I spent about an hour earlier composing a post about all the things that are going wrong in my life right now, but as it turns out a cat having litterbox confusion issues, and a car with a slightly louder exhaust system, and a return of what will (and should) be a regularly scheduled event in my body is not the end of the world.
Huh.
So, in summoning all my editing powers (and in pointing my mouse at the computer screen to click ‘delete post’) I got rid of all the angst. Instead I’ll give you a list of all the things that have gone right or made me smile in the past few days:
1. Yesterday Anthony and I rushed to get out of the house on time to get to my 9am class at the gym. After we were settled in the car and traveling down the road I said to him, “I really don’t like rushing to leave the house in the mornings. From now on you’re not allowed to turn on the TV until you’re dressed. Remember how I really like how you got yourself dressed first thing in the morning last week? Maybe you can try doing that again.” He merely grunted an acknowledgement that words had issued from my mouth.
This morning he entered my bedroom at 6:50 am, fully dressed. With socks, even.
2. Yesterday I bought whole wheat pita bread and sliced cold cuts for Brenna to use when making her lunch for school. We have never had this type of bread in the house on a regular basis, so this morning as she was preparing her lunch I told her to be sure to cut the round in half. She did, and then she layered her slices of cheese and ham in between the two halves.
“It’s a pocket,” I told her when I saw this, laughing, and then showed her how to open the center and stuff the fillings inside, rather than creating a traditional sandwich from the two halves.
It never ceases to amaze me the things I need to show and teach my children. That they weren’t born already knowing things like pita bread has pockets (and not to stick metal objects in light sockets *coughAnthonydidthislastmonthwithapairofmytweezersandshortcircuitedthebedroomandgavehimselfascarecough*) still comes as a surprise to me at times.
3. Last night I was helping Anthony to get ready for bed. He was changing into his pajamas and needed to change his underwear. There was none in his drawers, but plenty of clean pairs in his laundry basket downstairs. I told him to go get one and come back upstairs by the time I finished counting to 45. 60 seconds later I heard him on the stairs, huffing and puffing. I’m too lazy to assist my children, usually, so I just yelled at him to hurry up. And then I saw him walking through the doorway, with his large-for-a-four-year-old-to-carry, 8 lb laundry basket in his arms. He’d brought the whole thing up by himself.
4. I went to the post office yesterday. This is a Big Deal, because I’m normally horrible about putting cards in my own mailbox to go out on time, nevermind shlepping myself all the way to a separate building. But I managed to get two packages, two birthday cards (only one of which was already late), and two ‘welcome baby’ cards in the mail. And I’m positive that at least ONE of those birthday cards had the right age on it. (The other one I’ve already apologized in advance for.)
5. And then I remembered to actually return a book to the library. On time.
6. Then I came home and made plans to go out with friends this weekend, and made plans for The Critters since Tony’s not home right now.
7. I fit in some work for my job.
8. I took Cooper for a 4.5 mile hike on Monday, then at the gym yesterday braved using 10-lb dumbbells for “heavy” weights in my Ultimate Conditioning class, instead of my usual 8-pounders. In the step class that followed I used two risers instead of my usual one, and I attempted to try some of the more complex step/dance moves instead of sticking with what’s comfortable.
9. I finished reading two books in three days.
10. I sucked it up and made a purchase that, while entirely embarrassing for a still-young woman my age, will make my life better. It arrived today, and that’s as much as I’ll say on the topic, other than to comment that running will be more enjoyable now. And also, thank goodness for Amazon.
11. I ran in a two mile, non-competitive race on Saturday, and whether it was because it was 22 degrees with light wind or because I’m getting faster and stronger I don’t know, but my average pace was 11:09. And I could have kept going for awhile, because I wasn’t even close to tired.
12. I’ve already completed my Bite for the week, and my desk looks a hundred times better than it did before I started. Even though I don’t currently have my copies of Friends on DVD, it turns out that Grey’s Anatomy re-runs are wonderful to put on in the background while I work, even though it means I may stay up well past my bedtime.
13. Going to bed at 12:30 this morning meant I slept in past 4:58, which is what time I’d woken up and looked at my clock each morning for the previous five days. (It also meant that when Brenna poked me at 6:45 I was in the middle of a dream and had to take a few minutes to get my bearings. I do not generally function well when woken up mid-REM cycle.)
14. I took The Critters to see The Lorax with a couple of friends over the weekend, and we all enjoyed it very much. I told them before leaving that I would buy our tickets to the show, but they would be responsible for their snacks; I’d be happy to smuggle in whatever they’d like from home, but if they wanted popcorn or candy they’d need to buy it themselves. Brenna brought a granola bar and a lollipop with her; Anthony brought his wallet. When I saw that the smallest bag of popcorn they sell was $6 I offered to split the bag (and cost) with him.
I love our new chore/allowance system. It’s working great.
15. We tried a new restaurant last week on what happened to be kids’ night, which meant The Critters ate for free and came home with these balloon creations.
We all enjoyed the food, but more importantly, I survived the experience and am willing to go back again. I have a long-standing fear of buffets and serve-yourself food stations. I don’t know why, but I don’t like letting other people see what I’m choosing to put on my plate, and I don’t like feeling rushed or as though I’m holding others up. This restaurant requires each person to put items in a bowl, layering meat and noodles and vegetables and various sauces, which is Tony’s dream-come-true because he wants a little of everything and lots of it. Then the chefs cook everything on a huge round hibatchi grill as each person stands in line, waiting.
The concept was fun and the food was delicious, and I didn’t freak out. Success.
16. We got a new litterbox for the cats and it’s all sorts of fancy. Frisky is on strike against all forms of litterbox use at the moment, but Wasabi loves the new contraption. It’s self-cleaning based on taking note of pressure inside, and I’m pretty sure that he jumps in and back out just for the chance to watch the globe spin around and around. Sometimes he’ll sit outside, waiting patiently, for the seven minutes to elapse. Other times he’ll walk away but come running back to watch it in action when he hears the gears turning.
If you have or like cats you might find this amusing, like I do.
17. Last week Tony brought home donuts after doing PT. He ate half of his and left the other half on the counter; Anthony ate half of his and left the other half on his plate. When both returned to the kitchen ten minutes later they were gone. Cooper had eaten them both, and Tony gave him a stern look that sent Cooper to his crate, tail between his legs.
An hour later I’d let Cooper outside to play in the yard, and when I let him in he immediately sat down on the tiled foyer floor, lifting one of his paws to me. He was waiting for me to wipe his feet, as we normally do when he’s been out in the snow, though I hadn’t planned to wipe them this time because there was so little on the ground. I did, though, and he totally redeemed himself with that action.
Again, if you have or like dogs you might find this amusing, like I do.
18. I signed both Critters up for the summer session at the gym where they take classes. Because we’ll be gone for four of the weeks I arranged it with the owner to prorate the session for me, rather than crediting eight makeup sessions to our account. With our military discount and the two kids discount the cost ended up as something along the lines of buy one, get one free. I was very pleased with my bargaining powers.
19. While we were parked, waiting for Brenna to be released from school yesterday, I received an email that Anthony had been accepted into the school’s full-day, free kindergarten program. Because I was there and had some time, he and I walked into the office and I officially declined, since we’d already decided to put him in pre-k next year. The secretary saw how torn I was with the decision, but the registrar verified that it’s often better for boys to hold off a year in order to mature, which is exactly what he needs.
I then beat the dead horse on Facebook, and though I’m sure everyone’s already sick of hearing me discuss it there, it’s always nice to hear others tell me it’s okay, I’m not screwing him up. As I said there, I feel very fortunate to have the ability to make a decision like this. To be able to 1) afford to pay for a third year of preschool, and 2) not have the necessity of sending him to kindergarten before he’s fully ready because of a work/daycare conflict. In all, it’s a very wonderful problem to have and stress about.
20. On Sunday I decided to sort through our Christmas cards, to keep those with pictures and toss those without. A friend had given me a bunch of binder clips, and I punched holes in the corner of each one. I then found all the cards I’ve saved since 2007 (when we first began saving picture Christmas cards) and put each set together. They’re all organized and bound together, and I’m so happy to have this project completed.
(click pics to enlarge)
Then I collected all pictures I’ve received from friends and families: birth announcements and growth pictures:
I even started collecting ours from each year. The only one I’m missing is 2003, which also happens to be Brenna’s birth announcement. (I’m sure I’ve got one of those somewhere…)
21. Those twenty bullets above? Make me feel better and have eliminated the ‘woe is me’ attitude I’d been carrying around all day. It’s a highly effective exercise that I’d recommend for anyone looking to lift their attitude without someone hitting them over the head with a pity stick and saying, “There are worse problems in the world than your more powerful car engine and menstrual cramps”. *ahem*
