Tonight I called on the power of posting on Facebook to help me find my lost margarita earring. I had it at 8pm before I went to visit a neighbor for a driveway drink… (I checked my photos and I had happened to take a pic before I knew I was headed over.) I’ll look in the street tomorrow but I don’t have high hopes.
After three hours of visiting and walking the neighborhood with her…
I joke about margaritas but they really are my thing. Check out my workshop bio.
One of the new mom friends I have has a pool and invited our small group over for a play date! I was sitting in the water for most of the time (it was HOT) so I only got one pic to show Tom (who opted to stay at home and work on the garage).
The kids had a blast on the diving board and the slide. We had fun watching them of course. The parents basically stayed in the shallow end and visited.
It isn’t quite the same as there are only three teams (instead of like six), spectators need to stay six feet apart (and wear masks to and from the fields) and the boys can’t sit on the bench and also need to stay six feet apart when not in the field…but it does feel good to have a little bit of normalcy again. Tom is once again an assistant coach.
Owen thought he wanted to also catch this year but after doing one game and his back hurting (!) he opted to stick with pitching (and of course he loves first base but they still get rotated through all positions).
They don’t quite manage to stay six feet apart, but at least we’re outside in the sun and fresh air.
Here’s a compilation of some of Owen’s game time today. Papa requested some as they won’t be able to make it to a game this season.
I think this is half what we had the first time we did this. Maybe next time if we halve it again…
So with my love of margaritas, can you believe I’ve never really made any? (Well, I have made a special “beergarita” for parties, but that really isn’t a margarita as most people would think of one.) I even bought the Margaritaville drink machine to make them but never really did anything except use it with premade margaritas.
Enter our new friends Lindsay and Mike, who regularly (and quickly!) make frozen margaritas. Of course I had to ask how they do it… And turns out it’s super simple.
The funny thing is they make completely different ones. He gives her crap about using limeade vs real limes and she gives him crap about taking longer to make his. Both are good but I’m usually lazy so I’ll do the limeade ones!
I did my very first batch—actually in my Vitamix—today. And they were super easy and super delicious.
I actually got out the margarita machine for the kids to make lemonade slushies! They came and sat at the bar and said “This is like being on the cruise—you just hand them your glass and they refill it!”
So now I get to find someone who can repair it. We were just going to take it back whether we bought it in Michigan (The Stained Glass Cabinet Co. in Traverse City) but they recently closed up shop after 38 years!!
Both kids claimed complete innocence—like VEHEMENTLY denied it. It wasn’t a cream of mine or even a smell I recognized. I was thinking we had squatters in the attic or something (I can thank Anna for that).
Then muscle memory came back and it hit me: diaper rash cream. Which we still have around since, well, kids can’t wipe and butts get red. So then I went to their bathroom and yep, the brand new box was open and the tube was missing. Well of course she sees me in there and runs right in. Long story short she “remembers where it is” and yep, same smell. And that guilty look. Man.
So she only admitted to it since I gave her immunity (because I was honestly freaked out thinking about squatters). She said she was just playing with it and then it made a mess and she didn’t want to get in trouble. Like we aren’t ever going to figure it out?! (And I’m still not sure why she was in my bathroom instead of hers.)
We have also told both of them that it’s not the THING so much as the LYING about the thing. But she lies like this ALL. THE. TIME. I am trying to find a counselor to help (because there are other issues, too) but in the meantime, we have no idea what to do or how to handle this.
Isn’t parenting fun?
Anna had the idea to take all the kids to Goodwill and let them pick out something to take apart (okay, destroy). So we all masked up and wandered the aisles until the kids found fun stuff. Then we just gave them screwdrivers and let them go.
These are just some of my sunglasses.
Anyone else a hoarder like me? None of them are expensive because I tend to lose them or scratch them so it’s not sooooo awful, right?
(They all end up in my bathroom because I wear them on my head all day and then they’re still on my head at night when I’m getting ready to go to bed. Drives Tom nuts.)
EDITED TO ADD: Here’s me right now at bedtime.
And I need help.
Up until today, they had been in a completely different cupboard because this one housed mixing bowls, measuring cups, strainers, etc…which I loved, but I hated that it was impossible to see and easily reach most of my spices (kinda far away in a corner).
Now I’ve discovered that a lot of them fit in the drawer—which means I can see them—but they obviously don’t all fit. (Tom still has a full shelf of his BBQ and meat seasonings.)
So what do I put in the white pull out sheves? Mixes like chili and chip dip and buttermilk dressing? I thought maybe basics like salts and peppers and garlics but I feel like I want quicker access to those via the drawer. Tom has too many to fit in there. I could use the space for a lazy susan I have with my oils, vinegars, and other big glass bottles…but then I can’t use the white shelves anywhere else (they have to be low).
This will all be moot eventually (maybe next year?) when Tom puts in pull out shelving specific for spices. But in the meantime I need a working solution.
Side problem: how to organize within an area? I kinda do alphabetical even though I know it’s best to keep like spices together…but having the Costco-sized spices throws that off.
So we’ve been letting the kids go to both parks—the one across the street and the one on the other end of the neighborhood. I originally thought Katie was a little young to go by herself so I made her go with Owen a few times but eventually they want to do different stuff plus she wasn’t afraid to go by herself so I let her go alone. She has to take her watch and be home at a certain time. She might meet a friend there or just go to see who is there. No big deal.
Well today Owen was also at the park (her went before her) but he texted me from his friend’s phone to ask if it was okay to go to the friend’s house. Yep, thanks for texting and asking.
Fast forward to Tom coming home early to surprise me…and then noon when Katie was supposed to be home. And she wasn’t home. Hmmm. Okay. We’ll give her a few extra minutes.
And then…I got a text from a mom friend asking if Katie could come to the park to play. Um, what? She’s there. Or rather she most definitely SHOULD be there. They looked around and said she wasn’t.
CUE INSTANT PANIC.
Tom took off toward the park while I finished talking to the mom. I was about ready to get in the car to also head to the park when it hit me—she was probably with Owen at his friend’s house. Which would have been fine…except no one told me and she was supposed to be home at noon.
I texted the friend and Owen called me back immediately. Yes, she was there. Phew. So I told them they were both to leave immediately and meet us at the park. “But Mom you said I could stay here!” Change of plans, buddy.
Needless to say she got in big trouble. She got a stern talking to in the parking lot from both of us, she got her bike thrown in the car, plus she also had to see her friends at the park that she couldn’t play with because she didn’t follow the rules. Owen also got into some trouble because (long story short) he didn’t put his foot down and tell her no she couldn’t be there. (She actually bullies him into things by threatening to tattle on him for stuff he didn’t even do but he’s afraid of getting in trouble so he lets her get away with murder.) He did not want her there but since he let her, he was also kind of responsible for her and to let us know what was going on. (We also told him he could have called us when she wouldn’t listen and let us deal with it.)
It’s tough because they have both gone over before to swim in their pool and Katie ended up playing with one of the older daughters (like age 12) so she thinks she can just go over and play with them any time. She doesn’t really understand that they really only played with her that day because they were over on a play date with the brother and the boys went off and did their own thing and they were nice and hung out with her—and that a 12yo doesn’t really want to hang out with an 8yo.
So they both got a huge lecture about us needing to know where they are and if they can’t handle the responsibility they will no longer be able to go on their own. And Owen is the big brother so he needs to watch out for his sister.
Tom had to run somewhere before we could discuss her punishment so Katie got sent to her room—no music, no Alexa, no talking to Owen—until further notice. After a mere 15 minutes or so, she announces on Alexa that she doesn’t want to stay in her room. Hahahahahahahaha! She’s never really been punished before so she doesn’t get that I don’t really care and it’s not supposed to be fun. Then I didn’t hear this but it came across as a notification…
Tom and I eventually decided that she was locked down at home for two days, then for the next few days she could only go to the close park if Owen wanted to (because she had to stay with him), and then she could start going by herself but had to come home and check in at random times (like in 20 minutes or 10 minutes).
Owen’s punishment was having to take Katie with him. Haha.
and I put him to work juicing limes (testing Lindsay’s juicer).
We have been leaving the kids for short amounts of time to go run errands. Tonight we decided to run to Aldi.
Owen generally texts us at some point just to check in and let us know they’re okay. This was today’s conversation.
I about died when I read his WTH comment. I mean yeah, technically swearing, but it fit perfectly. I actually couldn’t stop laughing as we were walking through Aldi.
So we have another baseball game this morning and I thought “oh I’ll wear blue to match the team colors” and then I started doing my make up and I don’t think I can do a subtle daytime baseball look with sapphire blue. But… I haven’t used it before and it’s absolutely gorgeous.
Because why not?
Katie loves running so when I was clearance shopping at Kohl’s today I picked up a pair of running shoes for her (like not just generic tennis shoes). She was SO excited she wanted to go out and run immediately. So Owen went around the block with her on his Segway.
Actually it’s give a kid a phone and a cat…
Friends, do you ever have one of those days where you just. can’t. get. moving?! Or don’t want to? I’m feeling very overwhelmed today…. House, business, kids, animals, finances, Covid, eLearning…in short—life. Nothing specific or worrisome is going on…just…overall blurgh. I’m sure this is a thing, right? Life fatigue?
I posted on Facebook and pretty much everyone was like YEP UH HUH SAME. So at least it’s not just me.
So eventually I did what I tell others to do…and did a little self care.
Then got some kitty cuddles.
Took a long hot shower and washed my hair.
Caught up on a few episodes of a favorite show.
Got surprised with yummy treats from a friend.
And had a margarita.
We knew storms were coming (I even moved patio furniture) but then we heard the sirens! Everyone down to the basement—cats and all! Owen actually did really well for being the one who gets super freaked out about storms. I worked on getting the pantry organized and opened a bag of M&Ms as a treat for everyone. Tom was working on the bathroom toilet as we learned it’s in need of fixing. It only lasted about an hour, nothing bad happened, and then it was back to normal!
The margarita motherlode! It’s not my favorite flavor but it will do!
And then it was the start of an unexpected round robin to buy some new bedroom furniture…
The movers ruined some of our bedroom dressers so we knew we’d have to replace them eventually. (We also realized they were like almost 20 years old—and they’ve been moved a bunch of times—so it was time. We’d also been looking at new headboards.)
So we were at Costco and saw a set we both liked (!!) and one piece was on sale…but we weren’t ready. Well…the more we thought about it, the more we decided it was a good idea since it was a good price and if you see something at Costco you need to grab it otherwise you’ll never see it again.
I wanted to do some due diligence though so we went to a local furniture store just to see what they had…and it was slim pickings. So we went to our local Costco to see what they had (we had been at the Wisconsin Costco earlier). Well, they were almost out of everything (!!) but they had two pieces of floor samples that they sold us at a discount (!!) but that meant the rest of our day was trying to get that stuff home AND going back to Wisconsin to grab the other pieces while they were still in stock! And borrowing a friend’s truck to do it. Gah! That was NOT what was on our schedule for the day!!!
We managed to get everything but the king headboard (we ran out of time before they closed)…and shoved everything in our already-full garage!
Gotta love walking one minute down the street to meet some moms and kids at the park…and taking a margarita. I wasn’t the only one, either.
Washing ALL our dishes for an undetermined amount of time because one of them is lying about things that happen during dishwasher duty and neither will budge. Owen tried to take one for the team and admit to it but he has been too adamant for too long that he didn’t do it so we didn’t fall for it.
And the look on their faces when they thought they were getting close to done and then turned around to see all the dinner dishes STILL on the table was priceless.
If I close the door, she paws to get in and/or paws to get out. If I leave the door open she just stands here.
this is the amount of limes in the sink.
The night started innocent enough. Lindsay said she was out relaxing in her back yard while the kids played and whoever wanted to come down was welcome. Tom was napping and the kids were out and about so I left a note and drove down. Shortly after u arrived, Angela and Ryan showed up (with their two littles) as they were out on a walk.
The margaritas were flowing and I texted Tom that he needed to come with the kids. It took some convincing because he was tired. But I assured him he really did need to show up because the dads were there and this was going to be a good opportunity to meet them all and just hang out and get to know them. So he came. Other neighbors and kids showed up and we ended up ordering pizza!
We even sent Owen home on his Segway to get some fruit from our fridge. He got to feel responsible and we got the fruit so it was win-win.
The littles even did sparklers before we left!
When you’re making dinner with hubby…
…and a new friend texts they’re making margaritas and says “be ready…” and then your doorbell rings 10 minutes later!
I then sent Lindsay home with some of Tom’s Hopsy beer.