Get ready for the cutest.picture.ever.

I need a weekend!

It’s the middle of Saturday afternoon, and I’m beat! I’ve been doing housework since about 7:30am with little break. We did run out to Target for a few essentials, and came right home for lunch. We are going over to B’s parents tonight for a family gathering. Tomorrow, more gatherings with family & friends. Monday…WORK! Wait, I thought Monday was a holiday, say you. Well, so did I, but there are no holidays in the world of reproduction, as follicle growth never takes a vacation and I have a patient to see on Monday morning. I’ll try to make up for it later in the week by leaving a little early one day, but you never know if that’s going to work out or not.

On Thursday night, we finished reading Charlotte’s Web, and I had already borrowed the movie version from the library – the new-ish one with Dakota Fanning and a host of super-superstars voicing the animals. Last night after bathtime, C & I settled in the living room in our jammies and watched the movie. C loved it, but of course didn’t last as it didn’t finish until after 10pm. She started to watch it again this morning but didn’t get very far and she decided it would be more fun to go play in the basement. Later on this morning, she suggested that we do a movie-night encore tonight and include her dad. So we’ll see. If anyone hasn’t seen it, I highly recommend it! The animals are perfectly cast, some of the voices you’ll recognize and some you might not be able to place, but all are perfectly done and the movie was very enjoyable. The little boy who voices Wilbur is adorable without coming across as precocious and Julia Roberts as Charlotte has the most gentle, comforting voice I could imagine.

I snapped a few pics of C lounging in her window seat during lunch. She loves to set up her lunch and sit there and eat. Sometimes she wants me to sit there also but I was flitting about the kitchen, fixing my own lunch and cleaning up. I love this sweet face!

Test drive

of Tuesday as a new day off. Because of C starting preschool on MWF, I am trying to work out switching my day off to Tuesday or Thursday. I am so busy at work, it is hard to find this time to be away, as I had pretty well worked out being off on Wednesdays to this point (I’ve had Wednesdays off for 3 years). I will eventually figure it out, but I have a bunch of things getting ready to take off at work. Fortunately, our new office manager starts in two weeks and I celebrate her arrival!

Today I am cooking, running errands, and took C to the playground a little bit ago.

I love having a day to run errands and get them out of the way. We hit the post office, the library, and the bank. I cleaned out C’s piggy bank last night to prepare a “a-posit”. I have a habit of sticking dollar bills in there whenever I have one or two left in my pocket (which is rare because I rarely have cash in hand). I ended up with $8 in quarters and $1.50 in nickels…couldn’t quite make it to $10 and $2. Fortunately, the guy at the bank was sympathetic. He said he wasn’t really supposed to take any less than the rolled amounts but he “was a little low on coin this morning”, took pity on me and accepted the change. And that took us to our grand total of $41!

In other news, I have eaten paninis 4 of the last 7 days since I got our panini press at Target. Today’s lunch…homemade pesto, fresh mozzarella, & roasted turkey on an onion roll in the panini press. Best. Sandwich. Ever.

Here I am, up late

and nary a gold medal to show for it! Who doesn’t miss the Olympics? Man, I could watch swimming every night. Rowdy, Al, Michael P….miss you all!

C had an okay day at preschool today. B & I had small group tonight so C went over to her Great-Aunt & Uncle’s house for a bit. She had a terribly un-balanced dinner but her appetite in the evenings tends to be quite weak…until offered a hot fudge sundae at Uncle Randy’s house!

Our weekend was filled with zero exotic adventures. On Saturday, I never even left the house (pretty environmentally minded of me!). Sunday I went to church and then we swam some in the afternoon. Summer is definitely winding down, and tonight feels like fall is on its way. Every time the seasons change, I try to pick which is my favorite season. So for now, with September approaching, it’s gotta be fall. There is nothing like Fall in the Midwest…seasons are one of my very most favorite things about Ohio, and probably always will be. There are some things I will always miss about Florida (let’s see how I feel about this next February!), but I do love a crisp fall evening as a Buckeye.

A full report…

How did this

become this?

It was a mixed review on the preschool debut. Dropoff went fine and we hope the day went ok. The main teachers weren’t there when B went to pick her up, so we can only guess…however, C was acting out a bit on the way out the door. We could barely drag 5 words out of her regarding the day’s events, but Mimi was much more successful. It’s all about knowing what questions to ask. Tonight as I was putting C to bed, she was expressing her frustration at having to hang out with me all day tomorrow instead of going back to school. So, I guess that’s a good sign.

Vegas, baby!

B & I returned from Las Vegas on Saturday night, after a 2 day stay for fun and sun. No, really I was attending SMART ART, the fertility nursing conference sponsored by my favorite drug company. It was hot. 110 degrees hot. Of course, it has to be said…”it was a dry heat.” Indeed it was – so dry, in fact, it reminded me of standing in front of a giant hair dryer. It cooled all the way down to the 90’s at night, but the very intensity of the heat shocked me every time I walked outside. Our first night there, we walked 1/2 hour to dinner, unintentionally. The positioning of the hotels is such that ‘2 hotels away’ really means a 30 minute walk in and out of shopping areas, up escalators, and over bridges. After that, I took taxis everywhere, yes I took $5 and $6 cab rides. After growing up in Florida, I feel I’ve earned the right to be a heat-weenie if I wanna be.

We returned home to a whirlwind of the usual household chores, and a brewing storm at work, as ever. In the biggest news of all, our girl starts preschool tomorrow. On Monday night, we went to the school and she met the teacher and saw her room. Miss Molly seems like a delightful lady and I’m hopeful that C will thrive in the group environment. The highlight of the room was a guinea pig named Snickers!

C toured the room quietly, hesitantly; but tonight she is bursting with excitement as we think about what kinds of things Miss Molly might have in store. As I was leaving work today, I mentioned I’d be a bit late due to dropping her off tomorrow. A co-worker (with a daughter who also just started preschool) said, “Good luck tomorrow…do you think there will be any tears?” I said, “Oh I hope not, I mean, I think she’ll be ok…she was ….” She cut me off. “YOU I mean! Will YOU be able to hold it together?!” We had a laugh, but the truth is that I hope so.

In some ways it is a thrilling step towards independence, and in others I can’t believe my little girl is really almost four years old. In many ways, I am thankful that this isn’t the first time she’s been away from me. I suspect the transition is a lot easier for a 3-month old than a 3-year old to have never been away from mommy for more than an hour or two. I’ll try to post a full report tomorrow for the 4.2 people who read this blog on how the first day went.

Quick recap!

How is it August 11th already? I have not made good on my promise of improved frequency with blogging, that is for sure. The weekend was busy but gloriously fun!

Friday night we went to a neighborhood dinner party, hosted by this wonderful couple across the street who “summer” here in Springfield (I know, everyone’s vacation destination of a lifetime!). They have family connections here, so they stay here summers and live in Scottsdale the rest of the year. We have an incredible neighborhood and this party was most pleasant in every way. Delicious food, delightful company. I felt very out-of-my-league, but thoroughly enjoyed myself as well.

Saturday was spent preparing for my FIL’s surprise retirement party…and it was a smashing success as well. I spent all day shopping, preparing food, cleaning etc. All went as planned, the backyard was beautiful (thank you, string lights that I’ve wanted for ever!), and the food was great. A good time was had by all, FIL was terrifically surprised and pleased. C walked in with her Mimi and Pop and seemed to think all the accolades were for her. When asked what she thought of what was going on, she said, “I didn’t know they were having a big party for my Pop!”

Sunday we slept in after 2 very late nights in a row, had some delicious blueberry pancakes for breakfast (one of Brian’s specialties!), missed church, and spent the afternoon at the pool, swimming and relaxing. Another great Sunday and a great way to finish that exhausting weekend.

Today, back to work and real life. I keep promising myself that life will slow down after I get back from this trip Thursday-Saturday. Vegas, baby!

Welcome, August!

First post of August. I gotta do better this month, I just gotta! This weekend held some relaxation and some fun. Friday afternoon, I jetted out of work a bit early to escape to Columbus for an overnight with my 2 closest girlfriends. We hit PF Changs for dinner, wandered around some favorite stores, stopped by The Cheesecake Factory for some dessert, and finished off the night at Barnes & Noble. B&N was having a release party for some teenage-focused-and-we-think-possibly-vampire-featuring-book-in-a-series-by-some-author-I’ve-never-heard-of. Shows you how out of the loop I am. I had fun in the kids’ section, looking at the Ramona books and so many other favorites from my childhood – can’t wait to start those with C! Saturday morning we had a yummy breakfast at COSI and headed back home. Though our time was short, we enjoyed relaxing away from the kiddos and staying up all night talking and laughing. Ok, we did not stay up all night. I am way too old to even attempt it. I think we probably made it a smidge past midnight, but the clock wasn’t near me so I really don’t know.

Saturday afternoon I had some errands to do. Sunday was our usual, church, nap and swimming, in that order. Our local Chipotle – or if C is saying it “Kim-poach-lay” -arranged with our church to give everyone a free meal, so we got a coupon at church that was good for lunch right afterwards. We had a few friends over (free Chipotle in tow) to enjoy lunch in the back yard. I took a long nap – longer than I’d have liked actually – instead of finishing the book I’m reading. For Sunday evening Bible study, we met off-site at my favorite…Sonic! All hail the Lemon Berry Slush. When it comes to Sonic, I really feel like an addict. I get kinda antsy on the way out there, excited when I order, and even happier when the car-hop arrives with my beverage. That, combined with the fact that I’ve been watching like 5 episodes of Intervention every week is starting to concern me just a little bit.

This week will be busy with work, and more work. And with that, back to work I go!

Ode to Summer – A Supper Story

Wednesdays are usually easier days, as I am off work…no racing home from the babysitter to cook dinner, do chores, entertain a fascinating 3 1/2 year old, get ready for the next day, etc. I love the laid-back pace! After some inspiration yesterday afternoon, I decided on an ode to summer for dinner. Knowing my MIL was out of town for 3 days, we invited over my FIL and I got working on the menu. The stars of our show:

-Shrimp salad – very simple to mix up. Those little salad shrimp, frozen and thawed, mixed with some mayonnaise (tried not to go too heavy on that), lemon zest, lemon juice, salt & pepper, Penzey’s Mural of Flavor, and some celery. Yum! I served that on lettuce from our huge supply! (We’ve been getting 2-3 heads of lettuce a week in our CSA box. Can’t possibly eat it all, though I’m trying)

-Sliced tomatoes with Kosher salt, a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar, a little shred of fresh parmesan, and some torn basil (also from the CSA box…hoping for more this week because I really want pesto!).

-Corn on the cob from Uncle Louie’s farm – Uncle Louie isn’t our uncle at all, and he’s actually farming in the great cornfield in the sky these days. Some people think that there isn’t much good going on in Ohio, but I am here to tell you that we have the best corn on the planet. There is a farm market out of town a little ways with delicious yellow and white corn, and the trip out is worth it every single time. I also got to use my new Butter Boy, a random-but-handy gift from my MIL. I do love the Butter Boy so!

-And for dessert…blueberry and nectarine cobbler. I did nothing more than toss a whole bunch of blueberries (probably 3/4 of a 2-pound box) and 2 perfectly ripe nectarines with a little flour, and then topped it with a butter-brown sugar-flour-cinnamon crumble on the top, then baked it until it looked bubbly and brown and done. So.very.delicious.

So that was our summer supper and it was just delightful. One of the great things about the dog days, I suppose! My next project will have to wait until Saturday, but I’m reveling in the joy of abundant blueberries, and I plan to make the blueberry crumb bars from Deb over at smitten kitchen. Check it out!