to do; to do; to do...

When your to-do list is longer than the timeframe in which you have to complete the tasks at hand, there is usually a problem. Thankfully, due to my wonderful friends, I am pretty confident that I'll be able to pull this all off. Even if it takes me working nonstop until M wakes up on her birthday morning.!!!
I just keep repeating my mantra -
This will all get done! This will all get done! This will all get done!

two seconds... go!

this is a two second check in, because i have been saying (since 10:30) that i have to go to bed.  and here, at almost midnight, i am still not in bed... 
i am feeling great about the parties-statuses (or is that stati?)  things are really coming together and my craftiness has yet to fail me (i still have two more days, though, and several more things to make, so i should not even attempt to jinx myself here.)  the next party, next weekend, is set, and i just finished the type for the baby's big first birthday party, just one more week later.  
three parties in three weeks... no problem!  


and now, to get some mental rest before tomorrow's cleaning bonanza!

Cleaning Fairies!

Today, i was blessed with about an hour and a half of "free" time.  My good friend took M to the park, and B fell asleep minutes after they left.  then i hit M's room to CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN!  i am sure i have mentioned here before that my almost four-year-old is a hoarder.  i mean, possibly a few scraps of paper away from me calling TLC.  so, cleaning her room is always an experience.  i did my best to sort and get rid of all the extraneous crap that she collects as treasures (like a plethora of stickers that don't stick anymore, old business cards, and coupons- she's obsessed with coupons.)   i decided it would be a good idea to pack up all of her polly pockets and small knick knacks and toys and move them upstairs for the party on saturday.  there are going to be way too many kids roaming these rooms for me to be monitoring who is watching out for a 3cm long polly pocket shoe from the babies.  


i moved so much stuff out, about 12 trips of shoe boxes and plastic containers worth, to the attic.  yet, somehow, her room did not appear to look that different from when i started.  at least there was no more dust.


actually, by the time i was all finished, her room looked great, and it was very exciting to have her come home, walk into her room, and react with an, "OH MY GOODNESS!  How did this get so clean?!?"  I told her it was the cleaning fairies.  i told her that she should help them out by keeping her room clean.  we also bribed her with a quarter a day if her room "passes" inspection.  she was very excited by all of this, and even cleaned up her barbies after playing tonight (without being asked!  amazing!)  we'll see how long this lasts!  hopefully, at least, until saturday!

T minus Five Days!

i am sitting in the dark dining room at almost midnight.  my computer has less than a few percent charge, and although my plug is less than four feet from me, i am just too tired to get up and plug it in.  But this is not just a normal midnight exhaustion... This is because I have accomplished more tonight than i have in weeks!  


i cleaned the dining room (hence me being able to sit at the table again!)  all traces of consignment sale carnage are gone!  i also cut out 45 head bands for the big party this weekend.  this sounds much less time consuming than it actually was.  and i am pretty sure that i now have carpal tunnel syndrome.  i'm going to bed!  and to rest my wrist, because many more fun crafts await this week with our T-minus-five-day countdown on!  i need to rest up!  good night!

Singing in the Rain.

Well, we weren't quite singing, but M and I did do quite a bit of squealing as the baby shrieked her head off during the deluge we got caught in today.  We were attending a big annual festival that we love and we had just gotten in line for the ferris wheel, when the sky gave a foreboding nod and then opened right up.  We stood under a tree for a while, thinking it would pass.  It did not.  The baby had already begun screaming, which wasn't surprising.  She had battled a fever all of last night and then fought sleep all of today.  She was less than thrilled with life as it was, the rain just added a sour cherry on top.  


I decided to run for it, even though we had parked at least a half mile away.  We were already soaked, so how bad could it be?  Well, let's just say that the rain that soaked us under the tree was like a light drizzle compared to what we experienced on the run to the car.  i'm pretty sure that maybe only Noah had seen rain like this before.  It was INSANE!  And amazing, at the exact same time.  Had the baby not been screaming and shivering and trying to claw her way out of her stroller, it would have actually been fun.  M was in heaven, jumping in ponds (there were no little puddles anymore) and running through rivers!  I have been a fan of rain since forever, so i was overjoyed!  It's such a cleansing of the soul when a hard rain falls over me.


The baby, well, she's fine.  now.  we got home and the girls took a long hot bath, followed by a warm bottle for the baby and chocolate milk for M.  that was a great end to the day for both of them!  and i sipped my warm tea and smiled at the sight we three must have made running through the park in the rain.

Pictures of You

I am in the process of moving pictures off my laptop and onto my hard drive.  It's taken me years to finally do this, and with seven million other things that NEED to be done this weekend, i decided that tonight was a great night to start.  And i've been sitting at my computer for hours because of this urge to purge!
I have estimated that we have taken approximately 4,000 pictures a year.  This has seemed to average about 10 GB per year.  I am on my third year of deleting.  This is going to do wonders for my poor laptop, who may as well be sounding like the old gray engine who puffs, "I cannot; I cannot; I cannot," around the mountain.  Every day i am barraged with messages from my system telling me that i don't have enough space to update, or upload pictures, or do much of anything, really.  I used to be pretty diligent about things like this, but since having children, i'm lucky if i get my own hair cut more than three times a year.  So, moving/deleting pictures definitely doesn't rank.


I'm  going to stop typing now, because it's hiccuping and i'm probably impeding the last big move of the night.  and i really don't want to sit here any longer.  Maybe tomorrow, the super fast speed of my freshened computer will rub off on my brain and give me a jolt of fresh ideas to write about!  

Another Friday Night.

The work week is through.  School is over.  Another week has come to an end.  Another weekend to look forward to.  Another week ahead.  These are the sentiments i think as i am about to call it a night.  i may as well add in that another year is coming to an end.  i could probably go deeper, but i won't.  we all know that time is moving, and that we move right along with it.  so, with that, i will go to sleep. 

Quickie updates!

Update on the consigning- Done!  Everything has been delivered!  I have my Dining Room back, and i will hopefully get a decent check in the mail in a few weeks!


Update on everything else- Not Done!  My mindset has moved from Consignment to Birthday, and i need to "move it, move it" (to quote an almost four-year-old quoting a monkey quoting a song.)  i have a week and a day to do everything!  and not a whole lot of free time to do it in!  Yikes!  Everything always gets done.  I know this.  I just need to keep repeating it to myself.  Over and over and over...

You say it's your Birthday!

Today marks the start of the birthday bonanza that occurs in my house!  My husband's birthday is today, M's is in a week and a half, and B's is two weeks after that!  (there are many, many more family members on both P's side and mine who celebrate right around now, too.)


I love birthdays!  They are a wonderful celebration of life and a great show-off of the special person you are!  My husband turned 35 today.  While this seems SO old to me, i'll be there in three months and five days (not that i'm exactly counting, or anything...) And really, what it marks for us, is that we've spent nearly a third of our lives together thus far.  That is crazy, and wonderful all at the same time!


I am so thankful for today's celebration of my wonderful husband's life.  He is an amazing father to my children, and a truly enjoyable companion.  I am blessed, and i know it.  Happy Birthday, P!  I wish you many, many more to come, my love!

300 done!

Just finished entering my 300th item into the consignment managing software!  it feels wonderful to be done!  At least that part of it.  I still need to print 300 tags, cut them with my paper cutter, and attach each tag with a safety-pin to each item.  My work is not nearly close to completion.  And, i figured out, that if i charged just $1 per item (which thankfully i'm not), and i sold every single item (which hopefully i will), i will make $210.  i think that's worth my time and energy tis week... maybe?  ask me that tomorrow night, once i'm done tagging.  or better yet, ask me sunday afternoon when i see what i actually made.  hopefully it was worth all this time.  you know, the time that i don't have...

my own personal space/time conundrum

While i have immense respect for einstein, his space-time continuum has nothing to do with my space/time conundrum.   i have no space.  i have no time.  these have been issues that i have been dealing with for years.  my house is small, my calendar smaller.  the amount of stuff to fit into this house is enormous, as is the extremely busy agenda that i have no room for in my limited budget of time.  oh, the drama!


and, to top it all off, i have this vortex where things get completely lost in my house!  COMPLETELY!  seriously, i lost one of my favorite shoes in about july.  i have yet to find it.  for those of you who are privy to the actual dimensions of my house, you know that i'm not lying when i say it is small.  so how on EARTH did i lose the baby bath-tub in here?!?  it's GONE!  i cannot locate it anywhere!!!! (and i checked BOTH storage units- it's nowhere!)  same with a storage bag full of corduroy pants (at least 4 pairs, and one of my favorite sweaters lived in it.  plus i'm sure there are other fall clothes in it...)  i have torn this house apart.  there are few closets, and even fewer hiding spots, yet i cannot find ANYTHING!  i think i am losing my mind!


okay, all done.  i need to get that out every now and again!  some day, in an alternate reality, i'll have more space than i know what to do with, and more time than i... no, time will never be what i need, so we'll stop it right there and be okay with the thoughts that someday, i'll have space!

Kids say the darnedest things.

Tonight's installment is short and sweet, very sweet.  My soon-to-be four-year-old and i were picking up branches and things in the back yard today.  she was talking a mile a minute, as usual.  i asked her to help me with something that i had, and she stopped what she was doing, stopped talking, looked up at me and shook her head softly.  "I'm just not as strong as i used to be, mama."  And then she continued picking up her things and chatting to me about everything under the sun.


it cracked me up.  She always does, but this line in particular was so sweet.  She picks up so much on adult's conversations, semantics, and body language, so when she does something like that, she really looks like she's sixty-something years old, shaking her head at her youth, and commenting on her year's gone by strengths.  ahhh, my small old soul of a girl.  i just adore her!

i'm back...

my hiatus is not happening.  at least not now.
i am calmer than i was last night, but i still think a lot of people are just plain stupid (even if "stupid is a bad word," as my daughter tells me!)


on to this day.  i am sitting in my living room, sipping a freezing cold Sierra Nevada in an almost equally frigid room (thanks to God for this weather!!!!)  i am watching my beautiful daughter play soccer with my husband.  my dog is laying next to me, and the cat is behind me on the back of the couch- in the indent that sags due to his excessive weight, and the fact that he has been sitting in that exact same spot for the last 5 1/2 years.  my youngest is finally asleep after a somewhat rocky bedtime, which i am hoping means that she will stay asleep all night long.


i am writing this all to show you what my heaven is.  a house full of life and love.  being surrounded by my family, and watching them be them.  today, at our september book club meeting, we discussed the book, "Heaven is For Real," by Todd Burpo.  I am not going to go in to the details of the discussions, which were by far our most varied and in depth to date.  i will say that i enjoyed the story, i appreciated the message, and i admired the little boy.  i have no doubts in the after-life and was only a bit more convinced after reading it.  i feel like the main affect the story could have on me is to just slow down and enjoy the ride.  i need to slow down and enjoy watching these two slide tackle each other on the hardwood floors, then feign anger as the "ref" calls a red card on them.  i need to slow down and rock the baby for five minutes longer and enjoy that her weight gets heavier and heavier against my shoulder with each passing second.  i even need to slow down and enjoy these animals that God somehow sees as a part of my family, because for all the talk that i put out there, i can not let either of them go, no matter how irritated i get with them.  they are our's and that's just the way it is.  


this slowing down was not necessarily a theme in the book, and it wasn't exactly a lot of what we discussed today.  but the thought of nearly losing my child to anything struck me pretty hard.  even though i know that i would see her again, and i know she would be in a better place, i would have a major issue with either one of my girls leaving me at all.  i have always treasured my moments with my family, especially my girls, but with all of the craziness we've been experiencing lately, i have taken it upon myself to stop.  breathe.  and relax.  enjoy the world around me.  kiss the girls twice, when it would have been once.  breathe twice with my husband when once would possibly result in a snippy comment.  breathe three times whenever i look at the dog.  this is somewhat of a new-year's resolution, without the new year.  but it's a good one, so i'll let it happen.


and now my precious daughter is snuggling up to me, so i am going to say good-bye, and snuggle right back.  with no other distraction, i'm going to go and enjoy this ride!

the social media

sometimes i think i need to take one big giant leap backwards and return to a world where i am not included in every single person i know (or maybe barely know)'s thoughts and judgements.  there have been two instances this week that have set me off to the point of raving lunacy, due to the extreme disagreements i have encountered.  i realize that my political, religious, community, and social views may differ greatly from a lot of people out there.  including a lot of my friends.  so, i tend to shy away from heated conversations or even online debates (although i want nothing more than to dive headfirst with vocal-fists flying and statistics - of course supporting my concepts- streaming.)  this week i nearly disabled my facebook account.  i nearly stopped reading all blogs.  i just get livid with the stupidity of some people's reasoning.  


and this is where i will stop myself from continuing.  because i did not wage war with my 'friends' on-line, at the time the battles were bursting inside me, so there is no sense in perpetuating it here.  but i will say, that i am impressed at my abilities to hold my tongue, because a few years back, i know i would not have.  and i have no desire to lost friendships (some lasting lifetimes) due to the fact that i am now privy to every inner thought and feeling of every single person out there.  


on that note, what else can i expect when i, too, bare my soul on the interwebs.  i share my intimate thoughts and muses with a general public, some of whom i may have never even laid eyes upon.)  i am usually okay with this, but tonight, i am feeling like i may (or may not- depending on how long my rages are raging) be leaving my self-imposed position of daily thoughts reporter.  i may have to take a break, or just cut it down to a simple report of my children's progress in life.  i may not.  i don't know.  i'm worked up tonight.  and it shall pass.  but for now, i will say that i may (or may not) see you all tomorrow.

Fall is here!

At least for the next three days!  The highs are not supposed to exceed the low 60's!  I have every window in the house open right now and it is absolutely gorgeous!  if i wasn't so used to getting a teaser taste of autumn before it's really time to enjoy, i'd pack every single short-sleeved shirt and sundress away in a heart-beat!  but i know that at some point next week, the temps will rise and i'll be sweating again soon.


but, until then, and at least for the next couple days, i will relish in this heaven of long sleeves, jeans and (dare i push it) sweaters!!!!  horray!  welcome, my favorite season of all!  FALL!

Another thing i never thought i would do as a parent...

when i had my first job, a co-worker of mine (who was the mother of a four-year-old son), used to look forward to the tv show Survivor.  She said it was her one bonding time with her son.  I remember thinking a million judgmental thoughts about this: his age, the time of night, and the propriety of the show being the main ones. all of this was before i even began to think about having children of my own.


Now,  almost fifteen years later, i think about her and her son often.  Tonight, (although we are really well into our nightly bedtime routine at 8:15), M asked (and received) to watch the Big Brother finale with me.  the show was on until 11:00.  Big Brother is one of my few reality tv indulgences, my other being the amazing race (which we saw the preview for tonight, and made a family date for every sunday forthcoming to watch!)  


So, i let my not-yet-four-year-old watch the finale of big brother tonight.  she did stay up till 11:00 (do i hear a collective sigh from the masses?!?)  but(always the justifier!), she wanted to see who won.  and she was so snuggled up to me on the couch that i could not say good-night until the end.  and when the end came, i carried her to bed and said good-night, and she was gone.  it was the easiest bedtime in months!


and now, i am guessing that every sunday from now until whenever, my eldest and i will be sharing the amazing race... and in 15 years... maybe running it?!?  again, another thing i never thought i could do as a parent... but, maybe!

a little bit about my life...

in the next weeks to come, here is my to-do list.  this is not in as much detail as i could go in to, but that's probably for the better.  if i start to think about the details, i'll probably have a small coronary!


this week: read my book for saturday's book club meeting (i have not started it, but hear it's a quick read- fingers crossed!)


by next week (will need to work on this this week, too): the consignment sales- if you walk into my dining room and see that you cannot see the table or half the floor (due to all of the clothes and toys to be consigned, and this does not include the bigger items sitting in storage), you'll know why this is a BIG to-do...  Also, need to create and mail out invitations to the other two birthday parties i'm having in the next month!


by the following week (again, pretty much need to be working on this from now until then): Clean my house and prepare all of the decorations, games, food, etc. for a HUGE 4-year-old birthday party (surprise, no less- meaning all of this needs to be done as covertly as possible).  in addition, i need to make approximately 40 gift bags for the insane amount of children that my daughter is friends with!  and, if you know me, you know that i don't buy much of this- that i hand-make as much as possible... 


by the week after: prepare for our big family birthday party to celebrate both of my daughters in one location (other than my state) at once!


the week after: the baby's FIRST birthday party!  ahh!  i cannot come to grips with this one yet.  i'll need all of these weeks of insanity to keep my heart occupied for this momentous occasion!


in and amidst all of this, i am substitute teaching at school almost every Monday, Weds, and Friday.  I also agreed to be the "head" "room parent" at M's school, which means leading the group of at least 16 other room parents... i also have three weekly playgroups to fit in, dinners, lunches, friends, family, sleep, showers, etc., etc., etc.   


i always think that "once XYZ is done, things will slow down."  but i am slowly realizing that nothing is going to slow down.  this is my life, and this is the pace it lives.  and, although i am looking forward to finally resting on october 22, this is how i like my life to be.  fun, full and chaotic.  some things will never change!

one of these days

One of these days, I'll get my act together. I'll finish everything I intend to, and even go to bed at a reasonable hour. But for tonight, and the last good run of nights, as it seems, are not the nights for it.
I did get 31 invitations made, stuffed, and addressed tonight. That is one huge accomplishment for me! And for That reason, I'll leave everything else on my to-do list to have to be done. Some day. Even soon, I hope. I hope!

Back to reality.

Back to reality, and just in time.  I have invitations to make and mail.  I have consignment items to price and tag.  I have laundry that MUST get washed, and i have a house that MUST get cleaned (or at least tidied... or something, anything!)  I have work tomorrow at the school, but once 1:30 comes, it will be time for me to get my "real" job (a.k.a. mother/wife/housekeeper/chef-extroidinaire!) back on track!


I am going to bed early (second day in a row) and waking up early, and i'm going to get a lot done tomorrow!  I promise!  I hope...  at least! 

race day- complete!

All went well on the racing front. I really will write more and catch up this week, but for tonight (and before I go back to sleep after both of my children were just up...), I'll just end with that. M's race was awesome! Mine was great!
The end!

Race Day... tomorrow!

It's here.  Again, much sooner than it seemed it would be when i signed up months ago.  My entire day got away from me, and now it is just about midnight, and i have got to go to sleep.  i had so much more to write, but it must have gotten away with me, just like the months and the hours in the day.

just what i needed!

as if the cosmos knew exactly how badly i needed to relax, my hot stone massage appointment popped up as a reminder this morning.  i wanted to cancel, but had already rescheduled from last week, and my groupon was about to expire, so i knew i needed to go.  I drove a half an hour to get to an obscure place, not exactly smiling.  i got there late (because i passed it three times, because it was that obscure), so i started off even more tense than i already was.  but once i was inside, and somewhat settled, i made myself stop thinking and start relaxing.  and then the massage began.  it was a hot stone massage- one that i have never had before.  it was heavenly.  the 90 minutes flew by, of course, but all of the tension and irritation and negativity had enough time to exit my being.  i walked out of there a new girl.  it was just what i needed!


and to top off the change of heart, i fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans tonight.  that, in and of itself, was enough to turn any frown upside down!  my inner sunshine is once again bright and happy!  Thank GOD!

End to this day.

Today has just been a bad-mood day.  I'm not sure if it's that it's the first day of school, and now i am back to having to miss my girl three days a week, or if it's because i heard of horrid news about a distant acquaintance first thing this morning- news that has sat with me and i cannot quite shake off like a bad chill.  Or that i got a little less than 4 hours of sleep last night, yet still woke up early to run three miles.  Maybe it's the fact that i am pre-menstrual and no amount of midol can control these emotional swings.  It could be the fact that i am trying to plan out a month of events a month away (a task i despise), or (in conjunction with the previous statement) the fact that i am homesick.  
Any or all of these could have brought on this melancholy mood.  All i know is that i thank God i have my girls to make me laugh.  They always seem to know when i need an extra snuggle or a special silly gesture to make me laugh (like that M now needs to count to 30 instead of a normal 1-2-3 before she does anything like run or jump or play a game.  and when she counts to 30, she really counts to 30 (or "sirty" as she so perfectly says!)  


I am ready to put this day to rest, move on and make tomorrow a better day.  I pray that i will sleep.  i pray that my girls will sleep.  i pray that tomorrow is, in fact, better.  


and that is the end to this day.

Official Last day of summer.

It's official, once we wake up tomorrow, our school year will begin, and we will finally say good-bye to summer.  We celebrated our "Back to school night" party tonight in our living room, complete with surprises like a new outfit for tomorrow (one that seriously makes my baby look like a teenager- my goodness!)  and a new book about going to school.  


The biggest surprise of all (although she knew about it for a week) was that we got to watch E.T.  If any of you have not watched E.T. since you were a kid, i advise you to go out right now ( i don't care if it's midnight, DO IT) and rent it or buy it!  And then watch it.  Gather the family around and watch the entire movie from start to finish.  It wasn't that it was as good as i remembered it, it was a thousand times better.  Because this time, i was watching the magic through my daughter's eyes.  When the bikes lifted up into the sky, her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and her smile as wide as a serving platter!  It was absolutely the most priceless face i could ever have seen!  I cried happy tears at her reactions; i cried sad tears at my own.  i had to leave the room on a few occasions to compose myself (it is still as sad as ever in parts).  When the film was over, there was not a dry eye in this room.  My dear sweet girl cried nearly to the point of hyperventilating, just as i had when i walked out of the theater in Cape May, NJ nearly 30 years ago (yikes!)  I held her and rocked her and completely understood how she felt.  


I put her to bed (only an hour and half behind schedule) and even set her alarm clock for the first time (at her request.  She was so excited that we had to listen to it go off five times!)  Tomorrow morning she will wake up only a day older, but another year wiser.  She will begin her "Four-year-old" class and be reunited with friends that she has talked about throughout the summer.  It will be a similar feeling to last years' drop off, because i know my heart will be heavy to see her go off on her own for the day, but at least this year i know how much she'll love it, and that she will actually survive the four hours without me (even if i don't do nearly as well as she.)  


And so tonight we say Good-Bye to summer.  And tomorrow, Hello to a whole new year!

best news EVER (and change of blog post!)

I was just about to write about the insane amount of sh*t i have to do over the next four days.  i have to run, since my race is on saturday morning.  i have to make 25+ invitations for M's "Surprise" party.  I have to clean my house (okay, that's always on the to-do list, i know.)  AND, i thought i had to enter, hang and tag over 100 items that are taking over my dining room for saturday's big consignment sale.  (And, i am subbing on Friday at M's school all morning.)  but alas, i was wrong!  the sale is not until the 24th!  this is (quite possibly, or at least for tonight) the BEST NEWS EVER!!!!  i was seriously just sitting here staring at the piles of clothes and toys thinking that i would rather curl up into a ball and whither away than begin to enter the information into the system, then organize it for when i print the tags (and then i have to safety-pin the tags to the clothes... good times, indeed.)  


but now, i can focus on the invitations this week and begin the consigning hell next week!  i can attempt to run (although the rain that has decided to settle directly above the city may prohibit that the next couple mornings... unless i motivate and head to the Y for the treadmill.)  i can actually enjoy the first week of school!  


i am so excited i could scream!  (and did- to the point where my husband probably thought i had won the lottery when i screamed that i had the "BEST NEWS EVER!" to him.)  i am going to bed a much more relaxed and happy gal!  horray!

Reliving sweet memories.

Today was a day that was not only fun, but one that completely brought me back to yesteryear.  We spent the better part of eight hours at a party with some of our closest friends.  The house was crawling with kids who spanned the ages of three months to just about five years old.  The adults talked and ate and drank, and the kids dripped sticky popsicle juice onto bare feet in the yard.  Music played, but laughter drowned it out.  It was a heavenly day.


As we drove home tonight, two little girls passed out in their seats, my husband and I happily recounted the day.  The sights of the city coming into view made my heart happy, as I knew we were just about home.  This feeling  instantly transformed me back to being a kid.


When i was a kid, we went to friends' houses for parties, barbeques, etc. all the time.  We were always having people over or being entertained.  I always loved those parties, where the kids ran free and the parents laughed.  This was my childhood, and i love that i'm giving it to my kids.  And, one of my favorite feelings in the world was that of falling asleep on the way home from someone's house. Seeing the street lights out the windows, and knowing that we were turning into our neighborhood was like my ticket to sleepiness.  Once i knew we were there, i could fall asleep.  And the finale to that favorite feeling was to be carried into the house to my bed.  I don't know if my sister also fell asleep, or if she would walk in herself.  I just know that those were amongst my happiest days as a child, and based on the smiles on my sleeping girls' faces, i'm going to guess that these are the kind of days that will be their happiest, as well!

Slipped my mind.

As i had fallen into that peaceful rest right between sleep and the end of the day, i realized, almost mystically, that i had not written my blog last night.  Evidently, i spoke that out loud to my husband (he told me this morning).  But it was not enough to move me out of bed to find my laptop to write about... what would it have been anyway?  
Yesterday was a lay-low kind of day in this house.  We cleaned up and hung out and I sorted my thousands of clothes to get ready for the big consignment sales next week.  We ended up at the park later in the afternoon, enjoying some bit of breeze in the shade, but ultimately sweating buckets in the rest of the sun, so it was not exactly the most fun trip.  M is the only one in our house who doesn't sweat the second she steps outside.  So, of course, she didn't really want to leave the park.
The baby almost walked (but still held on to whatever fears she has.)  At one point, in the mulch at the park, she had my pinky finger held loosely in one hand, and she nearly ran to get to the jungle gym.  It was truly amazing.  It's making me realize just how NOT a baby she is anymore.  It's wonderful to watch her grow, but a bit sad to think that she's such a big girl already!


And that, in a slightly large nutshell, was what we missed in last night's installment of the day-in-a-life of us.  More, as always, to come!

inspiration in... inspiration out.

i have no idea what i just sat down to write.  it was there about four minutes ago, i swear!  i had a theme, and even an opening sentence (composed while lying in the semi-dark of my almost four-year-old's room as she fell asleep, or didn't fall asleep, as it turned out to be.)  


now i am sitting here listening to my husband's music (which, i guess, is my music, too, at times), and wondering what the hell i was going to write about.  and i cannot, for the life of me (especially with my husband going on (for the thousandth time) about how i gave up a ticket to see pink floyd in philly in 1994 because my sister was getting married (it's mostly kidding, of course!)).   


i'm going to just call this my blog post tonight.  if i think of anything more, or what i really had in mind before, i'll be back.  if i'm not back, i got sucked in to yet another friday night blitz concert on dvd.

Funny work story...

So, now that i am a veteran of working all of my four days with the kids, i have so many anecdotes that i laugh about each night.  I mean, 14 kids ranging in age from B (at 10 1/2 months) to the three 5 year olds, of course there are going to be some funny things to report.
But, my favorite came to me first thing this morning.  I'll set the scene.  Imagine me actually waking up to run this morning (had to get that in here somewhere!), coming home to shower, get dressed, and even put on make-up (a first this week.)  I get to school and take my kids into the gym.  Today I only had eight kids for the first hour, the other mom i'm working with was coming in an hour and a half later.  I wasn't nervous, though, because for some reason, dropping down to eight kids seemed like a vacation compared to the 14 we'd had all week.  
Back to our scene in the gym, I was smiling and waving good-bye to a mom, who dropped her kids off there.  The little girl, who is almost 5, stared at me for a few seconds before running over to me.  
I said, "Good Morning, L!"  
She said, "You look really pretty today!"  
I said, "Thank you!"  
She said, "Yeah, when i just came in, i didn't even know that it was you!"  
It took nearly everything inside of me to not fall over laughing!  Kids truly crack me up!  And they bring me joy.  
A little boy (just about 2 1/2 years old) asked me a bunch of times if i would be his teacher next week when school started.  My heart melted.  


I may have to work in a preschool forever!!!