Luncheon With La La Lady

We heard a rumor Colleen and her man were coming to town -- to Mom's town -- so we set out to find her.

Mom blazed the trail.

"I think they're that-a-way."

It was a beautiful fall morning, our darlin' girl was coming to town, we were full of love and hope. And good cheer.

Obligatory through-the-shoulders artsy shot of the railroad bridge.

Obligatory New England church photo.

Around this time we realized that although we saw the train pull in, the train from New York stops way further east on the tracks, blocks away on the other side of the weirdly-split platform.

"Let me go have a look-see."

 Wait! There they are!

See?!

No? Okay, let's zoom in:

Aw. My sobrinita espectacular.

It's nice to have a paparazzo in the family.

Mom's turn.

"Grammy!"

Love Fest 2013.

Nice to meet you, Brento.

Aw, Uncle Bill.

Don't we look like a fierce gang?

Yeah, not so much.

If you think my greeting with Colleen's was touching, get a load of her reunion with her friend Virginia:

Yes, Virginia leapt into the air.

Together at last.

Mom made us a lovely luncheon . . .

. . . and then we took 10,000 photos in the kitchen.

We haven't seen our darlin' girl in a-year-and-a-half, since way back when when she was still in college . . .

. . . when we had that awesome and magical evening with The Carrboro Girls . . .

. . . and we don't quite know when we'll get to see her again.

But we did get to see her -- and her peeps -- on Sunday, and it was just perfect.

Good bye kids. Don't forget your marching orders: Get out there and conquer the world.

masquerade

On the very same night that I was packing for a much deserved (if I do say so myself) weekend away with friends, my girl was preparing for the first middle school dance of the year. The theme was masquerade, and when I looked at the flier that day to find out how much she needed for tickets, I noticed that each ticket would come with a face mask that the kids could decorate for the dance. Masquerade! What fun. I told my girl, who rolled her eyes with tragic sympathy for my idiocy and said "No one is wearing those mom, we need to go buy one!"

Buy one? I queried?

Buy one that you will wear for two seconds and then discard?

Buy one for the dance that is tomorrow, that you have invited a friend to, that I need to be packing instead of shopping for?

I told her to be happy with the included masks or go without, and went about the business of tearing all around the town buying up last minute items for my trip. One of my stops took me into the vicinity of Party City, and as we all know, I am Mother Of the Year, so in I went to see what I could find.
 

$6.99. done. I texted her: "This okay?"

I fully expected a barrage of OMG squeeeee you are so aweeeessssssome thank yooooooou messages.

Her response? "Do they have any that match my top?"

But alas, this was the only one. In the midst of hammering out a heartfelt "screw that", I caught sight of a few more masks in the back room, which was being packed up for next year's Halloween.

There were a few more.

"there are a few more", I texted.

Oh my God so many more.

I told her to pick one, and hurry up about it. She was quiet for a while, then in what I imagined was a pipsqueaky peering out from between clenched fists voice, she asked: "is there any way I can come try them on?"

Whaddayagonnado?

Her punishment was that she could not say no to a single photo. When my battery died, I used her ipod and she had to email me the rest of the photos.

A few were tried with varying hairstyles

Other than the weird smooshy nose syndrome, she looked pretty great in all of them

Well, maybe great is a strong word.

Winners.

Who doesn't love a masquerade?

Bonus days

So for the next three weeks of school, starting today, there are a total of two full days of instruction at my girls K-8 school. I am not making this shit up. Today was a holiday - school closed. They have a half day every Wednesday, which, honestly, I've never understood, then there is an extra half day this week on Thursday (and one extra each month for 5 months this year). So, Tuesday and Friday are full days of school this week.

Next week, e.v.e.r.y single day is a half day. All five; due to parent teacher conferences. Somehow that seems excessive to me, especially in middle school, where they only ask for conferences if your child has a D or F in a class. And although *I* may have to attend one of these, many parents do not.

The week after that is Thanksgiving break. Yep - school is out all week. Remember when Thanksgiving break was a 4-day weekend?

Remember when we went to school for 5 full days each and every week, back in the olden days? No bullshit half day once a week?

I mean, don't get me wrong, a week off at Thanksgiving? Yes, please. Really, it does sound wonderful, the only problem is most adults/parents have JOBS. Jobs that their employers expect them to show up for, even if their kids are on holiday.

Luckily for me, I'm able to work from home when need be. (And my mom lives here and helps me out a ton!) It's a blessing to be able to work remotely, it really is. I'm thankful, and how nice not to have to rush out the door in the morning on these numerous bonus days. But c'mon, have you tried to work when you have three kids at home all day? It's, um, not really possible. I mean, you can get in a few repeatedly interrupted hours, yes, but all day? And more than 45 minutes without an interruption? Not in this household.

However, like everything in life, there's a flip side. The pro to the con. The ever increasing lost hours of instruction might annoy the holy hell out of me, but bonus time with my kids is a treat (especially if I don't get fired for my questionable productivity during said days).

Take today for instance, my youngest and oldest told me that I was NOT to go downstairs (hello, I'm sitting here in front of my computer, you downstairs without me is the whole point), and proceeded to be very quite and secretive. My middle girl was playing on our newly inherited ipad (thanks again, mom), so, she was completely absorbed as well.

Around about 45 minutes later, I was asked to go downstairs.

And really, what I walked into? Adorable.

Uh huh, streamers, for me! For us! For our very fancy surprise luncheon.

A vegetarian luncheon, at that! With fancy glass ware.

And fresh flowers

And GLITTER!!!!!!!!!!!!

And live music!

Okay, so they're not conjugating verbs in Spanish or dividing fractions or dissecting cow eyes, but my girls are getting creative, and kissing my ass, both of which I really appreciate. And really, if imagination and flattery aren't two worthwhile life skills, tell me what are.

Oh, and P.S., remember when I was wishing for boys? Let's pretend that never happened.

This Is What A Walk In The Fall Looks Like

Well, This Is What A Walk In the Fall Looks Like if you're walking with Mistah . . .

. . . 'Course, if you're with Mistah, Walking takes forevah . . .

. . . but, yeah, it's worth it.

Next time, won't you please come along?

yaaaaaaaaay!

Here's how you prepare for a weekend away if you're me:

Monday:   Yaaaay! This is a shortened  week, I can't wait for that faraway neverland of Thursday when I check out of this hellhole. Maybe I'll take a half day so I can show up to the girls' weekend with pretty tootsies. I've got ages to think and prepare, it's going to be beyond awesome.

Tuesday:   Yaaaay! It's like a half week, it's so cute! I had a good workout last night but today I think I'll skip the gym and hang with my fam.

Wednesday:   Yay... okay I'm a little behind the 8-ball, need to think about what I need to do and plan and pack and stuff. Gotta work out though, it's gonna be pool weather!

Thursday:  Okay shit, leaving tomorrow. What am I going to wear and who is driving and what do I need and where do I go and where is the time and oh, what?  Happy hour? Sure! Yaaaaay! It doesn't matter what I bring cuz we're all friends and I'll just buy whatever I forget and GREEN SANGRIA, ya?

 

Friday:  Ya.