Stuff

Hey, all. Trying to post at least on occasion to make Carrie happy (hi, Carrie)!! Gotta keep these pregnant ladies happy, y'all. It's the least we can do.

So where the heck have I been? I hardly know. The last 6 months have been such a blur. I've been taking care of myself again - eating right, going to the gym, etc. That feels good. Been playing waaaaay too much Farmville. (Must stop. Really must. Tomorrow).

Girls are fantastic. Kate is FINALLY seeming to make progress on the potty training thing. Or perhaps I should say I am making progress - because I got so I just couldn't handle the accidents anymore, and my freaking out all the time made things SO much worse. Kate and I had a rough six months, folks. ROUGH. But it seems we've turned the corner, and not constantly dealing with dirty undies (and pants, socks, carpet, furniture) has allowed me to remember how amazing my 4 year old is. She's talkative, imaginative and she's learned so much. She's just so grown up.

Elizabeth is a joy. She talks a blue streak and her favorite phrase is, "I do it!" It is usually followed by success and her shouting (loudly - the girl has lungs), "I did it! I did it! By My-Self!!" mental note: must get that on video.

I have tons to do in the next month. Pete's sister is getting married May 1st, and I am a bridesmaid. First of all, let me share that when I ordered my dress in November I ordered a size that was too small in the waist (3 inches) and hips (1.5 inches). It fits me now - hooray! But I still must figure out hair, shoes, undergarments. Must schedule alterations. Have dresses for the girls, but still need to have those hemmed and get tights. Haven't started on Pete yet. Planning two bridal showers in the next month.

I need to get activities for the girls (Kate, primarily) scheduled for summer or I will spend way too much freaking time on this laptop. I am also just beginning a project to paint nearly our entire house. We've lived here 8 years and have painted the basement and the girls rooms. We are far, far overdue. I am on my orchestra Board and we need to hire a new general manager and concertmaster. Plus I have something like 10 solos in our April concert, so I have some serious practicing to do.

So if you don't hear from me again for awhile, that's what is going on.

Godspeed.

Freaky

Yep, pretty much spot on for a life in IT management at a large company. Not so much for stay-at-home parent. But what can you do...

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Can I just go to bed now?

So far today:

- I forgot to eat my banana on my way to the gym, resulting in trying to do a 75 min conditioning class on 200 calories of protein.

- I 'snuck' out of a very full 75 min conditioning class after 45 min.

- Elizabeth fell into a very large puddle of icy slush leaving the gym.

- While shopping for (dry) clearance pants for Elizabeth at Target (but before buying my groceries), I lost my new leather gloves.

- Kate (yes, Kate, my nowhere-near-potty-trained-4-year-old) pooped her pants.

- The school we plan to send Kate to next fall called asking where Kate’s teacher reference was - they need it this week to decide whether or not to admit her. I haven't even asked for it yet. (Oh well, she probably won't be able to go anyway, because she won't be potty trained).

- After cleaning up Kate (and while on the phone with the school), I learned Elizabeth found the pancake batter and poured it all over the kitchen.

Here’s hoping this day gets better, and fast.

Playdate Shmaydate

Kate and her "best friend" Molly are in the same preschool class with another neighborhood boy named Jack. Since Molly and Jack are both youngest children, when they are in school their moms have actual free time. So they arranged when school started that they would take turns - on Wednesdays one would drive to preschool and then take them home for lunch and a playdate. The other would take Fridays. I was offered to take part. I am reluctant, to put it lightly.

First of all, since they have Weds/Fri, I believe the assumption is that I could take Mondays, but we have a playgroup Monday mornings we've been doing for nearly 3 years (although now just Miss E and I go). The last thing I want to do is have that whole day taken by obligations. Also, since I have orchestra on Sunday nights, I often spend Monday afternoons trying to get the house back in order after a weekend of less-than-impeccable cleaning habits.

Secondly, I am a big believer in harnessed car seats. Kate's will allow her to sit harnessed until she's 65 lbs., and I don't care if I have to wrestle her 7-year-old body into that chair, I will. They are the safest way for children to ride in a car. These moms aren't moving car seats around - they are just using booster seats with shoulder belts - even though our kids are still just a bit too young and small to use booster seats. When it comes down to it, I don't think I'm quite ready to let someone else drive my kid. Heck, I haven't even let her grandparents do that, yet.

Thirdly, I don't want to sacrifice a big part of a day each week to take care of those kids so their moms can have some kid-free time. I guess that's in part because I wouldn't get the same benefit. I don't get kid-free time - I still have Elizabeth around. I'd rather have Kate here Weds/Fris than do this rotation. When it's just my kids, I can still get things done. I can clean, do exercise, do laundry. I can live my life. With three 3-year-olds I will be busy the whole time making sure they don't destroy the house. It's an afternoon gone every week.

Last, but far from least - I'm not in such a hurry to "get rid" of Kate. She's already apart from me 3 mornings/week - that's a big change for us. This would add 2 days/week when she would be gone several more hours. She's not even four! I left my career to be home with her - to make her lunches and just be there. It makes no sense to me that 2 days/week she'd be 5 houses away while someone else feeds her - and I'm right here feeding Elizabeth. It's already going so fast - why speed it up even more?

I've made a lot of arguments against it. The big argument for it? Kate wants to go. They very kindly offer for Kate to come over for the "playdate" portion of the day, but I don't feel I can let her do that without reciprocating. And Kate really, really wants to go. She wants to play with kids all afternoon - even though when she does she is overstimulated and CRANKY. I feel like a totally selfish and mean mama that I don't want to have her friends over here all the time (at this age - later, I hope they practically live here). I feel sort of stuck on this.

So, friends, tell it to me straight. Do I need to get over myself, and have these kids over? Do I need to chill on the whole driving/booster thing? Am I entitled to think that 3 days of preschool is enough time away and it's OK for Kate to have the down-time at home?

Yep, 'cause that's what I really need

My mom is sending me links to quack diet programs. Subtle, eh?

Flip-ing Out

Got my new Flip MinoHD video camera yesterday. It's my birthday present. I know my birthday is in December, but this way I have it to take to Hawaii!

If you don't know what it is, you should really check it out here. It's awesome.

So be prepared for some video clips here and on Facebook.

Here's my first clip:

Come again?

I just told Pete, "I'm like a gay man in a woman's body."

It really made sense at the moment.