Do you ever find yourself thinking at the end of the day, "MY GOD THESE CHILDREN ARE INSUFFERABLE LITTLE BRATS! WILL THIS DAY NEVER END?" Yeah, me neither.

You Bet I Am Ranting Today

So more on boozing babysitters...I received a note in the mail from my sitter's Mom reassuring me that they didn't drink at my house & her friend was "cleaning out her car." Then she went on to scold me for jumping to conclusions about her daughter. Beg your pardon, but if I find empty bottles in my trash, my bourbon bottle on the counter, missing vodka & tangerine martini mix, I will continue to jump to the completely outrageous and preposterous conclusion that someone has been drinking.

And on a completely unrelated note (other than it is also irritating me), if you are doing any of the following activities while walking on the track at the gym: drinking coffee, reading a book or talking on your cell phone, what you are doing is called hanging out. Please relocate these activities to a more appropriate location, like a sofa, and leave me in peace to run my 3.25 miles.

The 35,000 Mile Tune Up

Well my upgrades are complete with lasik surgery Friday. All went well and I currently have 20/30 vision which was about as good as it was when I wore contacts. It may still improve as my eyes stabilize but even it it does not, I am happy to be free of glasses & contacts! The procedure was not terrible, though I would have to label it unpleasant. I was not particularly fond of the smell of burning flesh during the actual laser part. That being said, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Now I have received many questions about what is next and more than once have been referred to as "The Six Million Dollar Woman," but I assure you, I am done. For now....

Saturday, my friend Ann & I took our girls to see a play. That morning, I had to go for my post-op appointment and left the girls in Tim's capable hands. I told him to let the girls pick out their clothes. I see now I made a grave error in judgement by not being more specific and saying, let the girls pick out their dresses, then you accessorize them. Maggie had on a red plaid dress with brown and pink cowboy boots. Morrigan had on a pink dress of Maggie's, hot pink patent leather shoes, and a pair of pink knee high socks that I had bought her for wacky sock day at school. Showing what I believe to be an amazing amount of restraint, I did not make them change & we were off to downtown. I regret there are no pictures. I was so focused on remembering the bevy of eyedrops I have to use that I, for the first time ever, forgot my camera.

We took the girls out to a "fancy" (read: not McDonald's) lunch and then went to the play. It was the caliber of any random high school production but they used the word underwear which was all it took to make it an instant classic. Our friends own the big furniture store in town which was having a big sale complete with hot dogs, balloons and an inflatable slide so after the play, we met up with Tim, Joe & the boys there. The girls went up and down the slide about a billion times while Eion busied himself throwing rocks.

Our supper club was last night which is always great fun. I am sure that our sitters have learned by now that if we predict an 11pm return, we are likely to roll in around 1am. My vanity was hurt by the fact that I can't wear makeup for a week but with all the eyedrops, it is not like it could stay on anyway! Tonight I am going to an annual girls only Oscar party. I have seen a few nominated movies this year (Cars and The Departed) which is more than last year. I decided that for my Oscar ballot, I would just go with Entertainment Weekly's picks and see how I do.

Monday, Monday

After a busy weekend, Monday has come & gone. To recap our weekend, Tim & I played poker on Friday. He was the big winner, me not so much. Though I am sure my poor choices were directly proportional to number of glasses of wine consumed. In a bit of weekend excitement, we came home and found our babysitter had two friends over. They seemed a bit boisterous but we didn't really think much of it until we found an empty pint of vodka in the trash the next day. Also missing was 1/2 a liter of our own vodka and some tangerine martini mix. I know this sitter's Mom so I gave her a call and reported my findings. In a nice way I must add as I was a teenager once a long, long time ago. She later called back to let me know she had spoken to her daughter and that the suspect empty bottles were from one of her friends "cleaning out her car" at our house. "I'm holding these cigarettes for a friend" and "this lighter is to sharpen my eyeliner" think that is a weak excuse.

Saturday the girls and I went to a birthday party where the "real" Cinderella made an appearance (see above.) They were very excited to see her but were concerned that she might not make it back to Florida in time for our visit to Disneyworld. Tim & I went to a black tie party that night. It was fun but we were a bit tired (see poker game above) and went home by 11.

Morrigan didn't have school today so we had "Mommy-Morrigan" day. We had lunch together downtown & then went shopping for a bit. Tim is working this evening so it was just me & the kids for dinner. Maggie loved the casserole I made but had two bites & asked to be excused. [I don't know how that kids is so tall!] Eion ate three helpings. As I knew Morrigan, long-time hater of casseroles, would not like dinner, I made her a plate of cheese, veggies & bread. She asked if she could eat in the dining room rather than at the kitchen counter. Sure! Later when I checked in on her, she glared at me. I told her she might want to rethink that glare as I made her a special plate. She said she was angry that I told her she had to eat in there. Revisionist history indeed!

Happy Valentine's Day!

All I have to say after this week is TGIF (well almost Friday. It's an hour to bedtime so I think that counts.) We had a busy week with fun activities and (mainly) otherwise. Tim and Eion were sick early on in the week. T was throwing up while E was just coughing and feverish. But as any regular reader knows, this is all it takes for him to keep me up all night - two nights in a row. By Wednesday, they were both feeling better and I was thrilled that school was only two hours delayed.

I made the fatal error of Picking The Wrong Fight. Morrigan picked out "the bow dress" to wear. Why I cared, I am not sure but I tried in vain to convince her to wear something red or pink, which mind you, she does several times a week normally. After tears etc, she won and wore the coveted bow dress. [Ironically, this morning when I let her pick out her clothes, she chose the dress I wanted her to wear the day before. Like I said, wrong fight.] So I loaded them all up to go to the gym before school started at 11am. They were having a Valentines party there so the kids were happy & I was glad to finally make it to the gym this week.

I basically spent the balance of my day at Valentine's Day parties (see pictures above.) I didn't get anything done but the girls were happy to have me with them. I made a Valentines train cake for Morrigan's class that was well received. Not really sure where this urge to make elaborate desserts came from...

After all the parties, the kids completely crashed from their sugar high and moved into "drive Mommy to drink" mode. I don't know how things are in the rest of the world, but this holiday is completely out of control here. Morrigan & Maggie came home with a gallon ziplock bag of candy between them. When did Valentine's Day become Halloween? Don't get me wrong, I think chocolate is the 5th food group but I don't see why every Valentine's Day card has to be accompanied by a candy bar. And yes, I know I am ranting but it has been a long week.

But brighter skies are on the horizon. We are playing poker tomorrow night and have a fun black tie party on Saturday. And I am only one week away from my lasik surgery!

Easy Weekend

Now I do have to add, easy weekend, SO FAR. One never knows what horrors await when Tim is working a Sunday. Friday Morrigan was at a birthday party after school so Maggie had a friend, Parker (pictured above) over for the afternoon. They we good as can be. Right after I took this picture, Parker told Maggie, "I love you." Very sweet! Though I guess her chances with the boys are boosted significantly by being the only girl in the class. Maggie, Eion & I had an evening alone while Morrigan was at her friend's house after the party. It was like a vacation only having two kids. So I must remind those of you who only have one or two kids, stop at two. When they have you outnumbered, everything changes. [All of you four + kid having types can just zip it. I am clearly not as tough as you.]

Like a sweet angel answering my prayers, Arlene called on Friday and asked to babysit the kids Saturday morning. They were thrilled to see her and I was too. This afternoon when Maggie & Eion were napping, Morrigan and I prepared the craft for her class' Valentines party. They are going to sting foam "conversation hearts" (like the candy) into necklaces. This required dividing up 1,000 foam hearts into categories based on size and color (to make sure each kid gets the same thing.) The really scary part was how much we enjoyed this. A great mother daughter OCD bonding moment. [Henry - that is obsessive compulsive disorder]

Later, Morrigan went to a kids tennis party at the club so it was me and things 2 and 3 again. Maggie was crushed as she couldn't attend the party (you have to be 4) so we had ate ice cream and watched Return of the Jedi together. My children's love of the Star Wars movies really warms my heart. They love when I tell them about how Oma (my Mom) took me to see Star Wars when I was 5. They think there is no way the movie can be that old!

Another Snow Day

So here we are on another Roanoke snow day. We had about 2 inches fall last night. But I will not complain. At least there was actually snow. What we've been up to this week so far...

Morrigan started karate in an after school program. They had many options like crafts, beading, games etc. but she chose karate. Tim told her he could teach her. The moves with which she arrived at karate: the sucker punch and "kick 'em while they're down." You have to be careful around her. She will say "Look!" and point in the other direction. If you are foolhardy enough to look, you get kicked in the leg. Excellent parenting Tim.

She is also working on a project for the 100th day of school. They have to put 100 items on a paper in groups of 10. I suggested types of flowers. She wanted to do a Star Wars theme. Clearly I still don't know the power of the darkside. Tim found pictures to print online for her. Most are movie stills or old posters. But my favorite one is a Storm Trooper who appears to be some random dude in his hallway in full trooper gear. My dorkiness is so minor compared to this guy.

Maggie & I had some Maggie-Mommy time yesterday. I offered to take her to the movies but she wanted to go to the bookstore. Two hours, one hot chocolate, one cookie and a Barbie book later we headed home. Morrigan arrived home from karate tired & a bit irritable. She asked "Is it Morrigan-Mommy day too?" Before I could reply, Maggie informed her, "It's Maggie Day!"

Eion is finally getting over a long lasting cold & is trying to redefine the phrase terrible twos.

Tim is loving his new eyes. I am in the two week period before surgery where I have to wear my glasses. They are old and out of date rendering me blind and unattractive. And I really hate running in them. But Tim swears it is worth it!

Cheated!

Last night, Morrigan & I went to a fundraiser for her school (Tim was working.) It is a casino night and was lots of fun last year so I was looking forward to it. I played poker and I was killing it. I don't remember the last time I won so many hands in a night. The top three chip winners get to choose from three prizes. The first was a weekend at a nice resort in North Carolina. The second was 4 sweet tickets to the VA Tech home football opener with a tailgate from the gourmet grocery store in town (value about $1,100.) The last was a basket of facial products.

Well I didn't have enough chips to win on my own and my (former) friend Greg suggested we pool our chips so we would win. He had about the same number of chips as me so I thought it would work out great. He turned the chips in so I could go get Morrigan from the play area. We placed second. Awesome I thought. We will get one of the good prizes. The first person picked the weekend trip. Even better - the football tickets are easier to split. Without consulting me, Greg went and chose, this is a tough one to swallow but stick with me, the facial products. He has some childish hate of Tech as he went to UVA. I was stunned. Really, I will give you from now until, check your watch, the end of time to find something more jacked up than that! What I do know is that when I get my half of the facial products, he had better run as I will be chucking them at his melon.

My Good Baby?

The girls went to a birthday party this morning. We carpooled with friends so I drove Mark (age 6) and Luke (age 4) home from the shindig. On the way home, Mark informed me, "My cousin Hannah is coming to visit today. She is a much better baby than Eion." Touche.