Chellisms

Unsent E-mail

Does anyone besides me write really snarky e-mail to people and then promptly delete it without having sent it? And then feel better for having done so?

Anyone?

Hmmm...

Carry On

I went to CA and then I came home...

I hung out with some great friends.

 

I ate a ton of great Mexican food. No seriously, I ate it everyday. Sometimes more than once a day and sometimes at midnight or 3AM when no one was looking.

I put on a ton of costume jewelry and laughed with my mom and aunt. I got to spend time with family I hadn't seen in quite a while.

I spent a day at the happiest place on earth and pissed my kids off, jealousy is so unbecoming.

I lost my camera with great pictures on it, especially the costume jewelry ones. If you happen to find it I am not naked, am wearing a strapless bathing suit top so I just look naked. And drunk.

I missed Tim and my kids, he managed soccer and ballet seamlessly. Thank you for holding down the fort while I was gone.

I buried my grandparents. It wasn't all fun and games. It was fighting and arguing and pettiness.

Mouth shut, head down, carry on...

Dad in Charge

I am headed out of town tomorrow morning, will be back on Monday. Tim has taken bereavement time at work in order to be at home with the kids. There is no doubt in my mind that Tim can take excellent care of the children, it's all of the extracurricular activities that I am worried about. This is the busiest possible week of June and this couldn't have come at a worse time. No one picks their time, right?

This week Tim will be attending 2 courses of agility training with Taylor, 2 regular soccer practices and 1 goal keeper session. Bailey has a bit more going on, yesterday we had a crash course in proper ballet bun making and make-up application. She has 2 regular ballet classes, 2 extended rehearsals, 1 dress rehearsal and 3 performances. On Saturday he and Taylor are going to watch the performance and then take Bai out to dinner. Needless to say, I am missing the regular stuff and the performances. The regular stuff I won't miss, the performances I am pretty upset about but what can you do? 

Tim will also be closing out a soccer fundraiser with our team's fundraising coordinator, I have handed off 99% of this to her and she is a wonderful person who I have no doubt will take it off his hands completely. Somewhere along the lines I forgot to mention that I volunteer with our local soccer club and manage a 16 member U-12 premier soccer team... surprise! I don't foresee any problems with the team while I am gone, but we have quite a few things coming up right after I come back that I am slightly stressed about. A tournament, uniforms coming in, a Womens Sounders game where we will be playing at halftime (I just found out about that one today)...

Bailey is worried about me being gone. Well, she isn't worried about me being gone, she is worried about starving while I am gone (Tim is a bit, um, limited in the kitchen). To make her a bit more comfortable I stocked the fridge for the week. They have pork carnitas and spanish rice, a roast and 5 lbs of mashed potatoes, spaghetti with meatballs and a ton of homemade macaroni and cheese. If they can't get through the week on that they have issues. I even taught Bailey how to make mashed potatoes, she just needs you to buy the potatoes and work the stove top and dump the water for her. And Taylor can make a basic bechamel to get mac and cheese started so they should be okay for a few days.

Basically I have set them up as if I were here. They have the food I would have cooked (okay, I probably would not have made all of that in one week), Tim has a printed schedule telling him what is on each day, and I will be back before you know it. Both girls have a school assembly on Monday morning, one at 9 and one at 10. I am going to try to make it to the later one but I am not sure I will make it from the airport in time. I forgot to mention school it still in session, last day is on the 22nd. I know, right.

Well, I will be back shortly if I can get packed and get going. I hate packing and hate flying even more but I have to be on the road at 4AM and at the airport at 5. Bluh...

Do they serve liquor on morning flights?

Break Over

Maybe.

I think so.

I don't know.

Hmmm, maybe Tammie needs to e-mail me once or twice more telling me to update. Love you, Tam.

I haven't been here but I have been staying busy. Milkshakes at Ruby's and movies with Tim, nights out with friends. Thanks for the kid-sitting, Mom. Ballet and bookstores with Bailey. We can spend hours in the bookstore together, it is an absolute wonder to have a solemn child who can get lost in a book. Science Fair with Taylor, we almost set the kitchen aflame. One soccer season has come to an end and the next has just begun, tryouts set the house to a bundle of nerves. Go, go go...

Life is good, people, life is good.

Motto, 2010

Our motto for 2010 is to support each other, no matter what.

Now Tim and I really have no problem supporting each other, after 12+ years of marriage and 15 years together we have a lot of practice. We each have no problem supporting the girls either. Although I have to admit Taylor's new attitude that she knows more at ten years old than I do at thirty makes it hard at times. The new motto is to help encourage the girls to support each other. They need that. Really, you have no idea how much they need that.

On a typical week this is what I hear:

Monday, Bailey: I don't want to sit at soccer. It's cold. It's wet. This is boring.

Tuesday, Taylor: I hate this. I hate sitting here. It's too loud to do homework in here. I can't read with the noise.

Wednesday, Bailey: Ugh, this again. Boring. This is awful. I forgot my apple cider. I need a book. It's cold. I lost my glove.

Thursday, Taylor: I'm tired, I don't want to sit at ballet. Can't you leave me home? Alone? Why not? Please?? Ugh, I forgot my book at home. And my reading glasses so I can't do my homework. This is your fault. I didn't want to come in the first place.

Friday: *blessed silence*

Saturday, both girls: UGH!

Basically, the girls hate the others chosen activity. I won't admit to being in love with sitting outside in the pouring rain while it is 35 degrees but I still do it and it's fun. Okay, I have a case of hand and feet warmers too. I don't love sitting in a noisy lobby for 3 hours a week either especially when I can't see Bailey to watch her practice but I still do it, and it isn't fun. I do it because the girls love it. That's the payoff, I don't get anything out of it besides happy kids. And sometimes I wind up with unhappy kids, one who has blisters on her feet from her new ballet slippers and muscles that hurt or one with a twisted ankle and a bruise the exact size of a cleat on her stomach but they still love it deep down but neither ever wants to quit. They have the same drive, the same spunk but can't see it in each other. They both often opt to stay at nana's house if they can avoid the others scheduled activity of the day.

No more. This is a new year, a new motto but not a resolution. It will just be, it has to be. I am tired of them picking at each other so there can be no failure. They must be supportive of each other. They don't have to like the activity but they will support each other. No camping out at nana's house to get out of attending an early morning away game.

We will support each other and we will like it! Dammit!

The first test is this weekend, soccer tournament Friday through Monday. First game 9:05 AM, check-in 8:20. This should be good...