Taylor
- Book Fair 1/2 off Sale! Can you say 1/2 off everything? The end of the year book sale at Taylor's school was awesome. We now have chapter books coming out of our ears--no, wait--make that CHEAP chapter books coming out of our ears. And bendy pencils. And cool bookmarks. Love, love, love it!
- Summer Reading Program at the FC Public Library. We have done this the past two summers and thought it was simply wonderful. We signed up again this year and Taylor is tickled pink that she's beating mom (so far!) in time spent reading.
- Bling Bling for Tay Tay. We switched cell phone service providers this past week and the phones came on Friday. Taylor received a free phone as part of the package and is now head over heels in love with it. Pink, sparkly and super cute. She now has her own direct line to all the grandparents. Long distance love just got a little quicker. :)
- First Ever Sleepover. Taylor has reached the age when sleepovers are the coolest thing ever. And parents aren't. At least not like they used to be! Taylor spent the night at a friend's house on Thursday (no school on Friday--woo hoo!) and had an absolute blast. Pizza, banana splits, chocolate, staying up until midnight, playing video games and having pillow fights. Taylor had the time of her life. Her mother drove home from dropping her off and sat in the car in the driveway and cried.
- Block Wide Birthday Bash. Taylor's classmate, good friend and our neighbor had his birthday party on Saturday. Fun was had by everyone, adults included. Grills, squirt guns and birthday cake. Who can ask for more than that? It was a gorgeous day and a perfect one for a block wide water fight.
- Single Digit School Days Left. Need I say more? 9 days left until summer vacation!
John
- Payment Free Driving. We paid the Durango off on Friday! For the first time in our married life we have no car payment. Of course, being the cynics we are, we are wondering how long this bliss will last. For now the Gas Hog is ours, every square inch of it, and it still runs!
- Shocking News. After waiting for months (and months) to replace the shock absorbers on the Durango, John was finally able to get the deed done. A suggestion to all: Don't wait until 90K+ miles have racked up on your odometer to get your shocks replaced. You are not responsible for keeping your chiropractor in business single-handedly. With the new shocks on board we now joke about 'going for a glide' in the truck. :)
- Unshackled and Free. John was able to have a 'free' night out on the town to celebrate a co-worker's birthday. No short-sleep syndrome the next morning because Taylor did not have school and no one needed to be anywhere at the butt-crack of dawn. Priceless.
- The Check Is Here! Our economic stimulus check arrived in the bank on Friday--a very pleasant surprise. We are hoarding it in a futile attempt to have four digits to the left of the decimal in our bank account for longer than one day. A purely delusional (but harmless) amusement for us. In reality, John gets to go shopping for lawn mowers.
Kristin
- Welcome to the 21st Century. As I mentioned earlier, we switched cell phone service and I am now making a concerted effort to join the rest of humankind. I've had a cell phone for 8+ years and have used said phone about as many times. I really may as well have not had one at all. But no more! On my new phone I have programmed my contacts page, figured out how to use the camera and sent my very first text message. Look out world! Kristin is phoned and dangerous!
- Gardening Glutton I spent all of yesterday playing in the dirt. Very cool. I shall prevent redundancy by referring you to my previous post below.
- Unexpected Solitude. After I finished crying in the car on Thursday p.m. I found myself with a large stretch of unexpected solitude. John at work, then sleeping the next day. Taylor gone from home overnight. This is where the doing nothing portion of the weekend couched itself. Strange how one glorious person entering your life (Taylor) can make you forget what solitude was ever like. I caught myself taking a breath in to call her name but she wasn't there. What to do? After tripping through a few minutes of uncertainty, I decided to enjoy every minute of my time alone until Taylor came back home. I surfed for music on the web, switched blog sites (Hello Blogger!), browsed the book store at my leisure, painted, called a friend or two and went for a midnight drive. Alone. By myself. Like I used to before my first name became Mom. And wouldn't you know it? In just a few short hours by myself, I gained an even deeper appreciation for her and how much she brings to my life.
Life resumed as usual today. Errands to run, appointments to keep, school and work. Don't know when the next uninterrupted weekend will happen for us, but if it's anything like this one I know I'll enjoy every single minute of it.
Kristin