One Hundred. Thousand. Percent.

Kindergarten Orientation went so well yesterday. My parents are here to babysit during this week, since school doesn’t start until Thursday, so they went with us to school and I’m so glad they got to see it, and meet the people who’ll be shaping AJ’s little heart and mind for the next year! I’m pretty giddy over the whole thing and it just confirms the fact that I loved school myself. Loved!

Anyway, yesterday we checked in, were warmly greeted with a gift bag, then first-thing signed up for the Extended Care Program (morning and after-care) – one part of New School about which I’ve fretted because it’s been a huge “unknown.” The coordinator was extremely kind and really put me at ease. Not to mention, the line for ECP was the longest in the whole cafeteria, so it isn’t like AJ’s going to be lonely, an After School Special of “without-his-mommy-sadness” and a soft spotlight, for all to pity. Heh. I think he’s going to have fun with Mrs. L. They do homework, play in the gym, and have to be personally checked in and out, which means I’ll get to park and go in. Score.

After that we bought some school spirit items – a T-shirt so AJ can wear jeans on special “spirit-days,” if he also remembers 50 cents and a canned food item to donate, and a metallic decal for my car-line-ready Highlander! Eeee! Logo items! (Blue and gold, naturally. In my old job we always laughed at blue and gold. EVERY school’s colors are blue and gold.) Our car-line number is 170.

We got our Publix “1%” keychain cards and learned about Box Tops for Education, and the annual magazine drive – the same company my high school used of course, and GAG ME how I hated the magazine drive. Bleh. I wish they’d choose a different fundraiser, seriously. I’d prefer Sally Foster to magazines. Oh well. If that’s the low point, I guess that’s pretty good.

Then we went to the classroom. There were reams of copy paper and tubs of baby wipes lined up. Paper towels stacked to the ceiling! And DESKS. Each kid has been assigned a seat with a name card already taped to the top. We put crayons and glue inside the little cubby under the desk – AJ was so eager to do so, he heaved our reams of copy paper out of the bag himself. Heavy reams! His adrenaline must have been surging.

Mrs. C. tried to talk to him a little bit – she has a slightly annoying, but sort-of cute, habit of tacking “Baby” on as her nickname of choice – “Did you go swimming this summer, Baby?” (I had a 4th-grade teacher who always said, “Darlin’;” I was annoyed by that, too.) But I think she’s great and was actually hoping we’d be assigned to her classroom. AJ was visibly nervous, singing to himself and kind-of jumpy and giggly, and wouldn’t really answer her questions, but that’s okay. Who wouldn’t be nervous, right? I didn’t push him (much)... and I can just feel those butterflies in his tummy. I will all week, I’m sure.

Last night, I laid down with AJ before he went to sleep and told him how much fun I’d had with him at school. I told him I was “jumping up and down on the inside, I was so excited.” He asked me, “Are you One Hundred… Thousand… percent excited?” And I gave an emphatic, “YES. Are you?” He nodded and squirmed into his pillow.

Two days left to wait.

RIP, John Hughes

I didn't even realize one of my favorite movies of all time was a John Hughes film.

I am sure lots of bloggers from my generation will have eloquent things to say about him and his work today. This from NPR is a lovely tribute.

He shaped our thinking, really. He'll be missed.

Goodness abounds

How I wish I could write a replica of this lovely post, with our particular household details plugged in, instead of Sundry's. How! It made me teary, and made me realize again that the daily round is such a profound gift. The insignificant things – like the clink of a fork hitting its mates in the silverware drawer, the fuzzy bed-hair on a sleepy boy's head – are what make up this beautiful life.

The only thing I want to post today, after reading that, is an account of my blessings.

>> We saw a kind pediatrician on Saturday, who was funny and gentle with both coughing kids, looking into their ears "to check their brains for butterflies." I love doctors who can make kids (and parents!) unafraid. I love doctors who'll PRESCRIBE something, and not just advise me to turn on a humidifier. I love doctors who don't grumble about being there on a Saturday morning for sick visits. God bless him.

>> I went to the grocery store last night. I am so grateful for having the means to buy food for my family when so many don't have that luxury. I'd spent my lunch hour planning a week of meals that I think everyone will enjoy, and I was glad to be there late in the evening, in the quiet. I've always liked grocery shopping. I remember going with my mom when I was a teen, and I also fondly remember when DH and I could go together, before we had kids. At the register we would always see who could guess "closest to the (showcase) total without going over!" Happy memories.

>> I'm grateful for my parents. I had the thought this weekend that I should be calling them every day. I don't know if that’s true or if it would annoy them. I do instant-message and email them on days we don't talk. And sometimes I have nothing to say on the phone, even when I haven't talked to them in three days! But in this day and age with long-distance calling costs not even an issue like they were when we were kids, it just seems like the right thing to do.

>> I had a nice little spiritual 'uplift' last Friday. There's a 24-hour chapel at my church, which is also, you may remember, AJ's new school. My office closes early on Fridays, and I happened to be near the church. Something led me to go to the chapel. I don't know why I thought of it. "Just for 15 minutes," I told myself... “"to kill time until this appointment I have." (I thought of Jennifer – WWJD! What would Jennifer do? She'll be embarrassed by that, but reading her blog blessed me in that little way.) So I did. I went in and said a (scatterbrained, unfocused) prayer. Then I realized: I could go there every Friday once school starts, to wait for school to let out at 3:00. What an easy, subtle way to be a good example of faithfulness to AJ. And what a nice way for me to unwind. Connect. Pray.

Stories to tell, and New School worries

So, it appears that blogs like mine are EXACTLY what the blog-world needs to hold on to. Little stories like mine, told in my very own authentic voice, with no want for swag or ads or paid promotions, are what makes blogging great. I am so glad to hear this.

(...I AM GOING TO BE SO RICH!!!!!)

Just kidding.

But it does make me feel good that I've not had the guts wanted to take my blog to "the next level." I can't believe I spent an hour this morning reading all the comments at the BlogHer09 website, though. I don't know. Maybe a part of me does kinda dream of going there. I mean, some women who go to the conference ARE just small-time, like me. Anyway.

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What I really wanted to write about today is my number one fear right now. I'm feeling really worried that AJ isn't going to like school. I'm worried about his little feelings, his admitted nervousness about making new friends in Kindergarten. Which is so NORMAL, and I know that. But you know how it is, a Mom hates to think of her little guy being sad or afraid. Mostly, I'm worried he won't think school is fun -- that he'll feel like it's drudgery at a young age, all the way through the 12th grade, because he's been going to school so much of his young life already.

I'm worried he won't be motivated to do homework. Homework that it's CRAZY to HAVE at age five, but nonetheless, they have it now and he's going to have to DO IT. I bought him a little numbers "activity" book, as the school suggested, to work on during the summer. But every time I bring it up, he finds something else (video games) that he'd rather do instead. And I don't begrudge him the video games; they're part of his generation as no other generation before. I want him to be able to play them, actually. But when I was a kid I used to do "pretend" homework. I'd just grab any book off my Mom's shelf, open it up at an angle on my desk, and pretend to take notes from it, on a piece of paper. So I don't understand NOT wanting to do a Brand-new! Numbers! Activity! Book! (I was a nerd, yes.)

I'm worried about logistics. HOW are we going to get homework done? Will it be during his After-Care program at the school, or with me (somehow) at home... um... after dinner? I can't sacrifice his 8:00 bedtime to do homework, and I certainly can't sacrifice his bath... so like I do, I'm worrying over it. I'm sure in the end it will only be 10 minutes of homework at the most, but one never knows.

Despite my eensy hesitation, we ALSO signed him up for tee-ball. Now, I will say that on the one hand, what could be more AWESOME than little boys in baseball pants? I am excited for our first "team" experience, and we're hoping to be on a team with a little friend of his from daycare, which would be great for him. (Otherwise we would surely lose touch with that family, and the 2 boys have grown up together.) There's a requirement that the parents work the concession stand sometimes. Fun!! There will be something to do OUTDOORS every weekend. Score. The season is short, ending in October. All of that makes me giddy.

But the logistics, again, of having 2 practices a week until the games begin, and everything else that comes with a new Committment... worried.

Suppose it would be better to focus on the things I'm excited about, yes?
>> School supplies!! I was putting his name on pencil box and glue bottle last night.
>> Volunteering for lunchroom duty once a month. squee!
>> We got his textbooks -- there's a Spanish one! Yay for foreign language!
>> UNIFORMS!
>> He seems to like Harry Potter quite a bit already. (I can't wait to get to the Sorting Hat!)

Shameless attempt to WIN

They're giving away some lovely natural body scrub at Live Well Spend Well, and I get another entry for posting about it on my blog. And I get even MORE entries if YOU go over there, and leave a comment saying "el-e-e sent me."

And people, if you'd seen my feet lately, you would do this for me, as a kindness.

Sorry, TMI. But lordy, my feet in the summer are an embarrassment. All that fresh air and none of the armoured protection of socks. My worst grooming habit is to pick at that dry skin. I haven't allowed myself real pedicures in probably a year becuase, hey, you gotta save money somewhere and I'm NOT GIVING UP STARBUCKS.

Anyway, I'm sure you'd like to win, too, and if you do I will be happy for you. My feet will cry, but *I* will smile politely. Go forth and enter, and please put my name in the box!

7 Quick Takes Friday - with logo!

1. I cannot even tell you how sick I am of a particular project I'm working on at the office. It's a long "training guide," and I've never written anything like that before. Even in college I managed to graduate without ever being required to submit a paper much over 10 pages long. This one, so far, is at 18. AND IT'S BORING. My first draft is due today (Friday) and I will be so happy to kiss it goodbye.


2. After that, I am indulging. I've been invited to a single gal-pal's condo for pooltime!! I had forgotten that one of the best things about apartment/condo-living is having a pool. (Our subdivision has one, but we're too cheap to pay for membership.) Anyway, I simply can't wait. I bought a jar of fruity salsa and some chips, and we are going to lounge and swim and chit-chat and I am really looking forward to it. TODAY! In 5 hours!


3. My husband is a dear for giving me the afternoon/evening off. Love you, honey.


4. AJ starts Kindergarten in T-minus 3 weeks. Do you guys remember that just the other day, he was a teeny baby?? (Those are from the way-back machine, and MAN, have I been blogging a long time.)


5. Book Club is reading Twilight for August. Yes, we caved. Yes, we're planning to watch the movie at the meeting. I am more excited than I ought to be to finally get in on all the Edward hub bub. Meanwhile, I have started reading the first Harry Potter with AJ. I can't decide if he's really old enough, but took the plunge anyway. I know he's dying to see the first movie, but I just couldn't bear it if he didn't experience the book beforehand. We only manage to read a few pages at a time, but I think he likes it so far.


6. One of my coworkers seems to bring her kids into the office (ages 9 and 14) pretty often. I don't mind this, but I think it's odd. Have you ever done it? I mean, somewhat regularly? I know it's summer and all... maybe it's just that I've never worked with people who have that age kids before.


7. Latest TV pleasure (sorta): Extreme Logging: Ice Loggers. I don't love the show, but am somewhat intrigued. Mostly I love the cute Canadian accents. Eh? I keep thinking a lot of those dudes look much too young to be driving such heavy, dangerous machines. (I am getting so freaking old.)

go read more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary... happy weekend!

Good lunch hours

-- Walking across a Midtown street, on a 75-degree spring day, to a little park with a fountain, with your sweetie. He brings the sandwiches, you bring the chips and drinks. (Years ago, before DH was my "H.")

-- Driving home since you only work 7 miles away, patting the doggie, making a yummy sandwich or burrito, and watching a little noon-time news or BravoTV for 40 minutes. (Less often than I'd like - I somehow forget about this option.)

-- Driving home and eating, then cleaning a bathroom or vacuuming the bedrooms. (Not fun, but sometimes necessary.)

-- Going to the mall which is only 1 mile away; finding great shoes at Payless for next-to-nothing, picking up a sandwich, sniffing some stuff at Bath & Body, not to mention getting a "walk" in because you parked at the wrong mall entrance for Payless. YESSSS! (Last week.)

-- Being asked to lunch with a friendly coworker, and trying a new taco place that has patio seating. (Monday.)

-- Taking a 15 minute walk around the pond behind the office building, then going back in, heating up lunch, and reading a Philippa Gregory novel for 45 minutes while eating. (Yesterday.)


P.S. I don't include a lunchtime trip to Target in this list because 1 hour never seems long enough to peruse all the different sections of Target. Even when I have a focused objective and go there? It's never quite long enough!

Long overdue photo

The new cube-view

*forehead slap*

DH and I had a good, long talk last night about AJ. He had threatened a whiny meltdown RIGHT before he went to sleep, and MAN, are we weary from his fits.

We realized by talking about it that, DUHHHH, in daycare "summer camp," the kids don't get the 2-hour nap that they got all during Pre-K. I am such an idiot. They get "quiet time" with a movie, but OUR KID? Will do anything to stay awake during a movie. Perhaps THIS is the reason for his recent behavior. He's TIRED. (This, and the fact that his baby sister is no longer a little lump of sweetness, and is demanding extra attention and learning to throw her OWN fits, and he feels the need to compete.)

---> Mom guilt. I let him sleep an extra 10 minutes this morning.

It's tough because DH and I have always kept early-morning work schedules. When we commuted long distances, it was simply to get there on-time. Then it just became habit, and now I like being able to leave the office in the 4:00 p.m. hour. But this little revelation makes me want to reconsider our routine. Of course, Kindergarten begins at 8:00 sharp, and if he were taking the bus, it comes around at 10 minutes to seven in our neighborhood. (Get this -- the young kids' bus comes before dawn, but the middle school bus doesn't come until 8:30 or 9:00. Who planned that? Someone without little kids, that's who.) What I'm saying is, he's getting older now and the option to sleep a little later won't exist in a few weeks, anyway.

DH and I concluded, therefore, that we need to make 8:00 BEDTIME a priority. Since it's summer we've been pretty slack, letting him go 'til 8:30 or 8:45. But no more.

Did I say "idiot" already? ----> little bit of Mom guilt. Sigh.

Don't much like

One of the things I don't like about a (continuous, ongoing, lifetime for.ev.er.taking) weight loss effort is that you eventually have to become obsessed with it in order to succeed. Linda's article, and Swistle's, talk about the outward motion of obsession, where you "preach" to other people. I have definitely been there, preachy about fitness and diet when it's going well for me. I get especially preachy about yoga, which I love. Which is all probably a bummer to everyone around me who has to listen.

But this time around, it's a bummer for me as well. It's mentally draining, and lordy is it time-consuming, to constanly count calories and be mindful. I spend time working and re-working my menu in FitDay to get the right numbers of calories each day. With the stair-climbing I've decided is a fun new tactic, I find I'm thinking about it all the time -- When's my next "stair break?" Have I accumulated 20 minutes yet? Are people wondering where I am?

I also like online support; I think I've said before, I've used a message board in the past with success and made friends (one of whom still reads this blog sometimes, hi Stacy!) in the process. So today I signed back up for that, and damn if I don't want to check it obsessively to see new posts for recipes, tips, and responses to my questions. It's like another whole JOB.

I don't want to be obsessed with this. I want to be obsessed - and AM - with my kids. I am paid to be obsessed with my job. I am currently in the middle of a book series (Philippa Gregory) and obsessed with Tudor England, wanting to rent movies and watch TV shows about same. I don't really have time to add another bucket-load of time and mental energy to this, but I feel like I need to if it's going to work. I also don't want to obsess over it and make this a diet blog, which it sometimes already is and I'm sorry for my readers who are uninterested in that.

And it's just 10 little pounds! Just a little belly fat and arm jiggle! It doesn't seem to DESERVE all the stupid attention it's getting.

Two, 4, 6, 8, How do we Procrast-in-ate?

BLOG POST! BLOG POST! YAAAAAAY, BLOGS!

I'm supposed to be writing a white paper. My first. On a medicalish topic which I know very little about. Isn't that fun! Wheee! Wikipedia, here I come.

I would much rather talk about Nothing in this text box than about Something in that one. So...

-- My new cardio program is called "Running the Fire Stairs at my Office 4 Times a Day." I'm aiming for 5 minutes each time and it works out to almost that much. Currently going down and back up twice (I'm located on the 4th floor) definitely gets my heart pumping. The first time down, I'll walk back up 2-at-a-time. The second trip, I'll jog up 1-at-a-time. I never wanted to be one of THOSE people who had to workout by "taking the stairs" and "parking farther away," but hey, whatever it takes. I can't seem to motivate for a damn 20-minute session at home, so this will have to do until I get tired of it. (Or until tonight, when AJ gets his birthday present -- a Wii! Note his bedtime is at EIGHT SHARP.)

It's kinda fun, really, and clandestine and all. I just go after I get up for a bathroom break. I hate not wearing supportive shoes, but oh well. Hopefully my knees will manage.

-- KT's latest thing is wearing hats. Last night we had her all souped up in a backwards ballcap, with a string of mardi gras beads around her neck. She was all, "WHAT UP, YO?" It was cracking us up.

-- AJ's latest thing... I don't really want to talk about his latest thing. The word "bratty" has come into play. It's unpleasant.

-- KT's not all sunshine and rainbows either. I think the 16-month-stage was really tough with AJ, too, as in: CLING FEST. She wannnnnts MAAAA MAAAA. She's funny when she gets mad, too -- she goes over to our fridge and SWIPES! all the alphabet magnets harshly onto the floor. SO THERE!

-- Home life's been a little nuts, is what I'm saying. These kids are both WILD MONKEYS.

Everybody's Fourth of July

I'm loving stories of everyone's Fourths of July. The picnics, the "must-have" foods like corn-on-the-cob and watermelon, the fireworks.

For us, it was a perfect weekend. Friday afternoon, we swam at a friend's house in water that was cool and refreshing (unlike our condo's 85-degree pool from vacation week!), grilled hot dogs and chased kids around the yard.

Saturday, we relaxed with some other friends, let the kids play in their backyard where KT climbed the ladder and slid down the plastic slide with NO FEAR, and ... grilled hot dogs. And burgers. And brats. (Our must-have foods included baked beans, potato salad, and watermelon, for those of you playing along at home.)

Then we drove to a most unspectacular place, a nearby office park, where we had a most spectacular time! The kids ran around throwing a football (AJ tried really hard to throw it -- he's used to a smaller ball -- but he got in a couple of very good catches), and then they enjoyed sparklers and cupcakes while someone's iPod kept us entertained. "Jack and Diane," which I normally dislike, just sounds RIGHT on 4th of July, you know?

When the fireworks began, AJ hightailed it to the car with his Daddy -- poor little guy, the noise was too much for him -- but he still got to enjoy the amazing show. He and Daddy "COOOOOL!!!"ed and "AWESOME!"d every blast together. :) We were RIGHT underneath the display. I mean, it was directly above my eyes - I was almost worried the sparks would fall ON us. Beautiful. Loud. Smile-inducing. KT fell asleep on my chest as I sat in a lawn chair, next to neighbors and strangers, under an almost full moon.

In all my summers, this July 4th was undoubtedly one of my most contented and happy.

Swimsuits, smiles

Grateful, refreshed

1. For the first time in a long while, I think, I returned to work feeling truly refreshed after our vacation. Even though keeping up with the two kids -- not to mention managing my guilt over leaving them with the grandparents all the time -- makes for a BUSY vacation, I feel like we still got some down-time. I read 2 books, drank some adult beverages, ate well, and somehow feel really good this Monday morning.

2. I'm grateful for nice co-workers who invited me to a welcome-back lunch today.

3. I'm grateful for my wonderful family. Cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, and spouse. Here's hoping they, too, feel refreshed and happy after our reunion.

4. We actually got most of the laundry done! (And by "we" I mean "DH.") Thank you, honey!

5. My two little munchkins both give me such joy. KT, with her explosion of language over this past week ("da wa-wa?" [the water?], "dohhhhh!" [Joe, her Papa Joe], and all her other new words!) -- and AJ, growing by leaps and bounds and growing my heart with him, even in the trying moments... I am so, so grateful for having them in my life and for being "Mommy."

Hot by thirty-five?

So. I have made it to (almost) Beach Week. I have also recently made it to age 35. Back in February or so, I declared I was going on a diet, and would BE at goal weight by these two milestones.

Well... I'm not.

I'm not too far off, but in the last month I just gave out. Not that I was so exhausted from only eating broiled fish and almonds, by any means, but I quit measuring and Fit-Day-ing... and exercising. I told you my company has this cool program where anyone could do a walking video from 11:30 - 12, right? And I had been doing that, but then we had our national sales meeting and so the walking room became, instead, a conference room for a week, and that was the end of that.

So anyway. Did you know my company also makes swimwear? I just scored a free bathing suit, in fact. It looks... okay. I'm not exactly svelte but I just read something at Some Pig --which I have not been reading very faithfully because I don't think it had an RSS feed! But now it does, and praise heaven! I love Caroline's style!!-- Click over. I think it sums up my feelings at this moment.

I'm fine. I have the perspective of a 35-year-old, and it tells me that a glass of wine or a chips and fresh salsa snack are not forever verboten. If I don't look like a bronzed, taut teenager this year at the beach, it's because I AM NOT A TEENAGER. There's still the little matter of getting my BMI into the "healthy" range and I'm determined to do that. I want to retest my cholesterol and see if it's improved any. We'll tackle those after we get back.

But for this week? I'm good. I'll definitely be hot... temps are in the 90s and that sand reflects the sun, after all. Pass the chilled vino and the crab dip.

Lunch and other sundries

Today I get to have lunch on the corporate AmEx at a Mexican restaurant. I will say, one of the lovely things about this job has been lunches on the corporate AmEx. I'd say at least once every 3 weeks, and probably more than that, I get a free lunch.

It's the little things, you know?

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I found a bag I love. It's a black "work-tote," with hot pink interior. It's Ha-Yuge. Opens up all the way to the bottom and has a padded pocket if I wanted to carry my laptop in it. I've got room for my small purse, plus room for a file folder if I needed one, diapers and wipes if I needed those... it's perfect. I got it at Target, naturally, and although I kinda wanted something a little more name-brand and sophisticated, I adore this bag. Got a new wallet, too. Total score.

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Spanx.

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KT is 16 months old! This amazes me. TWO WHOLE years ago, we arrived at the beach with news that I was pregnant with her! I'm happy that I'll get to remember that arrival every summer for the rest of my life - it's an anniversary now, as well as a vacation. :) But, OHHHH, are we going to have fun this year with her. Last night in the bathtub, she was just babbling to herself, picking up squirty dolphins and pouring out water onto them and just talking away -- so busy. I just can't wait to add sunglasses and a floppy hat to that scene. (Well, and a swimsuit.)

Make My Happy Face

Yatt is moving!! Not out of town, but we're re-org'ing the office layout and she and her team are being shifted way out of earshot. There goes my entertaining blog fodder! But I can stop being so mean, which is probably a good thing. Anyway, I'll try to store up some good tidbits this week and then we will officially close this delightful story arc.

No, what I really want to talk about today is Age Four. Four is trying to kill me dead, with one re-usable phrase, and one alone:

"Make my happy face come baaaack!"

It's all my fault, too. I... maybe during one of AJ's early four-year-old tantrums, I was feeling bold and asked him, "Aww, buddy, where did your happy face go?" To try to get him out of his funk.

EPIC BACKFIRE. EP-IC. Now he turns that damn phrase back on me every time he feels the least bit dissatisfied. What he wants, usually, is for me to "fix it" by telling him a knock-knock joke. Because I tried THAT one time, too. Always with the deflecting techniques. Perhaps I should immediately say TIME OUT. I can be a real idiot, I guess. But I swear to pants, when he is pitching a fit and screaming/whining to "please tellllll me a joke or sumthin'! PLEEEEEASE MOMMY..." the very LAST thing I feel like doing is telling jokes. Rrrrrr! I've tried to explain to him that he is responsible for his own attitude, not me, but he doesn't get it. I've tried to ignore him. I've tried Time Out. (Time Out is, lately, actually the only threat that gets his attention.) I just... sigh. I am really tired of hearing "Make My Happy Face Come Back." I feel like it's one of those ultimate manipulative things kids do. He's the one pitching the fit, and I'm the one getting blamed for making his face go sad. GAH. Did your rotten four-year-olds ... I mean, darling cherubs ... ever pull this crap on you?

Calm, Pleasant, and Relaxed

I saw this today at Parenting by Trial and Error, in a list of 10 ways to make time with your kids meaningful:

6. Try to keep in mind what sort of childhood you’re creating for your kids. Is it calm, pleasant, relaxed? Or is it stressful, rushed and upsetting? Make sure that they’re getting those doses of CPR (calm, pleasant and relaxed) every day. You want them to enjoy being in their home.

An excellent thing to strive for. I really HOPE my kids don't feel rushed, stressed, or upset when we're home!

We had a great weekend. Saturday AJ and I bought his school uniforms for Kindergarten. What fun (for me) to go to the uniform store and see all those different plaids lined up on the racks! (I kinda can't wait for KT to start school now! The boy uniforms are slightly boring in comparison!) Then we had lunch at McDonald's, and he played in the play area, climbing all the way to the very top-top of a big curvy slide (not usually his deal - he's often too afraid).

Sunday the DH overexerted himself doing yardwork (cutting down branches, yikes), and made me nervous, but thank God for him, once again. I am (sort-of) looking forward to a time when KT's a little older, and I can safely leave her playing to help him with that stuff again. And the kids and I fingerpainted, played outside, played inside, folded laundry, and ate popcorn for a snack.

Those are my favorite kinds of days.

Please don't read this post.

This will sound like bragging, and so it's not meant for an audience. It's just for me, to go back to sometime when I need a little pick-me-up. My manager told me this morning that my 2 press releases received compliments from our new Public Relations firm. They said that "of all the press releases they've ever read, those were 2 of the very best," most well-written, etc etc. It is so nice to get an A+ sometimes. I just want to remember it.

Spending and Listening and Counting down, oh my!

I've been spending money. Birthday money, specifically, at TJ Maxx and Marshall's. I still have about $200 left (my parents and in-laws are so generous!) but so far I've bought 4 tops I can wear to work, 1 pair of capris, 2 pairs of shorts, 1 swimsuit, 1 pair of striped flip-flops, and some new underthings. I have held out on spending money for a long time, it seems, so this is fun, not to mention I'm doing it with our BEACH TRIP in mind, so that makes me very happy. (10 days until! I've been trying to withhold the annual COUNTDOWN for your reading benefit, but heck -- half the people who read will be there with me or were just there last month, so wheee! Vacation!)

By the way, the drink of choice this year wants to be a Mojito. I've found recipes that use raw sugar, and others that suggest powdered. I'm leaning towards powdered because it's handy.

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I am trying so hard to NOT say anything at work, or even to my husband, about Yatt. Because if you can't say anything nice... you know. BUT ZZZOMMMMMGGGGGG!!! Using Constance the First's logic, I may say how she is making me crazy right here on my blog. So let us begin. Yesterday:

--She spent, ohidontknow, about 3 hours cumulative, during the day, telling her team about her recent skin biopsy results. They're pre-cancerous. Now, I am not going to be completely rude about a cancer diagnosis -- I'll allow her that is a scary thing to hear, and I don't wish it on anyone nor begrudge her telling her story about it (loudly), but

-- She then had to SHOW her team (also loudly) all of her previous terrible biopsy scars. ......um..... Seriously? I peeked over and she was leaning down into a cubemate's desk area, pulling her shirt sleeves down off her shoulder, to show them some of the scar tissue where she'd had stitches. Number one, NO. We don't pull our clothes down in any way during work hours, and Number two, COME ON. Little scars from little biopsies? Not that INTERESTING to people, Yatt, hate to tell ya. All the while she's yak yak yakking. It's just too much, you know? I mean, sure, tell your friends about an ailment. Okay. But she never just TELLS -- she INSTRUCTS everyone about it. And somehow she never quite ENDS the sentences. She finishes a thought, then, "Ummms..." until the next thought begins. And keeps adding more and more information. Did I mention? ...Loud. Ly.
-- Right now she's saying to a co-worker, "Now, you have a right-hand desk, which means all your workspace is to your left. You see what I mean? But I am left-handed..." AS IF THIS LADY DOESN'T UNDERSTAND the concept.

I do wonder how her cube-mates deal with her. But none of them is terribly quiet (like I would be -- I would just have to shut my mouth completely if I sat over there and she was talking in and around me); and none of them snips back at her with the things I would WANT to say, like, "Okay, Yatt, do we really have to talk about your personal body again today? I'm kind-of trying to concentrate."

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It really is perfectly fine to complain, on my blog, with like-minded friends who understand.

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I am looking to spend the rest of my birthday money on either a stylish laptop bag/briefcase, or a new, larger, structured purse. The line is blurred -- both of those things might actually be the same, which makes is REALLY hard for a non-decision-maker like me. I could get by with my current purse selection (I have a smaller spring bag that I adore) if I had a bigger, more professional-looking bag to put it in. Because I could keep all the myriad PAPERS I carry around in the big bag, freeing up the purse for essentials: wallet, phone, pen, lipstick, gum, and unused coupons. I ALSO want a pretty but small "portfolio" thing that I can use for a wallet. One that kinda opens up like a book, you know? Holds business cards and all? My manager uses one and it looks so grown-up. Haven't found the right thing yet.

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Wow, this whole post is completely shallow, isn't it?! Well, Book Club is tonight -- maybe I'll have some intellectual thoughts one of these days soon. But... don't hold your breath.

Friday Quick Takes

1. I am feeling "meh" about work. On the one hand, I am finally – finally! – feeling like I've got my feet under me, like I know the basic tenets of my responsibilities and when they show up on the calendar, and how to accomplish them. This is a GOOD feeling – these last three months have been, to say the least, a bit wobbly as far as me knowing what the heck I'm doing. And now, to know that on Mondays I need to update the location database for website #1, and that when I need a Flash element, I email Such-and-Such in our Raubling office, and to make edits I need to use the "X" Spreadsheet and include screen shots – all of these bits of knowledge are very comforting and make me much less wobbly than I was before. I also have been doing some writing for work and getting good reviews on that, so, SCORE! Press releases, woo! HOWEVER. There are still many things that I don't feel authorized to do, and it makes me feel small and kind-of stupid for always having to ask permission, and my boss… well, my boss. I like her, and I think she's ambitious and young and single so good for her, but it makes it hard for me, who just wants to DO a job and then GO HOME.

And it's weird to me that every morning in the shower, I think about work. And I think about it at other times, too. Work is ALWAYS in my mind.

That's the job update.

2. I wrote a great press release!

3. I had a peach margarita with my birthday dinner. Actually it was mostly a glass of peach margarita mix. Which was kind-of disappointing. Especially because AJ whined the ENTIRE TIME we were at dinner.

4. He made up for it. This morning we were having our morning snuggle-time before his breakfast, and he said, "Mommy? I was kinda sad because I didn't get you a present for your birthday." Isn't that the saddest/sweetest thing you've ever heard??

5. This weekend is almost totally free and clear of commitments, and I'm so glad. We have some things to do, but I'm hoping that one thing can be a mani/pedi for me.

6. A dear friend of mine is moving into a brand-new beautiful house, and now I REALLY WANT one, too. One with a nice fenced, flat backyard so I can let the kids loose and sit on the deck with my iced tea and a book while they play. I feel like we may NEVER have another house besides this one, and I know that's another first-world whine, but DH and I tend to take the "do we NEED it?" approach to small purchases – like new bath towels and mats – and therefore we are using VERY OLD TOWELS. And that worries me, as far as bigger purchases like ever having a new house are concerned.

7. People are whispering in the office behind me. I'd better go so I can more effectively eavesdrop.

More quick takes here!

No NO, Mama.

I had to take down my previous post. (For anyone who read it before its mysterious disappearance, my friend DID feel really bad - so bad she almost shed tears once she realized - and it made ME feel bad. So. Lesson learned. No-NO.)

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KT is learning words at amazing pace. I love the stage when Mama and Dada can bascially have a real conversation with a baby, but anyone looking in from the outside can't understand a word.

KT: Where's my paci, mama? (Ba-pah?)

el-e-e: It's right there, Baby, can you get it? GOOD!

KT: Guh!! Ba-pah!

KT: I'm hungry. Can I eat something? Like a big cup of milk? (Eeee? Bah-bah?)

el-e-e: Want your bottle? Okay.

KT: Awesome! I love that bottle, Mom! (Bah-bah! Bah-bah!)

you: How are you getting any of this?!

I'm loving the sign language, too. The other day she surprised me with "Please." They're learning these things in school, as well as us teaching her the basic ones at home. It's adorable. She puts her whole heart and soul into "More." She'll put down her sippy cup, carefully point her fingertips toward each other, and say, "I love these cookies! May I have another mouthful?" ("Moe?")

The other one she's learned well at school is "No." Or specifically, "No NO." Emphasis on the 2nd "no." She tells the dog "no" all the time, words and sign together. Yesterday I saw her looking at him disdainfully, wagging her arm up and down.

It is so cute. That's about all I've got for today!

In the cool of night

I have been going to the grocery store at night, after the kids' bedtime, for about a year now; it's become mostly the norm around here, the only good time to do it efficiently, without "helpers" and with time to think it through. Sometimes DH does it, which I also appreciate very much.

But for me, the best part is that on nights like tonight, when the sun goes down and allows cool night air to breeze into Georgia, I get a few quiet minutes in the car, with the windows down. I drive slowly. It's less than a mile to, and from, the store.

Cool night air, a little drive, alone. I am thankful for those minutes.

First thing in the morning

I come in to my desk, Starbucks in hand, ready to greet the rainy day with a SIGH and a pep talk to myself -- "Okay now, this can be a productive, nice day..." -- trying to gear up, you know, instead of being grumbly... and Yatt is next door telling her cubemate all about the history of her bladder infections. First thing in the morning. She got up to pee, and then, not one minute later, she had to pee again, and she thought, "This is a bladder infection." I'm sorry, but GROSS. I don't want to hear about that. Seriously. I'm sorry boutcha, but gah. Of course she uses some herbal remedy that is wwwwwwuuuuunnderful, because she is so smart.

I have a pair of yellow earplugs at my desk that I employ frequently.

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I woke up this morning at 5:30 thinking of work. Remember a filing system that we used to use at my old job, and that I had intended to put it in place here. That stupid work-thought wouldn't let me even wait the 6 minutes until my alarm went off.

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I have decided that DH and I deserve, and need, a cleaning service. Not this week, maybe not for a few months until we take care of some other financial things (BTW, we just paid off our 2004 Highlander. Woo! Now if the old one can only last another year, we can really make some headway in our checkbook balance). But sometime this year, I think we should explore hiring someone to do the vacuuming, dusting, bathrooms and kitchen once a week, or maybe every other week. I am documenting that thought here. DH is even on board with it. I believe it would not only help our cleanliness, but also our relationship. I think we both stress about the house not being clean, and it really wears on us. Isn't that weird? That a little dust and dog hair can take its toll on a marraige? But I really think it can, and does for a lot of couples in different ways. I can't believe it's taken me this long to figure out a possible solution for us. I'm anxious to start price shopping. Where do I do that? Craigslist? Does anyone use a house cleaning service regularly? Please advise. :)

Pre-holiday weekend, Pre-K graduation

This morning Yatt is talking about POLITICS. She seems to be slightly opinionated. She presumes, I think, that all her cube-mates share her views. And maybe they do... but maybe I don't. Guess no one ever told her that talking politics is not what we do in POLITE COMPANY or PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS. Also -- Harry Potter! Oh Noes!! It turns out that one of the things that bugs me the MOST about Yatt is that she and I share an interest in certain topics. iMacs, Steve Wozniak, for example, and now HP, too?? Is it because she's the polar opposite but EXACT SAME as me that I dislike her so much?? Am I pointing a mirror at MYSELF? ohhh, too much psychobabble for a Friday morning and holiday weekend.

Hello, how are you? I've been swamped this week, I guess, or more than that, uninterested in sharing what I have in my brain. But last night we went to Pre-K graduation and it warmed my little heart. I mean, just look at this:



Kills you dead, right? DEAD. CUTE. And he got the certificate for Best Reader. :) I knew that's what he'd get. He IS the best reader EVAR. *mom pride* *preening*

What upsets me is the anticipation of having to go through this whole "graduation" thing again 3 more times before we're out of high school. I know they'll have Kindergarten graduation, further proving (like we don't already know) that the bay-bees are growing UP!!! ...and then 8th grade graduation, THEN a real graduation from high school! Crazy. I only feel worse for MY parents, who had to do 6th grade and THEN 8th grade, because we moved to a new town in between the two. (Although they didn't have to endure the little kid versions. I think those MUST be the hardest. Well, no, I take it back -- high school graduation will probably be AWFULLY HARD as they'll (hopefully) be leaving the NEST, zOMG... we can't even think about that yet.)

New Topic!! We're going to (great) grandma's house! Leaving tonight or tomorrow, I can't decide and it's been left up to me. It depends on whether I can get all my laundry done, and then packed, before 5 pm today. I'll leave work early today, attend Kindergarten Orientation (how neatly that lined up!), then take the kids home and attempt to wash, fold, and pack everything up while they destroy the place. Then we'll sic them on Nanny's house and they'll likely destroy IT, too! I tell you what, we leave a TRAIL wherever we go these days. There are always THINGS -- toys, shoes, fridge magnets -- decorating the floor at our house. ALWAYS. Here's an example -- don't mind the adorable moment in the foreground, I'm uploading this to show you the MAYHEM behind them:



And that's nothing -- you should see the kitchen. Happy Memorial Day, everyone.

Trader Tuesday - Kung Fu Panda Noodle Bowl

Tried a new recipe last night that I had seen in Southern Living. Of course, I didn't have all the right ingredients so I substituted and modified, actions my husband usually fears. Last night it turned out pretty good, though. We told AJ we were eating "Noodle Bowls, just like on Kung Fu Panda." So that's what I'm naming the recipe. It was SUPER-EASY since I had cooked the chicken a couple days ahead of time.

KUNG-FU PANDA NOODLE BOWLS
(serves 2)

Chicken:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed
1/4 cup-ish Teriyaki marinade
several shakes of the bottle of light soy sauce
2 tbsp olive oil

Marinate chicken breasts in a ziploc bag with Teriyaki and soy, for 30 minutes or several hours in the fridge. When you're ready to cook them, sautee chicken and marinade in olive oil on medium-high heat. The sugar in the sauces puts a lovely brown coating on the chicken. (Somehow I managed to cook it long enough without going too long.) Slice. There will be PLENTY of chicken for your noodle bowls, and probably enough for a salad the next day, too.

Noodle Bowl:
2 pkgs Oriental-flavored Ramen noodles
2-4 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2-4 Tbsp chopped green onion (or substitute white onion like I did)
1 cup sugar snap peas (or sub fresh broccoli like I did)
chopped peanuts

In a large saucepan, combine 4 cups water, 2 flavor packets from the Ramen noodles, cilantro, and onions, and bring to a boil. Add noodles, and snap peas if using. Boil another 3 minutes. (If using broccoli, sautee/steam it in a bit of water, soy sauce and teriyaki).

Assemble noodle bowls with noodles, broth, broccoli then chicken. Garnish with chopped peanuts (we even subbed honey-roasted, because that's what we had).

This was yummy and felt virtuous. The cilantro came through sometimes but didn't overwhelm. It's definitely going in my rotation. Thank you, Southern Living!

7 Quick Takes Friday

1-- I think I'm fully conditioned to the demands of my job, finally. Know how I know? I'm back to my normal amount of (too much) time reading blogs. Ha! And, hooray!! It was awful when I felt so overwhelmed that even 10 minutes in the morning was too indulgent/guilt-inducing!

2-- I know you're disappointed, but my friend Yatt has been mostly out of the office this week. I think she was sick. Unfortunate. Your entertainment will just have to wait.

3-- I read a whole book last weekend. It was "Happens Every Day" by Isabel Gillies, which I thought was going to be a good book to review for my job (we recommend books to our audience of women). It's not a good recommendation, though. We try to showcase uplifting or informative books. This book was interesting -- I definitely dove into it and ignored my children to flip its pages last Saturday -- but uplifting? No. It's about a divorce-in-progress. I was mad at the main character because she never lambasted her jerk husband the way she should have. ANYWAY, I'm back into reading books, too, I think. This weekend I'll be reading three if I can manage! I just started "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch; Book Club's next selection is "Edgar Sawtelle," which I'm anxious to buy, maybe today; and I need to read "Nordie's at Noon" for work. I think all three are going to be awesome. ALSO on my list for the next month or so: some of the great books I got for Christmas, and one that SDW lent me AGES ago! I have big dreams of 28-hour days, apparently. Buth hooray for reading!

4-- My very LEAST favorite part of being a grown-up is managing health insurance plans. First-world whine, I know, and even in the U.S., so many people don't even have insurance, or have red-tape Medicare/caid... I really shouldn't complain. But because we both work, we're always having to compare plans (see, one-working-parent-families? Betcha didn't think of that bonus - no analytic work for insurance, just fill out the forms of your one option!). Currently we're all on DH's insurance. But I'm now eligible for my company's plan. Naturally, Open Enrollment is not conveniently scheduled at the same time of year for both companies, so the problem becomes: Do we switch in the middle of the year? I feel like we're always on new insurance anyway lately, with the way businesses are having to renegotiate rates every year because health care's so expensive. But all the COMPARING of PLANS. GAH. HAAAAAAATE. I'm apt do the easy/lazy thing and just stick with what we have, and not even investigate which plan is the most cost-efficient for us. (That loud THUD you just heard is my Dad falling out of his chair in dismay... sorry, Dad.)

5-- This is a Trader Tuesday item but I can't wait 'til then. I have a low-fat trick for great-tasting green beans (canned of course). Simmer them with 1 cube of bouillon. To me, they taste every bit as rich as when you cook them with butter and S&P. But -- no fat! Does everyone know that or is it just my genius mother?

6-- 138 today and I have been hungry a lot this week. But I'll take the loss!

7-- Does anyone else like Chadwick's? I do, but their prices seem higher than they used to be. I mean, $29.99 for a blouse (sleeveless, no less)? That feels to me like a Talbot's price, not a Chadwick's price. Disappointing.


More Quick Takes here. Happy weekend!

Prophecy

I posted yesterday about Julia simply because I hadn't read her in a while, and when I took the 10 minutes to do so, I was happily reminded how awesome she is. That sentence in particular made me laugh out loud.

AND THEN KT WAS AWAKE FROM 11:51 LAST NIGHT UNTIL 2:00 AM AND I THINK IT WAS BECAUSE SHE HAS MORE TEETH COMING IN.

So now evolution and intelligent design also owe ME an apology, because my alarm goes off at 5:40.

ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

A snippet from Julia

I state now for the record: the process whereby baby humans acquire teeth is seriously flawed and as far as I am concerned both evolution and intelligent design owe me a written apology. --Julia L.

She's bar none the best sentence-put-togetherer on the planet, as far as I'm concerned.

In lieu of a good mood

I've been grumpy (stupid pms) the last 2 days. For no good reason. SO instead of wallowing in wordy, whiny words here, which is what I was dying to do a while ago, let's post something cheery.

Like a SWIMSUIT GIVEAWAY! Go and enter and you can win a Lands' End swuimsuit. For FREE. Then wear it at the beach or the pool with sunscreen and a cute floppy hat!

Now, THAT's a good mood.

Thanks to Nicole for letting me know about it!

More about Biggest Loser

I can't say enough about how this show inspires people. Most of this season's contestants were previously inspired by watching the show, and that's fantastic. I think it's a service NBC is providing to Americans, for sure. (I know that on Wednesdays, I'm guilted into working out after spending two hours watching every Tuesday! Sometimes I even lift hand weights while watching, I'm so guilted!) And I'm always glad that they show the doctors and ensure that everything they're doing is safe and medically sound. Basically the contestants are taken from couch potatoes to professional athletes in just a few months, for those of you who don't watch.

So, I know it's about the drama, and that the contestants are obese, not just a little overweight, and it's the visual impact of the stunning before and after photos that makes the show so compelling. But I wish they'd spend some time emphasizing that not everyone has to have such dramatic results like these. They need to remind the average couch potato that just taking a walk every day will HELP THEM, will improve their health and lengthen their lives. It's not just about being skinny. And that most of us won't have 6 hours a day dedicated to working out -- and SHOULDN'T, unless we're medically supervised.

I haven't done a lot of looking around on the BL website, but I hope they have sensible advice for regular people. I'm sure they do. I just wish they'd say those things on the show a little more.

An update on my own "weight removal journey" -- I saw that recently and thought it was great. If it's a "weight loss," there's the possibility of finding it again! "weight removal" seems more permanent -- Anyway, I am 7 pounds away from my weight goal. And I can TOTALLY remove another 7 pounds. I haven't been logging calories in a long time. And I haven't been doing cardio as regularly as I should. BUT if I start this week and really try to lose 1 pound per week, I can do it by Beach Week. Wouldn't that be awesome?! Isn't this the looooonnnnngest stupid 15-pound weight-loss-journey that ever WAS??

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Yatt's BAYBEE is in da house!! (I will reluctantly admit that she's a pretty cute baby, AND I'm slightly jealous because she is named "M e gan," which is a name I love but DH wouldn't let me use. On the other hand, now I have a reason to like the name slightly less.)

Note 1 and Note 2

I go to bed every night completely and utterly exhausted. So much that I usually miss getting to kiss my hubby goodnight, even. I sort-of hate that. And I can't decide if it's because I'm Living! Life! To the Fullest! or if I'm just not Getting! Enough! Exercise!

Speaking of exercise, Biggest Loser! I'm a total sucker for the before and after pictures, I guess, but MAN, do I love that show. Amazing people. I'm voting for Mike if I can get on the site today. I was excited to see him wearing a Something Catholic High School sweatshirt on last night's episode. They're that awesome and Catholic, too? Nice. I have more comentary on the show but will save it 'til tomorrow. Note 1 has gotten awfully long.

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Yatt's topic of the day: Istanbul (used to be Constantinople) -- because no one but Yatt has ever heard the song by TMBG.

Just saying

Nothing to SAYYYY, nothing to SAYYYY, I have exactly NOTHING TO SAAAAAAAY! (So I'm singing.)

Of course that isn't true; I guess I have plenty to say, or that is what a friend of the family indicated this weekend when he said he had NOTHING to say in a BLOG, and he doesn't know why anyone would want to maintain one of those BLOGS for heaven's sake, ugh. Or to that effect. Well, pish posh, family friend, no soup for YOU! Hee hee. I am only kidding, it is funny to hear the older generation (for that is what he is) trying to understand our LANGUAGE. Our MEDIA. I'm sure his parents and their friends pooh-pooh'd sitting and watching those crazy television sets with comments like "I don't know why ANYONE would want to do that." Heh, heh. How do you like me NOW?? Oh well. I didn't think I cared one whit about that comment but evidently I did. LOL.

I have to tell you guys something that will NOT fall under the "Kindblog" badge, and I'm very sorry about that. But I have to get this OUT! It's killing me. I have a cube-neighbor -- actually she's at least 3 cubes over but she is SO LOUD that she feels like she's right next door -- and she is An Expert On Everything. Have you ever known someone like that? OH HOLY HELL. It is so obnoxious. Since I came here in February, she has pontificated on no less than all of these topics, usually more than once a day:

• Twitter


• iPods


• iPhones


• DSL versus the Dish


• House Cleaning (I think she owns a business)


• MOTHERHOOD - lord help me, she has a 7-month old and guess what else? She's the only person ever on EARTH to have had a BAY-BEE. Did you know bay-bees babble? And coo? They sure do. Hers more than most.


• Steve Wozniak


• Mac computers


• Elmo


• The Honda Fit (recently bought one)


• Menses (there's an app for that)


• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

I am so not even kidding you. It's like she actively chooses the topic for the day and then tells everyone in her line of vision how much she Knows. I have to start giving you a daily update. Yatt's topic of the day (not her real name). The Reese's discussion was yesterday: someone brought in the white chocolate version of mini-Reese's to share. You or I would say, 'Oooh, chocolate! Thanks!" The end. This woman went into a 10-minute discussion of why she likes the PEANUT BUTTER part of the Reese's, and the chocolate part is immaterial slash ineffective in overpowering the peanut butter part. That's why SHE eats them, the peanut butter. And she feels the white chocolate DOES overpower the p.b. so that's why she doesn't like them.

AS I TYPE she is telling her teammates that she records the first day of her period using an app on her iPhone. I SWEAR TO GOSH she is.

Oh! Oh! She also walks around her area BAREFOOT.

You guys are going to love her.

7 Quick Takes Friday

1. And the winner is...


bessieviola!

Whom I adore, and not JUST because she told me I'm great. ;) bessie vee, email me thrash428 at yahoo dot com with your address and I will hook you up with some swag! :) I didn't state any rules of the Pay It Forward, like the winner has to host one of their own. Not required, fyi. This is just something fun for me.

2. I stopped yesterday morning at Dunkin' Donuts and bought myself an everything bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. YUM. I haven't had a bagel in ages -- I stopped allowing myself to eat them. There was a time, years ago, when I put on about 15 pounds, and I think bagels were to blame. I stopped at Einsteins at least twice a week back then. This is what happens when you're single and have income to burn. Anyway, yesterday's bagel, I thought, did not sit well with me. I felt queasy and weak all day. Didn't eat lunch, didn't eat much dinner. Blegh. Turns out AJ was experiencing the same at school (minus the bagel). Apparently he layed around most of the day at school, didn't want to participate, didn't want to eat "special snack" which was ice cream and strawberries. Definitely not normal. So now I'm wondering what bug we have. He felt well enough to go to school today (didn't want to miss show n tell or Friday movies) but we'll see. I'm drinking Rasberry Zinger tea. You KNOW I must not feel good. Tea?! WTH. I am a coffee person. But it just didn't sound that great today.

3. I miss you. I miss blogging. I would like to put a lot more into this blog. Have I said that before?

4. This Saturday, DH and I have a Date Night planned. WOO! Celebrating our anniversary next Tuesday. Eight years of wedded bliss! We're going out to dinner here, perhaps, or here, and after that we're not sure what we'll do. Maybe a movie? What do people do on dates anymore? ;) I kinda want to see that Disney movie "earth." Or The Soloist. Or State of Play.

5. One week from today I'll be packing up and headed to Pensacola for a whirlwind weekend! There's a family wedding. It's going to be fun. Tiring, I bet, but great to see everyone. It will really get me pumped for our beach week family reunion in June! OH MAN, I CAN'T WAIT. BABYSITTERS and a BEACH.

6. Mandy asked a while back about what it is I do at my (still feels) new job. Yesterday was my 2-month-iversary here! I do a lot. Everyone here does, in fact. I think that the marketing team -- 5 people -- does the work of about 10 people. Economy, you know. But here's the scoop. I am the E-business and PR Coordinator for this [link removed - anonymity baby!] company. I manage content for that website, as well as 2 other sites. Yesterday I talked to a consultant about adding a blogging platform, which I think is sorely needed. I'd be psyched if that were to become one of my main duties. :) I am also editor of our magazine which comes out twice a year. My first issue is due out in June. I do some writing, some editing, and some ad sales. I also manage our e-newsletters. (See what I mean about too many jobs?) I'm also supposed to manage our press releases and media opportunities. I don't particularly enjoy that part of it.

7. AJ was accepted to our parish school, did I tell you? I'm excited about August. Uniforms! New back pack! Lunch box! It is going to be so fun. Also, next month is the first of many graduation ceremonies he'll experience -- PreK Graduation. It's cute to hear him pronounce "graduation." He's so careful about it. A word he doesn't really understand, that makes his mommy's heart burst in so many ways.

Visit Jen for more Quick Takes! Happy weekend, friends!

How to play Powerful Dinosaurs

by AJ

"Okay. Our team is Leader, Steggo, Skeleton Dinosaur, and Protocera...tosaurus. Those are our team. If we ever want to change our team, one of our dinosaurs has to get dead. And then we pick a new one. Or, I can review a dinosaur to make him not dead anymore and he can come back." (ed. note: where 'review' must equal 'revive,' hee.)

"Now, who are we going to destroy? There's Mannoth (Mammoth) over there. His power is to STOMP the other dinosaurs and he can freeze them with his ice mouth. But Leader has an ice mouth AND laser-fire-shooting eyes, so he can defeat Mannoth by burning Mannoth's ice. So first, Mommy, you take Steggo and Skeleton. Steggo will puuullll Mannoth out of the green box with his swish-shwang tail, and then Leader will PEERRRRSSHSSHH! him with his laser eyes. And then freeze him with the ice mouth. And you shoot Steggo's laser spikes too. Then Skeleton will scare him away and he'll run, "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" back to his home, and then Protoceratosaurus will tie him up with his rope tail like this."

"Also, if we need to datavate our team I will datavate them."

(no idea but that word has been in my head for three days)

Mannoth (AJ): RAWWRR! I am Mannoth and you don't want none of ME!!!

Leader (also AJ): WHO IS THAT GUY RIDING ON YOUR BACK?

Guy on back (AJ): I AM BR...ANNISH. I AM A HUMAN AND I HAVE SUPERPOWERSPEERSHEWWWW! KPLEWWWWSHHH! KPOWWWGSSH!

Skeleton (Mommy): ROAR! We're going to DEFEAT YOU, BRANNISH!"

(AJ): No, Mommy, you have to use a DINOSAUR voice, not your regular voice. *eyeroll* Like this: RAAAAOOORRRRRRRRGgGGGRRRRrR!!

(Mommy): *sigh* WE ARE THE POWERFUL DINOSAURS RAAAAOOORRRRRRRRGgGGGRRRRrR!

Underwhelmed!

Four people want to win a prize? I'm OBVS not doing Web 2.0 correctly, not linking my Twitter and my blog and my Facebook page and blagh de blah to increase traffic. Pesky, long-ago-ended anonymity. (I still don't need all my high school acquaintances and work colleagues reading the blog, though.)

Aside: I have a work phone call with a consultant later this week, who wants to sell my company his blogging service/SEO strategy. He's going to try to convince me that blogs improve search engine placement and increase website traffic. REALLY??? WOW, that's FASCINATING. I can't wait to tell him I've been blogging for FIVE YEARS and I already know everything there is to know about it. Heh.

Anyway, because I am nice, I'm going to extend the contest until Wednesday. Tell your friends! Leave another comment and increase your chances (which are already PRETTY DAMN GOOD)!

Pay It Forward time! Summer Camp edition

I promised you guys a giveaway and I'm just dying to go stand in line at the Post Office, so let's go!

If you want to win
-- some pampery items from Avon (KT's teacher just started selling it and I love her, and want to help her out)
-- some goodies from our favorite, Target
-- some cookies from the Byrd Cookie Company in Savannah
-- and whatever else strikes my fancy

leave a comment on this post by Sunday, April 19, at 10:00 pm. Tell me what your summer child care slash "summer camp" plans are. If you don't have kids, tell me about YOUR childhood summers.

I'm interested because this year, we'll enroll AJ in our daycare's "camp" for the first time -- he'll be going on field trips nearly every day. We also have a week between that and the first day of Kindergarten... I think I'll be asking a set of grandparents to visit! (hint, hint, Mom.) DH used to spend summers with his grandparents. Any of you do that, or send your kids to do that? I think it's such an idyllic-sounding thing to have in your childhood memory bank. You'd think so too, if you'd been to his grandparents' house in the mountains in Virginia. Anyway, I'm thinking about the topic.

I'll do the random number generator thing and send someone a PRIZE!

Just for the heck of it!

And then... ham saves the day

Of course after posting that WEE bit of PMS stress yesterday (well, PMS and being a normal mom of a 4-year-old), last night I served a kid-friendly dinner (ham, pineapple chunks from a can, and the hallowed Kraft Mac-n-Cheese), he ate it right up, pottied all by himself, and basically made me feel like crap for all the stuff I said.

Of course.

I should note that EVERY night, I serve AJ a kid-friendly dinner. We never eat tofu or quinoa at my house, is what I'm saying. "Fancy" is Uncle Ben's MUSHROOM flavor instead of regular. LOL.

But DH hates ham, naturally. And he can't eat pineapple (too acidic) and he grew up on homemade Mac-n-cheese, not boxed. Sorry, honey.

Still with the mealtime angst

Can I just say this, one time, (loudly), without offending everyone...?

JEEZUS.

April 15, 2009: I am so frakking tired of dinnertime. All of it, frankly. Thinking of what to make, scouring the pantry so I won't have to go grocery shopping for a thrid time this week,* wishing I could just play with KT who won't be put down/ignored at that fateful hour of the day, trying to get it all timed just right to be on the table together (The Drinks! I forgot the Drinksaggggh!), hearing "What are we having?" and the subsequent, "This smells... gross" from the Four-Year-Old Who Never Eats... and the Four-Year-Old, himself. I am TIRED from him.

We try SO hard not to fuss over him (i.e., give him what he wants, i.e. attention) during the meal. He gets up to go to the bathroom, we let him.** He talks and doesn't eat, fine. He doesn't want peaches? No biggie, leave them on your plate.

But it's always something. Last night it was "I can't pull my chair close to the table by myself!! Waaaa!! I want to be a BIG BOY." Wouldn't accept help, don'tchaknow. And thus he spiraled into a whole night of stupidity/tantrums. I never post about him when he has a great week, and I'm sorry for that; he DOES have great weeks. Had one recently, in fact. And so we rewarded him with a trip to the Toy Aisle (he 'needed' more action figures, hee). And then he responded to that with one of the worst Saturdays ever (seems every time he gets a 'reward' it backfires on us), complete with Time Outs and me screaming. I really DON'T like to scream, I prefer the calm, "I'm disappointed" tone, but sometimes it just doesn't get the job done...

OH, forget it. It's working me up just rehashing it. Lather, rinse, repeat... It's just that yesterday he told me he didn't eat lunch at school, and then of course he didn't eat dinner due to his chair, and during the ensuing tantrum he was screaming, "MOMMY!!! I'M STARRRRVING!!! FEEEEEED ME!!" which of course tears right into your biological need to feed your child, even when you KNOW you're being MANIPULATED, GOODLORD... so I absolutely refused and sent him to bed huuuuuungry. I know he needed to be sent to bed hungry. I even TOLD him probably every kid in the world has been sent to bed hungry and learned the hard way to eat their dinner (and their mommies and daddies still love them) but I did NOT appreciate his behavior, and blaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and then I died the end.



*We pretty much grocery shop twice a week SOLELY to keep up with KT's milk habit! Girl is a JUNKIE! She goes through a gallon in, like, 2 days! (And yet, she still poops just fine, it's pretty amazing. She does love her veggies, too, which helps.)

**Speaking of poop, we fight about that at dinnertime, too -- about me wiping him. He's FOUR and a HALF!! He SO needs to be handling that himself. And he CAN (we've witnessed it), he just doesn't want to. He's MANIPULATING ME and it's pissing (ha) me off.

Confidence

I have three associates -- two are very new acquaintances -- who share a similar personality that I covet. I mean, I LIKE my personality -- I answer "yes" on quizzes with the question "If you weren't you, would you be friends with yourself?" But there are certain traits I really wish I had.

Whatever it is that makes a person great for sales jobs is what I'm talking about. It's a specific kind of confidence and poise. The ability to sound like you know what you're talking about, even if you've only skimmed the reading material. The charm to offer that firm handshake and make a friend, no matter who the other hand belongs to. The hip-factor to quote movies, or make little pop-culturey gestures or references that are RIGHT NOW, current (as opposed to the late '90s references that I can recall from college). Heh.

I think I have some measure of poise, but it's not accompanied by confidence. I can't figure why. I did well in school my whole life, did some ACTing(!) in high school, went through the sorority process both in college and after, was somewhat of a "leader" of groups and clubs, am a successful working mom juggling "it all"... but still don't feel what I want to feel.

It's not a self-esteem thing. I don't feel "inadequate." On the contrary. I feel like I AM adequate, I SHOULD be able to play that smart, sassy, confident role. But I don't, especially not when I first meet you. I play reserved and cautious. "Don't try too hard and come off sounding like an idiot. Don't say too much." I worry about every comment I make; wonder what should I have said instead.

Is that what they teach you at Toastmasters? The confidence I'm talking about?

My former boss had asked me several times if I'd be interested in a sales position, and I always knew somehow that I wasn't suited for it. The past few weeks, meeting more of this type of woman -- great women, I mean to say -- I've figured out why.

Just an observation, not something I'm worried over.

Master of the obvious

Maybe I've said this before. MAN, sometimes this parenting thing is just work. I mean, physical labor. Ya know? We took them to Chili's tonight for dinner because we haven't been out to eat in what feels like forever (although I'm sure it's not been much more than a week or so), and it was just ex. haus. ting. I was on the side of the table with KT -- trying to keep up with her crumb-tossing, which was an impossible task. I realized that if we didn't have the Dog, we'd have shit all over our floor EVERY NIGHT and after EVERY MEAL and HOW in the world do non-dog-families do it?? I mean, it's just ridiculous! I was bending over every 3 minutes to pick up either her spoon or her sippy cup, things I couldn't just leave there like I left the chunks of Saltine cracker and cereal bar. So, bending over all the time, while trying to pitchfork my own salad into my maw, not to mention entertaining her by blowing zerberts, "chair dancing," peekabooing... tiring work.

And DH, on the other side with the 4-year-old, who you'd THINK was not SO much of a physical labor... he was up TWICE to the potty, which is our Standard O.P. during dinner. Twice. Plus forty fabillion "Sit down"s and "Eat"s -- I mean, the brain and the mouth get TIRED after saying something forty fabillion times.

AJ's a workout when we play, too. (And how is that I still say "we play?" And not just "he plays?" I don't know.) He's all boy, I suppose, and when I'm on the floor he figures he SHOULD come up behind me and climb over my back, onto my head, or "KA-PEWWWW" me with whatever's substituting as a gun. And I'm forever telling him to SHHHH, not so loud, we're RIGHT HERE. I think I get tired because my blood pressure stays high. On alert. Always about to be tackled or climbed.

And then of course, KT gets tired and putting her to sleep is a completely physical workout, too. She HATES being on her back so diaper changes are a wrestling match... tonight she had some cookie or cupcake in her hair (from school - Easter party), so I wanted to just quickly wash it... stupid me, I laid her on her back on the vanity with her head over the sink -- she freaked out. Then the rocking, the walking and bouncing (still, at 13 months), her switching her pacifiers for 5 minutes before she finds just the right one (and thus shifting her weight), 'til she finally gets HEAVY, all 21 pounds of her...

It's just no wonder I can't stay awake past 9:00 pm, ever.

Tuesday Trail Mix

Anybody trading recipes on Tuesdays anymore? Hello? (echo - o -o ?) Here's what I've been throwing together lately to snack on. Not enormously healthy, but I learned recently that the honey-roasted (sugary!) peanuts have fewer cals than regular salted. And that is awesome.

Trail Mix
Mix a handful or two of:

Honey Nut Cheerios
Honey-roasted peanuts
Corn Chex (leftover from making Chex Mix at Christmas!)
Goldfish, if we have some (I need to start buying the 10-gallon box at Costco)
Semi-sweet morsels (most important ingred., OBVS)
Raisins (I put a lot of those suckers in)

I put this in the snack-size ziplocs and take 'em to work. One baggie will be my "snacking" for the day. IF I pace myself, which is difficult.

Hey, how are ya? I'm good, good. I am a supermodel today! No seriously, we're doing a photoshoot... of me! For the "magazine editor" part of my job. I feel altogether SILLY about doing this -- I mean, couldn't we just print my "From the Editor" column without a photo? But apparently, no. This morning I spent 10 minutes on my hair, rather than five, and last night I used the IRON. It's this smart little device that you heat up and then press down on your clothes? And then they aren't wrinkled anymore! Ingenious!

Better post soon, I promise. Maybe even a Pay-It-Forward giveaway. I'm jonesing for something fun around here.

Speaking of fun, this post from Tiffany The Hilarious had me snorting a beverage through my nose last night. Go, have a laugh.

Kitchen quote

As I was doing some research for a story today, I ran across this gem:

"I want to get a job as someone who names kitchen appliances. Toaster, refrigerator, blender.... all you do is say what the shit does, and add "er". I wanna work for the Kitchen Appliance Naming Institute. Hey, what does that do? It keeps shit fresh. Well, that's a fresher....I'm going on break."
---Mitch Hedburg

HA! I surfed on to realize that March 29 will be the 4th anniversary of his much-too-soon death. Laugh on, Mitch. Miss ya.

Milestone

Yesterday was a bit of a weight-loss milestone and I forgot to even celebrate it. I also don't quite know how it happened (see: Not Tracking Food, Not Working Out). I have hit the 130s. Woo! Haven't seen those suckers in a WHILE. Maybe years.

It's good because I needed a new motivator. Yesterday's conference room walk with The Girls at the office was fun. Some of them have done it so many times that they quote the chirpy leader all the way through the DVD. I "walked" and step-touched 2 miles and felt GREAT afterwards. Low impact was a nice change. I've NEVER NO NEVER liked going to the gym and working out WITH other people... but this wasn't so bad.

Today I grabbed a T-shirt and clean socks before leaving the house... and promptly forgot my shoes.

A Day in the Life - revised 2009

5:00 am: KT has been waking up consistently at 5:00 am since about... oh, since the day she was born. And still now. Except the last 3-4 nights. Maybe we've crossed over that threshold, and I hope so, because...

5:40 am: This is still, unfortunately, wake-up time. I hit snooze once and get out of bed at 5:48. Make my way to the shower.

6:00 am: Wake up the boys -- both in my bed. AJ had gotten over his need to be in our room, around late October/November. I think we bribed him with Santa Claus. But as of 3 weeks ago, he's doing it again. Coming into our room every night. He's good about starting out on the floor by my side (I leave a pillow there for him), but usually sneaks in between us at some point. Sigh. I'm trying not to fight it too much; I know it's a phase.

6:40 am: KT's had a bottle and some dry cereal (Reduced Sugar Fruit Loops or plain Cheerios, typically) and is usually removing the contents of my makeup drawer, which is poorly-architected to be right at toddler level. She especially likes the Mary Kay lip gloss and eye enhancer tubes.

7:00 am: Everyone's dressed and downstairs in the kitchen. DH and I are rushing around and behind each other, getting our lunches or coffees; AJ's sing-songing "Where are my VIT-A-MINNNNNS?" and KT's likely splashing in the dog's water bowl, unless we've forgotten to feed him. "No-NO, KT!" is a common refrain. She just giggles.

7:17 am: We're out the door. If it's my day to drop-off, I'm taking one swig of coffee before we get to the parking lot. If it's not, I'm listening to my one or two stories on NPR before arriving at the office. I love being close to both destinations. Love.

7:32 am: Usually walking into the building. Musing to myself how weird it is to work in a corporatey, elegant office park like this, and not my old company, which was always located in a side or back area of a printing plant.

9:30 am: I look up and notice a few hours have gone by. Seriously, the time FLIES at this job. I get a lot of email, and have a lot of tasks. I also do most of my communicating with our German office in the morning, of course, since they're 5 hours ahead. (Speaking to me from The Future! *hat tip: DH) But generally the morning is nice at New Job; people drift in and a lot of us seem to eat instant oatmeal for breakfast, which makes it smell nice. :)

12:00 noon: Today, I was invited to lunch by someone other than my one established friend. I figure I'm at the stage where I don't turn down (too many) lunch invites. The Making Friends stage. It's fun but kinda nerve-wracking for an introvert like me. Today we had Mexican -- I was good, and ate shrimp tacos with pico, and black beans -- and it was a nice group. The co-worker who asked me out is Mom to a 5-year-old boy, so she totally gets my Batman sunglasses. (Just kidding. I have AJ's Batman sunglasses in my purse for some reason this week.)

2:00 pm: Status Meeting in my manager's office. Today we layed out the magazine. Super fun. I'm pleased that the work I'm doing for this issue -- which wasn't planned by me -- is going to fit in, and be appropriate. If only I can get it done by the deadline of April 6! Go back to my desk with lots of To-Dos to add to the Outlook calendar. (WOOOOO, HOW MUCH DO I LOVE OUTLOOK!? You may remember I was using Lotus Stupid Notes before?)

2:30 pm: I check Facebook and Twitter, and lament (l a m e n t !!) that I haven't checked Google Reader, or posted here, in so long. I miss here!

4:25 pm: Still working. I think I get up to go to the bathroom 10 times a day and it feels conspicuous. Other than that, I've been busy. Research, writing, website stuff, email stuff... fun job stuff. My manager asked me today, "Are you having fun?" And I was really pleased to be able to answer in the affirm.

4:35 pm: Okay, pack up, time to go. I call Mom on the way home but it's only a few minutes into our talk that I say, "Well, I'm at school - gotta go get the kiddos!" We promise to talk later.

5:12 pm: Arrive home. Hope the neighbor kids don't run in to our garage as we're pulling in. (They've been doing that lately.) Laugh to myself when I see their 3 year-old boy is wearing a hot pink tutu. Tee hee. AJ sees him, too, and says, "MOMMY, Look at E!" I am secretly relieved that AJ's past the age where we might be ignoring the fact that he wants to wear skirts, like my neighbor is doing.

5:40 pm: Hubby is home. I've asked him to start the grill in a few minutes. We're giving each other the run-down, going through the mail; KT's clamoring for our attention and eating crackers. AJ's watching something on TV and eating Baked Cheetos.

6:30 pm: Dinner. It's steak tonight -- we haven't had 'em in so long! -- with baked potato, and green beans. AJ actually eats. KT fusses through the whole dinner but she's likely tired; hasn't slept since waking at 2:45 pm, according to her daily report.

7:30 pm: After playing a bit in the living room, we're doing baths. AJ's getting onto me for not playing with him, but I try to tell him Mama's got work to do during bath! Two kids to bathe! DH is doing dinner dishes and then dusting the upstairs bedrooms while I do baths -- thank GOD for him. Dusting!

8:30 pm: Both kids are in bed. KT didn't even fight it. I ratted her out to the pediatrician last week and so she's in Cry-It-Out School. I hope she doesn't wake up tonight, although letting her cry is surprisingly easy, and she never goes longer than 20 minutes or so.

8:40 pm: I go downstairs to cook up some sausage that will go into a crock-pot soup tomorrow morning, for dinner tomorrow night. I planned meals this week for once -- haven't really done that in forever and I'm sick, myself, of my half-assed dinners. Toscano Soup in the crock-pot, I hope, will be yummy.

8:45 pm: Call my Mom back. I'm conspicuously NOT working out. Haven't, in more than a week. I feel really bad about it because I had been doing so well, but I also feel wholly unmotivated. I'm bored with it. Probably need a new DVD. Also contemplating joining the office's lunchtime walking group (they do a walking DVD in the big conference room every day!). You can tell I work with an office full of women!

9:00 pm: Still talking on the phone, and getting ready to sit down and write this. I have been to the basement and back to get some paperwork that I need to take to the tax accountant's office tomorrow. Also on my list for the week: Easter shopping. Car seat shopping. Oh yeah, those lunchtime workouts... I'll make it upstairs and to bed by about 10:30 or :45, I hope.

M. O. T. Y.

Pass me the Mother of the Year trophy. KT fell down the stairs tonight, when I turned my back to dig something out of the hamper.

I'm okay about it but MAN, does it make the heart go wild. She barely even cried. Had a little bump on her head but when mixed with all the other "I'm just learning to walk" bumps and bruises, no biggie.

And now let us never speak of it again.



I'm loving all your cookie comments!

This discussion not approved by Jillian

I hope you know that it's Girl Scout cookie delivery season. (The most wonderful time of the year!) I hope you know that beyond the shadow of a doubt. :) We do. We even purchased ours from a sweet young lady who politely knocked at our door (with her mother waiting, a very non-intrusive distance away, behind her). She didn't even make us pay 'til she delivered them! I was pleasantly surprised by the process.

I was NOT surprised that the cookies are still as delicious and sinful as evar.

I was disappointed that AJ announced he does, in fact, like mint + chocolate together, and now I have to share my preshus green box for the first time in YEARS. YEARS!, I tell you!! Sigh.

It prompted me to want to rank my Top Five cookies, like we rank our Top Five Hottie Celebs. It wasn't very hard for me: I counted them off:
1. Thin Mints.
2. Deluxe Grahams.
3. Chips Ahoy original.
4. Nutter Butters.
5. Oreos (Double Stuff). and/or/esp., the peanut butter ones.

AJ decided that his favorites are:
1. Thin Mints.
2. Fudge Stripes.
3. Oreos.
4. Chocolate chip.
5. Sugar cookies. (With the hole in the middle. He specified.)

I was all, "What? It's your first TIME with the Thin Mints! You can't know that they're your FAVORITE yet. and by the way they're MINEALLMINE!" Heh.

No, seriously. They ARE mine. I paid for them.

No, seriously.

So then I asked husband and he was all, "I don't have favorite cookies." Which wouldn't be THAT surprising because he isn't much of a dessert guy, but COME ON. I said, "You mean to tell me if fourteen kinds of cookie were lined up in front of you, there isn't one that you'd pick up FIRST?" (COME ON.)

So he said:
1. Fudge Stripes.
2. Chips Ahoy.
3. Soft Batch chocolate chip. (mmm! I'd forgotten those! Flashback to Grandmother's kitchen table!)
4. Butter Cookies (the Danish ones in the blue tin)
5. Scotch Oatmeal from Byrd Cookie Co.

Thank goodness he could answer that question; I was going to be worried about our future together if he didn't.

What does it say that we all only love processed cookies? After that somewhat pathetic thought occurred to me, I almost put homemade peanut butter cookies in slot #4... but you know what? I think homemade cookies should be a separate poll altogether.

Spring today

It's 75 and sunny here today, and probably similar in lots of places, especially around the southeast. We're going to a little party tonight and the combination of those two facts inspired me to have a DIY pedicure this afternoon. I can't tell you how long it's been since I painted my toenails. What a difference a little polish makes, I swear. I had forgotten how much I like my own pretty feet. :)

It's silly, really, but it made me realize that the past year I've been going around claiming to be unable to do all these things -- like painting my toenails, redecorating the den, buying new throw pillows -- because of not having enough time or money. And it's true, I haven't had enough time or money, but I think it's time to come back to life, in a sense. KT's one now, you know? I mean, no one can fault a working person with a baby and a 4-year-old for sitting unproductively on Saturdays and Sundays while her kids play around her, I don't think. But the little bit of effort it has taken this afternoon to get a little bit dolled up... if it made me feel this good, maybe a little dolling up of other areas wouldn't hurt, either. And I don't just mean decorating, I just mean DOING things. There's no reason we can't: Go out to brunch sometimes. Get dressed up sometimes and go on a date. Touch up the baseboards with a little fresh paint. Start a project (ahem, photo albums). Buy a new handbag just because. Clean out the filing cabinets. Visit the floral department of Publix and for heaven's sake, buy a $10 bouquet of carnations. Some of those things aren't necessarily FUN projects, but I guess I've just assumed I couldn't complete things, so I didn't start them -- all year. But maybe it's time.

A drink

Tell me something: It's okay to sit down on a Friday night, after the kids have gone to bed, and your husband scored 2 tickets to the hockey game last-minute and went with the neighbor-husband... it's okay at that point to sit down with your friend Google Reader, and your glass of wine, right? Even if it's a BIG glass of wine? Even if nothing's bothering you and you have no trouble going to sleep anyway, you just like the taste of wine? (You, like, have been WANTING this glass of quiet wine and teh blawgs - especially teh blawgs - for a couple of weeks now?)

That's okay, right? That's not a sign of impending doom slash alcoholism?
I mean, I seriously KNOW that it isn't, but... it isn't, right?

Every time I think of doing it (and tonight, actually doing it), I start to wonder. Drinking all by myself.... hmm. Kinda stupid to wonder, but I do.

More of same

It'd be nice to talk about something other than my new job, but it's still the topmost thing in my mind. This is Day 8, not that I'm really counting, but it kinda feels like I've been here longer, and I think that's a good thing. (Ooh, I just remembered I have to take a new photo at my desk for Tess. And for me, too - I kinda like having pics of me in my "daily state.") I've gotten most of my crap unpacked, I know which fridge I can store my lunch in, I know the back-way to get to the restroom, and I've conquered the printer set-up.

Some things I like here:
-- Mirrored elevators. I can always check the hair (VAIN) before I see people.
-- The Ladies Room smells like a bin of Strawberry Shortcake dolls circa 1984, first thing in the morning. (No, srsly.)
-- In one corner of the office it ALWAYS smells like fresh donuts. I think I have olfactory issues, but really. They must have great mornings over there in the compliance department!
-- People ask about my kids. I try not to gush too much.
-- The boss acts like a boss, rapidly walking through, asking everyone "How are ya?" without really meaning it. He's entirely too busy for some of us. He cracks me up for some reason. I just shake my head after he goes by. (When I interviewed with him, he clearly hadn't read my resume, and was obviously too important to care about my credentials. He phoned it in with these questions: "What are your strengths? What are you weaknesses?" I sorta laughed at him about that, too. I don't know why it didn't bother me but it's just the nature of modern bosses, I think.)

Yesterday we got home from daycare, I got the kids set up with Nilla wafers, I poured myself some ice water, and I was just toodling around the kitchen feeling so happy. When DH came home and started asking how my day was, I had only good things to say. Sure, it's still WORK with all the mundane-ness of PowerPoint and "status meetings" and there might as well be TPS reports, but I'm really enjoying it, somehow. It's probably just the novelty of not doing what I was doing. It will probably wear off eventually. But at least for the moment, I am experiencing what is known as Liking Your Job.

P.S. Anyone watching Biggest Loser? I am loving this show but OH MAN, the cliffhanger last night!! Why do we even torture ourselves with the TV?