Hello Vacation!

Could it be that these little babies are already big school kids?!

Today was the first day of summer vacation for the kids. J.T. earned a medal at Honors Night on Thursday for making A/B honor roll every term. He slept with the medal in his hand. Abby got a tag for knowing all of her sight words. We celebrated their hard work (I have read that it is important to remind your children that hard work earns good grades, not something so vague as 'smart') and Ma Ma's birthday with dinner out.

What kind of mother-in-law do I have? The kind who chose pizza for her birthday dinner because she knew the kids would prefer it to a real sit-down restaurant that offered something so exotic as vegetables and salads. We refused however, and insisted on taking her somewhere that requires silverware. My father-in-law, of beer and liquor preference ordered a mojito. The look on his face when it arrived with mint leaves and a sliver of sugar cane... if only they had added a little umbrella. I told him he should have just ordered the beer.

I have this week off, so we have made big plans: Splash in the Boro with the cousins, a trip to the library tomorrow, grocery shopping (usually Rob's domain), an UNO tournament, yard work (oh the weeds!), car cleanout (it really is a rolling dumpster) and hopefully, sleeping late everyday! Abby let me sleep until almost nine this morning... before she woke me by blowing on my eyes and pointing out that if I would only look at the window I would see that it was day and not night. "Wake up Mom!" A call to action that was followed by a demand, er, request for chocolate milk.

As we were puttering about, I overheard them say my favorite words: "Let's pretend..."

Yes... let's.

A Girl and Her Lip Gloss

Or more appropriately, a girl and her lip gloss gone crazy. All over her face, in the hair around her face... and dozens and dozens of lip prints on my dresser mirror. She even put it on her hand and made hand prints on my mirror.

Burnt Offerings

Melinda has gone where no one has gone before.

I burned a batch of cookies.

Twice.

The same pan of cookies.

Two times.

Forgot to set the timer the first time and overbaked by 20 minutes.

Turned the oven off and let them cool/stop smoking.

Forgot they were in the oven and left them in it over night.

Turned the oven on to preheat.

And burned them again.

Pause Button Please!

I'd like to temporarily slow things down. Let the world stop spinning while I take a deep breath, have a spot of tea and a cookie... and exhale. Make that a glass of wine and entire box of cookies please.

We survived the graduation turned engagement party. My niece's boyfriend proposed with a rubber duck ring. Long story, but the entire proposal (which he bravely pulled off in front of 40 of their nearest and dearest family and friends) suited them. He was a music major and she just got a degree in German and Cultural Anthropology. They will need to take a Rob boot-camp course on organization and spread sheets as this is NOT a case of opposites attract.

I finished the painting. My mother tells me that next time I should hire a painter. Which I think isn't an indictment of my brush/roller skills. Maybe. The ADD and the painting... not a good combination. I rolled a while over here and got bored with the long wall, switched to the short one. Spotted a bare spot over the doorway.... eh. That could explain the drips on the baseboard, the speckles on the back of the computer, the little runs of paint in the corners and the odd smear of Nantucket Gray (it's actually green-oh so jealous aren't we Aunty Evil)on the door frames. It did clean up well. Mostly.

The Wedding Shower was lovely. Perfect weather. Great family. Delicious food. One kid who "accidentally" slipped and just happened, HAPPENED to land in the pool. Of course it would be MY kid and he would then proceed to apply wet lower half to dirt to create a nice muddy coating all over his pants, feet and hands.



The cleaning lady came. Oh lovely, sweet cleaning lady. Which did give me a moment for a sip of Aussie tea and a nibble of Tim Tam at the end of the day.



The Tim Tams and tea, by the way, are MUCH more delectable than the Vegemite. Is it an acquired taste? I followed the instructions to the letter. Spread thin over buttered toast... but.... meh. I will try it again. Visitors here say that boiled peanuts are slimy and gross too. But we think they are delicious.



It really is the simple things in life that make it all worthwhile, yes?

?

How does one manage to get paint under the drop cloth and not on it?

If your nine year old were to drop a four letter word into playdate conversation, does it have to be in front of the child with the judgmental parent?

What are the odds of Abby using her orange ear plugs to attach a "calendar" to her wall, just hours after the paint is dry? What are the odds that the ear plugs have an oily component and leave a lovely greasy mark on a freshly painted wall?

Did you ever snort laugh when your daughter, when asked about her dream job, responds: "I wanna work at Burger King when I grow up!" ?

Is dressing room lighting the WORST lighting on the planet, or do I really look like that?

Why did the romper come back in style? I get it for the small people. But on the grown women.... not so much.

Do you know the proper way to eat Vegemite? I got instructions with mine!