Random

Tonight, snuggling with C in our bed to get her to fall asleep...

"Mommy, the bed stinks"

"I just changed the sheets - it doesn't stink"

Short pause.

"Now it does."

Age

Mrs. Big Dubya has a new post about age, and while hers is mostly work related, the age thing has been in my thoughts lately too. I just celebrated a birthday on Sunday, and yes, D and C made it wonderful. I got a beautiful card that C drew (a picture of me in a rainbow dress with my arms stretched wide because "that's how much I love you mommy") and D made an excellent dinner (ok I helped by picking out easy things (not pasta either) for him to make) and we just had a nice day. But I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I'm closer to 40 than 30 - I have been for a couple years, but this birthday was different somehow.

Maybe because I don't feel like I thought this age should, if that makes sense. I still think of myself as just out of college, mid-twenty something. Then I have to wonder, what do other people think of me? At work, I'm the youngest in my area. Also the only female. All of the kids of the people I work directly with are either in college or already out of college. Mine hasn't even started Kindergarten!

And C's friends' moms? Well, they're mostly younger...and in a different place as far as career, etc. goes. That's another line we're going to have to walk carefully. I don't want C to grow up completely spoiled, but I've worked hard and our family is in a place right now where we can do things (Disney cruise, summer vacation at the beach, etc.) that maybe some other families can't, yet. I'm off on a tangent here. Bring it back!

So it's a strange place age-wise to be in. Youngest at work, but oldest at home when with C's friends. Throw in the fact I have no idea how this age is supposed to feel (we'll leave the whole body image for another day and post) and still think of myself as twenty something....And yes I know "You're only as old as you feel"....then why can't I still look twenty-something too??

Odds n Ends

I am soooo tired. It should be Friday night already. D is working late and C finally! went to sleep (in our bed) but I have given up on winning the bedtime battle. She'll be 18 and still be sleeping with us every so often. (I know she won't, but sometimes it feels like it!).

Traffic was surprisingly light this morning (yes I know, 5 am why wouldn't traffic be light), but there's usually a pickup truck or two out there with me....this morning, not so much. I drove the entire way to work, and got there a little before 7. So I left a little before 4, and got to C much earlier than normal. She wanted a salad for dinner, so we went to the little place next to her pre-school/daycare and she ordered salad and I got the dinner special.

Why is it when I'm driving home I have all these great blog posts composed in my head, and the moment I sit down in front of the computer I am reduced to the babbling I do??

Big step next week: open house for the school where C will be going to kindergarten....she is alternately excited and upset, as she thought she would be going to school where she has swimming lessons (we were considering switching pre-school/daycare when we got back from vacation, but decided against it)...

And that's been the excitement for the week. We're heading into a very busy month for D, so lots of single mom time for me coming up....

Monday morning blues

Except it's actually Monday afternoon. Sigh. This time last week we were in Nassau, the Bahamas. Warm sunshine, blue skies and a nice breeze. Today? Not so much. Snow, rain, ice... you name it, we're getting it. And since I've been off since the 12th, I needed to get to work today. Not so much because anyone would have said anything, but I really don't want to go through all my vacation time in January!

The cruise.....what can I say? It was a 4 year old's dream come true. C was so excited she couldn't eat. She begged to go to her "club", and spent a lot of time there. Which actually upset me a little. Yes, I like the fact that she's independent, and can make new friends and adapts to new situations pretty easily, but shouldn't she want to spend some time with us? D and I haven't spent that much time alone together in 4 years! The last day she was exhausted and wanted to hang with us, which was fine by me.

C got to meet all the princesses (except Ariel, who isn't on the ship). She danced with Snow White, and we have a great picture of her with Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) where they're both wearing pink dresses.

Coming home on Thursday was interesting.

C: "Why is there still snow on the ground?"

D: "Because it's still winter"

C: "No! I want to go back!"

It was good we had Friday off. She woke up around 8 (which is late for her), and was saying she was tired all day as we did errands. About 4 pm she fell asleep on the way home from the mall, not to wake up until Saturday morning around 7:30. Next year we'll have to pace ourselves so she's not that tired. But she will be a little bit older too, so that should help.

The mighty rat

We're back....sadly. We had a wonderful time in Fl and on the Disney cruise. I highly recommend the cruise. We only did the 4 night trip - this time. We've already made reservations for next year at this time for the 7 night trip...so C misses a few days of kindergarten. Her father missed probably half of his schooling (due to the fact that Nana kept him home with the slightest sniffle - I on the other hand, practically had to have blood coming out my ears to stay home from school. Mom was a nurse - her famous saying? "Go to school. You'll feel better." But I digress).

We spent Saturday morning driving s-l-o-w-l-y through the pea soup fog at the horrible hour of 4:30 am to get to the airport, for our 7:15 am flight. We had to wake C up at 3:30 am to get her ready....fun times. Anyway. We made it to the airport, dropped the car off, and checked our bags and got our boarding tickets. The flight was a little bumpy, but C was fine. She chewed her bubble gum and watched the tv (we flew on Song). Arriving in FL, we encountered the first of many lines. The line for the "Magical Express". But, it moved quickly and we got on our bus (our luggage having been tagged and transferred to our resort for us) to the Grand Floridian. Yes, it was an expensive resort, but for one night? We decided to try it.

It's a very nice resort, however, Victorian is correct. The vibe was definitely children (and adults) should be seen and not heard. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't us. The weather was very windy, and chilly (although chilly in FL is definitely better than chilly in CT!). D purchased tickets to the Magic Kingdom for us, and we boarded the monorail. C got to drive the monorail! (we sat up front with the driver - but it was very cool).

We rented a stroller and C got to see Cinderella's castle for the first time. She loved it. We waited in line to get Ariel's autograph, and then we went on the teacups. She got to meet Mickey, and we went through the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. By this time, she was starting to be more whiny and emotional than usual, so we agreed to go back to the resort and order room service for dinner (the attempt to secure reservations for a character dinner on such short notice being unsuccessful). And C and I fell fast asleep shortly after 8 pm.....

Next up - the cruise!!

Vacation

Ahhh. Vacation. As of tonight, I am on vacation until I have to be back to work on the 23rd. Of course, tomorrow will be much running around, cleaning and packing. But it will be so worth it. I am stressing about getting everyone up early enough on Saturday. We have to leave for the airport at the unholy hour of 4:30. AM. In the morning. Seriously, that is the part that is stressing me out the most. I will pick up C early from pre-school/daycare, we'll have some dinner, and go to bed really really early. Hopefully. And I will set the alarm for 3:15 am, so as to have some snooze time.

The part that is unknown is that D has to work Friday night. He promises to be home right after, but I still don't trust him 100%. I have scary thoughts of him not coming home at all (in which case I would just leave him his tickets and take C and go anyway)....When will I be able to trust him completely again?

Anyway. Nobody reads this (which is ok) since I just link to one other blog, and he doesn't know it's me linking to him....but if anyone stumbles onto me and wants to de-lurk, it is national de-lurk week.

Monday monday

Sigh. Too much work, not enough day. I should have known it was a Monday when I got to the train station and; a. there were tons of people waiting for a train and then, b. we got sent to the other track for the train. But I was actually early so it wasn't bad (other than being crammed in the vestibule with a bunch of other people). And why did snarky mc snark have to ride my train this morning? He asked if the train terminated at the next stop, which it did, so I told him so, and then told him he'd have to cross up and over to get the trains to NYC. So instead of politely thanking me, he says I've been doing this for 19 years, I know where the trains are. Excuuuuse me? How about maybe I didn't know if he knew which track we were on and I was trying to be helpful? JERK.

There are too many jerks in the world. Sometimes I really don't like people. Saturday, I was meeting D and C for lunch, and got there a little early. So I waited in the car a bit, then got out to go inside. Meantime this lady backs her car straight back into mine! It wasn't damaged, but sheesh! I'd been parked there for at least 5 minutes. Pay attention to your surroundings!

Then, as I was leaving, a huge Range Rover drives in and wants to park behind me. Can he go around? Noooooo....he has to wait for me to drive around him so he can get his space he wants. I should have just turned the car off and gone back inside and fixed his wagon.

TIME TO FREAK OUT!! We leave Saturday morning for FL!! AARRRGGHHH!! The packing! the cleaning! and trying to get work organized! and, best of all, being out of the office tomorrow and Wed on a business trip......where's my paper bag?

More snow!

I can't take it anymore! Yes, I know it's New England, and winter, and all that, but enough with the freakin' snow already! Monday night it started snowing around 6 pm....it didn't stop until around 6 pm last night. And, Monday morning was the first I had heard it was going to snow as much as it did. When I checked the internet weather on Sunday night, it was predicting 4 to 7 inches..which is manageable. Maybe a little later than usual for work, but there. HA! Monday morning C and I went to breakfast at a place that her best friend's parents own/run. L's mom said she had heard 10 - 15 inches! And I still had grocery shopping to do. We had no choice but to go to Stop and Shop and battle with all the people who believe we still live in the 1800's and will be snowbound for days.

So we pretty much knew yesterday would be a snow day. D and I stayed up late, drinking wine and watching a movie (The Wedding Date - with wedding movie guy Dermot Mulroney). It wasn't bad (the wine or the movie), and C didn't get up too early in the morning. We looked outside and knew we weren't going anywhere. So I made waffles, and we had a nice relaxing morning. My boss was very cool about me staying home. D's boss? Not so much. But he majored in accounting in a state university of a nearby state that gets made fun of quite a bit (plus he seems the type that stayed in and actually studied on the weekends) so it wasn't unexpected.

Today, it was slow going for the first part of my commute. When I got off the train - there was no snow at all down here. Apparently it was just a rainy, smutzy mix. Sigh. And more inclement weather expected tomorrow. I shall have to email work home just in case.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Hard to believe it's 2006 already. 10 years ago I was living in CT, D was in law school in NY and we were just "friends"....20 years ago we were starting our 2nd half of our senior year of high school. I guess that means a 20 year reunion should be sometime this year. If I can lose about 100 pounds maybe I'll go.

New Year's Eve was quiet. D was working, so C went to bed and I watched VH-1's "I love the 80's - Part Deux"....1985 and 1986 - two very good years (or bad, depending on your memories). It snowed, so I shoveled (it was too light and fluffy to fire up the snowblower).. Tonight it's predicted to be 10-18 inches of snow!! Make it stop!!