Friday, July 27, 2018

currently- the july edition

Reading: children's book after children's book after children's book. We're nearing the end of the library's summer reading program and doing our best to have a strong finish. We blew the minimum number of books out of the water. The required number was 3 but we're at 93. I didn't know I was supposed to be keeping track of minutes until a few weeks ago so I used my poor math skilz to calculate that we were at 300 minutes. We have two more days to reach 600 minutes and we're almost there. Almost meaning 90 minutes but we shall press on. Sesame doesn't care one bit but I'm determined to make it. We went to an end of the program party and AB danced her little feet off. She got up on the stage with the other children and sang Let It Go. For some reason it made me tear up. She's getting so big!
She won a prize for participating in the program and we picked it up today. She got a Pete the Cat book, stuffed animal and a few coupons for free ice cream and KFC. We also got a Dunkin Donuts gift card. The librarian let us choose between Pizza Hut and DD and without my influencing Annabelle chose DD. My work as a mother is done.


Burying: Benjamin "Little Blue" Harrison, our beta fish. He was never as beloved a member of our family as Millard T. Fillmore so it's possible he died of a broken heart. He was a very boring fish and none of us are surprised he lived a short life. I sent him down the porcelain express this morning and we've already replaced him. Walmart isn't where I typical purchase live fish but the pet department was right next to the shaving cream I needed so it was killing two birds with one stone. His name is TBD but Annabelle is calling him Bluey Gabluey and that's a name train I refuse to get on.

Planning: my New Years 2020 party. The theme will be Hindsight. 

Setting up: a slipnslide. Our old slipnslide went the same way as AB's kiddie picnic table- lost somewhere between NY and here. Personally, I think it was stolen by the movers but that hasn't been proven. I got a new one and set it up this morning to the soundtrack of AB's constant comments. "Are you sure that's the way it goes? Is it long enough? Can I have a snack? Can it turn into a pool? How do they make slipnslides? Is it lunchtime yet?" I put on my bathing suit and slide down because I want her to remember me as a cool mom. I banged my knee on a rock and am icing the huge welt it made on my leg as we speak. A few hours before that I shut my arm in the library door. She'll remember me as the invalid mom.

(Apparently) bad at: drawing. I drew a number 7 balloon on a birthday package I was mailing and the lady at the post office asked if it was a sock. Because drawing a sock on a string makes sense. I'm not Norman Rockwell but it was slightly insulting.


Shopping at: Joanns. As always. This is so me. I saw a cute painted box in aisle 2 then wandered the store looking for an unpainted box, stencils and paint so I could make my own. 
Forgetting: everything I was going to blog about.

Apologizing for: such a boring post.

Thursday, July 19, 2018

a thursday that seemed like a monday

I had a doctor appointment today. She looked up from my papers and said, "You know, your blood pressure is a little high."

I'm sure it is.


I started the day off by burning my arm on splatters of hot butter.


We got locked out of the house so I had to rip the bathroom screen and climb through the window. It was not a big window and I am not as small as I once was. Of course I had just taken a shower, done my hair and makeup and was wearing a dress. I gave the neighbors quite a show.


Last night I cleaned up ants crawling around the front seat of my car. I didn't know they were also in the back until this morning when AB said ants were in her snack bag. I moved a few things in the back and saw dozens of ants running around. I have no idea how they got there but I need them gone. I had to do an emergency ant extermination.


I dropped papers off at an office in town and got delayed there so I got AB to the babysitter's late. Because of that I got to the doctors late.
Delays at the doctor meant I didn't get in until over an hour past my appointment time.


I'm not surprised my blood pressure was a little high.

You know whose blood pressure is just fine? This sweet little ballerina.

She did three hours at a little ballet camp and suddenly she's an expert on the art of dance. She was showing me a few things she learned and having me repeat them. "Oh no, Mama. That's not the right way. THIS is the way. Do THIS with your foot. LIKE THIS, MOM." Then she launched herself across the floor and slid into the refrigerator. She's such a dainty little lady!

Sunday, July 15, 2018

mama and Doc McSesame

Sad news, everyone. Annabelle starts school in a month.

Let's all have a moment of silence to process our grief.

I don't know how this is happening since just last week she looked like this.
I know she'll love it but I'll so sad at the thought of her being away from me for 12 hours a week. Christopher likes to point out that it's ONLY 12 but he's much less emotional than I am. We spend all day, every day together and while I frequently wish I had family around to give me a break, knowing she won't be around three mornings a week is too much for my delicate heart. I (not really) jokingly said I might park outside the playground and watch her play with the kids. Christopher said that's a terrible idea and the police might get involved. There he goes again with being reasonable. Of course, 12 hours a week gives me plenty of times for naps and manicures so it might work out for both of us. (Yes, I did go through this when she started MDO and yes, I ended up loving it. Let me have my moment of despair before I shout my love of school from the rooftop.)

All that to say, I'm trying to pack in as much fun before school starts as we can. On Friday we had a Mommy Sesame Date. Normally we got to Dunkin Donuts (inside instead of drivethru because I like to keep our life spicy) but this time we got Chickfila. It goes without saying that it was in the high 90s but we're stuck inside so much because of the heat I was determined to have a picnic. I was hoping for a nice picture but this is the look your child gives when you put your picnic blanket down on a pile of ant hills.
After the picnic, we went to a small gift shop to pick up a baby gift. Every so often I like to take her into such stores as a way to practice self-control and good behavior etc, but I wonder if it's worth it when all I have to keep up a running commentary on do's and don'ts. "Don't touch! Look but don't pick up! You can touch with one finger. Isn't this pretty?  You can hold a towel since those don't break. Watch where you're going! Don't bump into that table! Ok, let's wrap this trip up." Such a relaxing way to browse the store.

That evening we played hospital for the 56th time that week. She's is very into Doc McStuffins and has started her own Doc McSesame hospital in the living room. All her stuffed animals are patients and she gives us the option of being a med student, a chef or an entertainer. After we pick she decides she doesn't like our choice so she tries to reassign us as ambulance drivers or nursery watchers. Without fail she informs us that we're not doing the job correctly. "But Mama! Stuffy doesn't talk to patients like that!" It's tough to be a hospital employee. The hours are erratic, the benefits terrible. Good thing the boss is cute.
Pre hospital ball where we all wore blue and entertained the patients.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

midweek round up

* I tried a new zumba yesterday. I haven't been since we moved even though every single week I wrote "go to zumba" on my church bulletin. Every week I write my weekly goals on the bulletin and 9 out of 10 times I write the same things week after week. It's not a very effective system. Anyhow. It's at 9:15 class which I think is too early to be out of the house exercising but I finally did it. I've been to many a zumba class but never have I ever been to such a loud class. The ladies, and one man, were whopping and hollering like a gang of hyenas. I could barely hear the music. Back where I come from, there's a small applause after each song and the occasional enthusiastic yell but nothing like this. I'll go back but I'll pack earplugs along with my water bottle.

Churches are much more vocal here too. People are frequently amening, that's righting and every week the congregation claps at least once. I don't enjoy clapping in church (clapping makes it seem too much like a performance) but I do a polite golf clap every so often. When in Rome!  


* Sesame got her first haircut when we were at home. She was obviously thrilled.
So many people have asked me lately if I curl her hair. Yes! I wake us both up at 4am to put her hair in curlers every single morning. I hope we'll be able to keep it up this rigorous schedule when she starts school.


* I hold myself to a high library fines standard. I always pay them off immediately and pride myself in never owing more than $2. Imagine my shock and horror when I was checking out at the library and the librarian said we couldn't get any books because we had reached our fine limit. Excuse me? I have never reached my limit. I asked how much we owed and she said $27. TWENTY SEVEN DOLLARS. I was speechless and mortified. She must have me mixed up with someone else. I didn't believe her so she printed out a receipt that was over four feet long. It was so long that when I folded it, it was too bulky to fit in my wallet. It took two librarians and a visit to a different library to get it all sorted out. I thought I had returned a HUGE pile of books on their due date but had actually returned them a few days late. Take it from me- late fees add up fast. 
Actual footage of the library accountant seeing my money roll in.
* I went out to grill chicken the other night and found two frogs hanging out under the lid. Needless to say, I can never cook on that grill again. I asked Christopher the other day when frog season will be over and he said it's not a season. They're a permanent fixture. If you hear I've been arrested for illegal drug possession you can blame the frogs.

* I'm been discussing adoption and foster care with AB lately. She gave me a hug and said, "I would want you and Daddy to adopt me."

linking up with Cup of Tea

Friday, July 6, 2018

I have not learned the art of a short recap

I didn't mean for so much time to pass between posts but that's how it goes every time I go home for a visit. I think I'll have time to read and blog but in reality I do very little of either.

It was so stupidly hot most of our visit. The day we arrived was 66* but every day after was sweltering. I am not the best version of myself in the heat. I get very annoyed with life in general and have very little patience. I thought a great idea for our last day of Aunt Camp would be to visit the splash pad. Contrary to the website, it wasn't open so we tried another park Daniel knew of. It was closed for an old car show. We tried a third park but it didn't open for an hour and a half. All it had was a fire hydrant stuck in the middle of a cement enclosure so it wasn't what we were looking for anyway. Morale in our car was dropping rapidly so I called a fourth park with a wading pool to find out the hours. I wasn't about to make the girls sit through a drive to another failed park. The woman on the phone said it was open until 5:45. I found an open park! The day was saved! I was the Aunt Camp MVA (most valuable aunt). We picked up Chickfila and I got the girls enthusiasm back up. THE NEXT PARK WAS LOCKED. The sign said it didn't open for 45 minutes. I was so close to breaking in. I didn't travel for two hours to be defeated. Two lifeguards showed up and we thought they'd let us in early but no such luck. They sat on their chairs for half an hour while 17 children waited in the grass. They said no one could swim, or stick toes in, until noon because of insurance. Insurance shimnsurance. It was 98* with high humidity. Children were falling apart. A certain mother might have been on the brink of organizing a revolt against the wading pool. Like I said, I'm not my best self in the heat. Once we all got a chance to cool off and have some fun we all decided it was a good trip after all.


Halfway through Aunt Camp, Ivy started sitting on her potty every time AB sat on hers. She'd announce that she peed, Annabelle would get off her toilet to check, then tell Ivy to sit back down and try again. They looked like Jacks in the box, hopping up and down. At one point she was laying on the ground in front of Ivy's potty out by the pool encouraging her to keep trying. "Just keep trying, Baby Ivy! Keep trying and you'll get better!" This pattern repeated for several visits to the bathroom and by the end of our visit Ivy was saying when she needed the potty and using it almost full time. Erika did nothing but buy the potty and monitor handwashing.

It took 10 months to potty train Annabelle. She didn't get it until four months ago. Apparently she's now enough of an expert to train Ivy. I'm thinking of making this lucrative and starting AB's Potty Encouragement, LLC.

Tuesday night we went to fireworks and Wednesday we went to the parade. We almost didn't go to the parade because of the heat but I'm so glad we did. There's so much change going on so it was nice to do something I did as a child. Annabelle loved it. She danced and clapped and collected candy. She was so ladylike about picking the candy. She'd run over to the pile, inspect every piece, then pick one and bring it back to. She never took more than one because she wanted to share with the others.
Baby Ivy is my favorite.
The photographer for the local paper was fascinated with her. I can't say I blame him. She did have the cutest outfit.

It was with great sadness that we left yesterday. The visits always go by so fast! When we got to the airport the man behind the counter said, "You know the flight is delayed? You got the email?" If I got the email and knew it was delayed I would not have shown up five hours early. Mom and Elizabeth hadn't left the airport so we reconvened and came up with a plan that didn't involve me entertaining Sesame in an airport for half the day. Suddenly the handle on the collapsible wagon we travel with broke. It was at this point that Annabelle bit my arm. She NEVER bites. I know she was overtired but it was not acceptable. I was already over the day and it wasn't even noon. Elizabeth said she'd find a way to fix the wagon and she did. We drove to a mechanic, she took the broken wagon in and reappeared with it completely fixed. I told her I wish I had the courage to waltz in there for help. I've been known to leave the grocery store without an ingredient instead of asking for help. She said she did it so she'd make it to the blog. LET'S ALL RECOGNIZE ELIZABETH.

We finally got on the plane at the time it was originally scheduled to land in Georgia. We had our tray tables up and seatbelts securely fastened when the captain announced that Air Force One was in the area and all other air travel in the area was prohibited. We sat on the runway for an hour. 
The pilot tried to lighten the mood by telling us it was 6* cooler in Atlanta. What a blessing. While we sat, I realized my fitbit was counting steps even though I wasn't walking. Donald may have delayed my flight but I did earn 347 steps while sitting still. Last time we flew we couldn't land because DT was in the area and we hit turbulence which made AB throw up. I'll take free steps anyday.