Superfluous Fluff

A Whole Bunch of Random

So my mom called tonight. From her hotel balcony. Where she was watching the beluga whales.

And I'm stressing about clean sheets and looking for cobwebs in corners? Nah, I'm going to do what every proficient procrastinator does: head to bed and worry about it in the morning.

Since my brain is busy cleaning my house over and over (Do you do that too? Do things in your mind at least 10 times before actually doing it? Is it just us procrastinators?) I'll just share the random tidbits that occasionally float to the surface in handy bullet form.

• I've received two separate order confirmation emails but no shipment email on *my* camera. How soon do I get to start worrying?
• Did you see how many comments I've gotten on my last post? I believe it has set a record. It's not because it's my best post ever, it's because I joined the blog train. There's a neat button too, but it's much to late for me to start playing with html and my sidebar. Rest assured, it will magically appear one of these days soon. Thanks to Kelsey for coming up with such a great idea and seeing it through!
• Remember how you had a word or two that you just couldn't say right when you were a kid? Mine was "pacific" (always came out specific--as in California is beside the specific ocean). Then there was paterkiller, pissketti, and eventually ek=stacey. I had a friend in high school who could not say cinnamon (me? I just have trouble spelling it). My kids? Cannot say animal. It always comes out "aminal". Cutest. thing.
• A couple of new families have moved into our ward at church and I was gifted with a wonderful new sister to serve as a counseller in Primary. We're finally working as a complete Primary Presidency; just in time to crank out the sacrament presentation. Phew! The new sister is not only delightful in every way, but she's jumped in with both feet, has a ton of great new ideas and is willing to implement them, has adorable children and is a photographer. I could just cry, but I don't want to scare her away with my crazy. It's like God said, I know what you need and sent her just for me. All the way from California I might add. I will be struggling not to stalk her.
• I love whale watching. I wish I was sitting on a balcony watching whales right now.
• Not to embarrass him, but I wish Hubby was beside me watching whales on a balcony right now. Lately I am just so in love with that man. It amazes me that love, while constant, also ebbs and flows and swells and calms. Right now it just seems to be bubbling up. Maybe it's because we have an anniversary around the corner. Maybe I'm just blessed.
• As long as I'm sharing the love, I love my in-laws too. Hubby came as a great package deal. I got a great pick me up phone call tonight.
• Tomorrow and Thursday is the finale for "So You Think You Can Dance". Is it rude to only talk to our guests during commercials for the first two nights they're here?
• This morning we saw a couple of sea gulls in the parking lot after dropping Hubby off at work. Sweetpea yelled "Look! Eagles!". I laughed a bit and gently corrected. "Oh honey, those aren't eagles, they're gulls. Sea Gulls." She nodded sagely. "Of course. Seagles." Of course. Makes perfect sense to me.

Enough random for you?  Aren't you glad tomorrow is a Wordless Wednesday?

Me too. :)

Psssst....

My mom is on her way here RIGHT NOW.

She won't arrive until sometime Wednesday, but knowing she's on the road has the kids excited and me in a bit of a tizzy. 

Now I promised myself that this time I wouldn't go all crazy with the cleaning and the scrubbing.  I've worn myself out before trying to be "ready" for her visit, and I'm not doing it this time.  She's not coming to inspect my house or comment on my housekeeping (I repeat over and over to my neurotic self).  She's coming to see me and play with her grandchildren.  But that doesn't mean I can't put out clean towels and maybe, just maybe, put most of the laundry away, right?  Right?  Just because I'm not knocking myself out this time doesn't mean I have to err on the side of slovenly. 

(Hoo Boy, have we become slovenly!  All that time away from the house means no one has been picking things up, and you can certainly tell.) 

Frankly, I'm afraid I'm starting to stress more about not stressing than I used to when I just let myself go crazy with the cleaning.

So I need you to talk me down a bit.  How much effort do you put into getting ready for out of town visitors?  Do you go to greater lengths for some than others or does everyone get equal treatment? (I don't get all crazy and neurotic when my in-laws visit, just my mother)  Where's that line between "good hostess" and "crazy nutbar"? 

And, if you have any diabetic-friendly meal suggestions, I'd love to hear them.  My mom's fiance was only diagnosed a few months ago, and my mom assures me that I don't need to go to any extra trouble--but I still worry that our carb-loving household might not work well with his diet.

Thanks for pulling me back from the edge!

Expose yourself!

Now that I have your attention...

Anyone who has been here before knows that I love photography and am actively seeking to improve my own fledgling skills.  I read a LOT of photography blogs and am really drawn to natural photography, the kind that tells a story right away, as opposed to "group and grin" shots as my mother calls them.  That's why I'm super excited that an old (young) friend has joined the blogging world so I can give her a big shout out.

Cyndal Lorch is a sweet, funny, TALENTED girl woman who has grown up to become quite the photographer.  I met Cyndal and her family when we attended church together in little Walkerton, Ontario (yes, the water scare one).  I was doing my OACs and impatient to be grown and gone and her older sisters were in my Young Women's group.  There were a few years between us but we quickly became friends.  How could I not?  Their entire family was warm and giving and mature and fun.  I didn't get to know Cyndal as well as her sisters, but I appreciated her outlook on life.  She always had a great comment for things and was not at all pesky (as little sisters are rumoured to be).  Now I appreciate her outlook even more as a photographer--and I think you will too.  Her goal is to help you "expose your personality" and here's her blurb from her Facebook group:

Getting your photo taken shouldn't be painful. I love photographing people, that's all there is to it. I love photographing people in their natural element just being themselves, or maybe slightly crazier than normal. Yes, you get into some posing and stuff occasionally, but by no means is it studio portraiture. Fun and fresh is key. So if you're into having some unique and fun photos done, give me a shout, and I'll make it as painless as possible. ;) 

Who do I photograph? Anyone ages 0-100 who's got some spirit and spunk...although, if you're over 100 and still want some photos done, it's on me. Seriously. #1 Rule: Don't be afraid to get a little dirty, should the need arise. And on a side note: there's no need to smile all the time...I know all about face cramps. Like I said, getting your photo taken shouldn't be painful. Just be yourself!

See what I mean?  Visit her at her new blog here and give her some love.   If you're in Ontario and you need a photographer (don't we all), I think you'd be very happy if you gave her a call.  I'd link to her business site but Explorer isn't playing nice today and I can't see it.  You can follow the link in her sidebar or attempt to go to silverlinesstudio by yourself.  Maybe Explorer likes you better (or maybe you're smarter than me and using that Firefox thingy).

No photo in this post from me--Go see some of Cyndal's!  You'll be glad you did!

P.S.  Cyndal, I'm sorry I almost called you a girl.  It's hard for me to remember that you guys all grew up after I left.  But I'm happy to see that you all grew up so splendidly!

P.P.S. I told some of you that I was purchasing a new camera (with help from the good fairies) and got some great advice.  I discovered that I'm a Canon girl at heart (who knew?) and wanted a Rebel.  Or maybe to rebel?  I did order an XTi back in June but it was LOST IN THE MAIL.  Oh the pain and horror!  Maybe I'm not meant to be a Rebel?  I've decided to give Canada Post another chance and have ordered another.  If you could spare some good vibes that THIS time my camera would get to me (hopefully in working order), I would appreciate it.    

TGIF, Swimming Lessons edition

Friday morning dawned grey and dreary, much like my mood.  I had tried to make it a good week, really, but so many things kept going wrong.  My attempts at perfection had turned into a farce, and my esteem for myself and my parenting skills were at a low.  Sometime during the night I had let go of my dream of planning the perfect summer experience and was shooting for survival.  The only bright spot as I could see it was that it was finally Friday, and I'd have a weekend to recover before having to get through another week.  I wasn't even going to tempt fate by thinking that nothing else could go wrong (because isn't that when it does?).

We were a subdued crew getting into the car, and at the pool it seemed everyone had fallen still and silent under the gloomy skies.  The usual noise in the change rooms was dulled, and everyone seemed to swim in slow motion....it was actually kind of nice and cozy, the quiet and the water, the simple companionship. 

When it came time to leave for our picnic I faced a problem.  It wasn't actually raining yet, but it was so overcast that the pregnant clouds appeared ready to deliver at any second.  We needed to get under cover.  I chose that escape hatch of parents everywhere--McDonald's.  We took our picnic lunch in with us and I bought a big bunch of chicken nuggets for us to share. 

What is it about that place that brightens a child's day?  I have not figured it out, but it always works.  We didn't even stay to play on the tiny slide (we didn't have socks and I wasn't buying some).  Instead we decided to try out yet another library, this one hidden on the other side of the pool.  I hadn't even known it was there until the day before when I drove in the wrong entrance, but it seemed as good a place as any to spend an afternoon hiding from the weepy skies.

We dashed into the library...and stopped.  It was a GREAT library.  Bright and airy, with big displays set up for the children's programs that run all summer.  It had computers, a puppet theatre, and lots and lots of children's books, with the shelves set up in a big rectangle that separated the children's section from the rest of the library, while still being part of the whole.  The girls took turns on the computer while the Boy and I read and he put on several puppet "shows" for me. After an hour they switched.  I even managed to look through the adult stacks while the girls put on shows for each other.  I had the camera with me but didn't even think of taking pictures.  It was just restful for us all.  Once the Boy's computer time was up we had another hour to kill, so they each chose a stack of books and we curled up together on the cozy couch in the back and read them all.  The girls even took turns doing some of the reading.

It was the perfect day.

Somehow, when I stopped trying to MAKE magic happen, it just did.  Quietly, while the rain fell outside and there were no planned or organized activities, the perfect day just folded around us and took us in.  It was unanimous too.  When we got to the car and everyone was strapped in, Sweetpea said "THAT was a Good Day, mama" and everyone agreed.  Then they fell asleep. 

I learned my lesson.  I took a quiet recovery weekend, reading and resting and adjusting my thinking, and when we started back to lessons for week two, we just took our time.  I didn't plan any special outings or rush us off to unique parks.  We did manage to make it to the "new" library for their program on Tuesday.  The girls participated but the Boy wanted back on the computer, and I was ok with that.  Here he is, out of focus because he was bobbing his head in time while the other children sang.

It stayed mostly rainy all week, and that was alright.  We found stuff to do.  Besides the library there was the mall, there was grocery shopping, there were walks when it was clear and....you know what, I don't know.  If you asked me exactly what we did last week, I couldn't tell you.  But I CAN tell you it was good.  Sure, there was the odd tantrum and some whining now and then.  There was the day both girls were given free balloons and the Princess let go of her string (oh, the drama!  the tears!).  There was also the moment on Monday morning when the Princess surprised us all by jumping in the deep end with her class, when the week before she was afraid to get in the shallow end.  The entire observation room of parents gave a little cheer and my heart almost burst with pride.  There was the giant hot fudge sundae with 4 spoons and sticky smiles as I shared the secret of eating the ice cream first and saving most of the hot fudge for the end.  There were hugs and laughs.  There were no more injuries.  There was joy. 

Maybe it wasn't the perfect magical two weeks I had envisioned.  Maybe there will be no moments from that time that will make it into starring roles in the film of my children's happiest memories.  But there were plenty of good times that will be woven into the hazy category of "childhood" that will work to make that an old favourite, the kind that always brings a smile to your face when you think of it.

That's magical enough for me.

Have you got the Big Picture?

I'm not sure there are any scrapbookers left out there who haven't heard of Big Picture Scrapbooking.  This great website, brain child of Stacy Julian, offers online classes, projects and more!  Sometimes they even have FREE classes (my favourite kind!).  If you remember me doing LOAD back in January, that was offered through BPS, where we not only had an amazing gallery to share our daily LOs but a message board and chat feature.  It made the whole experience that much richer, knowing that there were others out there struggling (or not) to get their pages done each day, and to encourage each other through the process. 

Just this week I decided to check out one of the Free "Projects Now!" classes being offered RIGHT NOW at BPS.  It's called 10 Summer Photos to take right now!.  You just register for the class, listen to the welcome message and download the project (.pdf file).  Then you can share your photos with others taking the class whenever you're ready.  I just love seeing how everyone's photos differ!

One of the 10 photos to take is "Fruit".  We all have access to fruit year round these days, but who doesn't love fresh summer fruit in season?  We know that summer has arrived around here when we can get fresh local strawberries.  And I don't know about you, but watermelon IS summer.  I can't even imagine eating it in winter.  It would just be wrong!

I signed up for the class on Monday, and on Tuesday I decided to start looking for my "Fruit" photo.  I bypassed all of the fruit in my fridge (though I still may HAVE to take a photo of the blueberries...they're so pretty!) to focus (get it?) on our own outdoor fruit.  Here's my fruit...

the last two raspberries left on the bush

 

Black currants, ready to pick.  MMMMMM.

Red currants up close.  They were sparkling like jewels in the sun, but the camera chose to focus on the leaves.  I shall continue to negotiate terms with the camera.

My very first tomatoes, from my very first tomato plant.

One of the apples on the apple tree...though these say fall to me.

Another try at those red currants.  Don't they look yummy?

Oh, and my trusty assistant, aka "Fruit of my Loins"

What "fruit" would you photograph to mean summer to you?  Why not go over to BPS and see what the other 9 summer photos are?  I'd love to see your fruit!

P.S.  Which one of the above photos would you chose to upload to the gallery?  I'm thinking either the tomatoes or the red currant close-up.  Thanks!

Sometimes, things don't go according to plan

*I know that it's Wednesday, but I thought I'd continue my series of catch-up posts on what happened while we were away from the computer for the two weeks known as swimming lessons.

So, we're at Thursday, and I've got a plan.  Monday was the heat pump repair craziness.  Tuesday was perfect right up 'till the end, Wednesday was quietly frustrating, but Thursday, oh I'm ready for you.

You see, while the kidlets were playing in the wading pool on Tuesday, my mom pal commented that she and her daughter don't really come to that park much.  It seems they have found another park with a small playground and free pool.  Only this pool is an ACTUAL pool, and has an attached splash pad that the kids all love.  The only downside, she claimed, was that there was no shade in the pool area, but that's no problem if you're in the pool with the kids.

So Wednesday night, determined to save our "super week" and make Special. Lifetime. Memories., I went online and printed out a map to this new (to us) park.  I packed our bag, I put extra special treats in our picnic lunch, and I dreamed sweet happy dreams of what our special day was going to be like.  Yes, I had a Plan and I was at peace.

For some reason, it was a bad day at swimming lessons.  The Princess didn't want to put her foot in the water because of her (now 2 day old) bee sting.  The boy didn't want to get in the water at all.  Sweetpea wanted to do her own thing, not listen to the teacher.  But we survived, and I had my Plan.

We went to our usual park for our picnic.  By now it's become our happy place.  The picnic was wonderful and we spent some time goofing around with the camera, getting silly shots like this

as well as our dreamy shots.  Then it was time to reveal the Plan.  I told them I had a special surprise for them....a new park that is their friend's favourite.  We excitedly packed and then went to the "new park".  As soon as we got out of the car, Sweetpea started looking for their friend and calling her name.  Oops, Somehow pre-inviting our friends got missed in the Plan.  I called but the line was busy.  Again and again--buuuuuusyyyyyyy.  Looks like it's just us, unless our friends show up on their own.  They did tell us that they come here a lot.  

The kidlets played excitedly on the new equipment and I stuck close.  I took more photos to distract them from the way I was following them around, and they were happy enough to be good sports about it.

 

Finally the pool opened and we went in to change.  I helped everyone into their suits and slathered them up with sunscreen while they wiggled with joy and impatience.  Then I told them to just wait a second while I changed.  I ducked into one of two stalls, stripped quickly and pulled out my top...and my top.

What?

Ok, I must be hallucinating.  Here's my top and here's...another top.

Just so you know, I'm all about maximum coverage when wearing a swimsuit.  I buy boy cut bottoms and long tankini tops in mix and match colours.  I find there is less skin showing this way and I am much more comfortable (modesty+sunprotection=win).  However, I couldn't quite figure out how to mix and match two tops.  How did this happen?  Didn't I pack a top and a bottom just last night?  Who DOES these things? 

Ok, maybe I can wear a top with my...um...lightweight, light coloured shorts.  The ones that will turn see-thru in two seconds of wetness, along with my white underwear. 

Scratch that.

I get dressed again and step out to break the bad news to the kids.  But it's ok!  The day can still be saved!  Mama can stand and watch you from the side like a lifeguard.  I'll be the towel guard!  I'll be right there where you can touch my feet and you can still swim, just like the other day. 

We headed out and the kids were delighted with the splash pad.  I started to hang their towels over a hand rail when I was approached by a lifeguard (the first of the day) who informed me that anyone who wanted to be on deck had to shower.  Ha Ha.  I looked at him (it had to be a him), looked down at myself, dressed in cream and white, and asked him if he was kidding.  "I'm just watching my kids there in the splash pad (I held up my camera to help him get the picture).  I'm not going in the water." 

"Too bad", says he.  "You want to be in the pool area, you have to shower."  He points to the showers to help me.

(Dude, I know where the showers ARE, you just watched me shower off the kids.)

"Come ON!", I laugh.  "Look at me!  I can't shower like this!"  I decide to take him into my confidence and tell him about the silly top/top mixup.  I'm willing to compromise; I'll stick my head under, my arms and legs where they're bare, and we'll ignore the clothed portions of my body.  He just gives me a LOOK.

"You'll dry"

Great, I'll dry.  I look at the kids and wonder if it's going to be worth it.  Their faces are aglow and their shrieks of laughter are music to my ears.

I'll dry.

I shower off quickly and sit at the side of the pool with the towels (no one needs to see my heiney while it drys).  After only about 20 minutes, I notice that I'm weaving a bit.  I've always been prone to heat stroke, and there really is no shade.  I start trying to splash myself with the pool water to cool down.  It's not working.  I get up and put my head under the shower again.  Momentary relief. 

I'm not going to make it.

I decide to get my hat from the bag in the change room (why did I forget it?  Where's my head?).  I can't get the girls to stop splashing, but the water is knee deep and they're surrounded by lifeguards.  I take the boy with me for my quick dash. 

On the way back out of the change room another lifeguard catches me eyeing the parking lot (ok, I'll admit it, I'm thinking of searching the car for bottoms).  "You cannot leave children unattended".  Is she a mind reader?  Sheesh. 

We step out on the pool pad and the same male lifeguard catches me immediately and tells me we need to shower each time we enter the pool area.  I'm starting to think he's a little pervy.  Three other women have just walked past the shower area to spread out their towels and sunbathe.  I roll my eyes at him and stick the Boy under the water again, but this time I'm rebelling.  Head, arms and legs, dude, that's all you get.

I get to the poolside and yet another lifeguard (my personal third) approaches.  "Are those your girls?  You must be within arms reach of any child under the age of 7 at all times."  You know what internets--that's a good rule.  In theory.  Looking around the pool and splash area though, I'm afraid it's not actually in practice.  Am I the test parent?   I mumble an apology, along with a "just needed my hat.  I'll be right here from now on".  Apparently, this isn't good enough.  Maybe this is natural discrimination against clothed people at pools, maybe they don't like my hat, maybe it's just not my week,  I don't know.  Suddenly she's telling me I must be IN the pool with my children, in arms reach of EACH of them, at ALL times.

I'm done.  Call it three strikes.  I'm not even angry at the lifeguards, mostly just embarrassed and upset with myself.  I hate to think how this blog post would read from the lifeguard's perspective.  If I had packed properly, I'd have had a suit, and I'd have been in the pool with my kids from the beginning (though good luck on that arms length rule). I was trying to make the best of a small mistake, but it's not working. 

I gather up my very bewildered (and in short order weeping) children and make them leave the pool.  I emphasize that this is MY fault, and that I'm very, very sorry.  I assure them that we can go back to the other park and I'll wade with them.  Hey, you can even have toys there, remember?  They are inconsolable.  They don't want to relocate, they want to keep playing at this pool.  They drift off to the playground.  There is no more fun picture taking.  When I drift towards them, they drift away.  Sweetpea walks up to a stranger and asks to be pushed on the swings.  I'm standing right there and offer, but she turns away from me, giving a very grown-up cold shoulder.

I'm definitely in my kids' doghouse, and my heart is breaking.  I feel like doing a little howling myself.  Maybe I could handle it better if it was just a bad afternoon, but this is turning into "how not to parent" week.  I sincerely hope that THIS is the low point in my parenting career. I'm not sure I can stand it getting any worse. I sit on a bench where I can watch over them and wait for them to forgive me.

It happens.  Eventually.  They drift over one by one, looking for a hug, looking for a snack, wanting to show me something, forgetting that they're supposed to be too mad to speak to me.  At the end of the ordeal I apologise again and take them out for ice cream.

From now (then) on I can't leave the house without all of them reminding me that I"ll need a top AND a bottom.  I'm never going to live this down.

I believe I'm going to be shopping for a one-piece for next summer.  Or two.  Does anyone know where I can get the nice long ones that the Olympic swimmers wear?

WW: Lost and Found

Lost: First tooth (bottom, center)

Found: New confidence (I'm growing!)

We interrupt our tales of woe for a little Whoa!

This morning I was invited to join a group of women driving from NB to MA for this:

TIME OUT FOR WOMEN

I did a little number crunching and spoke with Hubby, and if he can get the day off of work, I'm going.

I cannot begin to tell you how this has lifted my spirits and come at a time when I really needed it.  Long before I married and had children I determined to put my relationship with God first in my life, then my husband, then children, then my community and the world.  Time passed, and with the children arriving so closely together, it seemed of a necessity that I put them first, then myself (for survival!).  Hubby came somewhere after that and God, well, I'd welcome His assistance but didn't seem to have time to go seeking Him out.  For the longest time there was no world outside that, and then somehow it crept in, right after children. 

You know what?  That's not really working for me.   How'd my priorities go topsy turvy like that?  My life has felt out of balance, all of my relationships lacking.  Callings and service seem to be a lot of WORK, where once they were a joy (work too, but there was deep joy in service).  Sundays become something to be endured rather than celebrated.  Scriptures get dusty from neglect, a testimony dwindles, and peace becomes more elusive. 

The big clue has been the anger.

Did you know, I went through a great deal of my life without ever feeling anger?  Hurt, frustration, fatigue...but never anger.  It snuck up on me a few times when I hit adulthood, but always still at a comfortable distance.  I could be analytical about it: "What's that I'm feeling? Must be that anger I've heard so much about.  Huh.  Better let it go.".  Lately though, more and more things just Tick. Me. Off.  Sadly, they are most often 3 small sweet things that are just doing their best to make sense of this crazy world.  They don't need Angrywoman in their face. 

So I've been working on finding my balance; struggling to reopen the door to God and welcome Him back to a centre-place in my life.  Because I like my life so much better when I pass it and me over to Him.  It's not as easy as it once was.  Pride and sloth and plain bad habits have grown in the untended garden of my faith.  Roots that dig deep in such a small amount of time and wear me out with the weeding sometimes.

This weekend, this Time Out will hopefully be just that.  I remember the boost I used to get from attending youth weekends.  I'm so glad it occurred to someone that we women (and there's couples weekends!) need spiritual reboosting sometimes too.  I'm glad that my friend thought of me when she decided to fill her van and extended the invitation.  I'm glad that we're in a place financially right now where I can actually accept that invitation. 

And mostly?  Mostly I'm grateful that my God never steps away from me and always provides me with exactly what I need, in the season I need it.

Dear Mom

The children are counting down the days to your arrival next week.  They are asking many questions about what we will be doing with Granma, where we will be going, how long we'll be camping, how long it takes to get there, and on and on and on.

Oh, and what number day is this?  Is it still Monday?   At least, thanks to you, they each have their own calenders to check (though they compare them with mine, just in case they may have miscounted).

Tonight, after a day of stickers on the floor, trash from crafts left lying around, and general slobbery, the Princess managed to rip apart the couch (cushions and quilt only, easily mended).  It was the last straw and she has been banned from touching the couch for a week.

She sat on the floor and pouted for a few minutes, then asked

"Who does Granma like more, me or you?"

I told her I had no idea and that that was a great question for Granma.

I just thought I would warn you that there was going to be a quiz.  Don't be surprised if follow up questions include "Who do you think is the best kid/prettiest girl/nicest..." and so forth.

You might want to think about your answers.

Love, your favourite daughter.

P.S.   I heard some muttering under a small Princess' breath that "I'm pretty sure she likes me better than YOU" but I chose to ignore it.

Maybe some peace and quiet will make up for yesterday...

After the stress of Tuesday and a very long night, I decided that what we most needed on Wednesday was some peace and quiet.  I called the main branch of the Public Library to ask if their children's program was running that day, and received a nice enthusiastic "Yes!  At 2 PM TODAY!".  Perfect.

We decided to try a new picnic spot, but every one we drove to wasn't nice enough (according to the kidlets) or was under construction (seriously?) so we ended up back at our original spot.  There were some playground requests, but the Princess' ankle had swollen and I wasn't ready to let the Boy out of my sight, so I hypped up the library hard and off we went.  We did a little reading, the girls got some computer time (YAY!), and then it was time to head upstairs for the program....where we found a big empty room.  We waited in it for awhile before heading back down to the children's circulation desk to ask where all the people were. 

"Oh, there's no program TODAY!  The program was YESTERDAY!  Whatever gave you the idea it was today?", tinkled the happy librarian.

I'll admit it, I had visions of squeezing that tinkle right out of her throat.  "Maybe the person on the phone this morning who assured me that the program was TODAY" I gritted out.  Lack of sleep makes me positively surly these days and I really didn't need this.

Hmmm....4 girls on the desk, but no one is going to volunteer that they're the one who got it wrong.  Not even the one who, 15 minutes ago, gave me directions to the upstairs room.  Is it the sun?  Too much?  Not enough?

So now the kids are mad at me.  Again.  Another perfect day, ruined!  Fortunately, we happen to be surrounded by books and I happen to be not too shabby of a reader, so they get calmed down quickly.  In fact, at one point, they are all sitting reading to themselves and I put my head down on the table in front of me for just a second.....and get awoken a couple of minutes later by a bang of books and a "shouldn't you be watching your children" glare from a very young librarian.  I glance around, but they're all in the same places they were a moment ago, all still reading, though on different books by now.   I smile back at her as sweetly as I can and decide that, for the first time in my life, I am no longer happy to be in a library and it's time to leave. 

It's about half an hour before I should be picking up Hubby but I decide that my day is officially over.  I take the kids to the office with a book each and sit them in the hallway waiting area...where they make a ton of racket that drives Hubby from the office, as his team is being distracted by the noise.

Oh, we're making memories all right.  But I have a secret plan for tomorrow, one that will save the week...