Two sisters and a mystery

Way past my bed time, but I finally finished with the work I had to get done for my 8:00am class, and realized that I will likely not have a chance to blog tomorrow. It will take me a little while to mentally wind down anyway, so blogging will help me get ready for bed. The Boy had a 9:30 softball game (I know, huh?) and I won't really fall asleep until he gets home. I am a worrier, what do you want from me?

I accidentally told Tinkerbelle that I am pregnant...oops! She called me to chat, and I sorta lost track of myself and let it slip while we were talking about her coming to visit next summer. I made her promise and super-sister-pinky-swear not to tell anyone else, but I don't know how that will work out. I have a hard time thinking that she won't tell her Mom, and I have to feel like she will tell the rest of the family. When I finally tell my aunts and uncles, I will be able to tell whether or not they are pretending to be excited, or whether they really are surprised. No real concern either way:-)

Munchkin says that things are better at school, although she was a little bit evasive as to whether she did something specific, or whether the other girl apologized or whether something else happened. That's OK, she can tell me if she wants to (yea, as if! I will totally check with a couple of the teachers that I am sort of friendly with who will spill the dirt for me!)

Special weekend plans that I just found about today:-). The Boy has been scheming a little bit...

Munchkin is going to be away on Saturday night because she is going to New Jersey with the family she babysits for. They have a family wedding, and they are bringing the kids down with them, but not to the actual wedding...so Munchkin is going with to be the Nanny. (She will probably get paid like $200 for that, which I would totally do if I was asked!)

I had kinda figured on a relaxing weekend bumming around the apartment, but The Boy went one better and is taking me somewhere. I don't know exactly where...but it is somewhere in New England, and he assures me that the agenda includes absolutely nothing except relaxing and eating! We are leaving on Friday night, Munchkin is staying with Smoking Hot Roommate Friday (the two of them are responsible for packing for me, since I don't know what to pack:-)) and we are coming back on Sunday.

I figure it has to be one of three places...North to the mountains in New Hampshire, Maine or Vermont; West to the Berkshires; or possibly South to Newport. The first and second would mean some classic Fall scenery...crisp air and lots of color. The third is a little non-traditional for Fall around here, but is actually a really neat spot at that time of year because it is a little slower-paced than it is all summer. Regardless of where it is, I can promise that I will spend some time under the hands of a professional masseuse, and there is a really good chance that I spend some time soaking in a hot tub!

Of course, it is supposed to rain, but I don't really care...I would be totally happy to lounge around in bed all day and look out the window at that great Fall scenery:-). And wherever it is, let's all give The Boy lots and lots of thanks for being a super thoughtful baby daddy:-)

Soup's On

Who thinks that The Boy should buy me a super awesome baby present in exchange for me carrying this monster for nine months and delivering it? I certainly do...and I think we should all begin providing him with valuable guidance and suggestions on this very important topic. Heck, he wanted a baby way more than me...I get a sweet present, right? I am glad you all agree...and now we can all devote our efforts towards convincing him of this sometime before May 4th.

More seriously, things sort of boiled over at school for Munchkin yesterday, and she was pretty torn up over it. Sophomore Girl decided to fire up the rumor mill yesterday, announcing that the reason Sophomore Boy broke up with her is because of some...um...stuff that Munchkin did with him (or rather, to him). Thankfully, Sophomore Boy demonstrated at least a little bit of admirability by putting the kibosh on those rumors. Which is good, because I'd have punched him if he didn't...lol.

But that just made Sophomore Girl madder, leading her to "accidentally" spill a bowl of tomato soup (fortunately not terribly hot soup) all over Munchkin at lunch. That actually makes me really angry because it could have been dangerous. It was towards the end of lunch, and the soup had been out and cooled for a while, but if it had come straight out of the kitchen, it potentially could have burned her seriously.

The good news is that one of the teachers was nearby and saw the whole thing unfold. I am not sure whether or not she knew the back story (she probably did, things travel fast in a small school), but she quickly pulled Sophomore Girl aside and very sternly relayed to her that this would have to stop. That is actually preferable to a formal disciplinary action from the administration in some ways because it is less likely to encourage Sophomore Girl to take further retribution against Munchkin (who still, by the way, has no idea how she ended up in the middle of all of this). Hopefully that will be the end of it, but I would have felt better if the girl somehow had reached out to apologize to Munchkin. We'll see...I figure if anything really bad happened, I would have heard about it already.

Regardless, she wasn't real happy about it last night, and was very talkative about it...I ended up falling asleep with her in her bed and sleeping there, which is about the heaviest parenting artillery that I have;-). Anyway, I am sure you are all riveted by my stories of teenage angst...lol. I will make sure to pass some hugs along...

Teenage drama

I didn't end up going out on Friday night, which was probably a good decision. It was an awfully long week of school and I was just totally wiped...plus, the non-drinking would have led to some awkward conversations, me thinks.

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous, and I managed to spend pretty much the whole day outside enjoying it. Munchkin not only had a soccer game (very early) on Saturday morning, but she and Smoking Hot Roommate ran in a 5K road race after that. I went to both, which required a lot less energy:-). Big Sis joined us all for a lunch date and some shopping, which made for a totally divine afternoon!

Munchkin, unfortunately, was not in a great mood. She was in better spirits after talking to the boyfriend for a while and spending an afternoon with he favorite sisters...but she was still not quite herself, and I could tell that she was not totally looking forward to going back to school today. Hopefully things have sort of blown over...I hate seeing her upset:-(

Here is what happened. Sophomore Girl had a boyfriend, Sophomore Boy. Sophomore Boy broke up with Sophomore Girl, against her wishes. SG is not happy about the whole thing, nor is she seemingly willing to give up easily. Sophomore Boy has developed some interest in our beloved Munchkin. Somehow, word got back to Sophomore Girl, who decided that Munchkin was to blame for her own failed romance, and vowed to make her pay for that transgression. This was all sort of news to Munchkin, who was unaware of Sophomore Boy's feelings, and really doesn't even know him this well.

So, you can see why she was a little blindsided when Sophomore Girl, flanked by two of her friends, confronted her at school last week. Sophomore Girl had some relatively threatening words and some nasty names and it was, altogether, an unpleasant experience. It got worse when Sophomore Boy actually asked Munchkin out and she declined. He thought that it was because of Sophomore Girl's actions (it wasn't) which led to some kind of blow-up between them. Then Sophomore Girl thought that Munchkin had told him about what she did (she didn't), so there was a new, ugly confrontation and some other shit, too.

Munchkin is just awfully frustrated by the whole thing. The girls, and the boy, are all older than her, and therefore somewhat intimidating. And mostly, she just doesn't know what she did or said to get sucked into what is clearly just a bad breakup between two people she only casually knows. She doesn't want to go to any teachers or the vice principal, but if this girl doesn't leave her alone, she is going to have to do something.

She ended up skipping a school dance on Friday night, and on Saturday she and her two best friends all skipped a party to hang out together (which was super thoughtful of her friends). She was feeling a little better about it, I think, because she had gotten a lot of reassuring words from the kids in her class...but it still wasn't resolved. So she was definitely on edge going back to school today, and I hope it went well.

So, nothing totally earth-shattering...just typical teenage stuff. Hopefully it all passes soon:-)

Um...I can't think of a title right now

Well, I made the mistake of staying awake until the absurdly late hour of 11:00 last night, and I am suffering for it today. After chicken fingers (which were good...french fries, not so much), I had an Open House at Munchkin's school, and then got sucked into Project Runway. Then, voila, bedtime had come and gone...

It was actually sort of timely that I wrote yesterday about carving out some Munchkin time. Turns out that the new year has brought some problems with a few of the older girls at school (boy-related...and not even a boy that she likes). As far as I can tell, she is kinda confused as to exactly how she is involved in whatever social drama is afflicting these girls, and to exactly what she may have done to tick them off so much.

As much as I laud her maturity level, and her overall togetherness...I do need to remember that she is a teenager, and that these years are difficult for most kids, even the ones who have the natural social graces that she does. I am not sure that she needs vigilant supervision, I just need to make sure that she doesn't get lost in the new household order;-). We have a date for lunch after her soccer game tomorrow, and then the pretend sisters are gonna join us for some fall clothes shopping. And I will likely need like three naps to get through that;-)

Let's see what else...we are supposed to go to this guy's restaurant here for dinner with some of The Boy's friends tonight, but I am on the fence. I would love to see them all, and I have wanted to go to that place for a while (c'mon, he is on TV...it must be good, right?). But I am just so fucking tired all the time, and I also don't wanna be the only person not drinking...that will sort of stick out in this group. Maybe I will try and get home for a nap this afternoon:-).

The weekend is supposed to be gorgeous, but very seasonal...sunny, dry and a crisp. I am going to try and be outside as much as possible while we can still enjoy the weather. Fortunately, I have a lot of school work that just involves reading, so I can sit outside and do that. It could also be time for a very long Sunday morning walk for some pretend house shopping:-) Haven't done that since the Spring!

And by the way, I am going to stop complaining about being tired all the time...starting right now.

Some delayed Hellos

I feel like I owe all of you a hearty Thank You for a whole lot of good wishes and kind words over the last few weeks. Whether related to baby (and its assorted afflictions), school or wedding, it all really does mean a lot. I know that it sounds corny and disingenuous, but it has been a super treat to log in a couple times a day recently and have a lot of strangers saying nice things:-)

I notice that some readers that are either new or have come out of the woodwork lately (sorry for the lack of links...too lazy and not enough time right now)...Nifer, Erica and Mike all left comments yesterday (actually, almost a bit of a comment fight going one...hee hee), and Windy City Kelley's, Allison, Girl Friday, Our Happy Married Life, Laurie, Hanni, DSS, Straw76berry, Kari, Lisa and John and Rachel are all new commenters pretty recently, too. A couple of you have sent emails, which I think I have responded to. Thanks, in bulk, for stopping by...it always makes me feel so special to have people drop in and observe my little adventures from afar.

I am trying to visit all of your blogs and add them to Reader, but I am a little behind on that, so I apologize ahead of time if I don't get you. And Nifer, you can feel free to venture your guess at my name via email, I am much more forthcoming that way;-)

And...one of my very, very favorite bloggers (who needs to write WAY more, because she is completely hilarious), Megan from A Running Commentary, finally chimed in as well. About f'in time!!!

It seems like maybe things are settling down into a little bit of a routine now, although that routine is still really busy. School is, as warned, a TON of work and takes a ton of time. In general, people are here from about 8:00am until 6:00-7:00 pm everyday. I am not sure if that is due to the natural work ethic of everyone here, the volume of work we get, or the desire to show off a little bit in the early going. A lot of these people are coming off of 3-5 years as Investment Bankers and Management Consultants, so they are used to working very long hours and being judged on it as well. We will see how this evolves...

That leaves me very little time for anything else. Since my bedtime has been about 8:30 for the last two weeks, I basically get home, eat dinner, relax for a minute and then make someone tuck me in to bed:-). Yes, I need to be tucked in every night...get over it! Usually The Boy takes care of it, but Munchkin is an adequate substitute!

I actually think that I owe Munchkin some time...we need to plan a date this weekend. Since I don't walk her to and from school anymore, and am not awake for long when I get home, I feel like I am a little bit out-of-touch with her for the moment. Obviously, that can't continue...whatever parenting credit I am due for her overall awesomeness is related to the amount of time that I spend with her, and the emotional closeness of our relationship. Cramming my own schedule full of school and a baby is not an excuse to lose that.

Alright, back to paying attention in class. I am actually feeling pretty good today, although I am exhausted as usual, and am looking forward to chicken fingers tonight:-)