Calm Weekend

Our past few weekends have been busy with a capital B.  We've either had visitors or been camping, both leaving little time for the normal weekend activities.  (Not complaining, just been running out of time lately.)

This weekend we didn't have any plans.  Finally a weekend where I could just concentrate on catching up, in anticipation of another weekend spent outdoors.

• On my way home from work Friday I stopped and rented a movie for Grace (Coraline), and Just Dance 4 for Logan (which he requested).  After an easy chili dinner we danced for a while.  It's so much fun, and I'm so bad at it.
• My BFF from fourth grade and beyond called in the middle of our dance party and effectively distracted me.  We talked for over an hour and it made me realize how much I miss having close friends close by.
• Saturday morning I slept in just a bit, had cereal for breakfast, and took Grace to gymnastics.  Afterwards we stopped by Wal-Mart and piddled around.  When we got home we hung out for a while until...
• We went to the kids Fall Festival for their school.  We walked over around 4:30 and played a bunch of dinky little games that they loved and got bags of candy for playing.  They each got to make their own candle; Logan made a football goal and Grace made a little bulletin board courtesy of Home Depot; we each got a cupcake from a local bakery that won Cupcake Wars on Food Network; we took a little hayride; they had the obligatory inflatable slide that the kids love; and we ended the day with frozen ice.  They had a blast and it always amazes me how many kids my children know.
• We finished Saturday with meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner while watching the new episodes of iCarly, Big Time Rush, and Victorious on Nickelodeon.
• Sunday morning I got to sleep until almost 9, which is when the dog decided she'd had enough and I needed to get up.  I made a Cinnabon coffee cake for breakfast (which isn't as impressive as it sounds - it's from a box I bought at Sam's). 
• We carved pumpkins and roasted pumpkin seeds (which the kids said were yummy).
• I mowed the grass (which I declare will not be done again until the spring).
• We picked up all the accumulated mess and vacuumed all the floors.  Grace even did some dusting.
• I did all the laundry and even managed to get it put away (the hard part, if you ask me).
• I made a pumpkin pie, which was yummy.
• Joey made corned beef in the crock pot, which was also yummy.
• We finished the day with bubble baths for the kids and Homeland for mommy.  It was a good weekend.

Car Trouble

Last week I noticed my car was making a weird squeaking noise, so I decided it would be a good idea to drive Joey's car until we could have it checked out. 

There is a set of hooks near the front door where we hang backpacks, purses, and keys.  On Friday morning I go to grab his keys and they're not there.  I'm in a hurry to get out the door (of course) so I go grab the spare keys, run out to the car, and start it up.

Well, try to start it up.  It won't start.  Dang it!  Being that I'm in a hurry I don't have time for this mess so I run back in the house, tell Joey the problem, get my keys, and take off in my car.  Joey realizes that the car battery is fine, it's something stupid with the security system which we've had a problem with before.  Thus begins another search for the primary set of keys.  We also realize that our GPS is nowhere to be found. 

Neither of these items have been located.  Joey's car is just chillin' in the driveway.  He called a Pontiac dealer and they faxed some instructions to fix the security problem.  The dealer said they work 80% of the time. Based on our history, I'm guessing we're in the 20%, but we'll see.  I haven't tried it yet. 

Last night we had a family outing to dinner and do some shopping.  When we got home Joey took my keys to open the front door and then hung them on the hooks.  When we were done getting everything out of the car I got the keys from the hook, locked my car, and put the keys back on the hook.

This morning my keys are not on the hook.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!  I am now convinced there is some weirdo sneaking into our house at night and hiding our keys.  I can not locate the spare set of keys for my car.  Thankfully, after some frantic searching and Logan suggesting we hot wire the car, I find the keys.  Apparently they dropped into a purse I'm not using.

I'm considering putting some kind of tracker on our keys, but I'd probably lose that too.

20/20

I have worn glasses since sixth grade, which at this point means I've been wearing them for a little more than 20 years.  (Damn, I'm old). 

I have worn contacts since ninth grade.

From the moment I got contacts I abandoned my glasses.  I hated them.  They were ugly.  I only wore them at night after I'd taken my contacts out, until I woke up in the morning and put my contacts back in.  This continued until this year, my 33rd.

My eyes had been bothering me and it would have been really nice to take the contacts out and wear glasses for a while.  However, I have had my glasses since some time in college.  The prescription was more than a little out of date.  So I finally got some new ones.  That I love.  And I've been wearing them pretty regularly ever since.  To the point where yesterday, when I wore my contacts to work, I looked in the mirror and thought I looked strange without my glasses.

Funny how things change.

Brrrrr

That title means it's cold?  Didja get that?

Temperatures here in Charlotte plummeted on Sunday and this week, especially the first few days, has been super chilly.  Every night we've had "discussions" about what is okay to wear to school right now.  Momma thinks pants and long sleeves, maaaaybe short sleeves.  Definitely a jacket in the mornings when it's chilliest.

After some "discussion" Grace is pretty easy to get on board with my thinking.  My darling, stubborn, much smarter than me, nine year old, does not see my wisdom.

Monday was the coldest day, and it was pretty easy to get him in pants and long sleeves.  Tuesday he argued that he'd gotten hot on Monday at recess and so he really couldn't wear pant and long sleeves again.  So we compromised and he wore shorts, long sleeves, and a jacket.  On Wednesday he did the same thing.  However, today, he was done with it and wore short sleeves and shorts.  Granted, it is a bit warmer so I'm mostly okay with the progession.

However, it is still pretty cold in the morning.  This morning he got himself grounded from TV for four days (which I'll probably never enforce, but still) because he argued against wearing a jacket so much.  Apparently when I tell him to do something he doesn't like, it translates to "Argue with mommy, make her mad, and then she'll changed her mind" in his head.  In the end, he got out of the car wearing the jacket.

And then I froze my tushy off walking from my car to my office this morning because I forgot my jacket.

Isn't it ironic?

Scratchy Eyes

On October 1 I took Grace to the surgery center in our eye doctor's building to have the teeny metal speck and rust ring removed from her eye.  We had to wait only a few minutes before we were called back.  First they weighed her and checked her height, then took her temperature, blood pressure, and pulse.  Then they asked that she take off her clothes and put on the hospital gown.  She didn't like the idea of taking off her underwear, but she cooperated.

The nurses then came back and informed us that the doctor's first surgery didn't show up so there were going to hustle to get us back quickly.  Then came the series of eye drops. 

Grace has always done well with eye drops.  Logan has always hated eye drops.  For the first set she did pretty well.  Then there was the second set.  And the third.  Let's just say she wasn't a happy camper after them.  Then they gave her a little cup of medicine to drink.  It was supposed to make her a little loopy, thereby making the separation portion of our day less painful.  The nurse told her to take it like a shot.

Seriously?  She's six.  I informed the nurse that Grace had no idea what that even meant, considering we don't do shots at our house.

After a few minutes of cuddling, they were ready to take her back.  And dang it if she didn't cry and I felt miserable.  I mean, she would survive with the little thing in her eye, right?  Let's just go home.  But they took her anyway I managed to hold in the tears.

I waited about 30 minutes before the doctor came out to tell me everything went great.  He got the rust cleaned out and gave her a very thorough eye exam and her eyes looked great.  He said when she woke up her eye may feel itchy, but some Tylenol and a cold washcloth should help.  After another 10 minutes, the nurse came and got me to take me back.

Well, when I got to her bed she was crying, fussing because her eye hurt, saying she couldn't see.  In short, she was a mess and more than a little out of sorts.  I tried to hold her, but after a few seconds she would just flop back on the pillow like it wasn't even worth the effort.  Eventually, the nurse gave her some Tylenol, a wet washcloth, and a popsicle, and she started to calm down a bit.  She was still fussy, just a little less so.  She was extrememly unhappy about the IV needle in her hand, altough Lord knows she couldn't actually feel it.  She just minded the idea of it.

Then the nurse mentioned that the Tylenol had a mild sedative in it so she should take a good nap when we got home.  I was finally able to get her dressed and we wheeled her out to the car.  She was out like a light on the ride home and slept about 2 hours after that.  She was okay when she woke up and had a little something to eat.  It was easy to tell the second the Tylenol wore off, though.  Once I drugged her up again (without the sedative) she was fine.

The rest of the day was lazy, which was what she needed.  We went and picked up Taco Bell for dinner at her request.  She told me later that after I left her they put a mask over her face and told her it would smell like nail polish.  The next thing she knew they were offering her popsicles before I reappeared.  A week later I think she's forgotten all about it.

And life goes on.