Thursday, December 27, 2012

Conversation recap

Lost in my overly detailed recap of Christmas yesterday...Munchkin left for her annual Carribean vacation with her friend's family. And as it seem to happen every year, the storm rolled in right after she left...lucky little twerp.

But before she left, we had the following conversation about her packing.

Me: Are you all packed?
Munchkin: Yup.
Me: Where is your bag?
Munchkin (pointing): Right there.
Me: Only a backpack?
Munchkin: Yea.
Me: For a week? What did you pack?
Munchkin: Um...pajamas, underwear, three bikinis, a beach cover-up, flip flops and two pairs of sunglasses.I'll just wear my hat on the plane.
Me: That's all?
Munchkin: Kindle. iPad.
Me: Really. That's it.
Munchkin: Um...toothbrush, phone charger...
Me: You're not bringing any clothes?
Munchkin: I don't plan on going anywhere that requires them.
Me: For a whole week.
Munchkin: I dunno. [Friend's] Mom overpacks anyway. If we really need something, we can borrow it from her.
Me: You understand why this sounds ridiculous, right?
Munchkin: I know. I should bring my running stuff, but I kinda wanna be lazy. I can swim if I feel motivated.
Me: That wasn't really what I meant.
Munchkin: Well then no, I don't get it.

I have to admit, she knows how to travel:-)



Wednesday, December 26, 2012

One very busy Christmas

I'm late, I know, but Merry Christmas to all! It was a very, very busy Christmas around here, and I need a nap right now a lot more than I need to be back at work:-)

Munchkin had a great visit with Frenchie, and as I mentioned, it was nice to have him around. They were, as always, really well behaved and just basically a lot of fun. They babysat the girls all by themselves on Saturday night, which is probably the most effective birth control I know of;-)

Saturday was dinner with The Boy's high school friends, which we do before Christmas every year. We mixed it up a little bit this year and went to what I would call a "grown-up obstacle course" before dinner...kind of a toned down version of the show Wipeout. It's...um...not quite as much fun as that sounds:-). First, it is really hard, and second, the falling seems to hurt a little more than you might expect. Well, at least that's what I heard...since I didn't actually fall at all...(to fall, I would have had to have tried the parts that you can fall off of). It was fun, but I wouldn't rush back to do it again...and I can't imagine the place will be open very long before the mounting injuries lead to some legal actions! (Rumors of a woman breaking her ankle the day before were interesting:-)).

Sunday was Big Sis' birthday:-) Yay! We took the girls to the playground in the morning to get them good and tired out so they would take long naps. Munchkin and I took Frenchie to the airport and then we headed back home and got everyone packed up and dressed for birthday dinner. We have done this basically every year, but it is definitely a more casual event than it used to be, mostly because of the growing number of children! The girls were great...ate like champs (they always do) and never got cranky, but got tired enough to fall right to sleep when we got home.

Christmas Eve was more of the same...exhaust the girls in the morning so they would take an early nap and be ready for dinner. Papa Bear, Big Sis and Smoking Hot Roommate requested that The Boy, Munchkin and I come over a little bit early, where they proceeded to give us yet another enormously generous and incredibly flattering gift. Technically it didn't cost a penny, but it was a gesture that almost makes me a little flustered to think about, and will require an awful lot of effort from all of us that we might earn just a portion of the honor. So, many many thanks, again, to my pretend family for being generous beyond belief with their time, love and thoughts.

Dinner was at Big Sis' house, and was a fairly gigantic undertaking...this year it included not just all of us, but also many of our in-laws, a variety of Big Sis and Smoking Hot Roommate's cousins, two co-workers of The Brain Surgeon's who couldn't get home for Christmas and even some "extended in-laws" (like Twin Sister's father-in-law). I think the grand total was something like 40 people...quite the big deal!

The two best decisions she made were: 1) to not bother and try to cook this herself, and 2) babysitters! Three teachers from day care that don't celebrate Christmas came over to lend a hand with the large number of children. That was a big help.

Santa came on Christmas morning, which was really fun. The girls didn't quite "get" Santa, but they were aware that he was coming and that he was bringing presents. They woke up kind of late on Christmas Day (two straight late nights!) and were a lot more excited about the Lightning McQueen wrapping paper than they were about the idea of presents. And really, we didn't do much for them...they have plenty of toys and don't really get the whole idea anyway. There were a couple of things for them to unwrap...new puzzles and some Jake and the Pirates things...but almost everything under the tree was, as always, for Munchkin:-)

We went to Twin Sister's for breakfast with The Boy's family. We meant to get there in time to open presents, but we were behind our target of 8:00am and her oldest is five and wasn't waiting for us to get there...she had torn everything open long before we got there, and was already crashing for her Christmas day nap...lol.

Then back to our place and we had the pretend family over for Chinese Food in the afternoon and swapped all of our presents for each other. And that, folks, is an awfully tiring long weekend!!!

Hope yours was filled with as much love as mine!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Already?!

Well, seems like it is Christmas again already...how on earth did that happen? Time, as they say, flies...

The whole season sort of snuck up on me, and then hit me with a barrage of parties and commitments and visitors and shopping and decorating and eating. Especially eating!!!

As I mentioned a little whole ago, Munchkin got accepted to her first choice school; the only one she really ever wanted to go to (at least since she moved here and the lobbying effort by said school's alumni began...). She was, not surprisingly, over the moon, and I can safely and confidently say that I will not see many things in my life that bring me more pure joy that being with her when she got the news. She works incredibly hard and she deserves this because she did all the things she needed to to get it. Stating the obvious, she is a great kid, and I am incredibly fortunate to have been able to have the relationship that we have. It's never been the straightest road, but it sure has been a pleasure. I can't wait to see where it goes next!

Frenchie is here, which is contributing to her joyous mood as well. He arrived last week and will be with us until Sunday (except for the day that he went to New York to see another friend). Not a whole lot new there...they continue to figure it out, but he is really easy company and it's actually been really nice to have him around. It has brought some extra festiveness:-) I am fairly certain that he is going to end up in Washington D.C. next year, which is certainly good news. I am fully aware of my irrationality, but I am glad that he isn't coming to Boston...

I am so far behind in my Christmas shopping that I can't really see any way that I get half of it done before next week. A lot of it is just going to have to wait until after Christmas...I can get through the easier stuff (gifts for Admins at work, and for teachers at day care and stuff like that) but the more thoughtful gifts are going to have to wait.

I did, however, get Munchkin's already...she wanted a bike. She wants a bike because, wait for it, she has decided to take up Triathaloning next summer (is Triathaloning a word?). It isn't real hard to connect the dots and guess who else might be doing the same thing (I'm look at my former roomates who may or may not have ever been described as being smoking hot)...but I don't ask questions, I just smile and nod. Other requirements include a wetsuit, goggles and a helmet...

Christmas for the girls is still not that big a deal. They know who Santa is, and Rudolph, and they love the tree and all of the lights, but they don't really know yet that it culminates in lots of presents. I got them a couple of things so that they will have some stuff on Christmas Day, but mostly they are just gonna want to tear up the paper and make a mess:-)

Other than that, there are just a million Christmas parties to go to! Seems like there are two or three every week, and many more that I just can't make it to. Runs a girl a little bit ragged:-)

Also, my new favorite TV show is Hunted. Please discuss...

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

The Very Best Secret

Tough week around here...maybe more on that later.  But...I have some very, very good news that I just have to share because I have to keep it a secret all day long.

Munchkin, as we have covered, applied early to the school that she has always known she wanted to go to. After applying, she did an interview on campus with someone from the admissions office. Said admissions person (who just may be a pretend family friend...) called me about a half an hour ago to give me the good news and ask if she could come by in person tonight to deliver the big envelope:-)

On the short list of "best things I will ever get to see", this is going to go really close to the top...