No Picture....

Yup, I'm posting about not having a picture, not because I'm a recovering scrapbook addict but because I'm so annoyed that my kids ruined the moment. Not that I really enjoy being in pictures all that much. They never turn out well--I usually blink or half blink (even better, right?) But last night I was being awarded a scholarship from the Conejo Association of Professional Interior Designers. Not a huge monetary award, but I was pretty excited that a group of designers were impressed enough with one of my projects that they were actually willing to give me money to continue my education and a membership to their association.
So there was an awards reception at the college where they were presenting all the recipients of the different scholarships. Up until we took our seats, my girls were both pretty happy to be in attendance. However this changed as soon as the program began. Natalie was the worst offender, complaining (not quietly) that she was bored and hungry. So I got out of my seat and went to get her a snack from the refreshment table. Things were pretty picked over so I scrounged up what I could-after all, we were going to have dinner in a mere 45 minutes or so and it wasn't passed our normal dinner time.
Well, as soon as her treats were gone, she immediately began whining and acting like a total toddler having a pre-meltdown fit. It was so bad that if I wasn't sitting directly next to my professor and the scholarship donors, I may have committed child abuse right there. After about 10 minutes of agonizing embarrassment about how my 5 year old was acting, I asked Jeff to take her away. He had to leave the area completely because it was outdoors and she was protesting so loudly...
So I had dragged my family to this, hoping it would be nice experience for my girls to see that Mommy does well in school--you know something to set an example for their college years ( yes I know that is so far away, but you never know what kids remember.) And I left wishing that I had not even taken them. Ugh...So Jeff was out with Natalie when I was given the award, hence, no picture.
Natalie did redeem herself later that night when she realized how much she had embarrassed me. It's hard to stay angry when they give you those sweet sincere apologies. Isn't motherhood ridiculous, crazy, and amazing?!

Better Video

As promised in my earlier post about the Variety Show, I got my hands on a better video of the girls. Though it's not their most perfect performance, its entertainment value is priceless =)

Vacation??

This morning Jeff sent me a link with the subject of the email being "make some money" I was immediately intrigued when I saw how much money I could earn. I was more interested when I learned what was involved.

http://www.bedreststudy.com/Bedrest.aspx

Would any of you do this for $17,000. I'm thinking a nice "vacation" might do me some good....just look how happy those women look.

New Shoes!!

Anyone who knows anything about me gets how much I love shoes. I'm sure my obsession has something to do with an early childhood experience of losing a new pair of shoes in the mall because I insisted on carrying the bag....or maybe it's because I feel so deprived because I have such a hard time finding my size--and when I do, I usually get the display.

But I had to post about these because I am just too excited that I actually have made time to get back to dancing. I took ballet in college (and that was over 11 years ago). But its been about 20 years since I've taken tap and sadly the shoes still fit (if you do the math, yes I was 12 years old when my feet stopped growing) but the leather was starting to disintegrate.

I get to take a ballet/tap combo and I realize how much I've missed it. Its weird how some things come back, but the movement is a little different. I guess having kids has rearranged my center of gravity--among other things. Now if I could just find someone to take a ballroom class with me (hint, hint Jeff!)

Little things....

OK, so this is so unlike me. But I figure Jeff is probably due for some nice words and I figure I'd make them count even more by putting them in writing for the world to see.

Our garage door opener has been behaving erratically over the last few weeks. It will open or close part of the way and then just stop, leaving me to disconnect it and manually and open the door so I can get my car out of the garage, usually at the most inopportune times.

So when it happened yesterday when I was already late to pick Cara up from school, I had to get out of my car, run in the house, through the front door, to get to the garage so I could close the it. But as any of you who have been to our house know, our front door handle is a piece of crap and it sticks. So I had to fight with it just to get inside and disconnect the garage door that decided to only close halfway once I had pulled my car out.

Once I was through with my ordeal, I called Jeff at work, as I often do when things at home are annoying me, and informed him of my frustrations with every entrance to our house. So I have to say, I felt a little bad when he came home from work last night bearing a new garage door opener.

He got to work on it immediately, only taking a break to eat dinner and finished around 10:30 last night (he is normally in bed about 10). I had no idea a garage door opener took so long to install, but I guess there are a lot of steps involved. But to appreciate my satisfaction with his work, I should illustrate what a difference this is from Jeff's normal evening routine. He usually comes home from work, finds his way to his "spot"on the couch, and basically parks there and watches TV until bedtime (taking breaks to put kids to bed, eat dinner, etc.).

Now, I know I frequently whine about my husband--not about anything big, but those little annoyances that after 10 years add up. But I thought it was so sweet of him to do that for me. He doesn't even park in the garage. And it wouldn't have killed me to park in the driveway for a few days. But I guess after 10 years of marriage, I've reached a new idea of romance when installing a new garage door opener so I don't have to park outside makes me smile. Thanks Jeff!

Now, if only I can get that front door handle fixed.... :)

Caught!

So a few weeks ago, I had just dropped the girls off at school and was reveling in my few hours of freedom from sibling arguments. The music was up and this hill was calling my name--begging me to ignore my brakes for just a few moments. I was singing along until I saw him--hiding behind a huge tow truck. Dangit! I had been caught. Pulled over. 41 MPH isn't that fast for a nice hill!

Now I was dressed for the gym. No make-up, hair in a ponytail and a bulky jacket over my not-so hot gym attire. I had nothing going for me and I was unfortunately not able to sweet talk my way out of this one. I recall my younger years when I was able to do this effortlessly. I think I had been pulled over like 5 times before getting my first --and only one until now.

I was still hopeful that he took pity on me or just plain forgot to turn in the citation (does that even happen?) but alas I just received the notice in the mail. Two Hundred Fifty Nine dollars, or $283 if I want to go to traffic school (plus the cost of the school).

When he was writing me the ticket, I asked him if I were to plead "not guilty," would he show up to court. He said it depended on what he had going on that day...I am contemplating this course of action just in hopes that it's his day off.

I know I deserve it, I speed all the time. In fact, I think speed limits (especially on freeways) are kind of stupid anyhow. I know my unrepentant attitude isn't good and I admit I broke the rules, lots of times in fact...but I just hate having to pay for it :)

Our most important meal of the day

So we decided to go for breakfast as part of our "Girl Time." We chose IHOP, since I had heard they had this yummy stuffed french toast. After sitting for about 15 minutes (which, if you have kids, this is a long time sitting in a restaurant with no food in front of them), the waitress finally came and took our orders. Looking at the menu, Natalie was interested in these create a face pancakes (see picture below).
After about another 25 minutes, our food arrived. Now I won't go into details about how my french toast was burned, so I sent it back and the next one I received was cold, stale and half-stuffed. Or how the family seated in the booth across the aisle had a toddler who sounded like he was throwing up--I couldn't bring myself to look over and tried to ignore it.

But here is the "smiley face" that greeted her as the plate was delivered.

Am I the only one disturbed by this "face"? I believe that cook must have serious issues, or he thinks he's Picasso or something. Regardless, we eventually made it out of there. By the way, Cara was perfectly happy with her "Who Cakes," which actually did look appetizing. ;)