Monday, August 31, 2009

Coffee Musings....

Today was productive. I took the Princess to get her hair cut and then afterwards to the dance store to buy her shoes. (The 20% off helped decide whether or not I should wait until she "officially" outgrew her shoes from last year.) We also picked out two new leotards, some tights, and a few hair "tu-tus". She isn't interested in the skirts that go with the leotards. She had a blast modeling them for us. (Yes, us. The saleslady fortunately wasn't too busy with customers so had time to be an appreciative audience. Thank you Mrs. Jeanita. Now I remember exactly why I came specifically to your store. Not only do you give excellent customer service but you are kind to little girls as well.)

Afterwards, The Princess and I met a friend for lunch at Maya's. It was really nice to see this friend. Lunch was good and I think I've got my ordering down. (1 Tamale, a side of rice, and guacamole.) I need to work on the Princess. She only REALLY likes the chips and salsa. (Which always amazes me since she doesn't like vegetables - especially tomatoes.)

Now, I am having a cup of coffee, relaxing with the computer waiting for Mr. Happy to get showered and dressed. Happy Girl has a volleyball game this afternoon at school against Amherst. Amherst is a really good team (or at least they were last year.) I have hope this year that our team will present themselves well. Our coaches seem to be experienced and they have done a lot the last few weeks to teach our team all about the game. Go Raptors!

The coffee's gone and so is my break.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

And Some Fun for My Friend Liza....

This is the neatest video. I thought you might enjoy it!
Love,
Mrs. Tab

Finally....Two Feet Firmly Planted!

Well, I'm finally here. Two feet firmly planted in a fall routine. Happy Girl has gone back to school. (Yesterday was a lovely day and she is still excited to go back - YAY! I think this will last as long as she still has a "new" outfit to model. As long as this is her motivation, we should be good until September 30th.)

I never quite realized how much I rely on routines. I've been so mixed up lately and it's really affected me. I DESPISE being disorganized. I DESPISE how I feel when I forget something or when I make a (stupid) mistake. (versus an honest one) It's the same feeling I used to get when I would forget to do my homework. A little shame mixed with self loathing. While discussing this with some friends I realized that most people look at Summertime as a way to chuck those routines away for a while and just wing it. I suppose I've done some of that, but for the most part I still think we had a routine. It was adapted from the school routine of last year, but it was a goal. I think most days we met our goal and that's why I was calmer.

Since I've posted last, life has become completely insane. I was busy shuttling Happy Girl back and forth to Volleyball. Adjusting already established summer routines to accomodate a fall activity. Trying to fit her Piano Lesson in was hard. We spent one day (one WHOLE day) back to school shopping so that Happy Girl could shop for ALL her back to school looks. Coordinating this with various family members so that a favorite Auntie could join us and the princess could stay home. (or not completely at home, but away long enough for Mr. Happy to get his car detailing done.) Happy Girl has also been to a few "It's the end of summer and I have to have a party" type sleepovers. One lasted for two days. (This is extremely unusual for her since we don't allow her to do that ~She's WAY too bitchy afterwards) It seemed to be a time for bending some rules. The chores didn't get done and it didn't help that I also was sick a few days here and there.

Also, the Princess has made a few friends this year. One of whom, temporarily lives a few houses down with his Aunt and Uncle. He's a cute kid, but he's always here. I really don't mind this except when I have to run the older girl around and then the younger decides that she'd really rather stay home and play. I feel bad making the princess schlepp along with us. Mr. Happy would rather I take the princess with me since he is perpetually catching up on sleep. (His sleep issues are a whole other post. Trust me when I say it's bad) Having a few kids run around home while I'm gone is not his favorite thing and he tends to just sit and wait it out. When I get home, I am under pressure to play catch up with all the stuff that wasn't done while I was gone. One of those things is dinner. Mom has to eat regularly and preferably at the same time each day because of her meds. (She doesn't enjoy this and doesn't make this easy to accomplish) Again, the whole feeling of forgotten my homework. This month we haven't been eating until late. (This goes for lunch and dinner) Finally, I chucked it and reassigned pills to the hours that we seem to get our meals in. 9:30 am, 1:30 - 2:00 pm, 7:30 dinner. There will be a snack sometime around 4:00 - 4:30 pm. Hopefully this will work with fall schedules. It sucks in a way because now we aren't eating dinner until almost bedtime. (well, at least the kids' bedtime. Mom, Mr. and I don't go to bed until almost 11 - 11:30) I guess we all just have to adjust. I have to keep reminding myself that if I have to do this all by myself then they are just going to have to adjust as well. I'm not super woman.

So now I am done with summer. It's been fun this year. I've been to some places I've never been before and back to some I haven't been to for a LONG time. Right now, I'm just going to take a few moments and just breath. The fall routine is here. It's still a little chaotic because of school, preschool, sports, piano, psr x2, and dance. But it's a little more organized than it has been.(I hope!)

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Random Things About Marriage to Mr. Happy

Random Things About Marriage to Mr. Happy
  • I was 24 and he was 29 when we were married.
  • We've been married for 15 years and 10 months.
  • His Sister (my Sister N Law) and Brother In Law held their 25th Wedding Anniversary Party on our 1st Anniversary.
  • For our 5th Anniversary we went to the Henry Ford Auto Museum in Michigan. We left our (then) 3 year old Happy Girl with relatives for the first time. Little did I know that it would be the first of many car shows.
  • Together we have lived in Old Brooklyn, Parma, Seven Hills, and Berea.
  • For our 10th Anniversary we took a family cruise to Belize & Key West.
  • I was (very) pregnant on our 2nd and 11th anniversaries.
  • On our 15th Anniversary, we went for a quiet dinner for two to Steve Dakota's Grill in Medina. They make the best steak/prime rib that we've ever had. (Well, at least since our Honeymoon.) Happy Girl was the babysitter for her 3 year old (soon to be 4 year old sister) We weren't gone long.