I Quit

Dear First Grade Teacher,

I found the tone you used, while talking to me yesterday, to be incredibly offensive. I do not like to be talked to like I am a six year old using six year old logic. I am not only older than you are, I have more education, more experience working with parents in a school setting, and have been parenting my own children longer. Is it not possible that my perspective might have some validity?

Good luck replacing me.

Sincerely,
Mrs F

Never A Dull Moment

WARNING... I am having more than a little trouble with the old internet connection the past 24 hours. Everything is taking FOREVER to load. If this goes up it will likely have mistakes... and I won't be correcting them... do not judge... and I may not be able to return comments (some from yesterday too... sorry) until things get back to normal. It's just too frustrating and I have more important things to stress about... trust me.


Things are going on.

Things were going on.... and then they weren't... and now they are again.

It's been a bit of a roller coaster the last couple of weeks. But in a weird way I'm thankful for it because it gave me a bit of perspective and has allowed for some stabilizing walls to be put up in an effort to protect my mental state.

For some obvious reasons (that you will just have to guess about) I can't talk about all this.

I can just say we are sitting atop a precipice and I need to be prepared for the fall... either way.

Our entire life might change in short order.

Or...

It might not (a fall of much more depressing and familiar kind).

I'm staying surprisingly level headed. I'm of course stressed and feeling a bit in limbo and having a TON of things thrown at me (suddenly several kids need childcare?!)... and while on one hand I'd like to accept... on the other.... I'm not sure I can commit. It's hard. I really don't know what to do. I don't want to miss out on an opportunity for the work but when I say change I do mean CHANGE and it would be impossible for me to care for them.

And of course it's all coming at once and everything is time sensitive.

My strategy is to try and take this one day at a time.

Hopefully we'll have an answer sooner rather than later.

And hopefully I'll be okay with it when it happens.

All I can say is...

Dear Someone,
I want this for me... but more than that... I want it for you. I could live this hell hole of a year ten thousand times over it I thought it'd end with you getting the respect and clout you deserve. You're better than you think you are. And I believe she's going to see it.
Love,
Me

10 Years Ago

Mr F and I went on our first date.

He's been obsessed with me ever since.

Kind of.

Deep down.

He just doesn't always show it.

That's what I tell myself.

(No. Seriously he is. He can't even deny it... he just starts laughing nervously.)


If you want to read more about a love so furious it shouldn't be legal you can do so here...
Love Story Part 1
Love Story Part 2
Love Story Part 3

Maybe one day when I have a spare 10,000 hours I'll finish the saga. Part 11 might be titled "When The Shit Hit The Fan".


One day soon I'll write part 4. That is when we finally had our date. That is also when it became obvious that neither one of us would ever confront a stranger unless perhaps our life depended on it. And when asked at restaurants how things are we would both always respond "Great!" even if we'd been waiting over 2 hours for our dinner and then served the wrong dish.

And for the record I did not let him kiss me on our first date.

It was a new tactic I was trying out.

And

Shazam!

It worked.

Keep that in mind ladies.

Here We Go Again

I'm actually feeling surprisingly sad this morning. Maybe it's because I'm not going to drop her off and settle her into her room this year (5%). Maybe it's because I just like being around her (60%). Or maybe it's because having her around makes Baby about 1000 times easier to deal with (35%).

I decided to let Baby sleep as long as possible... because... she is going to commit hari kari when she wakes up and realizes Kid is gone... ALL DAY. The longer I can put that off the better. I see a lot of gummy bears in her near future.


Yesterday Kid was getting a bit anxious about the big day. In an effort to focus on the positive we threw an impromptu "Happy First Grade!" celebration last night. That did help tremendously with Kid's "night before" jitters.... or at least staved them off until the quiet dark of her bedroom. She was still sleeping bundled up like a little baby when I went in this morning. Oh it killed me to have to wake her up!



It also killed me to have to pack lunch again. God, I hate packing a lunch. It takes for freaking ever and is the most tedious process on the planet. Hate it hate it hate it.



Last year Mr F decided in a fit of panic to cut open Kid's backpack when the zipper got stuck. Way to go hot head. So I had to dig around the basement and find her old preschool one and dust it off this morning. As punishment I made him wear it.



Actually they're riding the tandem operation this morning and it's all we can ask that she HOLD ON while riding along the busy road... we don't need to worry about her toppling over under the weight of the bag.

Video Update

It Is With A Queasy Stomach That I Announce....

The return of...

This Week The Plan

People. People! I'm not looking forward to this.

Menu:

Monday - Parent Orientation night... kids eat at Mr F's office

Tuesday - Shrimp Scampi w/ noodles & sauteed broccoli

Wednesday - Roast Chicken, crispy potatoes & Sherry and Garlic Sauteed squash & carrots

Thursday - Honey Mustard Glazed Salmon w/ seasoned rice & green beans

Friday - Pizza night w/ sliced tomatoes

Saturday - Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

Sunday - Tomato & Meatball Soup w/ salad


Kid's School Lunches:

Wednesday - hard boiled egg, watermelon, yogurt, turkey sandwich, milk

Thursday - hard boiled egg, strawberries, yogurt, pb&j, milk

Friday - hard boiled egg, tomatoes, yogurt, tuna sandwich, milk


Errands & Chores:

Monday - laundry, vacuum, parent orientation

Tuesday - grocery shopping, put away clean clothes

Wednesday - 1st day of school, make returns (Lowe's, Michael's, etc)

Thursday - pick up girls' room

Friday -

Saturday -

Sunday -


Diet & Exercise:
I'll be addressing this in detail tomorrow.
I'm going to continue food journaling. Eating under 1400 a day. And working out 40-60 min a day. I'll be doing the 30 day shred 3x this week.

Selective Hearing

"Dude you've got to use Google Reader." Mrs F says between bites of graham cracker.

"What's that Chewy?" Mr F replies.

Mrs F takes another bite and says...

"I'm going to hurt you."

"Did you hear that?!" She asks.

Mr F laughs.

Dressed For Success

This is Baby's preferred summertime look.
Yes she's wearing a combination of PJs, sweatshirt, and fleece hat.
I am aware that some people would not allow this. I mean it was a near 90 degree day. And she did look.... um.... special. But I have always gotten some kind of pleasure, pride even (not for myself but for my kids), out of allowing them to wear their clothes their way.

Plus, I find it results in a lot more laughs and a lot less fights.