Will this day never end?

It started with me getting up at 0330 this morning. No, it wasn't a fluke. I have been getting up that early to make it to work by six at the new job out in Reston. Eric went and started the Jeep to warm it up and noticed that things in the Jeep were awry. The cupholder full of change? Empty. My trinket jewelry that I wore the other day? Gone. Thankfully, I didn't do as I was contemplating and leave my work laptop in there.

Then, Hannah and I had prepared for the last month to do the trick or treating thing. I was eager to go with her and also eager to do her makeup and help her get ready. She chose the extra long black press on nails and white face makeup for her goth-scary witch. But tonight, she balked at every scrap of makeup that I tried to apply. We argued and she decided not to go trick or treating.

Disappointment doesn't even begin to cover it. I figured this would likely be the last year that we'd be doing this together, but, I guess I was wrong. What's a helicopter mom to do? (Helicopter mom = mom who hovers)

I need a big drink. Then it's off to bed because I have duty for the next seven days. Wooo.

Of note...

I didn't realize that the settings on my blog were set to only accept posts from gmail users. I've since changed that, so feel free to post if you like!

Shawn

Tweeny-Boppers

Tonight, I sacrificed myself on the altar of girlish hormonal bliss. Hannah and I went to see High School Musical 3. When she asked me afterward if I enjoyed the movie, I said, truthfully, "I enjoyed watching the people in the theater more than the movie."

The opening scene has Zac Efron all sweaty. Girly shrieking erupted in the theater and I knew I was in for a fun ride. They did not disappoint. As the movie progressed, they were clapping along with the songs, raising their arms to sway back and forth, and offering loud applause when they felt that the scene deserved it.

I was highly entertained by the crowd. Hannah was more restrained in her appreciation of the movie, but I did hear her singing along with a few of the songs. If she caught me watching her, she stopped, so I tried to surreptitiously look at her out of the side of my eyes.

Overall, the movie was like any of the other HSM's. Sweet but not a lot of oomph.

I have a feeling the soundtrack for HSM3 is going to be on Hannah's Christmas list.

C'mon, be a good sport...

soapbox


What is a good sport? Someone who can take a joke? Someone who cheers their teammates on?

Today was my son's last Cross Country meet for the season. I arrived in time to see the varsity boys running, so I cheered my son's team on. The varsity runners all looked strong and came in fast to the finish line. My son is a freshman and, while he's a good runner, he's on the junior varsity team this year. His race finally came around and, like a proud mama, I cheered him on.

They had the junior varsity girls and boys running together and I got a little upset when the main pack of runners passed me for the finish line. Most of the spectators had drifted off and kids were coming along the home stretch with no support or encouragement from their coaches, parents or teammates. I thought that was really sad. So, one of the guys I had been talking to and I stayed and cheered for the last stragglers. There was one boy who was well behind everyone else and was doggedly plodding in to the finish line. I was so proud of him. No matter how far behind everyone he was, he never gave up and kept running.

To me, being a good sport isn't about just cheering for your team, although friendly rivalry is healthy. Being a good sport is going to a game that, as a team member, you can't participate in because you want to offer support to your teammates. Being a good sport is cheering for another team's runners, especially those who might be struggling.

Being a good sport is not letting your teammate come into the final stretch without some encouragement from you or your other teammates.

Shame on you, if you were one of those who let your teammates down.

/soapbox

Out and About...

Eric and I went out to dinner without the kids tonight. We went to a place called The Log Cabin restaurant and were seated in front of a romantic crackling fire. For an appetizer, we had fried green tomatoes, which I had never had before. They had a special on lobster that Eric enjoyed and I had blackened salmon. Quite delicious! Then, we split a pecan tart for dessert.

I'll admit that I was really hungry because I had missed lunch today. I'd like to say that I was working really hard and all that, but, I was at a stopping point in my testing and needed a break. So, when a co-worker said that she was taking some pictures to Michael's to get framed and asked me to go along, I accepted with alacrity. I could hang out in there for hours. My problem is, though, that I'm an impulsive buyer. So, I end up wandering through the store imagining all these projects that I can do and how craft-y I can be (not to mention that they have a decent section with art supplies!). I managed to resist fairly well today, but, it was tough.

Now, to sit in my lake (er, I mean bath) for a bit. Ciao.

Because I can....

I'm making some banana-apple bread. I had some bananas that were a little too polka-dotted to eat and didn't want to waste them. Yum.
Oh, and I just got done ordering some soaps, bath fizzies and incense from the daughter of a co-worker of mine who just started up a business doing the handmade thing. Here's the site if you're interested. http://www.daisymousesoap.com/

What, am I a Sherpa now?

We went to Prince William Forest Park today. Lovely place. Because it's pretty old growth, there wasn't a ton of underbrush, so we ended up doing some off-trail adventuring. About half-way through our hike, we had to take the sweatshirts off. I'm going to tag that as my exercise for the day! The kids were trying to make me carry their bottles of water and snacks but I "conveniently" forgot the backpack. You know who the sherpa would have been. Me.

On a different subject, I ordered some parts for my laptop (new keyboard, touchpad, and DVD drive) and somehow forgot to change my address in PayPal. Doh! So our renters called and let us know that I had several packages arrive there.

Sigh.

Bonus part is that we have renters in our place in Michigan. Gotta look for the positive here, right?

This is probably more like it...

I've been thinking of selling my Malibu Maxx and getting one of these. The Cabrio version.

When I was looking it up online, though, one of the tags that came up was "scooters". Huh.

Scary.

My Ride to Work...

Since the ride to work is so yucky, it's at least made tolerable by car-pooling with one of my coworkers who has this car. Sweet ride. Oh, and it goes verrrrrrry fast.

New Blog...

So, this is my new blog. My old site went down around Easter-time and I've been missing it fiercely. Hopefully, I'll be able to do all my cartoons and pics here, too!

I started a new job a few weeks ago. While I feel a bit nasty complaining about my job (since so many people are unemployed right now), I'm just going to put a short gripe out here.

If you give a person a job offer and it says one location but you REALLY meant to put him/her in another location, don't look surprised when the person gets pissy about the "new" location. ESPECIALLY when it's about an hour further than the one in the offer letter.

Grr.