Date Night

Things have been hectic enough around here lately that good ‘ol Date Night has taken a back seat. Finally with the Garage Sale behind us, followed up by the little guy’s Fourth Birthday Bash (I can’t even go into the whole “my baby’s four!” thing right now) the hubby and I decided we needed to actually go out.

Even when we don’t have massive weekend projects looming sometimes it still seems like more than I want to tackle on a Saturday evening to get presentable, set up my going out purse (because I really don’t need to lug around the big ol’ “mom satchel”) and go out with the husband. But I think it’s that complacency in marriage that sets in and causes things to get stale and that’s not good. As much as I love sitting on the sofa on a Saturday night with a pizza and a movie with the family, sometimes you just have to make the effort to get out of your sweat pants and put on your fancy pants.

As luck would have it, we had a gift certificate for a nice restaurant not too far from us. The hubby made reservations. He remarked on the drive over that they have live music on Saturday nights. When we arrived at 7pm (when on a Saturday night even the not-so-great places are usually packed) we were the only ones there. No, I take that back. There was the guy playing guitar and singing…to himself. The place was deserted. Yikes. We were seated and commented that at least this wouldn’t be one of those nights where we have to yell to converse with each other.

Although they were oddly out of both the wines that hubby and I ordered, nothing else gave any indication that we were going to be sorry. The food was fantastic and we both loved the entrees we chose. We even decided to stay for dessert and instead of sharing one (which never seems to go well for us) I decided to get my own when I saw my favorite on the menu: Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee. We had a great evening and the boys enjoyed staying home playing video games together. So, I’d like to just throw out the suggestion to all you mommies: “Get out of your sweat pants, put on your fancy pants and go on a date night!” It’s worth it.

The $100 Question Contest

  Head over to BlogHer to answer my $100 Question: What era would you like to have lived in?

The Garage Sale Wrap-up

I’ve blogged about it enough that I figured I should share how it all came out. Because you know, as most things around here go, hilarity is always bound to ensue.

We got up at an unholy hour to do all the final preparations. Hubby went out to put up signs, I made coffee and then we started hauling everything out to set it up. Of course despite the “no early birds” stipulation in our ads there were still cars parked outside an hour before just waiting.

My tolerance for dealing with the whole garage sale business has grown thin over the years. Over many years of moving, scaling down, kids, and general getting rid of stuff I’ve had more sales than I can count. Each time it never ceases to amaze me how people will pick up an item worth multiple times what I’m asking for it and still ask if they can have it for fifty cents. But this year one customer really threw me. After bargaining down my Baby Bjorn to more than just a “good deal” she had the unmitigated gall (always wanted a reason to use that term) to return a little later and tell me she’d changed her mind and wanted to return it and get her money back. I know! After making a half-joking comment about refunds at Garage Sales in my best shocked-with-a-hint-of-witchniess voice, I went ahead and gave it back to her. She’s lucky.

Thankfully not all our customers were pains in the rear. One charming gentleman wanted to purchase the typewriter my mom used to own. He picked it up and asked if I had the “kise” for it. While searching my brain for what typewriter part he was talking about it dawned on me that he was Australian and was asking for the “case.” Sadly we had no case for it, but he bought it anyway. The hubby told him to enjoy it and said he was looking forward to reading his novel. (That man cracks me up!)

All in all we had a successful sale and were happy with the outcome. Oh, and in case you were wondering no one bought the hubby's 8-track tapes. What a surprise.

Reducing, Re-using, Remaining [somewhat] Sane

We’re powering through "Project Garage Sale" and have made lots of sale piles, junk piles and some regular old pile piles. Of course we managed to take on this task during Back to School, then combine it with a fridge switch out (bought a new one, set it up, lived with the old one hanging around until someone came and bought it). As if that weren’t enough going on, it also coincided with another project (a fun new thing I’ll be sharing much more of with you in the future) that involves a lot of shifting around and living with even more stuff inside the house for the time being. So basically, this last week or so it feels like we’re living on the set of Sanford and Son. Really, it’s that bad.

But the good news is, we’re making progress and gearing up for what we hope will be a successful sale. As much as it’s a pain to go through box after box and cabinet after cabinet of stuff, it always feels good to know that you’re paring down, clearing out and possibly even making use out of things that otherwise have just sat there. We actually have unearthed a few things we’re now using again. I’m of course always hopeful that in this process we’ll be that ridiculously lucky couple you hear about in the news that discovered some hidden treasure at the bottom of a box of crap in their attic/garage/basement that’s somehow worth millions. Yeah, I know, fat chance. So far all we've got is that Boz Scaggs 8-track.

Proof unearthed

We're currently deep into a major garage clear out and clean out project. One that will ultimately result in a Garage Sale to end all Garage Sales.

Here's the crew. Note the look of sheer excitement on their faces to be part of such an exciting project.

Readers have heard me gripe about the Garage "situation" for some time now. We've got too much stuff and many things that need to go have enough value that we decided we've just got to do it. Even after years of giving countless items to charity we've still got lots of very good baby items, furniture, decor and other things that are begging to be sold. The best part of this whole project so far is that it has forced us to go through boxes of things that otherwise would sit untouched, as they have for years up until now.

As you may recall, I've made a few jokingly sarcastic comments here before about the hubby being older and making fun of some of the amusing items from back in "his day". Well, now I've seen some with my own eyes and after unearthing this vintage treasure I had to share a photo here:

Here you go, folks. For those of you that have no idea what you're looking at, those are 8-track tapes. Before iPods, before CD's and even before cassettes, my friends. Straight out of the 70's and no doubt straight out of the Hubby's old AMC Gremlin.

I can't wait to see what else we stumble on.

Conversations with Teenager

It's recently become apparent that I've not been tapping into the full comedy potential of both my kids.  When this occurred to me,  I shared my new idea with the teenager and it automatically proved my point. This particular dialogue went like this:

Me:   Guess what? I've just come up with a new feature for the blog!

T:      Ok, what's that?

Me:   Well, you know how I do "Conversations with little guy"?

T:      Oh no, don't tell me you mean ...

Me:   You see where I'm going with this right?

T:     *Eye roll*

Conversations with Teenager: Snack Time

During swim lessons with little guy, Teenager and I had the following brief exchange.

T:       I'm hungry.

Me:   Oh, I brought snacks. Here's some crackers.

T:     *Grimacing* Not those things, they're a weird flavor!

Me:   They're not a weird flavor, they're soybean and seaweed.

T:      Um, yeah. My point exactly.

Conversations with Little Guy: The Pool

So we're now into the fourth and final session of swimming lessons for the summer. Little Guy has come a long way, making it to level three and finally starting to swim independently. All these days at the pool have brought about the following:

LG:    I want to be a wifeguard.
Me:   Oh, does it look like fun to be a lifeguard?
LG:    Yes, I wear a whistle around my neck and blow it like this *makes whistle sound*
Me:     What do you say when you blow the whistle?
LG:      I say; "No running!"  and "Get out of the pool everybody! There's sharks in there!"

I'm pretty sure one of those was not overheard at our local pool. My guess is on an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

What’s that smell?

Apparently there’s been some amusement/excitement over some Old Spice commercials that I’ve somehow missed until just now. I guess there are times when I live under a rock. So, here’s a fun little video for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, followed by my own story below.

 

So, speaking of men and smells, here’s an amusing little slice of my life. Some time ago I began buying natural deodorant in an effort to avoid harsh chemicals. The Hubby also informed me that antiperspirants tend to make him break out for some reason as he’s apparently extra sensitive. So we tried several scents of various natural deodorants with vastly mixed results. Some smelled too “girly”, some flat out did not work, and others had some rather curious odors. I recall a time here a while back when I looked at my Hubby and asked what on earth was that smell? He stated that the new deodorant I’d purchased smelled worse than what it was designed to cover up and that I might want to try to find something that doesn’t smell bad from the start. So as not to duplicate my mistake, I asked him which particular scent this one was. His response; “I think it’s just called ‘Old Hippie’”.

Conversations with Little Guy: Nursery Rhyme Edition

The little guy recently recited his version of "Pat a Cake".

Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man

Bake it with a cat as fast as you can

Roll it, mash it and smash it with your feet

Put it in the oven for Baby to eat!

 

We were of course impressed that after changing the words around he was still able to make it rhyme!

Male Fashion Faux Pas

I know I'm not alone in thinking there appears to be a little problem when it comes to men and putting clothing choices together. Now of course, there are plenty of men with great fashion sense, but we women are sure to know many, many more men who can't match a shirt with a pair of pants to save their lives. In fact, a lot of us are probably married to one of them.

Now, my husband was in the moderately fashion challenged category when we met (remind me to tell you sometime about the outfit he wore on our first date.)  However, after years of coaching, he now does pretty well overall. Also, the fact that we haven't bought clothes in a long time makes it easy since he's been doing the exact same match-ups for years now so he's got it down.

The Teenager on the other hand has a more severe case. For your entertainment I've included photos of his latest atrocity. Let's take a look, shall we?

 

Here we have the shirt: 

A black tee shirt with an argyle print. This would go nicely with a pair of black shorts or denim shorts.

 

 

 

 

So, what does he decide to pair it with?

 

 

 

 

Some patchwork, Hawaiian print shorts, naturally!

 

 

 

 

 

And in case you think I'm making this up or showing different parts of different outfits, here's the whole ensemble.

As you can see from the smile on his face, he wears it proudly.

Then it got even more embarrassing

So, the Teenager has been accompanying me to the local aquatic center each day while his little brother has swim lessons taught by one of his own classmates from school. What could make this situation more awkward? Well, for one, as we've previously stated in the swim lesson post, having a mom who insists upon setting her up own folding chair complete with an attaching umbrella is a good start. But wait, there's more. Today after I got everything set up I couldn't get the right angle and ended up with too much sun on my legs and feet, so I decided to cover up with the little guy's beach towel. While I was fiddling with that, a huge gust of wind came up, picked up the entire umbrella out of it's holder stick and all and then flew the thing over a fence where it then made a loud thud into the side of the water slide. 
I think I've made my point.

Summer Time Antics

What happens when you mix a Summer BBQ with friends, add some margaritas for the parents and then give the toddlers s’mores? Well naturally, hilarity ensues. Be sure to listen for what little guy says as he tried to get his hands unstuck.

 

 

In case anyone missed that, he says; "oh cwap" which we found hilarious. Of course, that could have just been the margaritas or the fact that we, as his parents, find little guy pretty darn entertaining most of the time. But the margaritas help.

The now traditional, annual "A/C is out" post

Apparently this is now a yearly thing; the #@!* A/C going out. Readers may recall last year's entries ending with; It was the Flux Capacitor. Thankfully, at least this year it didn't happen during triple digits as it did two years ago when this not-so-fun tradition got its start.

This year's installment all started with a leak although the A/C was still cooling. All of  sudden we had water dripping down from a recessed light fixture above the fireplace. The hubs swung into action and quickly discovered it was due to a clog in the emergency overflow drain. Once he unclogged it, water started dripping out the drain outside and onto the patio. Not so great for patio entertaining, but better than coming through the ceiling.

We called the repairman who supposedly fixed the leaking problem. Then things really went awry. Later that evening, we noticed the temperature in the house was getting hotter and hotter even though the A/C was running. Turns out while the repairmen were "repairing" (and I use that term sarcastically) they bumped something loose, broke something else and basically knocked out the whole system. So essentially, we went from having A/C before they "fixed" something, to having no A/C at all.

When we had them back, they discovered the coil was shot and leaking freeon. They had to order the new part, which meant going into day three of no A/C before it was finally fixed yesterday afternoon. 

I'm just very glad the temperatures were within "we can make it through alive" range during this saga. Thankfully, it got fairly cool in the evening and we used our whole house fan to cool down the house for the night before it starting heating up again during the next day. We made a dinner that required no heat and for dessert we enjoyed these:

Another Trader Joe's favorite.  Like a margarita on a stick...minus the tequila.

Little Guy's Swim Lessons with associated amusements

 

This summer we finally started the little guy on swim lessons.

Monday was the first day.  The irony of having a teenage brother is that there's an excellent chance your swim instructor at the local aquatic center is right around his age, goes to school with him and knows him. Sure enough, Teenager informed me that little guy's swim teacher was in fact in one of his classes.

We've completed day three of lessons and so far, so good. It looks like he's quite comfortable in the water and is taking to learning the basics pretty well overall. We've had a bit of a challenge with him not wanting to get his ears wet, so we tried kids silicone earplugs which seemed to help.

The first day I was not prepared for a total lack of any shaded areas to sit. I'm not one to stay in direct sunlight for any length of time so I knew this was going to be a problem. So, since yesterday my solution is to haul in my folding chair and attaching umbrella. Apparently this embarrasses Teenager. I guess when your mom is pushing a stroller with your toddler brother that also contains folding chair and umbrella bags sticking out the side and then proceeds to set up said chair & umbrella combo poolside it's a spectacle you don't want to be associated with. It only gets worse when it's discovered that the sun is in exactly the perfect spot for the umbrella not to work as made, therefore it must be jimmy-rigged onto the side of the stroller and held in place by your sun-sensitive mother.

So to re-cap, I've provided swim lessons for the toddler, protection from skin cancer and embarrassment for Teenager. I'd say that's quite an accomplishment combo.

Potty Training Hits and Misses

So, in an effort to get better on track with Potty Training, we implemented the brilliant plan; “Poop for Toys”. Basically, if you poop in the potty, you get to select a small toy from a specially created basket of items waiting enticingly outside the bathroom door. This plan has worked like a charm. Unfortunately, our toy supply has depleted rather quickly after a recent bout of diarrhea, something we did not take into consideration.

Most amusing however, was an incident that took place during our Memorial Day BBQ with friends. Little guy was playing inside with his two little buddies while Teenager supervised. Apparently, there was some sort of incident that involved an attempt at pooping on the potty, a missed target and one of little guy’s friends being sent outside with a dramatic message for us;

“Um, Teenager told me to tell you that little guy went poo poo. But he missed. A little. And there’s poop on the rug. And the wall. And he wants to know if he gets his toy now.”

On being a little less LOST

The hubby and I can barely keep our eyes open past 9pm. We have to be really invested to stay up until nearly midnight as we did for the LOST finale. We knew that DVR’ing the thing and trying to watch it later would be a disaster because we’d be spending the next day dodging conversations, radio stations, Internet, etc. so as not to spoil the ending. Oh, and on a side note: since we were forced to watch commercials for this live viewing, I must give credit to Target for their hilarious ads!

Normally I do not watch any drama-type series but I got hooked on this one when I stumbled onto the pilot episode and knew this was going to be different. Of course  “different” is an enormous understatement. I can honestly say that I’m glad I got hooked on this show and spent the last six years following it to the dramatically thought provoking ending.

In  perusing other people’s thoughts and comments about the ending, it was interesting to see that some people are complaining about a lack of answers. I guess I can understand this to a point; of course there were things that left the viewers scratching their heads and trying to piece together the how’s and why’s. But just as in life, we don’t know all the answers. Oh sure, some folks think they know and will go so far as to testify that they know this and that. But they don’t, of course.

Some people felt that the ending was too emotional and as one person put it; a lot of “sappy crap”. Ironically, I dare say the “sappy crap” is at the heart of what the entire story is about and in the grand scheme of things it’s ultimately what life is about.

If you are still attempting to figure out all the ins and outs of the island then you’ve missed the point. It’s not about the mysteries of the island; it’s about the characters relationships, their place among people, their lives. I think a lot of people were so focused on figuring out the mysteries of the island they failed to see what it’s all really about.  In real life we have folks who focus the majority of their time and attention on work, hobbies, church, and other self-imposed commitments all the while their personal relationships are suffering. There are families that spend inordinate amounts of time working to pay for houses that they are never home to enjoy much less spend time with their spouse and kids. There are folks who get caught up in organizations that take their time and resources away from their families, all while they’re thinking they are doing the “right” thing. I think those are the folks that are really lost.

Much like the characters on LOST, I think people need to be focusing attention on trying to figure out how to build a better society. And I think that starts from being able to figure out how to develop and nurture the relationships in our lives. At the end of the day, the relationships that allow us to find ourselves and enable us to find happiness are the relationships that matter.

So, even if we didn't get to know the integral secrets of the island, it was still well worth the journey. Hopefully we all learned something along the way.

Just Did It

Saturday morning, while the kids stayed home and played, the Hubby and I participated in a local 5k which we entered to walk. As it turns out, we ended up running it instead. For the first time ever, I ran a 5k. I know that probably seems ridiculously insignificant to most folks out there who’ve run many, much longer events. But this is the girl who keeps threatening to “start running” (see previous posts here , here and here) and just never seems to do it. So, I just did it.

As luck would have it, only a couple minutes into the thing the Hubby and I saw someone we knew up ahead and jogged to catch up and say hi. We ended up chatting (and running) and at some point when the Hubby pointed out I was running and had already run half of the thing I knew it would be silly to not just keep going. So I did. The Hubby ran right alongside me (even though he could have gone much faster.) It was a little rough at the end, especially since someone decided a couple of steep hills would be just great in the last half mile before the finish line. But I plodded along and made it.

Of course my time was pretty unimpressive. In fact I had to laugh when I realized that my 40-some odd minute time was a few minutes more than some of the females in the top three…..of the 70+ age category! So yes, I have some minutes to shave off to beat the Senior citizens.

The Hubby reminded me we are planning to do the 4^th of July weekend 5k here and that we should aim to improve our time. If I can beat out the 60 year olds then I’ll consider that an accomplishment.

Here are a couple fun shots from the after race party. Our favorite Vendor there was Seattle’s Best coffee and their cool, giant fridge:

Conversations with Little Guy: Bathroom Edition

While out grocery shopping today we stopped in the restroom. Of course, I take little guy in the stall with me. After getting some toilet paper, this brief dialogue took place:

LG: Mommy, why are you getting so much toilet paper?

Me: Well, little guy, girls need more toilet paper.

LG: Oh. Well, you’re only ‘spose to take a teeny-tiny bit.

Me: Yeah.. um.. well, I can see you've been talking to your father.

That Eating and Losing Weight Thing

I’ve launched a new recipe and tips site for weight loss and maintenance!

Everything has Weight Watchers points included.

Check it out:

Teenager supplied entertainment

There are many things to complain about when it comes to having a teenager. However, we have very few with ours and are thankful for that every day. I feel incredibly lucky to have such a well-mannered young man whose behavior and personality get numerous compliments. I can’t overstate how fortunate we are to have a teenager who is also an awesome and helpful big brother and his little brother is very lucky to have him.

We are even further blessed with our teenager providing lots of amusement for the whole family. There’s been an abundance of good natured ribbing about his hair as we give him a hard time when he refuses to do anything with it. He has very fine hair with no body whatsoever...it grows pretty much straight down in the front and looks scraggly without any product in it.

Now he’s decided to make his latest personal appearance statement in the form of one of those chin-only goatees, something that has provided lots of laughs around here. (He’s very secure about himself lest my readers worry I’m scaring him for life by chuckling at some of these things! We are a family of big teasers, to be sure.) Just for kicks I whipped out a notebook and penciled a quick drawing of the kid (please keep in mind I am no artist by any means!)
After looking at this it hit me….

    Hilarity ensued.

Now tell me you don’t see the uncanny resemblance! Ironically, he happened to also be wearing a green shirt.

To his list of good qualities, we must also add "good sport".

Well, that was fast

So when it’s a Friday at about ten minutes before quitting time and you’re called into HR, it generally only means one thing; you’re fired! Yes folks, I got the axe today. It’s a small comfort to know it was not me personally and had nothing to do with my work performance as they apparently decided to eliminate my position entirely. Due to the economy and the company's need to get the most bang for the buck from their employees they determined they needed to fill another position in a different department and that parts of my job could be absorbed into the duties of that position. Of course, it’s pretty ridiculous that they didn’t think of this about a month ago before hiring me, as it seems a waste of their time and resources to start a brand new employee and go through all the new hire procedures and costs (physical, drug testing, background check, etc.) and then decide that this wasn’t the position they really wanted to fill in the first place.

So, this leaves things in an uncertain state. The biggest issue is what (if anything) we are going to do about pre-school for the little guy; by far the worst part about this whole saga. In the meantime, I am happy to be back to my old routine and be able to take little guy to and from school for the remainder of this school year, the hubby can get back to his regular routine at work since he no longer has to creatively schedule things around my work schedule and I guess I won’t be tripping any more circuits with my early morning hair drying. Although I’m irritated about this, I’m thankful we hadn’t plunked down the hefty pre-school registration fee for Fall already or we would have lost it. We did have to buy a second car seat but ended up buying one that has a higher weight limit and will work past the time our other one does anyway, so that was fortunate, at least.

I can’t help but think about how things generally happen for a reason and wonder what may be in store. Here’s hoping something positive is just around the corner.

Umm, really?

So here’s a little something I’ve noticed…has this ever happened to you? You’re dealing with an individual on-line for a business transaction of some sort such as e-Bay, Etsy, some home-based businesses (Mary Kay, etc.) and you’ve waited a ridiculously long time for your item or order to arrive. When contacting the person, sometimes multiple times, you eventually get some variation of the following response back:

Dear Customer,

I am so sorry for the delay! Things have been crazy with ________________.

[Fill in the blank with one of the following:]

• Multiple deaths in the family involving numerous cross country travels for funerals
• Horrendous sickness lasting months during which I was completely incapacitated including being unable to email you to let you know what was going on
• Emergency surgery immediately after you placed your order followed by a lengthy hospital stay which lasted until just last night when I was finally discharged and came home to find your email inquiring about your order

Seriously, I cannot tell you how many of these I’ve heard. The sad part is I guess I’m a sucker because I used to believe them and then feel really horrible that I bothered the person about my silly little order! I would immediately write back telling them how sorry I was for their loss, sickness, injury, etc, and not to worry about rushing my order off in the mail. Yeah. Well. I’m just not buying it anymore. Of course I’m sure sometimes these excuses are legitimate, but come on now! This is just a little too much to be coincidental.

New Attitudes

I’m now deep into week two of the new job. So far I am making it through. Of course, the house is a disaster, I blow electrical circuits blow-drying my hair while hubby irons his shirt in the morning and by 7:30 pm I’m falling asleep while watching TV. And speaking of hair, this morning I was faced with a choice of either A) actually do my hair or B) take that time to eat breakfast. Let’s just say that a hair clip was used and I enjoyed a bowl of cereal.

So, naturally there are adjustments. I would like to state however that despite everything I have managed to get up each morning and get my walk in, something I’m pretty darn proud of if I do say so myself. I think it took an attitude adjustment to get to the mental commitment part of this down. You see, back when I was slacking and not getting my exercise in I would feel guilty every single time I missed a work out. It occurred to me that as much as I hated dragging my butt out of bed at an unholy hour, once I did it and got out there and did my exercise I felt great. So it finally sunk in that the downside of not working out was a feeling of regret and remorse yet there really was no downside to forcing myself to do it other than the momentary feeling of not wanting to get out of bed. Then there was another thought process about the excuses; generally that I felt I hadn’t had enough sleep the night before and needed to stay in bed. The thing is, another 30 minutes was just not going to make difference nor was there much of a chance I’d go back to sleep anyway. The fact is, there was a much bigger overall positive to getting up and getting in my exercise than staying in bed for 30 more minutes. I think it took examining all this for me to finally realize that there are some things you just need to do and sometimes you have to change the way you think about things in order to do them. Of course, I wish I could take this same attitude and apply it to a multitude of other things. But, one thing at a time. Baby steps.

That thing called a job

I bet you all thought that once I got a job you’d never see me again and reading about the all the zany antics of my life would be over! Well, of course not!

I’m on day two in the first week of the new job. Thus far, I’ve not said or done anything stupid . One observation; the working area is a wee bit small. No, it’s not a cubicle, it’s actually the tail end of the counter of someone else’s workstation where someone placed a computer system, phone and rolled in a chair. Now mind you, I was not expecting a corner office with a window or anything, I mean, I am the newbie, I get that. Actually though, this is not the worst set up I’ve had. I thought back to a time many years ago when I started a new job for a large company in an oh-so-special state that's home to a famous musical family popular in the seventies. That job by far had the worst working area set up ever. I was hired for a brand new position which combined security with reception. It was very interesting. The idea was that I would be in the front office area of a large building that housed hundreds of employees. The employees would often check out equipment for use at home, testing, etc. It seems the company had a little trouble with the equipment actually coming back. (This is where I’d normally insert a snarky comment about the irony in the level of dishonesty for state and a community that prides itself on upstanding citizens, but I won’t do that.) So, they decided that I would have the duty of logging out the various items on a sophisticated computer system and making sure they were eventually returned and logged back in. A brilliant plan in theory. The trouble was, I had no computer. They wanted me to start doing this manually in a binder while sitting at - wait for it - a card table. That was my workstation. And naturally I looked terribly official in this capacity. Eventually I got an actual desk, phone and computer and was able to do my job instead of looking like I was there to sell cookies or take sign-ups for the softball game.

Returning to work after all these years is definitely taking some getting used to. For instance, I’m finding that my morning routine is going to need some tweaking and overhauling. It’s been tricky calculating when to get up so that I can manage to squeak in my workout, get myself looking presentable, have breakfast and drive to the office in time. In addition I have to also figure out when to actually go to bed so getting up the next morning isn’t impossible. Thus far, those times seem to be around o’dark fifteen and right after dinner respectively.

Now for those who might have been hoping to read all about the crazy co-workers and wacky office goings-on I’m afraid I have to disappoint you. I’ve learned from fellow mommy blogger Dooce that writing about work is almost never a good idea if you want to keep the job.

Easter 2010

This Easter came during some very non-Spring like weather around here. This was really evident at the big Easter Egg Hunt when little kids came bundled up. My little darling was sporting his Easter short-all with a sweater. I doubt he even noticed a chill though, the way he heats up so quickly, he’s in constant motion! The hubby brought along his good camera to take some nice shots.

The pose on this one cracks me up; the Hubby said he actually did this on his own.

Here you can see the field for his age group covered in eggs.
They were all gone in a matter of seconds.


Just a little Easter cuteness pictorial for you all.