baby girl; bathroom fantasies

The nanny got Casper a baby doll for Xmas - Fisher Price "Little Mommy" - plus those little bottles that when you tilt them the milk seems to disappear. I guess she thinks we aren't reinforcing her gender thoroughly enough (or, frankly, at all). She also got her a pink teddy bear. She got Ellen pink stuffed animals, and the boys got motorcycles. Heh. (I want to get Casper some Matchbox cars, but mr flea thinks they are too small & prone to shedding swallowable pieces still, and we haven't seen any good cars suitable for a small person except those spongy ones I don't like.)

Casper's very cute with the "baby", though. She carries it and feeds it a bottle. She can say baby, bottle, and mama, but she only says mama in relationship to herself (I am not mama yet, though the idea seems to be dawning on her). I suggested that the baby might want to nurse, and held her to my breast, which was greeted with a "What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?" facial expression. Clearly, babies take bottles. Only Caspers nurse.

In my deep and abiding boredom at my nearly abandoned workplace this week, I have been fantasizing about renovating my bathroom. Note: we do not actually OWN our HOUSE. It's all Plei's fault for recommending rejuvenation.com, which got me thinking about the true evil of our bathroom's circa 1978 light fixture, and then to the whole room. So, if it were to be done:

Cheap version: remove sink and icky cabinet - install pedestal sink (try to match toilet finish - I think toilet is original). Regrout (not grout, properly - that silicone stuff) tub rim and base. Paint walls above tile (I am quite fond of my mother's robin's egg blue bathroom). Remove mirror and hang a medicine cabinet and/or shelves above the toliet. New light fixture, natch.

Full-on version: all of the above, plus new vent system/overhead light. Do something about the towel racks (they are inherent to the inoffensive plain white tiling, but have ugly plastic rods. I can't see how to fix them without re-tiling, which is why this is in the full-on section). Remove green linoleum and tile the floor (ideally with those tiny b/w tiles that we've had in pre-war bathrooms before). Replace the window up high in the bath, which while useful is hideous and out of period. New hardware on the tub. Plaster work on the ceiling, too.

Not ours to do, though. Sigh. (mr flea, on hearing this fantasia, "You really want a house, don't you?")

huh

My mother has sent us a large check in the mail. mr flea immediately thought "laptop!" and I immediately thought "furniture!" which tells you everything about us. Now I can spend the rest of the day looking for chairs online (we will negotiate later). Anyone recommend a good furniture purveyor? I like classic style, NOT oversized stuff, with washable slipcovers, for our living room.

Also, my Johnny's seed catalog has arrived. mr flea noted that I could spend the entire gift there, but even I would be hard-pressed to do it without starting a commercial farm.

mr flea has called ne 4 times today and it's not yet noon.

resolutions

1. Worry less about money. Appreciate what we have, which is enough. Accept that we are living nearly paycheck to paycheck while mr flea is in school, but this is a temporary situation. Be less jealous of those who have things I want. Do not act like my mother wrt finances.
2. As a corollary, however - look at a budget to see what our priorities are, and how we can allocate money to them and away from useless things we don't care about. Our grocery budget is huge, so shop more sensibly, cook instead of buying pre-packaged foods. When going to Whole Foods, make a list and stick to it. Stop going to Whole Foods so much. Stop buying treats every week. If you always have it, it isn't a treat.
3. Read more books! Something more challenging than Heyer and Crusie, now that I am not wallowing in sleep deprivation. Get back into a library routine.
4. As a corollary to 3, at some point this year I would like to receive 8 hours of sleep in a row.
5. Finish Casper's quilt.
6. Cook more, learn to proof yeast effectively so bread is not brick-like, do art projects with Casper, in general appreciate domestic time.
7. Do not abdicate garden responsibility in mid-July like the past 2 years. The garden is still going, and vegetables rot on the vine if you do not pick them. It may be hot and mosquitoey, but 10 minutes a day will help immensely.

Resolutions for January:
1. Clean the damn study.
2. Get the damn couch off our porch.