This Week in Review

accomplished

not so much

but wait, I'll tell you a story

Monday:

• pick up Dan's shirts from the dry cleaner (they were ready last Wednesday)
• food shop
• prepare snacks for Natalie's class (cheese and crackers per Natalie's request) We were all set to purchase our Triskets and cheese, when overwhelmed by the choices in cracker and cookie aisle (one which we rarely go down) Natalie changed her mind to cheese flavored rice cakes and red grapes
• drive Natalie to school
• transfer the bro from car to crib for nap
• laundry a load when into the machine, but that's as far as I got with it/tidy/exercise the exercising would have happened if it hadn't been for the previous night's sleep or lack thereof. But since I didn't exercise, I used the time to...I don't really know how I used that time
• shower - this happened, but not until 7:30 pm
• wake bro up :( and pick Natalie up from school
• prepare dinner of Acorn Squash with Spiced Couscous
• Gymboree from 6:30-9:30 for no good reason other than to get out of the house without any children I am not saving the world here people, I found someone to cover the shift who needs the work more than I need to get out of the house and did I mention my poor sleep?

Tuesday:

• watch neighbor's child in the morning
• pack Natalie snack for after care
• drive Natalie to school
• transfer the bro from the car to the crib for his nap
• tidy/exercise and bonus laundry
• shower I had hoped, since I didn't have to wake the Bro to get the Sis, that I would dry and straighten my hair, but it would figure that on the one day of the week that I don't need to wake him, he wakes from his nap at 2pm. So he and I went to storytime
• prepare dinner of Turkey Poblano Chili made by 11am and I made a batch of pumpkin muffins
• Pick Natalie up from "Theuter" Sports
• Attend parent meeting for Natalie's Daisy troop
• Meet friends for late night (8pm) adult beverage, which has had to be rescheduled three times the first place we went to as brown Lisa put it, "smelled as though the floor should be sticky." Although there were people older than us there, I felt old and out of place. So we headed to Chloe's, and while my cider-tini was tasty, it literally took a half hour to get it to the table and we were sitting in the bar section. But fun nonetheless
• Glee on DVR

Wednesday:

• stay n' play group
• bagel lunch because that is what we do on Wednesdays
• drive Natalie to school
• transfer the bro from car to crib for nap
• laundry/exercise
• shower
• wake up bro :( and pick Natalie up from school
• await Nannie's arrival she told me she was going to leave "late morning"
• prepare dinner of Zucchini and Potato Latkes and Mini Greek Pizza Muffins I just didn't have it in me with the realization that we needed to carve a pumpkin, finish up the butterfly wings, and I would have had to go to the supermarket for tomato paste - we ordered Chinese Food
• prepare craft for library by "prepare" I mean Google "pumpkin craft"
• finish butterfly wings for the first of five Halloweens
• carve at least one pumpkin and roast seeds par for the course - rescheduled for Friday evening

Thursday:

• use Nannie's presence and exercise in the am Nannie's presence was used to buy us breakfast at the diner. I opted for a spinach omelet rather than the banana nut pancakes I really wanted. We hit the library for a quick pumpkin book search, but were derailed on our timeline when we walked right into "Sing-a-long with Debbie". We left we a new activity for Thursday mornings and signed up for storytimes for both the Bro and Natalie on Tuesdays
• shower AND I dried my hair AND straightened it AND put some lipstick on...WHAT?
• leave the bro with the Nannie and take Natalie to school
• conference with Natalie's teacher
• volunteer for library duty at Nat's school
• release Natalie from school early
• Change into costumes for Downtown trick or treat
• Meet up with Suzy and Aurora to trick or treat at local storefronts
• Pick up dinner of Chinese food since we moved Chinese to Wednesday night, this left us without a plan. We went to a very crowded (with downtown trick or treaters) Horseshoe Pub, where the people sitting next to us, told us we had the best behaved children in the entire restaurant and told me I was doing a great job - it's nice to hear that from strangers every once and a while AND it made me love my kids even more than I already do.
• wrangle sugar high children to bed they were actually super tired and only ate two pieces of candy. Natalie opted for Whoppers and a pixie stick - which did have some sugar backlash, but she was only able to eat half since she stuck the stick in her mouth, it got wet, and I had to rip it off. The Bro had a dumdum lolly and a bag of pretzels.
• stay up too late watching Thursday night television

Friday:

• bye bye Nannie
• take Natalie to school we then stayed to watch Natalie and her classmates parade around the playground in their costumes.
• transfer the bro from car to crib for nap
• exercise
• shower
• wake up bro :( and pick up Natalie from school Dan was working from home, so I was able to leave the Bro with him.
• play on school playground I had forgotten that the Middle School students were hosting a Halloween Fair at school, so we stayed for that and won a pumpkin cake in the cake walk.
• prepare dinner of Oaxacan Chicken I was going to make the latkes for dinner, but we didn't get home until 5:30. Mini quiches for the kids and Dan and I ate leftovers in an effort to both clean the fridge and not waste food.
• breathe Carved a pumpkin (Swiper) then fell asleep on the couch

Saturday:

• suggest to Dan we should prepare and can chicken stock leaving him to do most of the work :) Dan was more than happy to do this, and he did it all on Friday
• Natalie to birthday party
• prepare (Dan) dinner using new homemade stock - Chicken Noodle? Since I was going to make the latkes yesterday, that put the Chicken here, but again we were derailed with last minute errands, luckily our neighbor asked if we wanted to leave Natalie at her house to play, so Dan, the Bro and I headed off and ordered a pizza on the way home.
• exercise...maybe 2.5 miles, 200 situps, and 65 pushups - good enough
• laundry

Sunday:

• drive to Manch, NH for Halloween party hosted by the college roomie/bestie (suggest to family to fill up on food, because there will be no time to eat at home) Natalie did try to fill up on white chocolate covered kettle corn
• return home and prepare for Hudson, MA trick or treat
• hand candy out to small, cute children who actually say, "Trick or Treat"; hassle kids who are not in costume, too old and rude I actually stood at the door and waited for kids to say, "Trick or Treat" You can ask my neighbor, she watched it happen
• put children to bed
• steal pieces of Natalie's loot in lieu of eating a proper dinner 100 Grand, Mini Milkyway Midnight, Mini Reese's Dark, plus some wine at the neighbors while waiting for children to actually say, "Trick or Treat" Dinner of champs!

I Dreamed a Dream

Last night was one of the worst nights of sleep I have ever had. In total, I think I had about five hours, which would have been find had they been consecutive. But I tossed and turned, read, watched some tv, answered some texts until about 12:30. Then at about 2am, I was wide awake with a screaming sore throat and thinking about all the things I didn't add to this week's list. The fact that Natalie and I need to finish decorating her butterfly wings for Halloween, which starts Thursday, continues on Friday with her school parade, Saturday for a costume birthday party, and Sunday for the actual Halloween. The duct tape needed to be covered with some black felt, elastic straps added so that they stay on, and she needs some antennae. So at 2am, I got out of bed, rummaged in the craft closet for the hot glue gun and black felt and got to work on that. I would have made the antenna, but can you believe that I don't have black pipe cleaners...what? Blue, yellow, red, green... add to lists - purchase black pipe cleaners. I also need to work in some Jack o' Lantern carving on Wednesday after school, and when I thought I would be breathing on Friday, I will actually be chaperoning Natalie and the Bro at Natalie's school Halloween Carnival. Breathing is overrated anyway.

Sleep would probably not have been so evasive had I not agreed to a cup of espresso at 4 o'clock. But when I picked Natalie up from Aurora's birthday party yesterday, Suzy was standing there with the coffee thingamajiggy already filled with the ground espresso. "You want coffee?" "Um, no," I say. "Are you sure?" "Well, no I'm not sure, but I am not going to have any." But she just stood there with it, like a caffeine drug dealer, handing out coffee to all the other parents standing in her kitchen. What was I to do? Like a caffeine junkie, I caved under the pressure. Alone, this espresso would not have kept me up quite the way I was, but we were then taken out to dinner where I consumed no less than three cups of green tea, which is caffeinated.

Hello, my name is Kristen, and I am an addict. It started when I was 17 and has gotten progressively worse for the past fifteen years.

I finished the wings and felt a little more at ease, so I attempted to sleep. No such luck. 3am, 3:30, 4...that was the last time I remember looking at the clock. And the sleep I found was so wonderful. It was deep and dream filled. I dreamt that I was at Natalie's school which was located on an apple orchard/pumpkin patch (which it is not) in a waiting room (which they don't have) and her teacher asked me to entertain the children as they came in from hay rides. She wanted me to sing a song about the joys of October. So I sang of apples and pumpkins and cider. I was so into this dream song that I yelled "CIDER!" out in my sleep and woke myself up. No joke! I woke Dan up too. I then had a case of the church giggles at 6:30ish in the morning. And sleep was gone again.

Now it is off to tackle the list, because tonight I need some sleep.

This Week

Monday:

• pick up Dan's shirts from the dry cleaner (they were ready last Wednesday)
• food shop
• prepare snacks for Natalie's class (cheese and crackers per Natalie's request)
• drive Natalie to school
• transfer the bro from car to crib for nap
• laundry/tidy/exercise
• shower
• wake bro up :( and pick Natalie up from school
• preapre dinner of Acorn Squash with Spiced Couscous
• Gymboree from 6:30-9:30 for no good reason other than to get out of the house without any children

Tuesday:

• watch neighbor's child in the morning
• pack Natalie snack for after care
• drive Natalie to school
• transfer the bro from the car to the crib for his nap
• tidy/exercise
• shower
• prepare dinner of Turkey Poblano Chili
• Pick Natalie up from "Theuter" Sports
• Attend parent meeting for Natalie's Daisy troop
• Meet friends for late night (8pm) adult beverage, which has had to be rescheduled three times
• Glee on DVR

Wednesday:

• stay n' play group
• bagel lunch because that is what we do on Wednesdays
• drive Natalie to school
• transfer the bro from car to crib for nap
• laundry/exercise
• shower
• wake up bro :( and pick Natalie up from school
• await Nannie's arrival
• prepare dinner of Zucchini and Potato Latkes and Mini Greek Pizza Muffins
• prepare craft for library

Thursday:

• use Nannie's presence and exercise in the am
• shower
• leave the bro with the Nannie and take Natalie to school
• conference with Natalie's teacher
• volunteer for library duty at Nat's school
• release Natalie from school early
• Change into costumes for Downtown trick or treat
• Meet up with Suzy and Aurora to trick or treat at local storefronts
• Pick up dinner of Chinese food
• wrangle sugar high children to bed
• stay up too late watching Thursday night television

Friday:

• bye bye Nannie
• take Natalie to school
• transfer the bro from car to crib for nap
• exercise
• shower
• wake up bro :( and pick up Natalie from school
• play on school playground
• prepare dinner of Oaxacan Chicken
• breathe

Saturday:

• suggest to Dan we should prepare and can chicken stock leaving him to do most of the work :)
• Natalie to birthday party
• prepare (Dan) dinner using new homemade stock - Chicken Noodle?
• exercise...maybe
• laundry

Sunday:

• drive to Manch, NH for Halloween party hosted by the college roomie/bestie (suggest to family to fill up on food, because there will be no time to eat at home)
• return home and prepare for Hudson, MA trick or treat
• hand candy out to small, cute children who actually say, "Trick or Treat"; hassle kids who are not in costume, too old and rude
• put children to bed
• steal pieces of Natalie's loot in lieu of eating a proper dinner

Melmo

When I was preggers with Natalie, I put a ban on Elmo. There was something about this furry red monster that annoyed the hell out of me. And while Elmo books made their way into our house and even an extreme Tickle Me Elmo who literally falls over and convulses with laughter- Natalie never really got into him. I think he was below her intelligence - for serious. She was a Dora girl through and through only to be replaced by her older cousin Diego and ultimately The Little Einsteins. So my worries of having to hear Elmo's annoying little baby voice were unwarranted.

That is until the Bro Bro started to walk to his book basket and say, "Melmo." Or point to the TV and say, "Melmo." Honestly, of all the words this child has decided to learn how to say, he says, "Melmo." Seriously, the kid can only say like fifteen things and with my luck, "Melmo" is one of them. He's obsessed. I now travel with Elmo books; books that have been collecting dust for the past four years because Natalie couldn't be bothered with such age appropriate reading at the time. Tickle Me Elmo rides along in the care going everywhere we do. Although we can't turn him on, because his laughter scares my sweet, sensitive little hurricane. I go out of my way to find episodes of Sesame Street and Play with me Sesame that feature Elmo.

I still find Elmo annoying and his damn song will be stuck in my head for days, but I've decided it is better than him running around the house saying, "Yo Gabba Gabba." Because that show is just messed up.

Uh-Oh

Today, as we were heading out to the car to take Natalie to school, she looked at our chimney, blowing smoke from the small fire I had started to heat the house, and said, "Mommy, how does Santa even get in the chimney?"

I told her it was magic. My answer for just about anything that I am not really wanting to get in depth with or because she just isn't happy with any of my other explanations. "Santa is magic." Usually this works, but I think she is on to me.

She then looked at me, point blank and said, "Mommy, is Santa real?" Sue Sylvester's "HORROR!" rang in the back of my head. I mean, we all know about my Santa issues. But she was looking to me for an answer, an answer that I decided six years ago, before she was born. I gave her a non-committal bobble head and a forced "mmm hmmm." Then I walked away from her to get into the car, thinking that this conversation was done. I kind of said yes, and while I totally didn't feel good about lying to her, but this is a kid who blew the lid off the Easter Bunny for her two best friends last year...and they were kind of bent about it. If her friends are upset about facing the reality that a giant bunny doesn't come to their houses, take their pastel dyed eggs, and hide them, imagine their reactions when Natalie tells them the truth about Jolly Old St. Nick.

In true form, she wasn't done talking about it. So I went to my second standard method of answering questions that I don't want or can't answer. "Natalie, do you think he is real?"

She thought about this for a while and then very rationally said, "No. I think that you and Daddy go out and buy the toys without me knowing and then you wrap them up so I don't know what they are."

360

I have been called out on my weekly (if that) blog post. I couldn't do anything but agree, when my best friend told me my last entry was a total cop out. We have been friends since we were fourteen, how does one disagree with that? Even when I posted the pictures, I knew that it was nothing of substance, but something to buy me time until my next witty blog entered my mind. And that just hasn't been happening. Those seemingly mundane things strike me, and while I am driving in the car I work it out in my mind how I can twist this to make it seem funny, but even my thoughts are half-assed these days. So when I was confronted with this, I realized that I just feel that my life has come full circle.

I started this blog when I first started staying home and continued through Natalie's first full year of school. All of which gave me great fodder. And then, truthfully, we were so busy this summer that I just didn't have time or want to be in front of a computer. Now, we are back at the start of last year-- we wake up, run errands, eat lunch, drive Nat to school...only I know deep down there is more to this SAHM than that.

And I suppose that is why I have been the very best of friends with Karyn since we met. Because from day one, there was no pretense..it is what it is and while her husband may think he needs an "app" of my voice to tell her how it is some times, the fact of the matter is that it works both ways, and if she hadn't called out my slackerness ( is that even a word) I probably would have let another blog entry slip by.

Next on KRabs Blabs...what one might do with 65 pounds of apples, the truths about living with a concrete sequential mini-me, and how to recover from a human hurricane.

October

Brisk weather walks under happy little trees of crimson and ochre...

Fresh picked apples to be turned into apple pie, apple butter, and apple sauce...

Celebrating eight years of marriage...