Sunny Day

This is our last Thursday before school begins and I've managed to fill it to the brim. I've scheduled a double playdate for both Brendan and Beckett today with my friend L. and her two little boys. Her oldest is a year younger than Brendan, but loves him and always wants to play with him at our house. Her baby and Beckett are just a couple of months apart and play very nicely alongside one another. This is the first time all summer we've been able to coordinate our schedules to make getting all six of us together at once possible.

Rising to the occasion (in multiple ways), I awoke at 5:30 so I could bake some Amish Friendship bread and make a fruit salad for snacks. I still need to vacuum and clean our guest bathroom and shower.

This afternoon, I've scheduled a swimming playdate for Brendan with his friend Mark at the neighborhood pool. He has talked about going to Mark's pool constantly since we went there in June.

Yesterday, we went and registered Brendan for Kindergarten. Scott and I were both very, very happy to learn that Brendan ended up in the class with the teacher who is widely regarded as being the best Kindergarten teacher in the school. Yay! I could dance a jig. She seems so smart and kind and organized. I volunteered to be a room mom even though she already had two other volunteers. I will offer my assistance on a "part-time' basis on the two mornings Beckett is at PMO. I am just so thankful he ended up in her class. A bit confused as to why there are so many boys in her class and so few in the other Mrs. S.'s class (each class had like a 3/4 to 1/4 divide between boys and girls), but that's okay. He has a lot of kids in his class that he knew from last year so hopefully that will ease the transition.

It's been yet another busy week. My boss is encouraging me to get my real estate license and I'm not sure that's something I want to do. Despite the fact that I work for a realtor, I feel like most real estate agents are just like Annette Benning's character in American Beauty. And I don't really think that's me. Not so much.

Whatever.

I clearly have nothing witty or profound to say today. Just a random update on the happenings at chez moi.

I hope everyone else has had a great week. I actually do have other stuff to write about, just not enough time! My mother-in-law is coming on Saturday so I'll be getting ready for her. Hopefully, I'll find more time to write later tonight or tomorrow.

Oh Mercy

If anyone came in my house at the moment, I'm really not sure what they'd think. I'm not sure what I think...

I'm halfway through taking down our interior decorations, but there are boxes, rolls of wrapping paper, and used gift bags all over the foyer. In my living room where I am right now, Brendan is pumping a tire pump pretending to put air in my exercise ball while Beckett walks around him in a circle repeatedly while holding a plastic Peter Rabbit bowl. Going by the quizzical look on his face, Beckett seems to be trying to figure out what the heck his brother is doing.

Me? I just finished taking down the outdoor decorations, cleaning and repairing the gutter on the front of the house, and placing all the exterior decorations in their proper places (wreaths hung on hooks in the garage; lights, garland, and hangers in a plastic bin, labeled and in the attic.). I also put all my fall decorations (a witch, some berry garland, and some autumnal wreaths) in their own bin and put that in the attic as well.

Before this unusual sibling ritual began, I thought I'd take a break and check my e-mail, then get right back to work. But this was too funny and bizarre not to mention.

Now that they've performed their dance of brotherly fascination, Brendan has decided to start taking his favorite decorations of the tree and this has caught baby brother's attention, too. I think it's time to intervene....

Something to Look Forward To

Okay. So I've done most of the items on the Messies Flight Plan for Fledglings. I haven't eaten yet, but I've knocked out the other basics on the list. I'm about to get up and start laundry and then make breakfast for myself and the boys.

I've also discovered another tool that I'll be using in my fight against chaos. It's the BusyBodyBook Personal and Family Organizer. It's designed by a mom – Joan Goldner – for other moms. I spoke with Joan via e-mail and she's sending me one to try out and report back on. In the meantime, I have downloaded January's weekly grids (the book offers much more than just a calendar system, but I'll save those details until I have the book in hand). I am going to use those to plan my week and hopefully, like that, become instantly more efficient just by having a written compilation of all I want and need to accomplish.

Friends to Go

Well...now I know how the first runner-up in the Miss America pageant feels. Pretty good, but not as good as she would if she got the crown.

Seriously, I have no complaints today about my experience in the Diva for a Day competition. I had a ball. It was about the craziest thing I've done since Capping in college when my friends and I were forced by the seniors to sing On the Road Again but in the voices of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

The contest was a lot of fun. It was held at Shout in Midtown. There were eight contestants, all with really great reasons for deserving to be treated to a little luxury in life.

The first part of the competition was Diva Jeopardy. The categories were: fashion, cosmetic surgery, celebrity news, cosmetics, potpourri, Sex in the City, and jewelry. I did really well, only missing one question. Of course, while it was going on I didn't realize I was doing so well. I also felt like mysterious divine forces were at work for me, because almost all of the questions I got were things I had specifically researched because I thought they might be on there. So, when I was asked who Jackie Kennedy's exclusive designer was while she was First Lady, I was prepared with Oleg Cassini.

It was also fortuitous that one of the bits of SITC trivia fed to me by Lauren and Barrett before the game began was the name of Miranda's baby. That was the last question of the game and when the judge read it, I simply couldn't believe it! How lucky is that?

Winning at that portion of the contest, meant that I was one of three to advance to the second round which consisted of walking gracefully with a book on my head (hell no, I can't do that!), lip synching and dancing to a song of my selection, and then an interview question where they asked each of us why we deserved to win.

I chose the Madonna song Material Girl and did a pretty good job, I think.

I felt as if I pulled a Miss South Carolina on the interview question. It felt like I was rambling incoherently because I was trying to figure out what I could say that could possibly compete with the statement by the girl who went before me. She talked about how she's a breast cancer survivor and all I could think was a) I can't compete with that and b) I don't want to. Just give her the crown, man. She deserves it.

And so it was.

I had a ball and I honestly feel like I did win because I had the biggest crowd there to support me. I had about a dozen of my friends there, all wearing boas and with signs they made, cheering me on. Scott wore a fuzzy purple hat and was as supportive and loving of his crazy wife as anyone could hope her husband would be. The only other time I have felt so special and loved by so many people was on my wedding day. It's a special and amazing and humbling feeling and it means so much more to me than any prize ever could. I am a lucky girl, indeed.