Summer Big? Or Summer Small?

Quick reminder of three giveaways here, here, and here.

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My husband has Twins tickets, and he asked me when I wanted to head up to Minnesota to go watch them play. We love going up there (I grew up in the Twin Cities - sorta), and I still have a lot of friends up there. And an outdoor ballpark for the Twins and not just the Saints - the minor league team in St. Paul? Rock on.

So I did a mental perusal of my calendar.

Welllll, the wee ones are in school until mid-June. Mister Man has a few more days than Little Miss, but they end around the same time. They've both asked to do summer school, which means they're booked until July 9. They're really neat classes - Mister Man, for example will be doing a science experimentation class and learning to cook - and the price for four hours a day five days a week for the entire session is less than regular daycare for a single week.

With Little Miss going into kindergarten, she gets busy on the schedule next with SafetyTown that starts up July 12 and runs until the beginning of August. It's a really neat program that teaches kids all about various types of safety and things they need to know from riding bikes to electricity and more.

August brings me to BlogHer. Oh yeah. And Florida. In fact, my parents are taking the wee ones to Florida for two weeks starting the day before I leave for BlogHer.

And by the time we get back? Well, school is starting up that next week already.

Huh.

Going to Minnesota isn't something I really want to do in a quick weekend, especially since I'll give in and drive rather than buy four plane tickets and rent a car. Even Labor Day weekend is painful, not to mention crowded.

How is it that summer has already disappeared before it's even started? We're back to fifty degree weather, and in my book that's barely even spring.

The more I think about it, the sadder I get. The fun zoo trips, the jaunts down to the children's museum, the lazy days at the pool, those all seem further and further away.

Most of this I can't change, and much of it I wouldn't want to. Both wee ones picked out their summer school classes, and they are very excited to go. But maybe SafetyTown doesn't need to happen this year. Maybe we'll do it next year when Little Miss is going into first grade. Without naps, we can do more fun things later in the day than what we can now.

After all, summer is about getting up when you want to. It's about forgetting what day of the week is it, having no schedule, and figuring out the day's plan as the day unfolds. It's about relaxing and trying new things and plain having fun.

And I could really use some fun in my life. They're only young once, and I'd like to enjoy it. Besides, I have some Twins games I need to go see.

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas

Mental note to self: plan ahead for Christmas next year.

I've pretty much given up on sending out Christmas cards this year. I haven't written the letter, I don't have good pictures to put in the card (nor are they printed), and by the time you read this, I'll be on my way to St Louis to visit with the in laws for a few days.

The wee ones have also not visited Santa. I haven't wrapped a single present. My husband's gifts have been planned for a month, but I haven't actually bought them yet. Oh, and two gifts for my mom and my in-laws will be arriving after the Blessed Day. Oops.

I actually blame much of it on Little Miss being in the hospital all last weekend. Last Friday was my day to get the Christmas letter and pictures done, and the cards were to go out last Saturday. Obviously that didn't happen. And work has been an absolute bear lately with me working until 7:30 on a few nights, plus working on my off days. That's kinda thrown a crimp into my life. I still need to plan better though.

Our tree is a good example. I refuse to have a non-live tree. I tried to go look at fake trees last Christmas, and I tried to find one I could live with but I just couldn't do it. In fact, I really prefer to go to a tree farm and cut down my own. I love the experience of doing that, and I'm sure the wee ones would, too. There was never a free weekend day that we could have gone though. Oooo, brilliant me. I'm going to write that date on the calendar for next year right now.

See. My brain does work sometimes.

In any case, we finally went to Home Depot to get our tree. Another mental note to self: don't get a tree the weekend before Christmas. I literally had six trees to choose from. And they were just a tad picked over by that point. If only I'd taken my camera so you could see how sad those empty tree boxes looked.

Instead, we came home with this:



All it needs is a little love, right? And maybe a blanket wrapped around the bottom?

Fortunately, we have plenty of lights to weigh down some of the branches. The only problem with weighing down the branches is that it exposed ummm light midway up through the tree. Oh well. That's what ornaments are for, right?

The wee ones got right on that. They had so much fun hanging ornaments on the tree!






Let's just say it all together now. Ready? Awwwwww.

I promise. There was no fighting over who got to hang what ornament. There were no tears when all the Santa and Frosty ornaments were hung. No pushing and shoving occurred at all. No one grabbed ornaments out of anyone's hand, nor did anyone purposely knock ornaments off the tree that someone else had hung up.

Another mental note to self: do not decorate the tree just before bedtime when they're tired next year.

In the end, we ended up with a lovely tree. See?


And yes, the ornaments were hung in clumps. Raise your hand if you think I left the ornaments in clumps. What, not a single one of you raised your hand? You must know me too well. Yep, I had to more artfully rearrange the clumps. They were disturbing my tree zen.

Oh. You want a picture of the whole tree put together? Yeah, sorry. There wasn't enough love in this house to magically turn the Charlie Brown tree into a miracle. Maybe next year. When I cut down a beauty all by myself.

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On the plus side, I'm really realizing how much I love my ornaments. Don't they look all fancy and expensive? I got them at Fields years ago on clearance each year after Christmas. They're actually laquered paper mache and ... unbreakable. Kids or cats can knock them down and no harm, no foul. The actually breakable ones only the adults hang up. And we put them much higher in the tree.

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At least we had fun decorating it, right?

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I'm Cheating on Costco

I love Costco. In fact, I wrote a love letter to Costco. How many of you can say that? I do all my shopping there, with the exception of items I get at the local produce market. But I have a new boyfriend on the side as of tonight. Shhh, don't tell!

I wasn't intending to cheat. I know, I know, that's what everyone says. I wasn't even out looking or anything, I swear. It just happened. How?

Well, I'm a little overscheduled, I suppose. I've not really left the house since last Wednesday due to ill children. Today I left the house at 6:15 to go to work and didn't get home until after 5. I made the choice to do yoga (yay me), and tomorrow only gets worse. I have a PTO meeting at 10am, and at 2:30 I am driving to my office to get a flu shot (all the other options are when we're on vacation) and then driving back in time to host playgroup at 4 before my co-op meeting at 7.

Oh, and I need to provide food for the playgroup. I'm famous for the spreads I put out, and people count on it now. I can't let them down. However, I know I'm really pushing it on food to serve to company (except for the fixings for some great quesadillas).

So the plan was to go to the half price Monday sushi place by my gym, order my sushi and then head to the fresh market across the street for some inspiration while I wait the half hour for my sushi to be made.

One little problem with that whole theory. The sushi place was nearly empty -- I'm blaming it either on people panicking after the market today or more likely, people watching the White Sox lose. My sushi was going to be ready in four minutes. Oops.

As I headed back to the parking lot, I discovered that there is an Aldi in the same outlot. I've somehow never noticed this one before, but I'd mentioned awhile ago that one opened up near my parents and I was interested in trying it out. Much closer than the across the street Caputo's that actually involves a five minute drive due to the way the road it set up.

So I headed in with my reusable bag, taking a deep breath at the door and forgoing a cart.

I found white chocolate chips for $0.89. Hey, if I can find rice Chex-like cereal, I can make my white chocolate mix! Yep, Chex-like cereal for $1.79. Ooo, and baking powder. I'm almost out, you know.

Oh yeah -- Mister Man is in charge of snacks for his class this week! Granola bars for $1.89. And apples for everyone for $2.49. I debated over the fruit snacks for $1.69 but decided they weren't healthy enough.

Oh! And they have frozen spinach for $0.99! I can make spinach artichoke dip with the artichokes and cream cheese I have in the fridge.

Hmmm, those nectarines for $0.39 per pound look fantastic! And plums for $0.39, too? And peaches for $0.49? And grapes? Hmm. Fruit salad!

Pair that with the pretzels and animal crackers I have sitting in cabinets and the quesadillas I can make, and I think I'm set!

Total cost for everything I bought? $10.92.

So ummm sorry Costco. It was a quickie compared to my visits with you, but man was that satisfying. I may have to cheat again. I promise though, you were my first love!

I'm Certifiably Insane

You know how sometimes you get those invitations from friends? The ones to come to a "party" that's really a way for someone to sell something? I get the frequently for CAbi, Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, some wine one and the like on a fairly regular occasion. Whenever I get the invitation, I groan.



Then I weigh what the thing is that's being sold. Then I decide how much I like the person. And if I have a winner and my calendar works, I'll go. Let's just say that I've never been to a CAbi, but I miss Tastefully Simple only when I'm sick.



Well, a friend of mine has started selling Usborne Books. I really love Usborne Books. We got a train book and CD for Mister Man for his first birthday. It's a simple board book with several stories that he can listen to and read by himself. He still enjoys is periodically. And we used their sticker books (dolls, princesses and ballerinas) to help potty train Little Miss. They have all sorts of cool educational and themed kits and novels for teenagers, etc. Oh, just go look for yourself.



Anyway, when my friend asked if I'd be willing to host a show, I agreed. That was probably mistake number one, right? My friends are going to hate me for inviting them to something like this. I had to bribe them. I promised chocolate. Lots of chocolate. And it worked -- some people are coming!



Now comes the problem. The show is tomorrow, and I usually work on Thursdays. Fortunately, I'm generally working from home, so I was planning to shop for stuff tonight and cook tomorrow. Yeah, until I got invited to some meetings in the office (like with our CEO) that sort of made it necessary for me to be there in person. Hmmm.



So what am I doing now? After I finished working at 5:30, I started planning the menu, and I've been baking furiously since. My mini chocolate chip scones are done and plated. My chocolate chip cherry brownies have been in the oven for 45 minutes now and still are not done. Oh, and I still need to go to Costco tonight to get some fruit to dip in chocolate and some fun cheeses. And my ingredients for the chocolate martinis I dreamed up. And Costco closes in 55 minutes. But I can't leave brownies in the oven, and I can't turn it off (they'll fall and not cook through if you don't do all the baking in one shot).



Oh yeah, and I have to have the house entirely cleaned yet tonight. I made the mistake of having a playdate yesterday where a mess was created and then playing outside and then having a girls night out (yeah, I know another one) last night. And my husband is currently in Milwaukee at a Brewers game. Who thinks I'm having an early night tonight?



Remind me next time someone asks that no, I can't host. I'm overcommitted. Wish me luck that we'll have fun tomorrow. But what am I missing from my chocolate tastings menu? Anyone?



Buzzer just went off on the oven again, so fingers crossed they're finally done so I can run to Costco!