Relief in the form of small joys

I honestly don't know why we didn't hire a cleaner a year ago. Seriously. Ernesta started today, and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have our whole flat look spotless and to have spent the entire afternoon playing with Jack. Heaven. She did all the deep cleaning yucky stuff in about 2 1/2 hours, and now not only will I have Jack's naptimes more free, but Ben and I won't have to spend the entire weekend trading off looking after Jack and cleaning. That's totally worth $50 a week.

I had a couple of surprises, though. 1) Ernesta is about 30 years younger than I expected her to be; I'd be surprised if she's much older than me. 2) She's Lithuanian. From her accent and name, I expected someone Spanish. The only other Lithuanian I've known was Lizzy Friedle in 4th grade. 3) That construction worker I yelled at a few weeks ago? Ernesta's brother. Yeah, seriously.

Last night I finally decided on a new diaper bag--I'm sure you were all eagerly awaiting that announcement. I'm actually really excited about it, though. It's by this company called Dad Gear that makes un-frumpy bags. The one I ordered has a big daisy on it (I know it sounds girly, but it really doesn't look it--check it out) and should go very well with Jack's blue and tan Bugaboo.

Another new happy thing I forgot to mention last week is that Starbucks' Christmas drinks are now out. After a week of a campaign saying, "The red cups are coming," on signs outside Starbucks, a feature that got me far too excited (and seemed to offend Ben and his dad, though I'm not quite sure why. We are in England, after all, so sounding a little like "The redcoats are coming," would likely be more reassuring than threatening for people here), they have finally arrived, and with a new one to boot! The new creme brule latte is good, but it can't beat the old eggnog latte standby. Unfortunately I'm going to have to go easy on the eggnog lattes--while all of them come in decaf, the eggnog cannot be made skinny. Disappointing, but it may make it an even more savory treat.