Happy, Happy
I saw this last week on one of my walks. It made me laugh, especially because the sign is high up on the light pole to discourage vandalism. Whoever did this did it at night with a very tall ladder. I know I should be outraged by my wasted tax dollars thanks to today’s irresponsible youth!, but the angriest I can manage is a poorly hidden smirk.
Monday
I decided to make Mondays our vegetarian night. I made tofu, brown rice, and kale–sounds vulgar, but it’s not–and it was delicious. Nico was thrilled because he loves tofu. The Mister ate it because he is a garbage disposal as long as it’s homemade. Mikey acted like he was approaching the guillotine, which is why I never make it. But you know what? I don’t like pizza and I have that every single Friday night. He survived one night of tofu. Barely, mom.
Tuesday
Larissa and I got started on Nico’s quilt! For whatever reason everything went faster this time around. I bet I could be done by Monday if I work hard on it through the weekend.
Wednesday
It was Mikey’s birthday. His first complete sentence upon waking up: “Today I am 16 days older than Emma.” His second complete sentence: “That better mean I’m prayer leader.”
Leading prayer is a big deal. I guess. I remember doing it as a kid and I dreaded when it was my turn. The honor goes to kids who are celebrating birthdays, getting good grades, and just all around behaving. Because of all the summer birthdays, the competition for prayer leading towards the end of the year can get heated.
On Monday, June 3rd, the teacher said the prayer leader would be the child with the nearest birthday. Emma raised her hand (June 21st, a date forever burned in Mikey’s brain) and was elected prayer leader. For Mikey, this was an outrage. He stood up and in what I can only imagine was bossy, arrogant but endearing Mikey fashion, presented an oral argument why Emma should not be prayer leader. He outlined their birthdays, the prayer leading assignment rules, the whole thing. Honestly, the class is lucky he didn’t demand a recess to put on court dress. I don’t know if he presented his case to the entire class or to just Emma. I do know that Emma listened to Mikey, gave him one of her famous withering stares and said “Too bad, so sad.” Then she lead prayer.
Mikey lead prayer on Wednesday, though he had to share it with another girl. Kids arguing about who will lead prayer? Could be much worse.
Thursday
Thursday was a half day at school. Mikey went to the front office early in the morning and asked them to call me to make sure I knew it was a short day and that I had to pick them up early. I can only assume that because short days always fall on Fridays, Mikey felt this information would be too much for me to process, and that I would be wandering the halls of our home at noon just staring at the string tied around my finger, wondering how it got there and what it means.
His serious, responsible personality makes me happy. So does his excellent memory. It means I don’t have two Nicos, who on Wednesday “forgot” to tell me he dropped his slice of pumpkin pie on the kitchen floor.
Friday
Tonight we are going to play Ticket to Ride as family! I’m building up the game closet. I took the list of board game recommendations with me to Target, and Ticket to Ride was the only one I found, which is fine because I think it’s the one that works best for Nico’s age. I’m excited!
The Weekend
My niece is in a production of The Little Mermaid. On Sunday we are celebrating his birthday at my inlaws. And all the while, I’ll be hand tying Nico’s quilt.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
p.s. Thanks for yesterday. <3
Happy, Happy
Short week, made all the better because there was no traveling, no baseball practice, and no extra curricular activities to speak of.
Monday
Mikey had a friend over from school for a 7 hour play date with lunch and dinner! Whenever kids come over I get a little nervous because the boys don’t have a ton of toys. They’re outdoor/creative play kids. This is by choice and also by necessity since I’m a huge fan of Simplicity Parenting, but sometimes when their friends come over there is an initial “Dude, that’s all the toys you have?!” moment that makes me want to go buy all the toys so I don’t feel like such a terrible mom. Luckily, Mikey’s friend had no problem with playing wiffle ball and kick ball in the street, a game of war in the backyard, some Xbox, a pillow fight, and a trip for ice cream. When he heard his mom was coming he told Mikey he didn’t ever want to leave. Whew!
Tuesday
Taco Tuesday! We instituted a family meal guideline so everyone has realistic dinner expectations and I have an easier time figuring out what to make for dinner. Guess what Tuesday is?
Wednesday
Yes, Anne of Green Gables was awesome. But I think my favorite moment was during homework time when Nico all of a sudden jumped up and tossed his pencil in the air like he just remembered something and yelled, “TODAY IS SPAGHETTI WEDNESDAY!!!”
Thursday
I watched Footloose and hand tyed. Then I watched all four episodes of North and South and hand tyed. Side note: most romantic ending to a movie I have ever seen in my entire life.
Only five more rows to go! (With Mikey’s quilt. I’m at point 0 with Nico’s quilt.)
Friday
I want to finish Mikey’s quilt and at least commit to procrastinating on Nico’s. My goal is to get to the point where I walk into the guest bedroom (where I do all the pinning), lay out Nico’s quilt, get ready to pin, and then say…eh. Maybe later. If I get that far, I will consider the day a success!
The Weekend
Mikey might be signing up for a chess club this weekend. We’re going to an informational meeting. I think it’s going to be right up his alley. I told him that chess is a game of strategy, similar to a battle on a small field, where the goal is to overthrow your opponent and achieve total domination using your wits. He thought about it for a few minutes and said, “Mom, I think I’m going to really like chess.”
Happy, Happy
The Mister was gone all this week–he gets back late Friday night–and I survived! I’m glad school is over in a few weeks. I’ll have the summer to get used to this new schedule. One thing I’ve realized the last three weeks of flying mostly solo is that having some freezer meals/crockpot meals ready is key. It’s too tempting when it’s just me and the boys to eat light or get take out. That’s fine when he was traveling a few times a quarter, but several times per month is a different story. Any tips?
Monday
On Monday I spent hours working on my book review post and it felt so good to finally get it done! I didn’t add the pictures I researched because sourcing them took more time than I was willing to commit. You can see them here in a pinterest board I created. I like to create pinterest boards for books that inspire me to fall down a rabbit hole of information. It works better for some books than others. Yes, I’m doing one for The Shoemaker’s Wife. You can see that one here. I’m just getting started and have barely touched locations, so don’t be expecting to find pictures of a strapping blonde Italian…yet.
Tuesday
Jacaranda season is in force around here. When it’s overcast around here, which is admittedly not often in May, even the air has a purpley hue. Everything is so pretty, which might surprise some people. A few months ago I mentioned on twitter that the Inland Empire is really pretty in the early spring because of all the flowers, plants, whatever. So this person replies something along the lines of, “Yeah, I bet that’s the only time you could ever say that.”
Guess what? Not the only time I got to say it. Here I am, end of May, and it’s still pretty. Sure, I get hit on the head constantly by falling jacaranda petals while I’m walking and it turns out bees love the petals all over the ground so there are days when I am quietly and calmly walking through bees, but it’s a pretty dangerous!
Wednesday
Nicholas is allergic to penicillin. GUESS HOW I FOUND OUT! I was in the emergency room with the boys–remember, husband out of town–at around 7am and as they are checking out Nico, Mikey says, “So, am I going to be late for school? Because I really don’t want to be late for school.”
After I was sure Nico was, you know, going to survive, I texted 4 parents from the school who were close to the hospital. They all responded almost immediately, but it was Jen, Emma’s mom, who got there within minutes to take His Royal Highness to school. Of course I’m happy Nico was fine, but I was also happy to know I am part of such a wonderful community of parents.
Thursday
Mikey had his end of season baseball party, and the coach called him The Little Professor. This made me laugh because the teachers at school call him Professor (they also call him little old man) and so do a few of his friends. And, of course, he will always be my Professor Wentworth.
Friday
The Mister comes home for a few days (yay!) and I get to take Jen out for her birthday lunch. Then we’re going shopping at a local Catholic store. If we have any time left after that, we’ll probably hit some strip bars and place some bets at the track.
The Weekend
I’m finishing up The Shoemaker’s Wife and, if all goes as planned, conducting a thorough research of the back of my eyelids.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Happy, Happy
I don’t know about this week! Yesterday I was on the phone with a man in the fraud division of my bank because someone in Georgia was having the time of their life in a Dollar Tree on my dime, and when he asked me how my day was going I said, “Absolutely lousy, but thank you for asking!” He laughed and told me the money hadn’t left my account but to keep an eye on it. I asked him to double check because my bank balance was considerably lower than it was the day before. So he taptaptaps on his computer and asks me if the charges to the Ford dealership were mine and I said, “Oh, that’s right. How could I forget? My car DIED as I was crossing a lane of traffic during rush hour on one of my city’s busiest intersections after boo-boo fixing one of my children at school.”
So then he laughs even harder and says, “Okay…so…the vet charges. Is your dog dying?”
And I said, “No, that was just dog food.”
I made him laugh a few times and even though it was a result of my craptacular week, it did make me happy. My favorite thing to do is to make people laugh.
Monday
I walked 2 miles in triple digit weather and felt great about it. Strike that. I felt downright humble-brag, post a sweaty picture of myself on pinterest-smug about it. So there.
Tuesday
I went on another long walk and saw this guy. ZOMG WHAT. I want to meet these people. I guarantee they wear matching wolf sweatshirts–and not because they’re ironic hipsters.* I need to know how they reached the conclusion to place a life-size Native American doll in Western wear on a plastic patio chair. (And why they don’t fix the right foot!) I can speculate that it happened after a marathon of Curb Appeal and one too many neighborhood cats, but you can never be too sure. I had a friend in college whose parents had a life-size grandma doll that wore curlers and held a broom. They had her positioned so she appeared to be looking into the front yard from behind a kitchen curtain. You know, like she heard something suspicious and she was checking it out. I’m dead serious. She even wore housecoats–several, it varied according to season–and she had a name that I can’t recall. They said she was a great alarm system, but I don’t think it’s for the reasons they assumed.
* Ironic hipsters, just stop. Honestly.
Wednesday
Mikey christened the leather Chucks my brother and sister-in-law gave him for Easter. We buy our kids shoes, preferably cool shoes we may not spend the money on ourselves. It’s awesome, and even the kids like it because my brother has great taste in shoes.
Thursday
Larissa came over and taught me how to hand-tie the quilts! It’s only a matter of time before they are on the bed and I can call the boys’ room done for now. I can’t wait.
Friday
Today will be a day without insults, broken down cars, injured children, fraud, and scales that lie. Also, I was promoted at Wayfair to regular writer aka Homemaker! I’ve made the cut. Here is my first post, though I’m still listed as a guest here.
The Weekend
I’m so far behind in my reading, it’s not even funny. Let’s discuss The Shoemaker’s Wife on Tuesday, May 28. That leaves Daring Greatly, which we’ll have to bump a week or two. I swear, I’ll get back into the swing of things. At least that gives some of you with long wait times at the library time to get the books. (?)
Happy, Happy
The top video is of Mikey pitching–only the first one is a strike–and the bottom one is of him catching. Those of you who don’t have children in organized sports might be surprised to hear all the commotion from the coaches and parents. I think the kids are listening to 12 different voices at any one time.
Monday
My husband got a big promotion at work a couple of weeks ago, and today was his first day on the job. So far he likes it. We’re still figuring out how this will all work. He will work from home when he is not traveling, but he will be traveling a lot.
Tuesday
It was the first travel day on the new job, which meant he missed Mikey pitching and catching. I took a video of both, which is why it is bare bones basic. I did much better with the pictures, if I do say so myself. I really need to learn how to make videos. I assume the first step is to buy a video camera instead of using a phone.
Wednesday
I really appreciated your support on my post about perfectionism, as much as it surprised me. It’s funny–I wrote that post after Mikey’s game feeling tired and rushed. I thought it was too long and a bit of a jumbled mess. I woke up early and almost deleted it before too many of you read it, but I didn’t miss the irony in doing that so I kept it up. I still have so much to learn about writing and blogging and self criticism. Related: Hillary Rettig wrote a book on perfectionism. I don’t know how she got wind of my post, but luckily I passed muster for the most part.
Thursday
Daddy came home today! Also, I’m getting requests to read, review, and talk about books, which I love. Here is a guest post I did on Erin’s blog about what I’m reading now with the boys. As for reviewing books, I do worry every time someone asks me and I always encourage them to go through my previous reviews because I’m not really a gusher or a ZOMG I super-heart this book! kind of gal. I’m picky and like to complain, but not just for the hell of it. Well, at least not in this case!
Friday
I’m so behind on reading–mainly because I got caught up in that stupid YA/NA list of books and read three paranormal books (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) for I have no idea why. Today my schedule is pretty light, so I should be able to catch up on my reading for book club and for a review I promised. A day where I “have to” read isn’t a bad day at all.
The Weekend
I have no idea! It’s Mother’s Day, and I don’t know what the family has planned for me. I can tell you I have planned to become intimately familiar with the corner of our sectional to do some reading.
Have a happy, happy weekend everyone!
