1. Tonight I’m attending a ladies retreat with church. Raise your hand if this shocks you. I’m raising my hand higher than anyone.
It goes without saying that I don’t generally sign myself up for events with people I don’t know, but I’m trying to make more friends at church. I’ve tried coming up with many MANY reasons to say home but none were legit enough. Apparently needing to be around in case the ice maker breaks isn’t a good enough reason.
I’ve spent nights away from Annabelle before but I still get nervous about it. Parenthood has not been good for my anxiety. I told Annabelle I was going anyway for a while and I would miss her. She patted the back of my head and said, “It’s ok, Mom. You’ll have lots of fun. Me and Daddy will see you when you get back.” She then gave me kisses and hugs to bring with me. She also gave me two stuffed animals, along with their bag of food. She wanted to give me six but I didn’t have the room.
This meme rings as true as ever. I packed four pairs of earrings.
2. Annabelle has started wearing her rainboots and whistle everywhere we go. We went on a Mommy Sesame date to Dunkin Donuts this morning and she insisted on wearing them both. We drove the extra seven minutes to the DD where my friend works and she gave us a free munchkin. (It’s really paid off to have a friend in management at DD. Not that I’m in the friendship for the free products but they are a nice bonus.) We went to the little zoo (aka the pet store) where Annabelle “blew a little tune” for the animals. I’m sure the mice really appreciated it.
3. I am not a fan of halloween. I love dressing AB up but other than that I wouldn’t mind if it was removed from the calendar. For months AB said she wanted to be a butterfly for halloween. She was a butterfly last year and everything still fit so I was happy for her to pick such a low effort costume. Several weeks ago she decided to be a tiger which has required several trips to Joann’s and lots of fabric cutting. Christopher said he’d join her and be a bear. Our church is having a trunk or treat and asked people to sign up as trunk decorators. I wasn’t planning on dressing up at all but I didn’t want to look like the Halloween Scrooge of the family. I decided we could do a jungle themed trunk and I could be a safari guide/zookeeper. Subtle yet participatory. Christopher thinks I should be this instead.
So long, subtle costume. Not only would I stand out like someone riding an inflatable elephant, I’d have to worry about not breaking the fan as I chase down a small tiger.
4. Several months ago we had our neighborhood cookout. Cathleen the tattooed from four houses down brought a container of yellow watermelon. I meant to return the container to her the following week but I forgot. Somehow it ended up on top of the refrigerator holding chip clips, a screwdriver, glasses from the eclipse and army sunglasses. I remembered about the container only when it fell on my head. It’s been so long since the cookout it feels weird to return it now. Maybe I’ll return it while disguised as an elephant rider.
5. How many times can a three year old call for her mother during quiet time? The answer is 12.
I hope you had a great time at the retreat!