Weekly Wrap Up

You guys? I've been up for 30 minutes...by myself. I made coffee. Started laundry. Got all those jars of homemade tomato soup in to the fridge. And still, she sleeps.

Now, you KNOW it was no small feat to extricate myself from the big bed without waking her. And I actually wondered why I was bothering with the effort as I climbed over Bryan (who woke briefly just as I was about to fling myself over his belly, looked hopeful for just a split second, then conked back out), put on my dirty socks from yesterday so I wouldn't open the closet and risk waking Zoey (so gross, but so far, oh-so-worth-it), and tip-toed out to the kitchen. I thought for sure she'd wake up moments later, shriek in horror that MOMMY IS GONE!, and come pitter-pattering out to the kitchen to find me. This, to be honest, is one of my favorite times of the day...when Zoey wakes up and immediately comes to find me, looking all rumpled in her jammies and requisite tu-tu (Oma bought her a pair of pajamas with ballet slippers on them, and they came with a tu-tu--now, the tu-tu is worn with ALL pairs of pajamas), and we sit together downstairs, she with her hot milk and I with my coffee.

But she'll be up soon, and in the meantime, I have some time to write. Ahhhhhh.

It's been a busy week, highlighted by the return of my Wednesdays off. For the past several months, my day off has rotated, leaving us scrambling to find daycare on random days like Tuesdays or Thursdays, or Fridays...but really, hasn't "scrambling" defined my life these past few months? Anyway. The month of August I had Fridays off, which sounds lovely in theory, and if I were child-free it might be dreamy to have three-day-weekends all the time. But four days in a row of 10-hour-shifts left my child clingy and grouchy and the sheer weight of four days worth of laundry coming through the laundry chute at one point nearly left me unconscious. So a break in the middle of the week is ideal for me, right now. (Ha. Actually, two or three days at home is what's ideal, but we're redefining ideal until Bryan gets a job. It's all relative.)

Thursday was Parent Night at Zoey's daycare, and since she has recently been promoted to the three-year-old room, this means her official preschool education begins this fall. I was excited to go, as I had yet to meet Ms. Nicole, who's shift always ends before I can make it to daycare to pick Zoey up. And after the whole I-booted-Destiny-down-the-slide incident on Monday, I was bracing myself to hear that I am the mother of the classroom bully.

I couldn't have been more surprised by Ms. Nicole's feedback. Apparently, Zoey is a very sweet, quiet little girl while at school, always listening to and following instructions to the letter. (My sister Alisa asked if, at that point, I clarified that I am Zoey Angove's mother, and perhaps she was confusing my Zoey with another Zoey in the class?) I was thrilled to hear this. At least she's behaving for someone, right?? We couldn't leave until I had signed up to contribute something squishy to the Sensory Table and also volunteered to make the classroom supply of Play-Doh for October. And December. Because I need more things to do.

Friday night we had dinner at some new friends' house, Rutchie and her husband Sam. We met them through Bryan's cousin Sara, who also came over for dinner. Rutchie and Sam have a three-year-old daughter named Sara and a one-year-old named David. Zoey and little Sara hit it off immediately when we met at a BBQ last weekend, and picked right up where they had left off when we arrived on Friday night. I am so incredibly thankful that grown-up Sara introduced us, because seriously? We need some friends with kids. Especially normal, down-to-earth friends who also like to drink wine. I have a feeling this is the beginning of a long friendship. You know. For the kids.

The long-awaited birthday party yesterday was a huge success. As far as one-year-old birthday parties go, I was very impressed. A clown was there doing a magic show and making balloon-animals for all the kids, and the cake was a HUGE pink and yellow (beautiful) three-tiered monstrosity that was soooo yummy. Fun times were had by all.

Today is the day Zoey and I will head down to Vancouver to visit our friends Kendra, Matt, Ari, and new baby Finn. Ari is Zoey's best friend in the world, Kendra is one of mine. As soon as I can complete four loads of laundry and bake some zucchini bread, we'll get on the road. Bryan will stay behind to do some more work on his mom's rental house. I won't lie--having him work odd jobs all the time means he works mainly evenings and weekends. To say this has seriously affected "Family Time" would be a gross understatement. It's taking it's toll. We're still holding out hope that he'll find a 'real' job...soon.

Happy long weekend, everyone!