, a wonderful read. The next book is Neither Here Nor There and I love it so far. It's satisfying to have something cerebral going on since I'm no longer working in the grown-up world.

And of course Merritt and I have our playgroup every Monday which keeps growing in size. We have nine moms and their babies at this point. It's fun to go to different homes and have lunch prepared, and discuss all the baby things that you deal with everyday with others that understand and are interested.

We are having a beautiful summer so far: not nearly as hot as last year and no drought so the gardens are lovely. My hydrangeas look gorgeous, blooming pink which I think indicates that the soil is acidic.

The baby has begun to crawl on his belly in earnest. Only to toys or cats though, not people. He will fuss for me to go to him rather than come to me. He babbles like crazy now but I have yet to hear the ma-ma sound in there.

I've started compiling Merritt's baby book. What an interesting time he was born into. Under the section "News of the Day" I entered: Olympics in Athens, presidential election (Kerry lost), war in Iraq, hurricanes in Florida, 17 year locusts, Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, gay marriage rights, and real estate boom. When I looked at my baby book from 1970, the predominant news of the day was the Vietnam War and draft.

Tonight I'm preparing Thanksgiving in June. This was Andy's request for his birthday back in April and it took a while for us to get to it. We are having Paul and Gretchen over for dinner.

This weekend I might check out the grand opening of the new yoga studio in Flagler Beach or the Caribbean festival here in Palm Coast.