back fom the road

long enough to check in and share this weekends happenings...

On Saturday, Carl painted our kitchen! I am most excited about this. I LOVE the new paint color...it is a little yellow-y, which it didn't look like on the swatch or in the can, but it actually looks really great on the walls (woohoo, the old, ugly, high gloss paint is gone). I spent Saturday afternoon/early evening laying in the family room listening to the Tigers game on the radio. They lost:( but it was raining and yucky out, so perhaps that's why. They didn't lose by much. I'm really looking forward to seeing them play again this weekend. This time, the kiddos will be with us AND we'll be sitting in our actual seats. It's supposed to be a little chilly this Saturday, perfect football watching weather!

Of course we watched the Ravens game on Sunday. The Ravens were dominating, so Carl and I decided to play some darts instead of devote all of our attention to the game. It was super fun to relax. Due to all of my upcoming travel, I took Monday off and relaxed.

I'm working again tonight, and of course again tomorrow before working from home on Friday. I have a superbusy weekend coming up. It's my 10 year high school reunion...I can't believe it! Friday night there is a cocktail party at the school. Saturday morning/early afternoon, I have a fair, Saturday afternoon is the football game and then Saturday evening is another cocktail party downtown. Sunday is an afternoon fair and then an evening program. EEK! I should have taken next Monday off instead ;)

goals

i'm well past goals for new years (and i'm successful with some of my resolutions, failing miserably at others) but i thought it might be time to set some new goals.

perhaps the biggest goal i'm setting for myself is to run the jingle bell run this year. although its only a 5k, my arthritis has definitely progressed considerably from my previous runs (so much so that i didn't run last year, but went for moral support instead and really struggled the year before). this year i'm going to train (yes train...how sad is that?) for a 5k. i want to have muscles specifically toned for running, so that perhaps they can adequately support my joints for the run, so that means that i will have to slowly and carefully get back into running (something that i'm really excited about...here's hoping it works!) i will of course, still make carl push the now- dying jogging stroller with my girlies in it!

ok so maybe only one goal for today...

i'm running around like a crazy person with nacac in town and travel season in full swing. i am getting too old to be doing all this travelling, every afternoon i'm ready to crash as soon as i walk in my door. tonight is my first fair after a day of travelling....its going to be rough getting up in the am!

Saturday football

was awesome! i can't say that enough...it was awesome! carl and i had the best time. the radio interview went well, and the pre-game party was fun, but standing on the sidelines was AMAZING!!! The game was super tight, and really came down to the last few minutes. it was a long one too, but the tigers won, which made the evening that much more exciting!

its saturday

and i'm at work. yes, each counselor has to do one saturday in the office, answering questions for the the tour-folk, and today is my day. this will be a super busy saturday because after i leave the admissions office, i will be heading home to change my clothes. i have a big gig tonight, i am going to be the "guest coach" for the football game! we are headed to a tour of the stadium at 5:00, and a big pre-game party (where i will be interviewed on the pre-game show) before the game begins at 7:00 (when i will be standing on the sidelines for the first quarter of the game!) did i mention that this is the season home opener?! i'm pretty excited...and i guess honored to be selected to do this (although i'm not sure how i was chosen since i didn't apply or anything, i just got a phone call one afternoon from the athletics department).

after all of this, carl is headed to casey's bday party. i think i will be too tired after all of this excitement, and i'm just going to spend a nice evening chilling with cirucci. i do have "he's just not that into you" from netflix, so perhaps we'll drink a little wine and watch that.

i am looking forward to a nice, quiet day at home tomorrow:) perhaps we'll make it out to lowes to buy the paint for the kitchen and some of the weed killing grass seed that we want to put in the front and back yards.

is it time to go to disney yet?

well i'm 3 schools into travel season, and i'm already tired (perhaps its the nine million other things i have to do too). carl will have to drop the girls at school on thursday because i have scheduled my first visit at 7:45...eek! i'm not exactly sure what I was thinking since on normal days that's about the time i'm sipping my coffee, packing lunches and urging the kiddos to get their shoes on.

perhaps thats what is making life so hard today, i forgot my morning cup on my rush out the door and up to harford county. since i had some time between my visits, i stopped at starbucks (unfortunately there was not a panera to be found) and chose the hot cider over the coffee since i haven't been pleased with starbucks coffee recently.

at least tomorrows visit is later. i can still be in normal morning routine. but things get crazy after this week...i even have more weekend work this year :( (i worked this past saturday btw).

back to school night on thursday. i'm really looking forward to it.

Fall-like weather

Although fall does not officially begin until September 22nd, I am really enjoying this fall-like weather. Today, I even sent the girls to school in long pants and sweaters! When you're three, you spend a lot of time on the playground and outside, so they need something warmer on, but for indoor play, they have short sleeves underneath.

It is "All about Me" week at school and the girls had to bring in something that they liked to share with the class. They both chose their Towson Tigers. They are excited to tell their classmates about the Tiger office and going to football and basketball games.

Speaking of football, next weekend I get to be a "guest coach" at the season opener. I'm really excited. Carl and I will be going to a pre-game party and then I will get to spend part of the first quarter on the field. It sounds like fun!

short week

i am loving this short week, since i am still recovering from the weekend. i had a little too much "fun" at dan and mindys labor day party and had trouble sleeping sunday night. i was so overtired by monday that i still had trouble sleeping that night. ugh! i need the work from home time on friday so that during the non-work, watch the girls times, i can vege on the couch and relax. i see some disney movies in my future!

in other news, the girls spent the whole day at pre-school yesterday and did really well. the director had said that they had been good girls all day, hopefully that meant during naptime too. i am still trying to get the new schedule down. yesterday morning was much better than last thursday morning...at least i had coffee in hand while walking out the door. we bought a little coat rack that we're hooking to the wall tonight to store the girls school bags. that way, they'll know exactly where everything goes when they come home in the afternoon, and we won't have to spend time in the morning trying to find everything.

i am still loving the dinner time conversations...last night i heard about "old mcdonald", a book about a girl and a tree, painting pictures, sliding down slides and riding on bicycles. it is so great to hear about the best parts of the girls day. they get so excited telling carl and i over dinner, that they feel the need to call everyone they love afterwards. they are still learning about leaving voicemail ;)

Day 2

of preschool started out much better than day 1. Although the girls cried again, they were much more willing to join the other kids in the circle (all the kids get together in the morning for playtime) before going outside. Crossing my fingers that they do well enough to stay the whole day on Tuesday!

Last night, after the tuna potato dinner, the girls and I made peach and blackberry crumbles. Although they were a bit hot to eat (I am not very patient as I'm sure I've mentioned before), they were absolutely delish. Every couple of nights, we have been making special desserts. I'm loving it because it pulls everyone back to the table after all of the dishes have been cleared and washed.

I'm looking forward to the stories the girls have to share at dinner tonight! We're having inside out pot stickers. Tomorrow night, we're off to one of my favorites...La Palapas.

first day of school

Laney and Alie survived their first day of school yesterday. Their school has gradual entry, so really they only needed to stay for an hour and a half. The dropping off time was a little difficult. We went up to their classroom to leave their backpacks in their cubbies before heading down to the playground. Alie was really nervous, and her nervousness turned to tears as Carl and I tried to encourage her to go onto the playground without us. Eventually, the teacher had to pry her off of me. Laney had a few tears, but went somewhat willingly with her teacher. I had to run back up to put their water bottles in their cubbies, but when I came back down they were playing happily with the other kids. When I came back an hour and a half later, they were playing blocks with another little girl. They told me they were not ready to leave. Ms. Bennett said that they had done wonderfully, and even got a sticker for following directions! Thursday, they get to stay until after lunch.

With the first day of school under their belts, Laney and Alie had so much to say at dinnertime last night. I heard all about everything that they did, the book that the teacher read to them and even what they had for snack! I loved that they were so excited. They wanted to call everyone to tell them all about it.

After school, the girls and I decorated for fall. I tried really hard to wait until after labor day, but it just didn't happen. I was too excited by the fall-like weather outside. The girls helped me make a new wreath for the backdoor. They each made their own little craft on the side: a witch and a ghost. We set out candles (the girls made sure they approved the smell of each one) and laid out coffee tablescapes. We laid out fall decor in the living, family and dining rooms. We even hung the wreaths on the front and back door. We had a blast!